Best pickups for a walnut LP custom-like guitar

[dgaroz]

Hi guys!

I am starting a project for a custom guitar. Just to give you a rough idea it is closer to a LP Custom (with ebony fretboard and maple top) but using (America) walnut for the body and the neck. I want to use it as my main axe so it has to be versatile enough. I want the bridge mainly for rhythm guitars for hard rock-metal-stoner... So I want a thick and hot pickup but plenty of clarity (I hate blurry pickups). For the neck pickup maybe I would use it for something closer to southern rock-blues.

For the neck I am thinking in Abraxas or Emerald. For bridge I have more doubts... I am between four: Nailbomb (Alnico or Ceramic), Holydiver, Rebel Yell... and why not Warpig (Ceramic).

Any experience with walnut guitars would be more than wellcome.

[Telerocker]

Holydiver/Emerald-neck could be the ticket. But an alnico Warpig could be a good one too, thick and lots of bass.

[Kiichi]

Hi and welcome!

It too would definetly say Emerald neck is your ticket and for the bridge probably the holydiver, so I am with telerocker on this.
On the warpig I can always cite  caution until you know how bright / dark your guitar turns out to be, cause you really want it to be bright when you go WP.

[Mr. Air]

Holydiver/emerald seems like a good combo is stated above. You could also considder pairing the Holydiver with a Mule or Abraxas neck.

[Roboten]

If you want stoner, then in order of ascending output for the bridge: Mule -> Abraxas or Black Dog -> Warpig
For the neck, I'd go with the matching pickup.

[dgaroz]

Thanks for the replies!

Thinking in stoner (sometimes what I play is close to grunge) I guess that Nailbomb is my best option, isn't it?. If I think in Hard rock I love Rebel Yell... So... I agree that Holydiver (bridge) is the one in the middle...

For the neck I guess that Emerald is a nice option for sure... I love how the Mule sounds, but needing some extra output, Abraxas is a better alternative to Emerald.

Anyway, I think I will buy and test at least two pups to be 100% sure (in the end, the best advice is always what your ear tells you). I think Holydiver and Warpig (Alnico) for the bridge and Emerald and Abraxas for the neck...

I am sure I will get some kind of good money selling the pickups I will discard.

[Kiichi]

Can anyone confirm that the abraxas neck is actually hotter than the emerald neck (noticably so).

One the bridge PUs, to put it in perspective, the RY is sometimes cited as being a less hot nailbomb, with a tad more vintage feel in there. It has little less but about equally tight bottom end and therefore emphasises the high mid agression more / in a different way. Also it is slightly less compressed / more open.
The HD in comparison has a more musically rounded top end neither the NB nor the RY exibit, generally being more musically saturated without loosing cut. Just a less agressive in the mids and a tad fuller there.

Also the on the count of the RY, which I cannot praise enough, it is a more versatile PU than the Nailbomb, which is the narrowest of the 3 in mind. As it reacts incredigly sensitive to height changes it should be able to be tweaked into a nice stoner sound.

All three will work in the end, just in different ways.

[dgaroz]

I have asked BKP guys... Awesome ultrafast response... Really nice support.

Their recommendation is Nailbomb (A5) for the bridge and Emerald for neck. I do agree.

Anyway I have my GAS painfully high... too many visits to BKP website, I guess. I think I am about to buy as many pups as I can and test them all veeeeery carefully... Is the only way to be sure. Also, I have other guitars (now very sad with their old pickups...  :D) where the discarded pups can fit for sure.

My pick, as discussed... Rebel yell, Nailbomb and Holydiver... I'm 100% sure one of these three will be the perfect match.

Thanks guys!