VHii neck or Cold sweat neck?

[JimmyMoorby]

Ok a bit of advice please people!  I've asked for plenty of advice before and thought id settled on what pickups I was going to treat my self to for Xmas for my guitars.

I have an ESP George Lynch Skull and Crossbones.  I swapped the original pickups to a Seymour Duncan SH13 in the bridge and a Di Marzio HS4 in the neck.  Im swapping these for a Black Hawk Bridge and a Sinner neck.

Now for the new 'problem'.
I have an ESP LTD M1000.  I was sure I wanted to swap the EMG 81's for an alnico Nailbomb bridge and an Alnico Cold Sweat neck.  I know this is a very popular combination and given I have a pencant for hi-gain heavy/thrashy riffs and widdly creamy solos I thought this was ideal until I thought about how the vhii neck and cold sweat pitted against each other.

The guitar has an alder body, falmed maple finish and a rosewood fretboard.
I dont want to mimic any one but as its a neck pickup think the tones of Petrucci, Van Halen Dave Murray and Malmsteen (Prolly less Malmsteen as thats single coil but you get my meaning).

HELP !!!!!!!

I'll be happy to try and demo the black hawk bridge and sinner neck in the new year to return the favour :D

[JimmyMoorby]

Oh and a difference in volume might be a deal clincher too.
Thanks

[Mr. Air]

The Cold Sweat neck is often mentioned for the Petrucci tone and if you want a bridge pickup to nail his tone I think C-bomb is they way to go although an a-bomb might work as well.

[JimmyMoorby]

The Cold Sweat neck is often mentioned for the Petrucci tone and if you want a bridge pickup to nail his tone I think C-bomb is they way to go although an a-bomb might work as well.

I think youre right dude just wanted to check if any one thought otherwise!
I think re the bridge I want more bottom end so ive opted for the alnico.  Hopefully it will all work out for the better!

[ericsabbath]

had them both in a jap les paul copy
the neck cold sweat is brighter and has a fuller midrange, less bass and definitely lot more upper mids
the neck vhII sounds quite bright in the bridge, but darker and a little scooped in the neck, in comparison of course
it's more a like a fatter and darker voiced mule
both are extremely articulated pickups, but I think the cold sweat reaches one step further when to comes to picking clarity and singing leads

the vhII is a little more classic sounding
doesn't have that bell-like effect of a mule, though, as it sounds heavier and more throaty
I personally think it would be a great match to the nailbomb voicing, probably better than the neck nailbomb itself, but I have no idea of how it sounds in superstrats

the cold sweat's in your face mids combined with the low dc and thinner wire seems to give a virtuose player feel (gilbert, petrucci, satriani), but it's still able to emulate real paf style pickups, at least in les pauls
reminds me of the dimarzio paf pro most of those guys love, but with the bkp mojo and extra clarity
hard to beat for singing and clear leads

[JimmyMoorby]

had them both in a jap les paul copy
the neck cold sweat is brighter and has a fuller midrange, less bass and definitely lot more upper mids
the neck vhII sounds quite bright in the bridge, but darker and a little scooped in the neck, in comparison of course
it's more a like a fatter and darker voiced mule
both are extremely articulated pickups, but I think the cold sweat reaches one step further when to comes to picking clarity and singing leads

the vhII is a little more classic sounding
doesn't have that bell-like effect of a mule, though, as it sounds heavier and more throaty
I personally think it would be a great match to the nailbomb voicing, probably better than the neck nailbomb itself, but I have no idea of how it sounds in superstrats

the cold sweat's in your face mids combined with the low dc and thinner wire seems to give a virtuose player feel (gilbert, petrucci, satriani), but it's still able to emulate real paf style pickups, at least in les pauls
reminds me of the dimarzio paf pro most of those guys love, but with the bkp mojo and extra clarity
hard to beat for singing and clear leads

Thanks a lot for that.
 
The Cold Sweat does seem the be the peoples choice for the kind of sound i'm talking about.  I had a last minute crisis because im assuming the vhii is based on a Van Halen type sound, and whilst I have a hig list of guitarists I love to me Eddie Van Halen is God  so I had a crisis of confidence!  That's decided then.

I'm looking forward to getting the BKP's.  The nailbomb bridge sounds briliant but I just cant seem to get my head around  what the nailbomb neck is supposed to sound like.   If a 'woody tone' is how its supposed to sound im not sure how this fits in with the nailbomb as whilst it looks like a very versatile pickup (Thats why I want it) it looks to be aimed at metal players...... so why would any one want a 'woody tone' with a metal tone? Well maybe people would but not many........maybe for ultimate versatility.   I'd love to have lots of spare cash and try out all the pickups but i havent so I guess ill have to wait until I win the lottery or see a demo.

[darkbluemurder]

The Cold Sweat does seem the be the peoples choice for the kind of sound i'm talking about.  I had a last minute crisis because im assuming the vhii is based on a Van Halen type sound, and whilst I have a hig list of guitarists I love to me Eddie Van Halen is God  so I had a crisis of confidence! 

Well if it's the early VH tone you are seeking then you probably would not need a neck pickup. I think he started to solo more on the neck pickup from 5150 onwards.

Cheers Stephan

[JimmyMoorby]

The Cold Sweat does seem the be the peoples choice for the kind of sound i'm talking about.  I had a last minute crisis because im assuming the vhii is based on a Van Halen type sound, and whilst I have a hig list of guitarists I love to me Eddie Van Halen is God  so I had a crisis of confidence! 

Well if it's the early VH tone you are seeking then you probably would not need a neck pickup. I think he started to solo more on the neck pickup from 5150 onwards.

Cheers Stephan

Yeah I mean I love Eddie, but I dont try and copy him in any way intentionally because i dont see the point because as ive said to me hes on another level musicially.  Unlike a lot of people though I love everything Van Halen have done from the early days when he only had the single pickup (Apart from the Gary Cherone era)  to the Hagar era where he almost took on a new sound.  Think te cold sweat is the way forward tough any way I reckon.

[ericsabbath]

the neck nailbomb sounds like a heavily scooped and much brighter version of the bridge model
I can't see much use for that out of straight up strat-like funk or power metal soloing
that was my least favorite neck BKP, but probably the most articulate one

[dingleberry]

My apologies for the upcoming thread hijack lol

I would love to hear some opinions on the VHII neck vs Emerald neck in a LP type guitar.  Metal solos and cleans are the main focus.  I'm gearing up for another order and would love some opinions.