Which Bareknuckles to choose?

[GuitarIv]

So guys, I'm thinking about getting myself Bareknuckles for my guitars, but I don't know which ones would suit me best. I play a Custom Handmade "Neubauer Guitars" Strat and a rather cheap Ibanez RG 350 MZ.

So to describe the Strat first:

As said it's a rather expensive handmade guitar with a 30 year old airdried Hungarian Poplar Body and a 40 year old airdried Canadian Maple Neck and Fretboard. It has a HSS Configuration with a Master Volume and two Tone Knobs, a Vintage Tremolo Bridge (that I never use, I tightened the screws to "block" it) and at the moment I have two Duesenberg Singlecoils and a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck in it. I play mostly metal, especially stuff with lots of fast riffing, syncopated stuff and single note runs. I'm also the occasional Rock, Hard Rock and Blues player and when I do clean stuff I use the Singlecoils. The problem I have currently with the sound of the guitar is that it sounds really bright, almost piercing in the highs and a little bit weak on the lows. I love mids, since those help to cut through the mix in a live situation and create a warm sound, but as said I guess the JB is a rather bright pickup in this bright guitar (correct me if I'm wrong). So I'd like to have a pickup that gives me a nice metal tone, punchy yet warm and without loosing clarity and note definition. For the Sinclecoils: they should have a smooth clean tone, considering the woods of the guitar. So, any suggestions?


As far as for the RG:

As said it's cheap, but it feels good to me and I love the looks, the Body is made out of Basswood and it has a Maple Neck and Fretboard. I swapped the cheap stock pickups for Seymour Duncan Invaders, leaving the middle PU cavity for the Singlecoil empty and changed it to a 3 way switch with a master volume and tone. Now what I love about the Invaders is the punch they deliver and the amazing abality to squeal and create pinch harmonics without an effort, but at the same time they are really noisy (not talking about hum or feedback, more the "don't forgive the smallest mistake" kind of noisy), the highs get lost and the low end sounds muddy. Tonewise for the bridge I'd like to get a pickup as described above with the strat, the Neck PU should have a smooth Les Paul like lead tone for sweeping and legato runs.

I'm not an expert on guitar woods and before I get BKs I thought I'd consider your opinions to be sure to get the right ones. Hope you can help me!

Cheers

[GuitarIv]

The Floyd on the Ibanez is blocked with a wood block, btw.

[Telerocker]

Strat: alnico or ceramic Nailbomb and two Slowhands. The NB can do modern metalstyles, but back the volumedown and it can provide rock- and bluestones. The ceramic is tighter but not as middy and warm as the alnico NB.
Another option is the Holy Diver: middy, sweet topend, one of the best BKP's for thick solotones. For fast riffing I would take the NB though. The Slowhands are quite middy, yet vintageorientated. The will do blues and Blackmore-stuff well.

RG: Miracle Man/Cold Sweat-neck (smooth tones when driven, great for solo's).

[Alex]

The Alnico Nailbomb should work great for the strat and for metal. I had a similar problem with my Voodoo Lespaul, that the top end was a bit thin and trebly and the Nailbomb has turned that guitar into an awesoome sounding instrument now. If your guitar is acoustically already a defined sounding guitar with no boomy low end and fast, natural attack, the Alnico Nailbomb should bring the best out of it. If you think the guitar needs a bit more tightening up and more definition on the low end then probably a ceramic one.

I only know the Trilogy Suite single coils from BKP, but I would have no problems recommending that. I was very much impressed by the neck pickup under high gain.

[Alex]

For the RG I would actually go against the Miracle Man, although I love that pickup, just because IMO most Ibanez RGs lack beef and "tonal substance" as a result of their construction (basswood body, super thin neck, Floyd, bolt-on). Something with a heavier midrange and less top end than the MM would be what I'd choose, it would also be closer to the Invader. The MM is, IMO, more akin to a supercharged (and more defined) Seymour Duncan SH-5.
BTW I had an RG550 for a couple of years with an Invader in the bridge position as well. It's really not the worst combination and definitely good for cutting through heavy mixes.

[Mr. Air]

I think telerocker and alex nailed it for you  :D

[Telerocker]

For the RG I would actually go against the Miracle Man, although I love that pickup, just because IMO most Ibanez RGs lack beef and "tonal substance" as a result of their construction (basswood body, super thin neck, Floyd, bolt-on). Something with a heavier midrange and less top end than the MM would be what I'd choose, it would also be closer to the Invader. The MM is, IMO, more akin to a supercharged (and more defined) Seymour Duncan SH-5.
BTW I had an RG550 for a couple of years with an Invader in the bridge position as well. It's really not the worst combination and definitely good for cutting through heavy mixes.

In some basswood bodies they're reckoned to work fine, but perhaps you're right that it would be safer to pick something with a tad more mids.

[CanadianMetalhead]

Ceramic warpig, Alnico warpig or a Holy diver in my opinion for the RG  :D

[Valisch]

+1 for the C-pig in the RG

[Slartibartfarst42]

A-Pig or C-Pig in the Ibanez and Holydiver for the Strat.

[GuitarIv]

Thanks for the many answers so far! I will certainly check out some Soundclips and decide then, also e-mailing Tim should be a good idea. About the Warpig: I have my fears that it could be to muddy on the bass and not versatile enough, is this justified? I also asked Nolly of Red Seas Fire about his opinion for the RG and he told me he personally loves the Holydiver or the Nailbomb for that setup. Oh and please note that the Floyd is blocked with a wooden block, so the bridge body connection should be better than on the normal model :)

cheers

[CanadianMetalhead]

The warpigs won't get muddy in standard tuning.

If you detune by a good chunk it'll sound sludgey but not muddy.

(( Edit )) : I own both of the warpigs and used them in basswood so that's where my reference is coming from :P

[GuitarIv]

Hey guys, sorry for bumping this thread up again, but I'm getting my money together and will be getting myself those 'knuckles for the Strat and the Ibanez really soon. I've chosen the Alnico Nailbomb and two Slowhands for the Strat and initially wanted to get a set of Nailbombs for the Ibanez (Ceramic Bridge). Well, with the release of the Blackhawks and the Soundclips Nolly provided I'm really thinking about getting a set of Blackhawks for the RG instead. Opinions? Would they work well in the RG? Alnico or ceramic bridge? Basswood Body, Maple Neck and Fretboard. I already described in the first post what sound I'm aiming for.

Any advice is welcome!

Cheers

[GuitarIv]

Bump?

[TheyCallMeVolume]

I think the Blackhawk would sound great great in that guitar. It matters though, what type of music will you be playing with it? I feel like the Blackhawk will probably be a little more sterile, so if you need something with alot of feel to it, I'd stick with NB's