Need some help on deciding which Pickup to buy.

[LegatoMan]

Hey guys!

Been playing guitar for over 10 years. I recently bought an Axe Fx, and after playing around with it for over a year, I became frustrated with the results... it seemed like the quality of tone only ever reached a certain point, and I could never get rid of some "flubbiness" or "muddiness", and if I did, other things would suffer as a result. ...So then, I only realized about a month ago that this problem didn't arise with my main guitar (Ibanez Jem), but it was always an issue with my OTHER two guitars, one a less expensive RG and the other one an Epiphone. I had never, ever thought about what pickups went into my guitars. So the whole time I was fighting with the cr@ppy stock pickups of my guitars and blaming it on the Axe Fx :roll:

I'm looking to buy new humbuckers for both of the guitars, and I've heard great things about Bare Knuckle, but I'm not sure which ones to buy. I don't want to just guess how certain pickups might sound, based on recordings with other guitars and other equipment, and then pay 200 pounds for the wrong ones. And considering you can't just "borrow" a pickup and see if you like it, I need some guidance from your experience !

So, guitar 1... Epiphone. "Les Paul". Sounds very mid-rangy, muddy, and warm. Currently equipped with those golden "soap bars" that have no name on them. What I'd like to improve: Transparency, chord definition(even when distorted), clarity, tightness of bass (because I tune down a lot) and more present highs. It would seem like the Miracle Man would be the right choice from the description, but it seemed like you're only supposed to use it for extremely high gain sounds? I mean, I use high gain, but it's still got to sound nice in a clean setting, especially for chord transparency etc.

Guitar 2... Ibanez RG. Sounds very plucky, cardboard-like, and annoying. Currently equipped with two humbuckers that say "INF3" and "INF4". What I'd like to improve: Warmth, richness, depth, complexity, and just plain "sounding like a real guitar"!  :lol: I down-tune this one as well, so it's got to handle low notes. Here, pretty much any of the Bare Knuckle pickups would be an improvement, I'm sure! But it would be nice to be able to narrow it down.

Thanks in advance!

[Slartibartfarst42]

Guitar 1 - The Miracle Man could well work here and the cleans are better than you'd think but I'd be tempted to try the Cold Sweat calibrated set instead. It has a great 'Gibson' voicing and will do everything you're asking for.

Guitar 2 - Holydiver in the bridge for sure. Fantastic pickup that will do wonders for your guitar. For the neck, for some reason I want to say Crawler but I'm not sure why  :?

[Telerocker]

Good calls from Slarti.
If you downtune a lot the Cold Sweat will keep things tight and fresh.
I would put a Holy Diver-bridge/Emerald-neck in the RG.

[LegatoMan]

Thanks for the great responses!!

I'm sold on the Cold Sweat for the Les Paul. Seems like the way to go.

I'm a little confused though, why you both suggest mixing different pickups for the RG? Is this usually done?

Just to clarify: for the RG, I'm looking for deep, mellow, warm, rich sounds. The opposite of harsh, annoying sounds that stick out. It seems that, judging from the graph, the Emerald is lacking in low frequencies compared to the others? Why not, for example, the Aftermath, Nailbomb or Painkiller?

[Telerocker]

Thanks for the great responses!!

I'm sold on the Cold Sweat for the Les Paul. Seems like the way to go.

I'm a little confused though, why you both suggest mixing different pickups for the RG? Is this usually done?

Just to clarify: for the RG, I'm looking for deep, mellow, warm, rich sounds. The opposite of harsh, annoying sounds that stick out. It seems that, judging from the graph, the Emerald is lacking in low frequencies compared to the others? Why not, for example, the Aftermath, Nailbomb or Painkiller?

The eq-charts are for the bridgemodels. Lots of forummembers mix bridge- en neckmodels. By example the Diver and Nailbomb  are often combined with the Cold Sweat-, VHII- and Emerald-neck.
The Emerald will give you juicy, round PAF-tones with a little extra oomphh. Complements the midfocused Holy Diver very well. I think these pickups fit your RG quite well.

[LegatoMan]

Ok Thanks dude!

[Slartibartfarst42]

I can vouch for the Cold Sweat set as I used to own that very set and it always did me proud. I also use the Holydiver/Emerald combination and I love it. The neck Emerald certainly isn't as bright as the bridge version but it is still quite a bright pickup. I was on the point of suggesting a Holydiver/Emerald set myself but I went with the Crawler partly because I wanted to suggest something different to what I use and partly because you were so specific about wanting something that was  deep, mellow, warm and rich. The Holydiver will do that in the bridge while still giving you enough tightness for heavier material and lower tunings. I've never used a Crawler myself but everything I've read about it suggests it is indeed 'deep, mellow, warm and rich', hence my suggestion but I would naturally bow to those with better experience of that particular pickup. If they think the Emerald is a better bet, I'd happily go along with it.  :D

[BigB]

I've never used a Crawler myself but everything I've read about it suggests it is indeed 'deep, mellow, warm and rich'

It is - but it might not be the safest choice for down-tuning. While being now listed in the contemporary range it's really more of a vintage-hot pickup when it comes to voicing, specially for the neck which is rather on the soft side.

[Kiichi]

I've never used a Crawler myself but everything I've read about it suggests it is indeed 'deep, mellow, warm and rich'

It is - but it might not be the safest choice for down-tuning. While being now listed in the contemporary range it's really more of a vintage-hot pickup when it comes to voicing, specially for the neck which is rather on the soft side.

Agreed. It somewhat reminds me of the Mule neck, but it is like a hotter, fatter, smoother, warmer version of it. Great in its own way, but here I would go with the smooth musically singing lead sound of the emerald as well.

[Telerocker]

Played a blues(rock)-gig last night with a projectband and the Mule-neck in my all mahogany Saint Blues was singing excellent. I might not be the hottest neckpickup, but it's fat with a nice crispiness to it. Maybe a tad too vintage for your styles.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Then I will happily concede that in this particular case, the Emerald neck is a better option and as already stated, the Holydiver/Emerald combo is my personal favourite as it will do most things spectacularly well.

[LegatoMan]

Awesome. Holydiver/Emerald it is, then.

Thanks for the detailed exchange.

[Telerocker]

Awesome. Holydiver/Emerald it is, then.

Thanks for the detailed exchange.

Cheers! Let us know if you dig this set. Oh yeah, perhaps you know this already, but if not, scatterwound pickups are sensitive for height, so tweak a bit to find the sweet spots. One mm can already make quite a difference.