Emeralds!

[northlane.josh]

Hey guys, I lurk here but don't post too often.

Just wanted to comment on the new emerald bridge pickup i dropped in my ibanez universe today.
I play in fairly low tunings with my band, and all my other 7's that I use for it are baritones.

Up until now for the guitars I use in my band, I've been using ceramic mag pickups in the bridge position from the modern range, mainly the painkiller and aftermath although I did previously have a RY in this universe that was lying around doing nothing, had a bit too much low mids for the guitar.

Anyway, I can't believe how good the emerald sounds. It is so huge, open and clear sounding but the output is still fairly hot, I didn't even have to adjust my gates for it which are dialed in off the aftermath. Definitely have a new favourite pickup. The lows are just as tight as any ceramic and they still sound full, the highs are crisp but not too harsh and the amount of saturation is just right. Mids don't mush up at all and the chord clarity is superb, sustain is great. One of the biggest advantages I've found so far is how well it cleans up too. I really can't fault it at all and I can't believe how clear the lows are. Just absolutely baffling that it's got an A5 magnet.

For those of you tuning low and using 7's and 8's i highly recommend that you consider the emerald, it really is a very understated pickup and I can't believe that more people don't use it, seems to be perfect for me and I will probably be swapping out a few aftermaths in the weeks to come!

[northlane.josh]

inb4 pics or lies

[Slartibartfarst42]

I've never tried an Emerald bridge, although it's one of those pups I've always suspected I'd like. Your experience with A5 magnets is similar to mine. I always gravitated towards ceramic magnets to avoid any hint of mush but Bare Knuckle pickups seem to have all the articulation of other manufacturers ceramics in an alnico format. Once I realised that, there was no going back. It always seems to me when I play a Bare Knuckle A5 that I have all the advantages of ceramic without any of the drawbacks  :D

[northlane.josh]

I've never tried an Emerald bridge, although it's one of those pups I've always suspected I'd like. Your experience with A5 magnets is similar to mine. I always gravitated towards ceramic magnets to avoid any hint of mush but Bare Knuckle pickups seem to have all the articulation of other manufacturers ceramics in an alnico format. Once I realised that, there was no going back. It always seems to me when I play a Bare Knuckle A5 that I have all the advantages of ceramic without any of the drawbacks  :D

Absolutely, I always loved the bloom/warmth that alnico pickups seem to have, but always stuck with ceramic for this application, mainly for clarity and tightness in the lows because lets face it, you can't really go wrong. Thus far I've only used this emerald and the rebel yell as far as 7 string a5 bkp's go, the emerald is a LOT tighter than the RY in the lows and the low-mids are a lot clearer and more open, it's also a tad brighter. Do much prefer it for basswood, it's a perfect match and I can't wait to try it with other wood combinations. The rebel yell 7 wasn't quite tight enough for me but I know others have made it work just fine.

I was sent some pickups earlier this week from SD to try out, one of them was a full shred which i popped in this uni actually, and then one of my other guitars because i thought it was just the basswood and it sounded awful by comparison. It's supposed to be a tight A5 as well but i thought it was a fair bit looser than the RY so it wouldn't come close to the emerald. Nowhere near as clear and articulate as either of those two A5 BKP's. Just sounded really "dead" for lack of a better word

[Telerocker]

Very nice and informative review! You're right, we don't see much comments on the Emerald-bridge here. I can only testify that the BKP's alnico in the vintage(hot)-range are quite tight and clear, compared to other brands. I'm using Mules in all mahogany bolt-on Saint Blues and the bridge is quite tight for an AIV-magnet.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Congrats, and very cool review.