esp eclipse II pickup choice?

[mniel8195]

this guitar has two duncan blackouts which sound horrible compared to my charvel with passives.  Like my first post "charvel hss" i play through a axe fx main sound is a boosted 5150 and a marsha hbe.  The guitar is super light mahogany with a flame maple top with a rosewood fingerboard. what do you guys think?

[OddFutureWolfGang]

Greetings,
I happen to have an EC-1000 so I think I could help you out a bit.
What kind of music do you play, what don't you like about the blackouts, and what kinda sound are you looking for?

[mniel8195]

I don't like anything about the blackouts it's like going from a really nice piano to a cheap keyboard.  I play mostly modern metal-80s rock-to progressive stuf.  So really alot of everything.  I'm thinking if the rebell yell in the bridge and the vhii in the neck.  Why would someone put the vhii in the neck vs the rebell yell? It does seam to be a popular choice.

[ericsabbath]

nailbombs

[darkbluemurder]

I play mostly modern metal-80s rock-to progressive stuf.  So really alot of everything. 

Modern metal = Nailbomb
80s rock = Holydiver, Rebel Yell
Progressive stuff = Nailbomb
Total = Nailbomb

I'm thinking if the rebell yell in the bridge and the vhii in the neck.  Why would someone put the vhii in the neck vs the rebell yell? It does seam to be a popular choice.

It is but so is the RY set.

Cheers Stephan

[mniel8195]

you guys are helping me out allot thanks! i remember talking to nolly a while ago and the owner forgot his name and they both mentioned the nailbomb as great pickups that are about as versatile as they get.  the only think i have to decide before i order is if i go ceramic in the bridge or Alnico.  i feel like the ceramic would be better suited for my esp eclipse and that the alnico would sound better in my charvel san dimas.  the charvel is going to need more bass and mids and i think the eclipse wont. what do you guys think?

[mniel8195]

these are my guitars.  Im thinking zebras in the esp eclipse and probably just black in the charvel. 

[Roobubba]

I don't want to put words in these guys' mouths, but when they say Nailbomb, I'm pretty sure they exclusively mean 'AlNiCo Nailbomb'
The Ceramic Nailbomb is a specific custom pickup, not the standard NB. I would certainly picture the normal AlNiCo 'bomb for what you've described.

Hope this helps,

Roo

(edit punctuation fail)

[darkbluemurder]

Roo,

You're correct - Alnico Nailbomb was what I wanted to say.

Cheers
Stephan

[FRockStar]

I'd have to agree with the alnico Nailbomb for the bridge on this one.

I've got an esp ltd ec1000 that I had been trying to find the right bridge pickup for. I put in a Nailbomb I had spare which I hadn't  been completely happy with in a couple of other guitars and.. Boom!..Love it! Tight & powerful & ballsy.. Yeah, it's pretty modern sounding when all out but back off a bit and there are plenty more classic rock & metal tones on offer. Also, for me, it matches up nicely with the sd59 in the neck. (Not a lot of people round here have much love for the sd59, but I kinda like it!.. so there).

[mniel8195]

Pulled the the trigger on a rebell yell vhii neck combo in zebras for the eclipse.  If for some reason it doesn't Work I'll go the nailbomb route.  How long does it take to ship to Seattle?  Got three new 550 pots just going to wire it up pretty standard for now.  Do I need new capacitors if I'm running off of emg wiring?

[DoomBuggi]

  Got three new 550 pots just going to wire it up pretty standard for now.  Do I need new capacitors if I'm running off of emg wiring?

Yes. 

They also sell the capacitors on the site. 
 
  They recommend using BK PIO Jensen Capacitors 0.022ufd

Here it is;  http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24_70&products_id=199

By the way, if you told both Tim and Nolly about what you where aiming for, and both of their suggestions was the Nailbomb, you should go with that.  Tim obviously knows his stuff, and Nolly has had a bit of experience with BK as well. 

[Kiichi]

Pulled the the trigger on a rebell yell vhii neck combo in zebras for the eclipse.  If for some reason it doesn't Work I'll go the nailbomb route.  How long does it take to ship to Seattle?  Got three new 550 pots just going to wire it up pretty standard for now.  Do I need new capacitors if I'm running off of emg wiring?

Donīt forget that you will need to tweak the height of the PUs a lot. And I mean a lot. You will be suprised how sensitive they are to height adjustments (I can speak for the RY bridge in the combo you ordered). Took me a long time to get is somewhat right.

Start very close to the strings and slowly (and I mean half a screw turn can make a lot of difference slowly) back up.
Get used to how the characteristics differer.
Then slowly zoom in on what works best for you. (I personally like the PUs backed up quite a bit, like 4-5mm far away even)

This will take quite some time (if you do it properly about a month Iīd say) but believe me, it will be worth it!
The RY is incredible.

Just donīt dismiss them right away if you are not 100% happy with the initial sound. Take 1 or 2 turns of the screw and listen again and you will understand

[mniel8195]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I have gotten both suggestions frOm both nolly and Tim "nailbombs and the rebell/ vhii combo".  So I'm willing to go this rOute and I will be patient in setting it up.  Sounds like between 2mm and 4pm is the magic number for the bridge. Like I said if all else fails I will go the nailbomb route. I think the combo route I went will be worth the risk. I also added the capacitor to my order.  One thing I am a bit worried about is that my ESP neck pickup has a bit of a slant to it not parallel to the string like on alot of guitars. Well See how that turns out..."slant in depth not slant like it's crooked on the boy like fanned fret guitars or old 80s guitars if you know what I'm sayin"

[DoomBuggi]

One thing I am a bit worried about is that my ESP neck pickup has a bit of a slant to it not parallel to the string like on alot of guitars. Well See how that turns out..."slant in depth not slant like it's crooked on the boy like fanned fret guitars or old 80s guitars if you know what I'm sayin"

If anyone has any solutions to the the slanted/un-parallel pickup to strings dilemma, I would be interested to know too.  I have that problem with one of my neck pickups as well.