Been recommended to use Bareknuckles. But which ones?

[Youth And Whiskey]

Hi all, my younger brothers have been going on about Bareknuckles for the last month or so, saying I should change my current pickups to them (seeing as mine are apparantly rubbish) lolz.

I currently have 2 guitars. An old JP model, which I believe is basswood (I'm pretty sure it's not got the mahogany tone block.) And I also have the Ibanez Herman Li (the blonde one, not the higher priced purple).

I'm only looking to upgrade the pickups in one of these guitars at the present time, although once I've decided which guitar is best to do what I need, I'll decide on the other. Well, here goes. I'll try and write in sections to make it easier to read on the eye:

I play in a sort of, whatever goes, type of band. We just basically write what we feel at the time. I'd say it's more towards the heavier spectrum; of course, not as far to say thrash - more like 80s Metal meets Power Metal (without the cheesy vocals) but modernized.

We still play our balads, so a beautiful clean tone is a must.

I really want the powerchords to sound full, as well as the leads. We usually break into a song with a sort of melodically constructed solo/lead line over pretty traditional power chord structures - although we do add the odd random chord to make it sound a bit more unique.

As well as the basic 2/3 note power chords, I like to play distorted/overdriven chords using many different varieties of the six strings, whether that be 4,5 or 6 note chords. So I'd really like a pickup that lets you hear all the notes within the chord, rather than the mush I'm getting at the moment. I also like to play distorted/overdriven arpeggiated chords, so I'd like the notes to really compliment each other, rather than just blending into each other and again sounding like mush. If you listen to the clip I've put below on the next paragraph from 0:55, you'll get what I mean. Although I'd prefer greater clarity.

I also like to play them type of rhythms were (I'll try and explain this as best as I can) you use something like either the E or A single string as the bass note, whilst adding chords on the D,G,B strings, if you get what I mean? Kind of Van Halen-esque. If you listen to this clip from 1:08, you'll get what I mean - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ngqclheMM.

I'm also very fond of the 'good ole' guitar solo, so I'd really like something that really shines through when playing everything from Shred to the 80s Metal-style Power Ballads. But I'd also like it to have a tad bit of versatilty for when I play solos with a clean sound, or that overdriven, but clean sound you get from rolling your guitars volume back. For this pickup set, I'm really not looking for that sterile, lead/solo tone you hear so many people have. I'd really like my emotion to show through in my playing, and it respond to my playing touch/style, almost like it can understand me as if we're one (sounds cheesy that, but couldn't really think of summat less cheese haha).

So if anyone who has had experience with playing this type of music, if you could help me please? Also in which guitar it would sound better in (I just hear BKs are very responsive to certain tone-woods). I like both equally so there's no problem there. Regarding pickups for the second guitar, I'll go into this once I've got this one decided.

Also I know with other brands you can mix pickups, but is this the case with Bareknuckle, or is it best to stay within the calibrated sets?

Thanks in advance  :D

[Alex]

I'd recommend the Nailbomb as first choice and the Holy Diver as second. The NB will be more versatile in the sense that it can also do thrash metal sounds, whereas the HD is very 80s metal.

[Youth And Whiskey]

I'd recommend the Nailbomb as first choice and the Holy Diver as second. The NB will be more versatile in the sense that it can also do thrash metal sounds, whereas the HD is very 80s metal.

Well I don't really want a pickup to do be able to do thrash to be truly honest. As I said, we play heavy stuff, but not as far to say thrash metal. Just looked at the Holy Diver, and it seems to be a pretty good pickup for what I wanted. I was originally looking at the Medium Hot section. Would you recommend the Calibrated set? And which guitar would you say it'd work better in?

Also you mentioned the nailbomb being more versatile. I've just listened to the clips, and it sounds a lot sharper, so I wondered whether this would be a good thing for my music? I just don't want the band to start sounding extremely 'modern metal sounding' if you get what I mean?

[Alex]

Yes, and I think then the HD should be your first choice.

[Youth And Whiskey]

Yes, and I think then the HD should be your first choice.

The HD neck as well? Do you think it would suit the Music man JP better? I'm just thinking the Mahogany Herman Li might make the pickup a bit darker than is needed.

[Telerocker]

A classic BKP-combo is Holy Diver/Cold Sweat. The Cold Sweat-neck does those modern fluid solo's par excellence. The HD is the one for beefy solo's, where the Nailbomb has more output and aggression in the uppermidrange and highs.

[Alex]

Yes, and I think then the HD should be your first choice.

The HD neck as well? Do you think it would suit the Music man JP better? I'm just thinking the Mahogany Herman Li might make the pickup a bit darker than is needed.

Sorry, I have no experience with any BKP neck pickups, only bridge pickups.
But Telerocker has give a good recommendation for the neck.

[Youth And Whiskey]

How does the Cold Sweat compare to the Holy Diver neck? I've read on a few threads that the Holy Diver neck is meant to have the best lead tones out of the range, which really does sound appealing. I hear the Cold Sweat is very fluid though, which sounds good for playing fast with. But does it provide the fatness of the Holy Diver? I'm more of a melodic player, who can shred, but when I play fast, I try to play it with feeling and construct the solo to make sense, rather than it be just a load of crammed notes. So I'm looking for a really organic neck pickup, that cleans up nicely.

[Telerocker]

Yes, and I think then the HD should be your first choice.

The HD neck as well? Do you think it would suit the Music man JP better? I'm just thinking the Mahogany Herman Li might make the pickup a bit darker than is needed.

Sorry, I have no experience with any BKP neck pickups, only bridge pickups.
But Telerocker has give a good recommendation for the neck.

I don't have experience with both neckhumbuckers, but recapturing what I read over and over on the forum about these neckpickups. I think the CS is the one to go, but maybe some users will chime in. Or Nolly who knows the hb's quite well.

[darkbluemurder]

I have the Cold Sweat neck but not the Holydiver neck. Generally the CS neck is more recommended for overdriven leads whereas the HD neck more for clean tones.

Cheers Stephan

[Sancho]

I'd recommend the Nailbomb as first choice and the Holy Diver as second. The NB will be more versatile in the sense that it can also do thrash metal sounds, whereas the HD is very 80s metal.

I came here to post just this. Have to add a disclaimer though : these are the only BKPs I have personal experience with...
The music you describe is pretty much what I do as well. Old school metal but not contrived retro.
I have the AlNiCo Nailbomb set in a Les Paul that's tuned to D, and it sounds huge. The Holydiver is in a Soloist. It's a very rich tone with plenty of harmonics, but it seems to lack some bottom chunk. May be the guitar it's in though.

[ericsabbath]

the alnico miracle man is a good alternative to the holy diver as well
sounds even chunkier and a bit less upper mid heavy
kinda like a modern warpig without the fuzzy midrange grind

[BigB]

Also you mentioned the nailbomb being more versatile. I've just listened to the clips, and it sounds a lot sharper, so I wondered whether this would be a good thing for my music? I just don't want the band to start sounding extremely 'modern metal sounding' if you get what I mean?

I have a ABomb bridge in a SG (paired with a Mule neck), and I'm definitly not into metal unless you mean early BÖC stuff ;). This pup is indeed quite sharp (yet meaty), and sounds rather "modern" (in good way) with the volume pot wide opened, but it works just fine for more classic rock and even early 70s blues rock stuff if you roll the volume down a bit. Lots of bite, but still full and organic, not as vintage as a Mule, RR or even Crawler but very far from a just a "modern metal one trick pony".

My 2 cents...