Emeralds for ESP Eclipse "Full Thickness"?

[OuijaChronicles]

Thought I may as well make a post on here. Just a few things I'm hoping I could get a few answers for?

I'm currently about to purchase my "first" high end guitar, and the ESP Eclipse I CTM FT looks like a very definite purchase now. The reason I'm curious is that this guitar is a lot thicker than standard Eclipses, so they resemble a typical Les Paul with mahogany body/neck and maple cap. The only difference is the ebony fingerboard. So its more or less a Gibson Les Paul Custom come to think of it.

I've been researching a lot of brands of pickups at the moment and thought I may give either Bare Knuckle or Seymour Duncan a try.

My logic for the Emerald is that due to buying a very expensive guitar, and I hear high end ESPs have better batches of wood which provide more resonance, etc., a set of "Vintage Hot" may let more of the guitars natural tone to shine through, whilst retaining clarity/tightness for metal. I've just started up a band which is sort of Symphonic/Power Metal mixed with Post-Hardcore. Got a female vocalist as well, so the music doesn't sound as heavy as it would with a male singer. But instead of wanting an all out metal tone, I was looking at something a bit less compressed, but tight enough for when things get heavy. I was also thinking with the mahogany, the Emerald may balance things out, but I'm yet to know how the maple/ebony would react with the Emerald?

Another reason for posting is that I'm unsure how the pickups would react in a band set-up? I've got use Amp Modelling (Axe FX II), so I can tailor my tone to fit within a 2 guitar band with a keyboardist. I just don't want to purchase a pickup that would make it that bit harder to cut through a mix like that.

I'm also open to options, I would just prefer to go for a Black/White colour.

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Emerald is a bright pickup so needs to be in quite a dark sounding guitar. Certainly a thick Les Paul would be its natural home so I can see your logic. It's very articulate, cuts well and has incredible tone. I doubt you'd be disappointed. Another option would be a Cold Sweat set, which is more modern sounding but certainly not OTT. It can be surprisingly open for a hot pickup. On the website the Cold Sweat looks to be even brighter than the Emerald but in my experience it isn't. I actually found the Emerald to be the brighter of the two pickups. The bottom line is that both will do what you want very well.

[OuijaChronicles]

The Cold Sweat sounds interesting. I'll have a look around the forum for some more info.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I've tried both a Cold Sweat set and an Emerald set and liked them both, though the bridge Emerald was just too bright in my PRS so I had to send it back. Of the two sets, I prefer the Cold Sweat in the bridge but I prefer the Emerald in the neck. Get one of each and have the best of both worlds  :D

[OuijaChronicles]

Well the Maple Cap and Ebony Fingerboard may cause the Emerald to be a bit spiky then. I've seen quite a lot about the Emerald & Cold Sweat neck pickups. At least I've got a while to finally decide. I'm just testing the water at the moment. It wouldn't surprise me if I went through at least 5 pickups before finding an ideal one. But if I got it first time, that would be fantastic.

[fhn_lopes]

some otpions for you

Rebell Yell set
Holydiver bridge / Emerald Neck (the most famous combo here)
VhII bridge / Emerald Neck (I had this combo and it rips)
Riff Raff set

If you're afraid that the emerald bridge is too bright for you, those above are good options, but man, stick with the emerald neck if possible. It's the best neck pup ever made, trust me. It's freaking clear yet sweet in the high end, never gets flabby or muddy, and sings beautifully. Clean tones are percursive and it splits VERY nice too.

As you use an amp modeller I think it's easier for you to tame the brightness, so I'd risk an Emerald calibrated set.

[Kiichi]

You certainly make a lot of sense in your thinking about tone, really like the way you think!

I can agree with what has been said before. Emerald neck certainly is great, bridge too, but again, could possibly be a bit spiky.

A little more on the save side would be a Rebell Yell bridge with either matching neck or Emerald. I believe the RY neck is somewherer between the Cold Sweat and Emerald, so great for what you need. I think the bridge is a little less bright than the Emerald, but also amazing. That one just scream rock all over the place. It is tight, organic, cutting and has a nice upper mid spike giving it such a rocking voice. The general feel is modern alnico with a vitage throwback in there. Can easily do rock and punk (love it for pop punk and pop rock), 80s rock and metal, modern metal (see Red Seas Fire), etc...roll down the volume and you get blues too.
Really love the PU. Very versatile in itself and since it is very sensible to height changes it is even more so and can really be adjusted a lot.


Really all three, the Emerald, Cold Sweat (though I would pair that with a EM neck) and Rebell Yell would be amazing here and the HD, VHII and RR could work nicely too. Problem with BKPs is that they are pretty versatile so you will always have multiple PUs which can do the same thing pretty equally well, but they all do it another way, with another flavour.


Best course is probably to check out the options, get the guitar and then listen how that actual guitar you then own sounds acousticly. Then you can make an informed choice based on how bright / dark / attack heavy / etc.  it actually is.

[ericsabbath]

bright is good
I can't really vouch for the emerald, as it's one of the few models I still haven't tried yet (and probably my next bkp), but I never had a problem with the riff raff, vhII and cold sweat sounding too bright in a les paul or prs
so, unless the emerald is a really trebly pickup (which is not the same as bright), I don't see a problem
in most cases, it's much easier to tame the brightness than the other way around

from what I hear from clips, the emerald seems to sound a little more open than the rebel yell and cold sweat, and that's why it's been awakening my gas for my next les paul
I've been using less hot pups like the riff raff, mule and vhii to play heavier stuff for a couple years and don't intend to go back to high output models, but the emerald seems to fit my standards in terms of clarity and openness
I think the emerald has been overlooked for far too long
I'm still debating between the emerald and the abraxas, though, but I wouldn't have a problem sticking with riff raffs or mules
the BKP GAS is a curse... no matter how happy you are, you always NEED to try something new

emerald clips are somewhat hard to find
bright indeed, but doesn't seem too much for a les paul from these videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbOgR2eVrZI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-4JG2d1ejY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-beQEZiKXd4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgGQ0ROSOAI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CIJE6EK_Ko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxF2IevQSJk

also loving this abraxas video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmzuy5k_xXY

[fhn_lopes]

There's something about the Abraxas texture that makes me like'em less than the Emeralds... I'm planning on an Emerald Set for my LP, just raising some funds for them now.... I would go with a Rebell Yell too, But I want to hear them more ina super lead ... SS clips are amazing, but be carefull, that's the man playing there, with pro recording gear... SS clips sound different from BKP clips. Anyways, Eric is right, BKP GAS is INDEED a curse, and he doesn't even play strats... I do, so my GAS for those single coil sets!!

The Emerald neck is a sticker though, no matter what happends, I'm going with it for sure

[Alex]

I'd recommend you get the guitar first, because mine (not FT) is not very bright. It is very mid-rangey.

I would definitley go for a bright pickup with mine.