Kramer Nightswan

[darkbluemurder]

BTW - pics of that guitar would be cool.

[seancorker]

I thought of suggesting RYs after I saw your first post but I'm not sure how much effect the maple bolt-on neck/ebony board would have. I posted this in the player's section to show how thick and chunky the RYs can sound but they are in an all mahogany, set neck guitar. I don't solo in this song so you are just hearing my amp's rhythm setting but might give you an idea. I have a feeling they'd sound amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZtwUEr8v17Y

That's a really nice chunky tone mate - love the drummer as well! I do like Steve Stevens tone a lot and the sound clips I've heard. If I could get that nice big tone with the bolt on maple neck I'd be happy.

[seancorker]

I think the Crawler should work well in the bridge of that guitar, even though the Holydiver would have been my first choice for getting an 80s tone with an 80s guitar.

As regards the middle pickup - will you split the pickups in the combined position? If so I would use a either a hotter neck humbucker (e.g. something like the Nailbomb neck) or a moderately hot bridge humbucker - Emerald or Abraxas come to mind. If you don't intend to split the middle pickup, I would choose a vintage model.

Cheers Stephan

Stephen I use all the position on my guitar and do a fair bit of volume adjusting too. My band plays anything from chic to Oasis to sweet Child and I like to do it with one guitar. My Kramer Pacer routed to HSH with a Crawler / MM / cold sweat is a great go-to guitar.

[seancorker]

BTW - pics of that guitar would be cool.

Will post up some Kramer porn when I get the Swan this weekend. Will post a pic of my Kramer Frankenpacer finished in fetching BandQ yacht varnish for those of strong disposition (lol).

[Philly Q]

Stephen I use all the position on my guitar and do a fair bit of volume adjusting too. My band plays anything from chic to Oasis to sweet Child and I like to do it with one guitar. My Kramer Pacer routed to HSH with a Crawler / MM / cold sweat is a great go-to guitar.

I'd imagine you could get a pretty interesting funk rhythm tone on the Nightswan if you could wire it for both pickups split in the middle position.

Might be interesting to wire them out of phase, too, although that's better with two volume controls.

[gwEm]

I thought of suggesting RYs after I saw your first post but I'm not sure how much effect the maple bolt-on neck/ebony board would have. I posted this in the player's section to show how thick and chunky the RYs can sound but they are in an all mahogany, set neck guitar. I don't solo in this song so you are just hearing my amp's rhythm setting but might give you an idea. I have a feeling they'd sound amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZtwUEr8v17Y

That's a really nice chunky tone mate - love the drummer as well! I do like Steve Stevens tone a lot and the sound clips I've heard. If I could get that nice big tone with the bolt on maple neck I'd be happy.

You say that, but earlier you mentioned you don't want to consider a Holy Diver. I'd have thought it would be just the job for this, but of course personal taste etc

[richard]

gWem, this is an interesting case. What I seem to be hearing is that the RY and the HD are different ways of approaching similar ends. Some suggest that for the 80s rock sound in an alder Strat go for the HD, for a similar sound in a mahogany Gibson-ish guitar go for the RY. The Nightswan seems to sit somewhere in the middle.

This guy gets a great sound but, as gWem remarked, they sound a lot more shreddy in a Strat type.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHqiuF36mc8

[seancorker]

I thought of suggesting RYs after I saw your first post but I'm not sure how much effect the maple bolt-on neck/ebony board would have. I posted this in the player's section to show how thick and chunky the RYs can sound but they are in an all mahogany, set neck guitar. I don't solo in this song so you are just hearing my amp's rhythm setting but might give you an idea. I have a feeling they'd sound amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZtwUEr8v17Y

That's a really nice chunky tone mate - love the drummer as well! I do like Steve Stevens tone a lot and the sound clips I've heard. If I could get that nice big tone with the bolt on maple neck I'd be happy.

You say that, but earlier you mentioned you don't want to consider a Holy Diver. I'd have thought it would be just the job for this, but of course personal taste etc

When I tried the HD in my Kramer Pacer I found the mids a little characterless. The liquidity and smoothness of how the notes seem to flow are really nice. The other characteristic that I wasn't keen on was that there wasn't the same usability of tones when you back off the volume compared to the Crawler. It really is the perfect all or nothing shredding pickup but I like my pickups to growl and snarl

[seancorker]

gWem, this is an interesting case. What I seem to be hearing is that the RY and the HD are different ways of approaching similar ends. Some suggest that for the 80s rock sound in an alder Strat go for the HD, for a similar sound in a mahogany Gibson-ish guitar go for the RY. The Nightswan seems to sit somewhere in the middle.

This guy gets a great sound but, as gWem remarked, they sound a lot more shreddy in a Strat type.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHqiuF36mc8

I'm really leaning towards the RY. The sound in the vid had that Warren deMartini / Charvel vibe. I love how the harmonics fly off the top higher notes. If the Nightswan will give me that vibe with the extra weight of the mahogany body then I might never put it down!

[Philly Q]

I'm really leaning towards the RY. The sound in the vid had that Warren deMartini / Charvel vibe.

Funny you should say that, when I had a Rebel Yell I found myself forever playing (or trying to play) the riff from "Round and Round".  :lol:

That said, it was in a thin-bodied all-mahogany Les Paul, but it was acoustically a fairly bright guitar if I remember right.

[gwEm]

seems like you want something with good dynamics.

its true the holy diver isn't as dynamic as other pickups in the range. though it is far far better than other brands.

i almost wonder about the VH2, it does growl.. but why not try the Rebel Yell indeed. i have one in an LP-type and sounds BIG.

anyway, i am quite interested in this thread, because i always think the nightswan is a very cool guitar :) hope you get the right pickup that fits you!

[darkbluemurder]

Rebel Yell is a cool pickup, too - I really love them in my LP Custom. In a thinner bodied guitar it could lack bass though.

I believe Eric also said it has a de Martini feel to it, and I can see that being the case in a guitar with lots of maple.

Lots of good choices with BKP - which makes deciding difficult sometimes ...

Cheers Stephan

[richard]

If you go for the RY bear in mind that has a reputation as the pickiest of the BK range when it comes to height. Mine didn't sound anything like the clip I posted when they were first installed. It took me a LOT of adjusting to get the right height.

[seancorker]

seems like you want something with good dynamics.

its true the holy diver isn't as dynamic as other pickups in the range. though it is far far better than other brands.

i almost wonder about the VH2, it does growl.. but why not try the Rebel Yell indeed. i have one in an LP-type and sounds BIG.

anyway, i am quite interested in this thread, because i always think the nightswan is a very cool guitar :) hope you get the right pickup that fits you!

Agree 100% about BK being better then other brands - I've got em in in all my guitars (apart from a single coil spaced HB). And yes, I need a PU which responds well to the volume knob, especially because I use a Cornford MKii which is very responsive to pick attack volume pots.

[seancorker]

After a 7 hour round trip I've got the guitar and its simply a - bleedin' - mazing!!

The neck is perfect. The ebony board is so smooth that bending is a joy, the neck is so fast its effortless and it feels very close to a Gibson 335 in size. Access is easy right up to the 24th fret.

The clarity and definition makes each note jump out and you can hear every note in a chord - and all this with a very very low action. I've just sat and played it for a couple of hours and not bothered to plug it in its that good! I think with the right PU this guitar will measure up to anything out there.