just installed 1st BKP set NB's-rocking but a little lower output than expected?

[mongey]

So i just got my nailbomb set and put it in last night.

Only had an hour and a half with it at home volume but they're sounding great . I've read people talk about the difference in clarity . Its really different from all the duncans I've used . bumped my heavy channel gain up from 1 oclock to 3 and its still defined with more gain

They seem to be a bit lower output than the duncans i've used . needed to bump up the volume a bit more than usual but no bigge. i never run my recto much over 50% anyway . My soldering skills are dogey at best but the solders look good and shiny . can a bad solder affect output anyway ? again I really like the PU's just 2nd guessing my skills

The NB neck is really nice . right up my alley for clean tones

[PhilKing]

Bad solder can definately affect the output.  If you pull on the joint and it is a reall bad cold joint, the the wire will just peel away.  However if everything looks shiny then you should be OK.  You don't say what pickups you had and what you changed to.  That might be where the difference is.

[mongey]

true. yeah i jigged on the wire and the solder held so I think its fine

I've had a duncan 59 neck  in it forever and C5,C8,Alt8 and a dimebucker in the bridge  over the years

and now its a nailbomb alnico set

[Telerocker]

Fiddle with the height to find the sweet spots. BKP's need sometimes a bit of tweaking.

[Lilarcor]

The Alternative 8 and the Dimebucker definitely have a hell lot of output. So if that's what you had in your guitar I'd say the drop in output is quite normal.
Recently I heard a comparison between the A8 and the Aftermath with exactly the same amp settings, same guitar and so on. The A8 had a lot more output and to my surprise slightly tighter bass but was kinda sterile compared to the AM. The Aftermath on the other hand sounded fuller and more organic yet maintaining great clarity and tightness.

[mongey]

yeah . I had a 3 hour jam last night and I'm loving the NB set. Think it was just my ears getting used to different sound .

 I'm suprised the alt 8 had a tighter low end than the AM in the demo . I htink the NB has a tighter low the alt 8 , much less boomy to deal with . 

[ericsabbath]

the nailbomb gets loud as $%&# close to the strings
I prefer it at medium height, but if you're missing output, try it very close to the strings
this will make the low end boomier and the mids more in your face sounding, though
the nailbomb was actually the only BKP that I did NOT feel any output drop from other brands
it felt hotter than the alnico warpig and miracle man, only less hot than the aftermath

[BigB]

the nailbomb gets loud as $%&# close to the strings
I prefer it at medium height, but if you're missing output, try it very close to the strings
this will make the low end boomier and the mids more in your face sounding

I also prefer it not too close - it's already quite an hot and aggressive pickup, and I don't feel like it needs more push. But I'm not into metal tones so YMMV.

FWIW, I tried the "lower pole pieces and raise the whole pup" yesterday and it indeed fattens the tone a bit (sounds closer to what I remember from the old JBj the NB replaced - but WAY better) and seems to balance better with the mule neck (did the same trick on the Mule neck to try and get a bit more highs but the jury's still out on this one).

[mongey]

I've ended up settling about 4-5mm on the bridge unfretted from the strings .

Output isnt a worry . got it pretty dialed now

 Was doing some copmparrison with my other guiatr with is a bridge PU only , no tone knob alt 8 and they're pretty close but the alt8 is a bit further from the strings than the NB

theres actually allot of similar things about the NB-A5  and alt 8 tone I've found .

 Cant wait till saturday in the studio to actually open up the amp and get it screaming