VHII vs Rebel Yell

[braintheory]

How do these compare to eachother?  Is the Rebel similar to the VHII but highter output?  Which one has better cleans?  Which is more biting and aggressive?

[richard]

Quoted from Bonnamassive in another thread:

" I have a VHII Set in my 93 Classic Plus- it has the same slim 60's neck

These covers a huge number of musical bases.

they are really versitile and open and, like and good hot PAF pick, reacts well to power amp drive.

I use mine with a Marshall Guv'nor mk1 to bring the mids forward for lead playing.

from Bonamassa to Rhodes' these do it!

If you want more mids- i would consider Rebel Yell,  these are more of a suped up PAF a bit more of everything that he VHII has "

I've never tried a VHII myself but I have Rebels in a Firebird Studio. I have to be honest and say that when my tech guy first installed them I didn't like them. They are very bright and completely different to the pickups they replaced which were the 490/498 Gibson set. However, after a lot of messing around with the height (they were way too close to the strings for my tastes) and a bit of a re-assessment of my amp's EQ I will never take them out of this guitar. Absolute killer pups.

[braintheory]

anyone else? 

[Yellowjacket]

FWIW, I believe the Rebel Yells were made for a Les Paul standard.  They have a really rich and even chainsaw sort of a crunch tone.  Once you get the pickup and screw height set up properly, the cleans are great too, ESPECIALLY the neck position.

I can't comment on VHIIs since I have not tried them, but the Steve Stevens clips of that pickup sound AMAZING.  I absolutely love them!

[braintheory]

"chainsaw sort of crunch" definitely sounds appealing to me.  The only BKP that had that sort of sound to my ears was the sinner.

[Kain]

i peronsally have a VHII neck pup installed into a Jackson Rhoads. i hated this PUP at first but after a while i noticed a lot of differnt thing is could do with it as compared to a lotof my other guitars. on high gain if you make a chord its EXTREMLY  crisp and easy to understand what type of chord it is. its not just a bunch of gainy noise. if i make a C7 i know its a C7. very clear very crisp whilst still retaining that high gain aspect and enabling you to do pinchs and the like. now ill mention again that its a neck pup. imagine the clarity it would have for a bridge. i should do that hahaha.

[gordiji]

i've not chipped in because i know not of rebell's. the bridge vhii which i have though is indeed very crisp, clear, paf like
unforgiving,toppy and full of character.(70's and early 80's rock to my ears).
it was a toss up for me between mules, vh11 and holy d's, i've no plans to swap but i'm sure i'd equally love the others
for their own 'personality'.

[braintheory]

If the Rebel Yell really has everything the VHII has and more like bonamassive said why consider the VHII?  In the clips I've heard the Rebel Yell sounds more ballsy and aggressive and no less articulate than the VHII.

[Nolly]

They're very different, the mids have a completely different voicing. The VHII has the characteristic asymmetrical sound and the lower output means less compression and a more open top end. The Rebel Yell's coils are wound much closer in turns so it has a lot of the harder midrange you get from a symmetrical wind. It's got more bass extension and a very different top end.

[gwEm]

while you can get a vintage tone from the VH2, Rebel Yells are much more modern sounding. I have bridge models of both in different guitars. The Rebel Yell sounds so *BIG* in the right Les Paul, and is great in a busy mix since they don't have too much low end.

they are very different sounding pickups, but they can cover a number of similar bases i think.

VH2 has lovely cleans, and the Rebel Yell does clean well too, but I would prefer the VH2. would say the vh2 is more biting, and the rebel yell is more aggressive - but thats a hard call.

furthermore i would say - listen to the steve stevens clips, they fit my experience of using the pickups very well. hunter has some nice vh2 clips too.

[braintheory]

The VHII has the characteristic asymmetrical sound and the lower output means less compression and a more open top end. The Rebel Yell's coils are wound much closer in turns so it has a lot of the harder midrange you get from a symmetrical wind. It's got more bass extension and a very different top end.

How would you describe this "characteristic asymmetrical sound".  Also, will either pickup sound boxy, bloated, nasally, or congested because of the midrange voicing.  The aftermath and warpig I have have plenty of mids without having those too much of those qualities, but the Painkiller I had did have those unpleasant qualities.

[gwEm]

Also, will either pickup sound boxy, bloated, nasally, or congested because of the midrange voicing.

no  :D

[richard]

Just come back from rehearsing with my Firebird/RYs and the sound was HUGE.

[braintheory]

Will either pickup have a midrange voicing similar to the Painkiller, which wasn't for me
or will either pickup have a midrange voicing similar to the aftermath, which I liked
or a midrange like the warpig, which I also like

[Yellowjacket]

The Aftermath sounds like it has a lot of low mids.  The Rebel Yell has a lot of high mids and really imparts that 'marshall' sort of a crunch to high gain heads.  I love it with my Gibson but it might not be your bag.  The VHII has even more treble because of the asymmetrical wind.