Which pick up on a muscular Strat for Maiden style metal?

[case report]

Hi everybody!
after Bare Knuckle Holy Diver + Trilogy Suite for Jackson Fusion Pro and Stormy Monday
set for Gibson Les Paul R8, here I am again for a new strat project BK powered!
I'm transforming an american standard stratocaster (alder body, maple neck) for hard rock/
classic metal with 2 humbuckers pick up instead of classic single coil set.
I will play Iron Maiden more than others, so this is my main target, but it's not the only one;
Furthermore I like fat distorsion in the bridge position but warm, round clean
in neck position (something like clean or light crunch big arpeggios)
Consider that I'd like something different from Holydiver, so which Humbuckers
do you advice me?
Thank you!

[Mr. Air]

Maybe a set of Crawlers would suit you. It will defenitely give you the fat distortion in bridge position. I must say that Holydivers seems like the obvious choice though  :D

[case report]

Maybe a set of Crawlers would suit you. It will defenitely give you the fat distortion in bridge position. I must say that Holydivers seems like the obvious choice though  :D

yes, Holydiver works great on Jackson, but I need no floyd guitar too!
What about Nailbomb (bridge)?

[Telerocker]

NB's sound more modern and agressive then HD. I think of it as 90's nu-metal, but that won't certainly not justify the NB's, cause they're are more versatile. You have to like the topend sizzle.

[ericsabbath]

the nailbomb should do it, although that's the holy diver job
if you didn't mention warm cleans, I'd say miracle man

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'm a huge Maiden fan and have been for more decades than I care to remember. To my mind the Crawler is too dark and the Nailbomb is definitely too modern, tight and aggressive. I hate to say it, but the pickup that best fits what you're after is without doubt the Holydiver. I do appreciate the difficulty you have because I've got a Holydiver in my Jackson so when it came to thinking of a new pup for my PRS I was sure I wanted something different. However, after much thought, lots of discussion on the forum and a conversation with Tim, I eventually decided to go with a Holydiver again. It really is a VERY versatile pickup and regardless of what it says on the website, I've found it to be far more versatile than the Nailbomb, which never seemed able to lose its 90s Metal feel.

Having said that, if you REALLY want something different to the Holydiver, I'd like to suggest the Abraxas. In terms of power and EQ, it's not massively different to the Super Distortion that is a key part of Maiden's sound and although I'll grant you that an Alnico IV magnet is very different to ceramic, it is articulate enough to carry it off and give you genuine versatility that a Super Distortion wouldn't. Look at it this way; if Tim can do Ozzy Osbourne with a Mule, you can certainly do Maiden with an Abraxas, which is often referred to as a hotter Mule.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

I also think you should stick with an HD. Really sounds like what you want here.

[case report]

So, seems like I should stay on Holydiver for bridge...
and what about neck?

[darrenw5094]

So, seems like I should stay on Holydiver for bridge...
and what about neck?

I think the neck is single coil like the middle pickup. A HSS pickup setup.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Trilogy Suites. I asked Tim about this question and he reckoned the Trilogy Suites would get the closest to the Dave Murray style so I assume they're what you're after.

[case report]

I think the neck is single coil like the middle pickup. A HSS pickup setup.

Trilogy Suites. I asked Tim about this question and he reckoned the Trilogy Suites would get the closest to the Dave Murray style so I assume they're what you're after.

I already have a Jackson fusion Pro '90 HSS (Holydiver + Trilogy Suites)
The strat I want to transform will be HH (I know very well it won't be a stratocaster anymore but it's what I really want    )
So, I need advices for a double humbucker...
What on neck? I'm looking for a warm humb, good for clean or light crunch arpeggios and solos in Murray style (check it out on dvd "En Vivo")

[itamar101]

I think the neck is single coil like the middle pickup. A HSS pickup setup.

Trilogy Suites. I asked Tim about this question and he reckoned the Trilogy Suites would get the closest to the Dave Murray style so I assume they're what you're after.

I already have a Jackson fusion Pro '90 HSS (Holydiver + Trilogy Suites)
The strat I want to transform will be HH (I know very well it won't be a stratocaster anymore but it's what I really want    )
So, I need advices for a double humbucker...
What on neck? I'm looking for a warm humb, good for clean or light crunch arpeggios and solos in Murray style (check it out on dvd "En Vivo")

Emerald for sure. Excactly what you just mentioned and it's a match made in heaven with the Holy Diver bridge.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Ah, my apologies, I'd assumed it was HSS. My mistake. As I'm always after a Dave Murray tone for the neck pickup, it's all I ever ask about from Tim so when I approached him about a neck pickup for my PRS Custom 24 he said either the Cold Sweat or Emerald. I was always putting a Holydiver in the bridge so he said his favourite combination for that would be with the Emerald neck as it would give a huge palette of tones with the Holydiver and was very versatile in itself. Of course, that guitar is mahogany body, maple neck and rosewood board so I guess is slightly different but I still think it would be fine. I think the EQ charts on the website are for the bridge pickup only. The Cold Sweat is supposed to be the brighter of the two and I've had one of those in a maple neck-thru before with no problems so I'd imagine an Emerald neck would be OK in your Strat and pair nicely with the Holydiver.

[case report]

Emerald for sure. Excactly what you just mentioned and it's a match made in heaven with the Holy Diver bridge.

Ah, my apologies, I'd assumed it was HSS. My mistake. As I'm always after a Dave Murray tone for the neck pickup, it's all I ever ask about from Tim so when I approached him about a neck pickup for my PRS Custom 24 he said either the Cold Sweat or Emerald. I was always putting a Holydiver in the bridge so he said his favourite combination for that would be with the Emerald neck as it would give a huge palette of tones with the Holydiver and was very versatile in itself. Of course, that guitar is mahogany body, maple neck and rosewood board so I guess is slightly different but I still think it would be fine. I think the EQ charts on the website are for the bridge pickup only. The Cold Sweat is supposed to be the brighter of the two and I've had one of those in a maple neck-thru before with no problems so I'd imagine an Emerald neck would be OK in your Strat and pair nicely with the Holydiver.

I really thank you for precious info!
at a first time I thought Cold Sweat for neck, according with Ben of BK.
As Slartibartfarst42 says, Cold Sweat is supposed to be the brighter of the two, so in theory Emerald maybe is my favourite on a maple bright guitar.




P.S.
On my Jackson HSS Holydiver + Trilogy Suites, I see a huge difference of volume between neck single coil pu and bridge humbucker pu, how you solve that?

[Slartibartfarst42]

It's an issue I agree. I went with Holydiver and Trilogy Suites partly because that's what Tim suggested and partly because in the online shop, they're put together as a package, I assume for a reason. I was surprised at just what volume drop I had with the neck single coil and the only way I can get round it is to have the Trilogy Suite as close to the string as possible and edging the Holydiver a touch further away but there's a limit to how far I can go as the Holydiver sounds best close to the pickup. On reflection I possibly should have tried Sinners instead but of course, they could have been too much in the other direction. It never struck me as an issue when I ordered them because I assumed they'd be wound as a calibrated set but clearly not. Actually, when I ordered them it was with a Nailbomb bridge, which was hotter than the Holydiver so it was even worse. At the moment it's not a huge problem but you're right, they don't balance perfectly and for the money, they should.