Pickup Choice for a Jem 505

[spie]

Oi guys. I just bought a new jem 505, HsH
5pc Maple/Walnut Prestige Jem neck, baswood body and maple fingerboard.

I want clean , honest pickups, only modern ones come into question.
for the middle i will defiently get the trilogy, now i need something to combine it with,
I use Guitar rig 5 Pro and my monitors most of the time, so recording is the main priority :)

I felt in love with the tone of the Rebel yells, but i suppose they will have to sometime go into a les paul.
I love Vai and Satch stuff, so a combination that lets me get that high input clean evo por smooth and clean tapping as well as that Satch surfing witht the alien tone would be awesome, if not im satisfied with tight, well defined and clean pickups that define notes pretty well, without necesarily being sterile.

Gonna be getting a blackstar-h5 soon, but it will only be a practice amp.
I spend most of my time messing around with my guitar rig so i can vary the sound quite a lot and virutally get any tone.

Thanks in advance.

[Nolly]

Holy Diver would be my recommendation for the bridge spot - they're a great match in basswood instruments. The Cold Sweat neck is a very popular choice amongst modern instrumental shredders, and would pair up nicely with the Holy Diver in the bridge.

[Telerocker]

Holy Diver would be my recommendation for the bridge spot - they're a great match in basswood instruments. The Cold Sweat neck is a very popular choice amongst modern instrumental shredders, and would pair up nicely with the Holy Diver in the bridge.

+1. The Diver provides terrific solotones.

[darkbluemurder]

Holy Diver would be my recommendation for the bridge spot - they're a great match in basswood instruments. The Cold Sweat neck is a very popular choice amongst modern instrumental shredders, and would pair up nicely with the Holy Diver in the bridge.

+1. The Diver provides terrific solotones.

+2 on the HD and +1 on the CS neck.

[spie]

Holy Diver would be my recommendation for the bridge spot - they're a great match in basswood instruments. The Cold Sweat neck is a very popular choice amongst modern instrumental shredders, and would pair up nicely with the Holy Diver in the bridge.

Thanks guys im already salivating!!!
im gonna trust your suggestions :)
I would love to have this setup checked by you before i order:

1 - 6 String Holydiver humbucker - Covered Bridge (F-Spaced 53mm) Conductor: 4 Leg: Short (1/4")  

2 - Trilogy Suite single coil - Singles - Pos: Middle,  Polarity: RW/RP Magnet: noob question: it isnt clear to me what difference it would make,  do some players just prefer them flat to avoid accidentally picking the magnets when recording or does it affect tone drastically ? 

3 - Cold Sweat - Covered Neck (F-Spaced 53mm) Conductor: 4 Leg: Short (1/4")

Everything alright?

[Poetic Justice]

Holy Diver would be my recommendation for the bridge spot - they're a great match in basswood instruments. The Cold Sweat neck is a very popular choice amongst modern instrumental shredders, and would pair up nicely with the Holy Diver in the bridge.

Hi again Nolly. I'm curious as to this too. What would your thoughts be on the VHII vs Cold Sweat neck debate? I remember you saying that you really loved the VHII for Prog Metal, and I'm kind of in a dilemma between that and the Cold Sweat now haha. Also I was meant to ask this before: For my Ibanez S Series, I'm looking for a very versatile set for Prog Metal/Instrumental, kind of like John Petrucci, and you really put me onto the Rebel Yell, and I wanted to ask if you think the Rebel Yell is sort of inbetween the A-Bomb & C-Bomb?

[darkbluemurder]

1 - 6 String Holydiver humbucker - Covered Bridge (F-Spaced 53mm) Conductor: 4 Leg: Short (1/4")  

OK.

2 - Trilogy Suite single coil - Singles - Pos: Middle,  Polarity: RW/RP Magnet: noob question: it isnt clear to me what difference it would make,  do some players just prefer them flat to avoid accidentally picking the magnets when recording or does it affect tone drastically ? 

You need a pickup with opposite polarity to the inner humbucker coils to avoid hum in the #2 and #4 positions. Best to ask the BKP team or add a comment in the comments box that this is a HSH set.

3 - Cold Sweat - Covered Neck (F-Spaced 53mm) Conductor: 4 Leg: Short (1/4")

On the neck pickup 50mm should be OK because string spacing gets narrower the closer you get to the nut.

Of course you need to select the cover style.

Cheers Stephan

[Nolly]

Hi again Nolly. I'm curious as to this too. What would your thoughts be on the VHII vs Cold Sweat neck debate? I remember you saying that you really loved the VHII for Prog Metal, and I'm kind of in a dilemma between that and the Cold Sweat now haha. Also I was meant to ask this before: For my Ibanez S Series, I'm looking for a very versatile set for Prog Metal/Instrumental, kind of like John Petrucci, and you really put me onto the Rebel Yell, and I wanted to ask if you think the Rebel Yell is sort of inbetween the A-Bomb & C-Bomb?

To my ears the Cold Sweat has a "harder" attack where the VHII is springier/woodier. As I think I said in one of the PMs, I find describing the differences between neck pickups much more difficult than bridge ones - to me the connection between player and pickup is more related to feel and ease of expression when it comes to the neck spot. However, I stand by my individual recommendations here.

I don't think it's right to say the Rebel Yell is in between those two. It has some of the qualities of both, but at a lower output that gives it a leaner low end, higher resonant peak and a more open dynamic.

[spie]

Thanks for your time guys.
Will be posting some samples on the not so distant future.

Last question i promise ^^.
I conclude from the high quality reputation of bareknuckles
that covering the pickups wont have an effect on the highs?

Greetings.
Alex

[darkbluemurder]

Last question i promise ^^.
I conclude from the high quality reputation of bareknuckles
that covering the pickups wont have an effect on the highs?

Hi Alex,

As I understand covers will have an effect but Tim compensates the wiring for this. I have two pairs of covered humbuckers and I can assure that the highs come through loud and clear.

Cheers Stephan