Need help finding alternatives to SD JB's on my SG

[Philly Q]

anyway it means alnico nailbomb - in other words a nailbomb pickup with an alnico magnet. this was the original configuration of that pickup.

The other version being the Ceramic Nailbomb, or C-Bomb.

[Philly Q]

Hmm by the looks of it the Abomb in the bridge and miracle man or aftermath in the neck seem promising. Any experts wanna chime in on this?

Just to be clear, are you considering the Miracle Man neck model, or a Miracle Man bridge model, in the neck position?

Bear in mind that the MM bridge has a ceramic magnet (like your SH-5), but the MM neck is alnico V.

I don't know whether either would be a good match for an A-Bomb bridge, I've never tried them.

[O731]

Hmm, perhaps a MM ceramic in the bridge and an Abomb in the neck then...

Making this decision is gonna be tougher than I thought  :?

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Holydiver is the most like a JB but doesn't seem to sit well in an SG. I'd go with the Miracle Man in the bridge as it's a lot like the Holydiver but with a bit more balls. For the neck, as you seem to like a ceramic magnet, you could look at a Painkiller as that's the only neck model that uses ceramic as far as I know and I believe the leads are excellent.

[BigB]

Hmm, perhaps a MM ceramic in the bridge and an Abomb in the neck then...

Making this decision is gonna be tougher than I thought  :?

Most descriptions of the ABomb (ok sorry - but now you know) are about the bridge - keep in mind that BKP sets are not "same pup for both positions", but really two distinct pups designed to work well together in their respective positions.  The vintage range ones usually have rather close specs (same magnets and wire) but are still clearly designed to complement each other. In the vintage hot and contemporary ranges you can have wildly different - yet coherent - builds, like a ceramic bridge and an alnico neck, or an alnico V bridge and an alnico IV neck (a very interesting combo as far as I'm concerned).

What I said about the ABomb only applies to the bridge - I paired mine with a Mule neck, interesting combo but there's a huge gap wrt/ output levels and overall character. Unless you really know what you're doing - and why - I strongly suggest you first go with a matched set, except for known working mismatched combos.

Also, if in doubt by all means AskTim(tm) - the guy really knows it's stuff and is more often right than wrong (I even suspect he has some mind-reading supahpowah <g>), and well, if what he said doesn't work for you, there's this 15 days return policy...

[Philly Q]

What I said about the ABomb only applies to the bridge - I paired mine with a Mule neck, interesting combo but there's a huge gap wrt/ output levels and overall character.

That's interesting, I think that's the first time I've seen that comment - I didn't think there'd be a massive output difference in practice, despite the very different specs.

[O731]

lol so I know this is a retarded question but is there like some sort of a proffesional way that I need to contact this Tim dude (like an inquiry form in the website or something that i'm missing ?) or can I just send him a PM

[darkbluemurder]

There is a contact form on the website. The best alternative though is to call them.

Cheers Stephan

[BigB]

What I said about the ABomb only applies to the bridge - I paired mine with a Mule neck, interesting combo but there's a huge gap wrt/ output levels and overall character.

That's interesting, I think that's the first time I've seen that comment - I didn't think there'd be a massive output difference in practice, despite the very different specs.

I think I already commented about it - and the "huge gap" applied to the overall diff - output _and_ voicing -, not to the output level per se. The output difference itself can be mostly leveled out with pickup height adjustments (you have to accept compromise wrt/ each pup's own sweet spot but it works fine), but you still have a very different voicing and feel. It was ok for me so far as I tried to have a quite versatile set and was mostly using the neck for clean / bluesy crunch so I had the bridge volume rolled down a bit, but now I have a few more guitars I'm thinking of going with something more balanced in the neck when I'll  proceed to pickups transplants (ABomb / Mule-or-something-else going on the LP, RR set going on the SG, still don't know if I'll be able to keep the Hofner but if yes it will get either the LP's stock pups or some vintage BKPs).

Not that the ABomb / Mule is a bad combo, I enjoyed it a lot and still enjoy it so far, but I'd like to be able to use the neck pup more with the LP (which will be my higher-gain weapon of choice) so...

[O731]

The Holydiver is the most like a JB but doesn't seem to sit well in an SG. I'd go with the Miracle Man in the bridge as it's a lot like the Holydiver but with a bit more balls. For the neck, as you seem to like a ceramic magnet, you could look at a Painkiller as that's the only neck model that uses ceramic as far as I know and I believe the leads are excellent.

Hmm...Not that I have to use ceramic magnets. I just sort of got the idea that ceramic magnets would be more ideal for my SG, but I could be mistaken. 

I read the painkiller and immediately the label of being a Djent pickup turned my off in all honesty. Can anyone chime in on the Abomb/Cbomb on the neck?

[Philly Q]

Can anyone chime in on the Abomb/Cbomb on the neck?

Again we're getting into that territory of BKP making sets with completely different pickups specifically designed for neck and bridge positions.

There is no C-Bomb neck model, the C-Bomb is designed as a bridge pickup.  If you order a Nailbomb set you'll get the same neck pickup (which happens to be AV) whether you order alnico or ceramic for the bridge.

Of course, you could put a bridge C-Bomb in the neck position, but I imagine it would be pretty overpowering.

[O731]

Can anyone chime in on the Abomb/Cbomb on the neck?

Again we're getting into that territory of BKP making sets with completely different pickups specifically designed for neck and bridge positions.

There is no C-Bomb neck model, the C-Bomb is designed as a bridge pickup.  If you order a Nailbomb set you'll get the same neck pickup (which happens to be AV) whether you order alnico or ceramic for the bridge.

Of course, you could put a bridge C-Bomb in the neck position, but I imagine it would be pretty overpowering.

Hmm ok interesting I get you now...

How would you compare say... an Abomb/cbomb set vs Miracleman Set vs A miracle man in the bridge and (Insert x pickup) in the neck

[gwEm]

I listened to the clip.

The tone isn't that heavy, but it is bright-ish and defined.

You might indeed be able to get away with Riff-Raffs into a high gain amp, but I would opt for a Rebel Yell set in your SG.

If you get the Rebel Yell set and find them too bright, then you can exchange for an Alnico nailbomb set which is more dark.

I don't think there is any need for ceramic magnets for this job, and I also don't think theres any need to be clever with the neck pickup choice - just go for a BKP calibrated set. The guys put alot of effort into getting them balanced right.


edit:
I just think the Miracle Man is going to be too contemporary sounding in an SG for that tone. The Rebel Yell is based around the idea of a less hot nailbomb. The nailbomb has a certain "twisted" sound which I don't like, the rebel yell is brighter and sounds more sweet, but still modern and highish gain.

[O731]

I listened to the clip.

The tone isn't that heavy, but it is bright-ish and defined.

You might indeed be able to get away with Riff-Raffs into a high gain amp, but I would opt for a Rebel Yell set in your SG.

If you get the Rebel Yell set and find them too bright, then you can exchange for an Alnico nailbomb set which is more dark.

I don't think there is any need for ceramic magnets for this job, and I also don't think theres any need to be clever with the neck pickup choice - just go for a BKP calibrated set. The guys put alot of effort into getting them balanced right.


edit:
I just think the Miracle Man is going to be too contemporary sounding in an SG for that tone. The Rebel Yell is based around the idea of a less hot nailbomb. The nailbomb has a certain "twisted" sound which I don't like, the rebel yell is brighter and sounds more sweet, but still modern and highish gain.

Very detailed an articulate reply my man, thanks alot.

The tone I have in my current SG with my SD's give me the tone in the video clip (it's the same setup as the guitarist  :lol:) The reason why I chose it is because though its pretty heavy, it still has character and "definition" as you would put it. It's not all gained out and distorted. I like to be able to hear more to a power chord than just the bottom two strings :)

I hear rebel yell's dont sound good in SG's? What's this about?

The only problem is that i want a tad bit more Modern per say, without losing that character.
The nailbomb and the rebel yell seem like what I'm going for. I got a response from the tech support saying the nailbomb would be more of what I'm going for.

[O731]

Woops extra post