Pickup recommendations for two Jackson Guitars

[Lesion]

Hi all, I'm new to BKP.

I have recently decided to upgrade my old guitars and my search has led me here for the pick ups.

The pick ups i want to upgrade from are the seymour duncan dimebucker and the emg 81's. I have just grown tired of the sounds i get from them.
The dimebucker for me gets mushy on the bass, the mids are too scooped and the highs a little un-natural. It also is not very dynamic or organic sounding, i want  something that responds better to my playing.
The emg81's ofcourse just do the one sound so i need something more versatile here.
I have a vague idea of what BKp's to get, but i would like to know what the knowledgeable people on here would choose to help me make up my mind before buying.

The pick-ups i need are for...

Guitar 1. Jackson soloist SL2
               Maple neck thru with ebony board and poplar wings  
               2xhum.
             *This guitar is for early 90's metal and soloing. Stuff like carcass, pantera, opeth etc
               Looking for a open and dynamic sound, with fairly tight lows, nice punchy mids (the guitar is a bit light weight, mid wise, so need some fattening up there) and smooth singing highs with good harmonics.




Guitar 2. Jackson professional
               Bolt-on Maple neck with rosewood board and ash body
               Hum-Sing-Hum
              *This guitar is more for 80's hair metal/Shred
              This is a fairly bright sounding guitar.



Not looking for mega high output for either guitar because i want a more versatile sound that is more open and works better with different types of amps. Also i may install a push-pull to split the coils too.

Which pick ups or sets would you all recommend?

Thanks
L.
              

[dingleberry]

To my understanding from my own copious forum scouring :

80s - Holydiver

90s - Nailbomb

Pantera - Coldsweat

Only have experience with Holydiver bridge, very dense mids on that one, very punchy on rhythms and smooth solo tones.

[Lesion]

Yeah i was honing in on the Holydriver for the red guitar. From what i've picked up on the forum its a better JB, which should be a good fit. Would it be a big improvement on the EMG81' i have in there you think?

Coldsweat for pantera is interesting, i shall check those out.   

Thanks Dingleberry.

[Lesion]

Has anyone tried an Alnico nailbomb bridge and coldsweat neck combo?
Any good?

[Telerocker]

Has anyone tried an Alnico nailbomb bridge and coldsweat neck combo?
Any good?

Lots of forummembers have this set. The CS-neck has nice cleans and does fluid leads very well. Would fit the Soloist.
For the Professional I would pick the Holy Diver, considering the timbers and the style it's meant for. Perhaps with a VHII-neck.

[Lesion]

Lots of forummembers have this set. The CS-neck has nice cleans and does fluid leads very well. Would fit the Soloist.
For the Professional I would pick the Holy Diver, considering the timbers and the style it's meant for. Perhaps with a VHII-neck.
[/quote]

Thanks for this telerocker. I think i will go with this set, although I'm in two minds about the CS-neck. Alot of the time i do play nice cleans and fluid leads, so as you say would be perfect. I also like raw, thick, dirty blues tones too. Can the CS-neck handle this?
The idea of pairing the HD with the VHII is brilliant, as i do tend to like slightly different voiced humbuckers for each position. From the chart the VHII seems to have more highs also which is nice.

At the moment I have:
                                   soloist      -      Abomb bridge / Coldsweat neck - with burnt chrome covers.
                                   professional -  Holydriver bridge / slow hand single / VHII neck - in zebra

I have a couple of concerns though, Ben emailed and recommended a matched set of HD's and ABombs's for the guitars, with Irish tours as single. Is there an advantage to getting a matched pair over creating my own combo?
And are the Hd's and Abomb's less output than what i have currently?

 Again, thank you all for your advice, it is much appreciated.





 

[Telerocker]

They are designed to be matched. Nevertheless some of us want a particularly sound from the neckpickup. The Holy Diver-neck is brighter then CS, when I remember well. The CS-neck sounds perhaps a bit too modern for raw thick blues. That one would be a Mule- or Black Dog-neck. Btw, the VHII-neck is darker then the CS-neck.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Was thinking ABomb for the Soloist and HD for the Pro. Like what Ben said!

[Lesion]

Thanks telerocker, that has given me alot to think about.

I will 100% go with the HD for the pro and Abomb for the soloist.
Thanks to ben and you guys for the advice.

Its just a case now whether to go with matched sets (perhaps a safer bet) or to mix the neck pups up?

The emg81 in the pro neck is horrid. Way too compressed and muddy.
Which leads me to the vhII-darker? or the HD-brighter?

The neck pup in the soloist is PAF'ish. Im leaning towards the CS for its clinical clean sounds, i can get blues tones elsewhere.
Or would the Abomb neck be a nice compromise between the CS and the black dog neck?

Mmm decisions

[Slartibartfarst42]

As I have a Jackson SL3 Soloist, in which I've tried all the pickups you're thinking about except the VHII, I feel adequately qualified to comment on this thread  :D

Holydiver Bridge
Awesome pickup. Solidly in 80's Metal territory but also capable of doing quite a lot on either side of that. Very versatile. It will work very well in the Pro.

Cold Sweat Neck
Fantastic neck pickup. I couldn't try this in my Soloist as it's HSS but I did use it in a maple neck-thru guitar with mahogany wings and a Floyd so almost exactly the same. Great for fluid and shreddy leads. Not the most versatile pickup I've ever used but bloody good at what it does and certainly not without some versatility.

Alnico Nailbomb Bridge
VERY firmly in 90's Metal territory and that was a core tone I could never dial out of it in the Jackson. VERY tight and VERY aggressive. If I had something like a Les Paul with loads of dark mahogany I'd buy one again but I'd never ever try one in a Soloist again as it just didn't suit the guitar at all unless you're looking for a very aggressive, one-trick pony Metal guitar. To my mind there just isn't anything like enough beef in a Soloist to tame this pickup but that's just my experience of it and you may love it for all I know.

Alternatives to consider that I've tried:

Miracle Man Bridge
This is what I currently have in my Soloist as I transferred the Holydiver to a PRS. The Miracle Man is a lot like the Holydiver but tighter, more aggressive and more screaming highs. The name is actually quite misleading as it's a very thick, organic and warm pickup but also 100% Metal. This will easily do what you want and suit the Soloist a damn site better than a Nailbomb.

Emerald Neck
Like the Cold Sweat, the Emerald is fantastic for fluid leads and gives a great Dave Murray tone. I find it slightly thicker than the Cold Sweat and a LOT more versatile. This is the only one I've not tried in a maple neck-thru as it's in my PRS CU24. Much as I loved the Cold Sweat, I really can't see past the Emerald now. It's absolutely incredible. Good as the Cold Sweat is; the Emerald is better.

[Lesion]

Thanks for your input Slartibartfarst42, its great to get an
opinion from a fellow soloist user.
I initially over looked the miracle man due to its ceramic magnet,
And apparent scooping of the mids according to the tone chart at least.
You have certainly opened my eyes to it from your descriptions.
May i ask what amp are you using with your soloist?

Its difficult to decide which one to go for, especially for me,
As i only have experience with the dimebucker and emg's.
I'm definately looking for versatility, and slightly less output than the dimebucker with more grinding mids.
I'm sure the Abomb will be more Versatile than the dimebucker atleast?

Maybe i should go with something more neuteral sounding perhaps,
And use pedals and amps to push the sound up or down?
What do people think?

Cheers

[Lesion]

The miracle man is very intriguing from what you say tho...
Especially as soloists can be quite a light weight sounding guitar.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I initially over looked the miracle man due to its ceramic magnet,
And apparent scooping of the mids according to the tone chart at least.

Yes, I dismissed the Miracle Man for ages too for the same reason, and it's association with EMG pups but I was dead wrong. I wouldn't describe the Miracle Man as very versatile but then, I wouldn't describe the A-Bomb like that either, at least not in a Soloist. For a ceramic pickup it's surprisingly warm and organic. Although the EQ says scooped mids it's not as bad as you'd think. It has quite a bit of lower mids, which helps to give it it's thickness. With the Holydiver in my PRS I largely use that guitar to take me to 80's Metal and the Jackson from 80's Metal onwards. If you want versatility the Holydiver is hard to beat but with that in the Pro, I think you'd really like the Miracle Man in your SL2. It's generally the number 1 choice for maple neck-thru guitars.

[GuitarIv]

God, your Jacksons awake my G.A.S. for a Soloist once more. MUST. RESIST. NOT. DOING. AN. IMPULSIVE. BUY.

Edit: Thinking about a replacement pickguard for my Strat with a Miracle Man and Trilogy Suites. I'm loving the Holydiver in it and as others pointed out it is damn versatile, but my Strat is pretty bright (Poplar body, all Maple neck) and I just feel that the MM can give it even more thickness than the Holydiver has given it since I replaced the JB in the Bridge with it.

Here's an example of how a Holydiver sounds through a modded Marshall JCM 800 in  a Les Paul:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2dFG7-09P0

Cheers