Need help choosing the right pickup for BC Rich Eagle

[Laars]

Hi guys,
I need help with a pickup selection. I have this Bc Rich CJ Pierce Eagle. 


It has Seymour Duncan custom customs in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. My problem is it has a maple top with NATO Wood for the body. The tone is lacking in the mids and highs. I need to choose the right pickup and not sure which one.

My other guitars are Gibson les Paul's with black dogs in them. My amps are Voodoo v Plex amps which are like Marshall 68 plexus. My tone is old school AcDc type tone. Very much like in the song Night Prowler but with more low end.

The BCRich with this NATO wood has a tone I don't know how to describe. It's almost hollow sounding. Unplugged the tone is good. I think the right pickups is what's needed.

Anybody have experience with this wood?

My feeling is the Riff Raff but what do you guys think.

Thanks for your input.
.

[darkbluemurder]

Tone is lacking in the mids and highs + AC/DC tone = ...

R i f f    R a f f

Cheers Stephan

[Laars]

Thank you. It's what I'm thinking too. Courious if anyone else has noticed the tone difference in the NATO wood from mahogany.

[Philly Q]

I recently bought a BC Rich with rather mysterious history, don't even know where it was built.  I'd guess it actually is mahogany rather than nato, although I know they use a lot of nato in their guitars.

Personally, I think the neck-through construction probably affects the tone more than the body wings.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Riff Raff definitely sounds like the right choice to me.

[Laars]

I went on the Seymour Duncan site last night and noticed others not liking the Custom Custom pickup for the same reason. My guess is its not the wood but the tone of the pickup.

[Philly Q]

The Custom Custom has an alnico II magnet, so it's likely to be quite "soft" in both treble and bass.  The Riff Raff would certainly tighten things up.  It's lower output than the Custom Custom but should work well enough with the '59, I think (if you're keeping that in the neck position)

[ericsabbath]

my first thought was riff raffs too
but how about emeralds?

[darkbluemurder]

Yeah, Emerald would also be bright but possibly a bit more power than Riff Raff.

Cheers Stephan

[Cpt_Gonzo]

"NATO" refers to cheaper, asian wood. It's similar to Mahogany in many ways, usually more densely grained.
It's basically an asian alternative to Mahogany. It's not related to it, it's the wood of a different species of trees.

Used in many cheaper guitars because it IS cheap. Grows easily on plantages. Has a bad reputation because most manufacturers who use it aren't too picky about which pieces they use and how moist they are.

[Laars]

I'm almost tempted to go with another Black Dog. After looking into that Custom-custom, and how others with that pickup heard the same issues with it having muddy low end, and no highs at all, the black dog might just give me more output with the tight low end I want, and the mids and highs I'm after.

Tone wise the Eagle sounds close to my Les Pauls unplugged. Both are maple tops, only difference is the LPs have mahogany and the Eagle has that NATO wood.

The Black Dogs sound KiLLeR going through my rig... The Emerald might be something to look at too! I'm gonna see if I can find a clip on youTube of one.

[darkbluemurder]

Another Black Dog fan here. That would be an excellent choice as well.

Cheers Stephan