Huge Dilemma regarding the Holy Diver!!!

[Nephilim]

OK I have a few BK pickups and I have been searching for a perticular tone. The tone I'm looking for for this certain guitar - Alder Body/Bolt-On Maple Neck/Ebony Fretboard - is a tone like Bullet for my Valentines 1st album: The Poison.

I'm led to believe from checking out the guitars they used as well as live vids, that they used Seymour Duncan JB/jazz sets on that album, rather than EMGs on their later albums. Something which I really liked about 'The Poison' was that although they had a tight Drop C, metal sound; they also sounded big, fat, 3D and organic. it was something which sounded purer than most metal bands I've heard. The album had life and character to it. After a while, I gave up on that searching for that tone, thinking Alnico Vs just won't cut it, settling for the Miracle Man set in my guitars, to get that EMG metal tone. But today, I found something which really really made me question myself, I came across a BKP member who had BKP Holy Divers in his guitar, with a recording of similar metal I do, with the exact same type of early BFMV tone I've been looking for. The guy btw is:

explorer76

on his my space --> http://www.myspace.com/ifdestinyremains I came across the song Medusas killing Glance, and it was that BFMV tone that I wanted. After more research, I actually discovered the Holy Diver was a very popular choice for replacing the SD JB/Jazz set.

Now my main point is, is the Holy Diver a great pickup for giving that fat metal tone Bullet For My Valentine had on the Poison album? Compared to the later extremely compressed EMG stuff?

[explorer76]

The Diver is a great pickup for those big and warm metal sounds like Killswitch Engage or BFMV. That was my intention when I ordered my Diver to replace the Painkiller. That time I was also advised to take the Miracle Man or an A-Bomb, but the Diver had a certain fascination and I regret nothing!

[Nephilim]

Well since I have a Miracle Man, I guess I can compare. Although the MM is in a Mahogany Set-Neck and the HD will be in an Alder Bolt-On. I'm actually selling a miracle Man set I've just bought now haha. if only I'd waited just a couple weeks, grrr

[Nephilim]

Oh and also, how tight is it in the bottom end? I'll be playng 56-10 guage strings in Drop C and D Standard.

[dani]

Oh and also, how tight is it in the bottom end?

that is what i would love to know considering i am planning to replace my aftermath 7 with the holydiver 7.

[explorer76]

I play Drop B with 11-50 strings and it's tight "as a nut" as the Master Tim would say ;).
Never had problems with sloppy string response. It's not as clinically tight as a Painkiller but imho tight enough for everything I can imagine. If I'd play just djenty stuff I'd choose an Aftermath or Painkiller, but for ultimate, organic and warm metal flexibility the Diver is the way to go!

[Nephilim]

I play Drop B with 11-50 strings and it's tight "as a nut" as the Master Tim would say ;).
Never had problems with sloppy string response. It's not as clinically tight as a Painkiller but imho tight enough for everything I can imagine. If I'd play just djenty stuff I'd choose an Aftermath or Painkiller, but for ultimate, organic and warm metal flexibility the Diver is the way to go!

Gauge 50 for a string in Drop B? I used to play 52 for D Standard and I found it extremely loose when dropping it to C. but everyone to their own i guess :)

[Nephilim]

Oh and also, how tight is it in the bottom end?

that is what i would love to know considering i am planning to replace my aftermath 7 with the holydiver 7.

Does this help? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDLQQ64gt-k

[explorer76]

Gauge 50 for a string in Drop B? I used to play 52 for D Standard and I found it extremely loose when dropping it to C. but everyone to their own i guess :)

For me on my caparison it works ;), 11-53 is the thickest I use normally on strat scales for that tuning. On LP scales thinnest is 12-56^^.

[Alex]

Well since I have a Miracle Man, I guess I can compare. Although the MM is in a Mahogany Set-Neck and the HD will be in an Alder Bolt-On. I'm actually selling a miracle Man set I've just bought now haha. if only I'd waited just a couple weeks, grrr

Alder Bolt-on sounds like a good match for the HD, just as Mahogany set neck is a good fit for the MM.

[Nephilim]

OK new question regarding Holy Diver and Miracle Man? I know the MM sounds great in all Mahogany guitars, and the HD in Alder/Maple guitars. But how will these 2 pickups compare in Maple Neck-Thru with Mahogany Wings?