Pickup recommendation for homemade guitar.

[Explorer]

Hi,

Im currently building an explorer style guitar, and need some help from the BKP community. Ive spent hours researchig the BKP forums and site, and im completely overwhelmed by all the options available.

The guitar im building has a solid New Guinea rosewood body, and a mahogany 25.5 inch scale bolt on neck with ebony fingerboard.

I'll be playing mostly metal and some classic rock ie; Black sabbath, Opeth, Metallica, Kyuss.

Im tempted by the warpig, but im not sure how it will be for a classic rock stuff. I currently have a nailbomb in a les  paul studio, and would like something different.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly apreciated, Thanks.

[Roobubba]

Miracle Man.

Perfect for explorers, and perfect for those tones :)

Roo

[Explorer]

Thanks for your suggestion :D I like what ive read about the MM, im also curious about the Holy Diver, apparently it has a great lead tone. I will have to check out more videos on youtube.

[Grim]

I'd recommend the C-Bomb or Cold Sweat as well. Even the A-bomb. But yeah, Miracle Man should be great.

[Telerocker]

Considering the bodywood and the bolt-on neck I think a Holy Diver is certainly to be looked at.

[Explorer]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, could someone please tell me what pickups the A-Bomb and C-bomb are?

[Miek]

They're both the nailbomb, but the C refers to the nailbomb with a ceramic magnet, and the A refers to the nailbomb with the alnico V magnet.

[Explorer]

They're both the nailbomb, but the C refers to the nailbomb with a ceramic magnet, and the A refers to the nailbomb with the alnico V magnet.

Thanks :)

[Dave Sloven]

I've never tried to make a homemade guitar. I think it's so complicated that I won't manage it. Although, no harm in trying, isn't it? Which instruments do you need usually? I guess, soldering tool, saws, and many others. I guess I should move to tool reviews and read there all in order to choose the best.

There's more room for error with a bolt-on neck, I wouldn't try to set a neck first time out. I know someone who put together a kit Explorer with a set neck and didn't take my advice of paying a professional to set the neck, and ended up with  an expensive piece of firewood.

Yeah I would look at pickups that go well with bolt-on necks and ebony fretboards, like Holy Diver, Juggernaut, alnico Black Hawk, Impulse.

[Muffler]

I had a basswood body, rosewood top and neck guitar, and it was the darkest sounding guitar I've ever had. Maybe the ebony will give more top end to your guitar, but I would look into bright pickups for that wood combination, perhaps VHII or Rebel Yells

[Telerocker]

We're talking New Guinea rosewood body here. How does that compare to basswood? In my experiences cheap basswood can sound a bit dull, but a guitar like a Suhr with basswood body is a different story. Just curious what the rosewood body will contribute tonewise. The mahogany neck in your homebuild Explorer will add warmth and mids, the ebony fretboard provides some percussiveness.
With this woodcombination and a bolt on neck it's difficult to recommend a pickup. Personally I would go for RiffRaffs or Mules, but the TS wants something hotter I assume. I'd stick to Divers (which are not dark!) or maybe Rebel Yells.

[Muffler]

We're talking New Guinea rosewood body here. How does that compare to basswood? In my experiences cheap basswood can sound a bit dull, but a guitar like a Suhr with basswood body is a different story. Just curious what the rosewood body will contribute tonewise. The mahogany neck in your homebuild Explorer will add warmth and mids, the ebony fretboard provides some percussiveness.

The guitar was a Music Man Axis Rosewood, very similar in terms of construction than my Music Man JP6, basswood body too, but very different tone. Basswood usually gives a quite "flat" eq response, so the maple neck of the JP6 gives a brighter character to the overall sound, and the rosewood neck and top of the Axis gave a dark, kind of vintage tone. Out of my experience, I would say that guitar will sound dark

[Dave Sloven]

Personally I would finish building the guitar and string it up to see what it sounds like acoustically before adding pickups etc.

Then you will know if it is bright, resonant, middy, or whatever before choosing pickups