So much choice!

[HU55K3Y]

After spending some time browsing the forum, I'm completely lost for words. There is just so many to choose from, that I'm scared if I pick one, I'll end up missing out on another which may have been the ones - if that makes any sense?

This is the first forum I've ever joined, so I'll try and make my points as clear as possible as I see that's what works best on here.

I have a 2 primary guitars (both just to add a bit of versatility when performing): a Strat with a bridge humbucker & 2 single coils; and a Tele with 2 humbuckers and a middle single coil. The Strat has an alder body, whilst the Tele is mahogany. Both have maple necks and rosewood fingerboards.

As much as I Like high output, I've started to learn to appreciate the dynamics and response of lower output pickup, kicking on a pedal into the lead channel of an amp, to saturate and make things tight and heavy.

For the Strat I'm looking for the Andy Timmons rock voice in the bridge, and neck and middle single coils for cleans which sound sparkly and rich, but also sound great with slight break up - think Electric Gypsy. This will be my get to go rock axe for pub style gigs.

With the Tele, I'm looking more towards an all around, versatile set, which can cover most styles - the main style focussing on a more power metal approach, but capable of backing off the volume to clean up. I like to use the middle single coil and the necks slug coil split, for that slightly tamer tone when the volume is backed down - think Steve Vai's Lotus Feet intro - as I just find the neck a bit too full. I'm just unsure what single coil to pick as I haven't even decided on a humbuckers yet.

Thanks in advance,

Cameron

[itamar101]

Hey, welcome :)

For the strat I would probably go for an Irish Tour bridge and a Mothers Milk neck and middle.

As for the tele... That's a bit more difficult as it's not very clear exactly what tone you want...
From what you mentioned, though, I would go for a Holy Diver bridge, Slowhand middle and Emerald Neck or a Miracle Man bridge, Trilogy suite middle and Cold Sweat neck.

[HU55K3Y]

The Strat is actually a humbucker bridge.

Regarding the Tele, I kind of want something that can be pushed into different genres of music. I do a sort of power metal project for fun, and we add a lot of different styles into the songs. That's why I came to like the low-medium output pickups as they respond to technique better, but can also go heavy with a pedal and a lead channel. Being that, wouldn't the holy diver be a bit thick and compressed? I'm only going off what I read.

I also read a few posts describing the emerald neck, but I've so far been able to find a clip with fast overdriven playing on. I love the clean clips of it though.

Again, thanks for the advice.

[Telerocker]

For the strat I would have a look at the Holy Diver paired with two Irish Tours, which can handle gain very well without losing the sparkly vintage single coil-vibe if this is what you're looking for. Otherwise you should investigate the Trilogy Suites (modern en way hotter). If you want more PAF-pedigree in the humbucker and mediumoutput check out the Abraxas and Crawler (which is a rounder, middier, hotter version of the Abraxas you could say). All the mentioned humbuckers perform well in strats.

For the tele there a lots of options. Bridge: the lower output Black Dog does the metaljob very well, so will the balanced, punchy, touchsensitive VHII. If you want more output: alnico Nailbomb or Rebel Yell. Both are more agressive then the BD. The NB has more bass then the RY which has the emphasis on the (higher) mids. All clean up great.
Neck: the praised VHII is great neckpickup for fluid tones, so is the more modern sounding Cold Sweat.
Middle: Irish Tour would pair nice with most of them. Also outstanding as a standalone pickup.

[HU55K3Y]

Regarding the metal aspect, I love high output for the riffs, but I always find it lacking in the lead area. I like a pickup that responds to pick attack well. I was looking at the nail bomb as it says it has an organic touch. Could this be a nice compromise? I love the progressive clip on it. But again if I close my eyes, the Blackhawks sound great too. I just wish the lower output models had a progressive clip

[Mr. Air]

Good advice from Telerocker above. For the strat I would say Abraxas bridge and Irish Tours or Mothers Milk in middle and neck.

Forum member Nolly went for an Abraxas in his strat to nail the Timmons tone. You can check it out in this post.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=25139.0

For the tele look at Telerockers' good suggestions.

[HU55K3Y]

I'll definitely try the abraxas in that case. Regarding the neck, looking at a few posts. Wouldn't the slow hand provide a Timmons-y tone better?

[Telerocker]

My recommendation was based on your description: For the Strat I'm looking for the Andy Timmons rock voice in the bridge, and neck and middle single coils for cleans which sound sparkly and rich, but also sound great with slight break up - think Electric Gypsy.
Now I understand you want the Timmons from bridge to neck. In that case the Slowhand is a good choice, though less sparkly then the IT. You could choose an IT or Mother's Milk for the middle to have some more sparkle and quack in the fourth and second position.

[HU55K3Y]

What would you say about the Abraxas on the bridge, Slow Hand in the neck and do what Nolly did and have the '63 veneer in the middle?

[Telerocker]

That would be an excellent set. The 63 veneer board is close to a Mothers Milk. Blindfolded you couldn't hear/tell the difference. The Abraxas has good mids and enough output to get fat leadtones from a strat. The uberversion would be the Crawler, which I have in an swampashstrat and that one sounds great too, middier, fuller and with a slighty rounder topend then the Abraxas. Both split well too, so you can get some nice quackie tones on the fourth position.

[HU55K3Y]

The crawler looks good too. I'll definitely have to try that out sometime. Do any of you know what the modified abraxas bridge is by any chance? And what's with the single coils having the same amount of winds? I got really lost there

[Telerocker]

I would not rationalise your choice to death  :) I can tell from experience that a splitted Crawler and vintage(hot) middlepickups provide great stratty tones. I wouldn't bother about the difference between the Slowhand in the neck and the 63 veneer board in the middle. Of course the Slowhand will dominate a bit, but that's all in the game when you want a middier neckpickup.