Help? C-Bomb for no-djenty rock/hardrock/metal sound (alder/maple)

[Cboysen]

Hey, I just ordered a 6505+ to go with my Orange PPC412 or Impulses, upgrading from my 6505+ combo..

.. And I thought it would be time for better pickups than my current EMG81/85 in my Maple Neck-through, Alder wings guitar. (ESP LTD JH-600).  - Should I go with the the C-bomb/Coldsweat option?

Long story:

To be honest, I'm quite new to all this pickup stuff, and I'm having a hard time dechiphering the qualities of a pickup based on sound clips from the website. Yes, the recordings are great, and there are tonal differences on the same type of clips, but I'm not sure if it's something that can be EQ'ed / Gated to sound the same anyway?

I'm mostly doing home-recording stuff and looking for a good hardrock/metal tone.. as vague as that may sound..
On the other hand, I do want to cover a lot of ground, despite the 6505+ not being that versatile an amp.
Going from warm cleans to Green Channel Hard rock tones, to crushing metal? - is it possible to do all in one pickup, without sacrificing too much. - In any case, I rather see crushing metal than fender clean ..

It seems like everyone is saying 'this' is tight and 'this' is tonally rich and 'this' is very organic.. Well it all sounds pretty fancy, but tbh I have no idea what to look for in a tone when you genious-guys go all descriptive in a pro review..

So I guess I'll just have to use whatever guitar-pickup vocabulary I got and pray to whomever, that you'll get some of it and try to help me out! :)


What I do like:
Warm, fat, punchy, brutal, rumbling, half-smooth, low-mid/mid-emphasized, clear guitar. (is clear the opposite of fat?)

What I don't like:
Spike'y pick-attack / djenty sound (I -really- don't like the djent tone), Mid-scooped, ice-piercing, fuzzy(like the a Marshall on low volume?), blurry tone.

So what bands guitar-tone do I like (especially stating tone here, not actual genre):
Hammerfall (Chapter V, Legacy of Kings)
Carcass (Heartwork, duh)
Trivium (Shogun)
My Chemical Romance (The Black Parade)
The Human Abstract (Midheaven)
In flames (Reroute to Remain, Come Clarity, Colony)
Rise against (The Sufferer & the Witness, Siren Song of the Counter Culture )
As I Lay dying (An Ocean Between Us)
August Burns Red (Messengers, Thrill Seeker)
Blowsight
Kill Hannah (For Never & Ever)
The Offspring (Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace)
Coheed and Cambria (Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV vol.1 and 2)

Okay.. That list became rather long - sorry about that, but hopefully you can recognize a bit of similarity in some of them..

So as I mentioned (and as Tim Mills recommended to me) -  Should I get the C-bomb / Cold sweat pickups?
Will they suite my genre / tone-preferences? My fear is that, they will sound too scooped or too Djenty...

Other options would of course be the Miracle Man or the A-bomb. Miracle Man being more Mid/high mid where Nailbomb is more Low-mid Growl, or am I completely wrong about this?
If the nailbomb is the right choice, would the Alnico version be too middy, now that Maple + 6505 + v30's is already quite mid-heavy?

Sorry for the novel
Kind Regards

Christian

[Attica!]

The C-Bomb/Cold Sweat would be a very good option, but Miracle Man would be the better option in my opinion. It describes what you want perfectly and it has that Low-Mid emphasis you described. It's really chunky and sounds very full :)

I have a Jackson RR with Miracle Mans, through a Tube Screamer, right into a Peavey 6505. Absolutely awesome tone! I still personally prefer my EMGs, but the Miracle Man really gives you what the EMGs are missing. Maybe add a Pre-Amp bost to your guitar and you have the best of both worlds :)

[Cboysen]

The C-Bomb/Cold Sweat would be a very good option, but have you considered the Miracle Man bridge too?

Sorry - I was about to edit my post exactly about that, when you wrote - But yes. I'm very hooked on the MM too, but not sure if it can cover as much ground as the nailbomb. Is the Nailbomb more a jack of all trades, but master of none, where the MM is pure Children of Bodom metal?

[Attica!]

Sorry I edited my post too as I realised you mentioned the Miracle Man lol. The Miracle Man covers a very wide range of metal tones, and youcan always add a different neck pickup to give your guitar a more versatile range.

To describe the C-Bomb to the MM regarding leads, I find the C-Bomb has more weight behind the notes, whilst the Miracle Man is very fluid. But I find the Miracle Man excells in riffs that rumble your stomach haha

[Cboysen]

Hmm - Yeah we're out-editing each other .. bad;)

But I don't know.. I have a hard time deciding whether it should be the MM or the C-bomb/A-bomb.. How's the MM on Crunch/Clean and how well does it respond gain-wise to the volume control, compared to the nailbomb?

[Cboysen]

Oh and another thing - I was thinking of using my tone/volume control for splitting the Bridge and Neck pickups according.. Does the Nailbomb split better than the MM?

[Attica!]

Hmm - Yeah we're out-editing each other .. bad;)

But I don't know.. I have a hard time deciding whether it should be the MM or the C-bomb/A-bomb.. How's the MM on Crunch/Clean and how well does it respond gain-wise to the volume control, compared to the nailbomb?

Well I find the Nailbomb has more versatility as I use it from Death Metal, to Progressive, to Power, to Instrumental. And it cleans up very well too. The Miracle Man, whilst being versatilish within the Metal Genres, I find to suit the music where you want a really big bottom end for them huge breakdowns; as well as them liquid lead, mega fast solos.

What genres you going to be playing mostly?

[Attica!]

Oh and another thing - I was thinking of using my tone/volume control for splitting the Bridge and Neck pickups according.. Does the Nailbomb split better than the MM?

The answer to that is, Yes! Although the alnico splits slightly better, the Ceramic does very well too with the Cold Sweat. Have you considered Ibanez style wiring? means you don'thave to have a Push/Pull, and you get a versatile array of settings

[Cboysen]

Hmm .. I think a 5-way switch would require a bit of drilling, and I'm really not very fond of that. Also I thing splitting leaves me with more options, and when I'm mostly recording, it doesn't matter that much.

[Attica!]

Hmm .. I think a 5-way switch would require a bit of drilling, and I'm really not very fond of that. Also I thing splitting leaves me with more options, and when I'm mostly recording, it doesn't matter that much.

Ahh, you got a 3-way? For the music you describedit's a tough call. But for versatility, you can't go wrong with the C-Bomb/Cold Sweat route :)

[Cboysen]

Yeah - I mean, I'm sure I can't go 'wrong' with either but I rather have one guitar 'to rule them all', than investing several thousands on a new.. Also because I really like this one;)

But, to get back to the djenty stuff, which tbh, is what worries me the most. On the recordings (I believe Nolly did?) both the alnico and the Ceramic Nailbomb, has a slight djenty tedency going on.. Is that just a playing-technique/string/guitar-style or something that you can dial out? I seek punchy rather than djenty, if that makes any sense.. Maybe it's just due to the extreme clarity of the nailbomb?

[Attica!]

Djent is more a technique as it is the sound you get from a pickup. Yes, some pickups tend to help bring the technique out more than others, but a mis-conception with BKP is that the pickups are very tight, so that means they are very Djenty. It's actually due to the fact that a lot of Djent players use BKPs as they are very tight and really help them portray the sound they are looking for. So don't misunderstand that just because the pickup is exceptionally tight, that it will sound Djenty. The EMG 81 is as tight as hell, and plays Djent phenomenally, but you wouldn't say that was a pickup specifically for Djent would you?

But yeah, the Nailbomb/Cold Sweat combo is versatile as hell. If you want Petrucci leads, get the Cold Sweat; if you want you neck leads to sound a bit thicker and more smooth/creamy, get the Holy Diver neck; and if you want the ultimate versatile neck pickup, get the Emerald :)

[Toe-Knee]

I would also vote for the miracle man as it fits your description better from my experience.

Also for reference. miracle man doing hammerfall (not aiming for the hammerfall tone just my usual tone)
http://soundcloud.com/boyes/in-memoriam

[Cboysen]

I would also vote for the miracle man as it fits your description better from my experience.

Also for reference. miracle man doing hammerfall (not aiming for the hammerfall tone just my usual tone)
http://soundcloud.com/boyes/in-memoriam

Oh that's real nice.. !

The kinda lead tone I like is definitely something along the lines of synyster gates on critical acclaim (live)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDtrYMCCMX8

[Toe-Knee]

I would also vote for the miracle man as it fits your description better from my experience.

Also for reference. miracle man doing hammerfall (not aiming for the hammerfall tone just my usual tone)
http://soundcloud.com/boyes/in-memoriam

Oh that's real nice.. !

The kinda lead tone I like is definitely something along the lines of synyster gates on critical acclaim (live)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDtrYMCCMX8

actually i forgot to mention the main bulk of the lead tone on that is the mississippi queen (neck) and the harmony is the MM (bridge)

I reckon the MQ could very easily get the Synyster gates type tones
especially with your amp