Realization: I'm a dork. Also another pickup suggestion thread.

[GuitarIv]

Cheers guys,

some time passed since I was online here, it's been a pretty busy month.

Some of you may remember me opening threads and complaining about my Holydiver not sounding the way it should. Well the conclusion is: it sounds AMAZING, I'm just a huge dork.

It always sounded like a singlecoil and weak, not fattening up my Strat like it should from the description and the reviews. Then I put it into my Jackson and it sounded great. After ordering a Painkiller and a Coldsweat for it, they sounded great as well so I took the Holydiver out of it. And put it into my Ibanez. Again the same weak singlecoilish sound.

So I thought to myself: either the pickup is broken or the guitar wood affects it that much (which was really unlikely). I bought a multimeter and measured the DC resistance, everything was fine. So my next conclusion was: I must suck at soldering since the Jackson is the only guitar I didn't rewire completely. Bingo!

I spent two hours rewiring my Strat from scratch, using a BKP Paper in Oil Cap and Fender 500k CTS pots. And I really paid attention to do it perfectly and tidy. Turned out to be the best and most clean soldering job I ever done. Like: I'm really forkin proud of myself.

So I plugged in the guitar and was blown away. Finally the pickup sounded exactly like everyone told me it would. I fell in love with it for the first time (except when it was in the Jackson) and realized: soldering is a trial and error job. Take your time, be patient and be sure to do it right, otherwise you'll have tons of hum and a really cr@ppy sound...

Now to get to the pickup question:

I'll soon have another Jackson Pro from the 90ies incoming and will get BKPs for it, no question. I don't know for sure how it will sound acoustically before I don't get my hands on it, however I know the wood configuration. It has a Basswood Body with a Flamed Maple Cap, a Maple Neck and a Rosewood fretboard. The Pickup configuration is HSS.

I love the Holydiver for the organic tone, the tightness and the versatility it delivers. It also sounds really juicy and warm.
The Painkiller is pure metal and tight as hell, great for Death Metal.

Now owning those pickups I've been thinking about something in between, something that is tight (at least as tight as the HD) and can do metal well and still be versatile, but not as harsh as the Painkiller, or a bit warmer. I guess the territory I'm going for is Alnico V. It's hard to describe, I want tightness the Painkiller delivers (yeah I know no pickup except the Aftermath will be as tight) and the warmth the Holydiver has.

My personal thought was the Rebel Yell. People say it's tight, warm and can do metal.
As for the singlecoils: something that complements the Humbucker, helps me out for cleans and does creamy but defined leads and sweeps.

I'm sorry for the wall of text, I hope you can help me out as always guys! :)

Thanks in advance and cheers

[Telerocker]

RY could be the bill, but I don't know if this pickup performs well in basswood. Should work, I guess.

[JCN1218]

Thanks for this post, I recently got a MM7 and a CS7 for my B.C. rich JRV. I did a complete rewire, new everything, I even added some mini toggle switches for coil splitting, and one to switch between tone caps (because I only have one tone knob and there was room in the cavity, so why not?) The MM sounds fantastic, it's so clear and cutting, perfect on the low B, and it sounds great for soloing too. The CS isn't really living up to the hype though, it sounds very muddy and flat right now; I'm wondering if maybe my wiring is the problem too. I'll have to open it back up and take a look. And as far as your quest for pickups goes, I think it's safe to rule out the Miracle Man. Great for metal, but not too much else, though I'm sure this isn't news to you, I would have felt bad though posting on your thread without contributing something useful  :D

[Mr. Air]

Maybe the Blackhawk bridge will work for you. It should be pretty tight and there's the alnico V version that'll contribute to a warm and organic tone. You could pai it with middle and neck Trilogies.

[GuitarIv]

Thanks for the ideas so far guys,

I actually got an answer by Chris from BKP:

"From your description I have to recommend the Ceramic Nailbomb with Irish Tours. The Ceramic Nailbomb will give you the tightness you are after but will still retain the warmth you want too. The Irish Tours will definitely give you the cleans and creamy tone you are after, but also being so heavily wound with Alnico 5 magnets will deliver on output too."

So it seems like the C-Bomb is in the game as well. Now I do like my mids, so I don't wanna go for something "scooped" like the Miracle Man and the Black Hawk seems to be a bit too hifi and modern, at least from all the descriptions I read about it.

The Nailbomb seems to get recommended a lot and loads of people describe it as spikey in the highs. Not sure if it will be overkill, but I guess the RY isn't actually that smooth either.

Edit: Nolly as well said he likes the Nailbomb in Basswood guitars

More opinions are welcome! :)

[drawnacrol]

I found the Holy Diver tighter than the Alnico Nailbomb.

The HD has a more modern voicing with lots of chunk when you palm mute. The Alnico NB is more british voiced with a crunchy sound to palm mutes.

[Philly Q]

Can't comment on the Nailbomb (or C-Bomb), but I wouldn't say the Rebel Yell is either smooth or warm.  It's quite bright and punchy.  I'd also think of it as better suited to an LP than a Superstrat.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I've had an A-Bomb in a neck-thru Jackson and didn't get on with it at all. It's very aggressive and tight with a definite 90's Metal feel to it. Even with an alnico magnet, I didn't find it particularly smooth or warm or organic. I changed it for a Miracle Man and honestly, that's exactly what you're describing. Despite the ceramic magnet, it's astonishingly like the Holydiver. It's warm and smooth but that little bit tighter and with a touch more aggression so it has a slightly more obvious 'Metal' feel to it. Having tried both the Miracle Man and the Holydiver, I'd say the two are very closely connected. If you basically want a Holydiver with a bit more aggression and a bit tighter but retaining the smooth, thick characteristics, it's a Miracle Man you're after. Finally, don't worry about the EQ. I know the Holydiver looks like it's all mids and the Miracle Man has none at all but the reality isn't like that at all. I can quite happily move between the two without any major tweaks to my EQ settings. Truth be told, I don't bother changing them at all.

As for the single coils, I'd say Trilogy Suites. They matched quite well with both the Holydiver and Miracle Man, though I wouldn't want to use anything less powerful with these pickups.

[GuitarIv]

Drawnacrol: I think you're very right when it comes to the Holydiver. I never experienced the Nailbomb in real life, however I took another listen to the comparison video Nolly did for BKP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2kvQkpz5sM

It's not like the pickup sounds muddy, it's just very fizzy. Unlike the HD and the Painkiller that seem to have lots of "punch" how you describe it. I'm not sure if this is because of the HDs center mids and the PK's high mid impact, but both seem to have a slightly more rounded top end whilst retaining the punch and the grind that seems to be coming from the mids. Slartibartfarst, that's also the reason why I'm unsure about the Miracle Man, I know the EQ curve on the site doesn't necessarily say anything about the character of the pickup, but as always, there are way too many choices regarding BKPs and the lack of guitars equipped with them to try out is evident.

So to sum up: unsure about the Nailbomb and the MM. Nobody seems to second my choice of the Rebel Yell and the Blackhawk lacks proper videos since it's the newest addition to the range. Now I could just get another Holydiver but I want different BKPs to have more tonal options and versatility. Maybe someone else chimes in and solves my problem :)

p.s.: JCN1218: another thing that came to my mind is to try to mess with the pickup height. It took me some adjusting on my Jackson to balance the Coldsweat with the Painkiller and get it to sound right and more so with Bareknuckles than with other manufacturers finding the sweet spot is essential.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I think the trouble with the Rebel Yell in your guitar is two-fold for me. Firstly, it's based on a Nailbomb so although I've not tried one myself, I'd be worried about how it would sound having already tried an A-Bomb and not got on with it in a Jackson. Secondly, it's a rather bright pickup by all accounts so while I think it would be great for a Les Paul, I'm not convinced it would sit as well in your guitar.

You keep going back to a Holydiver (understandable as it's awesome) but you want something a little different and on that basis I have to stand by my suggestion of a Miracle Man. I do understand your doubt as I spent years rejecting a Miracle Man as the name and the magnet always made me associate it with EMG and that's really not my sound and the lack of mids concerned me. I was both relieved and delighted when I actually took the plunge. I see the Holydiver as 'my sound' so it's obviously my favourite pickup and that's why I don't want to move too far away from that point. You sound much the same. That's what the Miracle Man gives you and while I'm sure other pickups in the range will perform well, I can't think of another one that would be a better match for what you describe.

[GuitarIv]

Then I will trust your opinion. There's still time left until I get the guitar, so I will leave the choice open between the C-Bomb and the Miracle Man and as soon as I have the Jackson I will surely know more about it's tonal characteristics and the pure, unplugged acoustic sound :)

[Mr. Air]

It's not like the pickup sounds muddy, it's just very fizzy

When a had my abomb in a LP clone it didn't sound fizzy at all. I found it very aggressive and tight. I'll agree with you that in the clip the tone is a bit fizzy, but I think that might be due to the amp (or something else). Check out the link ehre Nolly (and Pete) gives a rundown on their gear. At 6:10 Nolly plays the Blackmachine with an abomb set and to me the tone is superb - not fizzy at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqb8J6iEHlo

[Slartibartfarst42]

Personally, I think a lot of this is down to the guitar. Your LP clone probably had a lot of mahogany in it and I always felt with mine that it needed a lot of mahogany to tame it. I've heard clips when an A-Bomb is in a Les Paul and it sounds wonderful but in my Jackson, which had no mahogany in it, the pickup sounded harsh, tight, aggressive and fizzy.

[ericsabbath]

why dismissing the aftermath?
it sounds a lot like both painkiller and holy diver
it's not a warm pickup, but had a rounder and cleaner top and upper mids than the painkiller
the voicing is pretty close to the holy diver, although it has a drier in-your-face response

maybe there's some sort of pole screw configuration to tame things a bit?

[GuitarIv]

Mr. Air: Yes, I saw this video a couple of times before, and the sound is in deed superb. Only thing that always bothers me is when people use the Axe FX. I don't have one and neither I'm planning to get one as I'm part of the "real amp" team, I like my tubes and somehow I can recognize the Axe sound from a mile away. It's tight, defined and sounds nice, but always somehow digital and processed to me, although that could be a placebo effect. Thing is: Nolly seems to be using a tube amp in the comparison video whereas in the Rig Rundown it's the Axe FX and that seems to make the difference. Blame me if I'm wrong though...

I guess I will only know exactly what the guitar needs when I get my hands on it :)

And Eric, I think the Aftermath is a bit too modern for me, I kinda wanna retain the more 80's core of the HD and the Painkiller in my Jackson already covers the "modern metal" ground. Although a friend of mine got himself one in his VGS Soulmaster and I installed it for him, might just ask him to borrow me the guitar so I can get some firsthand experience on the Aftermath...