Which Pickup is for me?

[littleredguitars2]

i've been an avid seymour duncan user for years, more specifically the Invader model. and while i really enjoy it, i want something with a little bit more crunch, and something with more clarity. i emailed tim a while back to see what he suggested and he personally thought a rebel yell might suit my needs but i'm just looking to see what the community might think. i've done so much research on different models that honestly, so many of them sound appealing. i'm looking right now for just a bridge humbucker. i play mostly rock/ pop punk. but i want to be able to play some heavier stuff too if i want. so i guess i'm just looking for something with high output but has a good crunch still. i dont do much for solos. i'm more interested in something that will make my chords sound a bit livelier. i dont want to just take the heaviest sounding pickup because i'm afraid it would really sound organic enough anymore. anyways.. enough rambling. here is my set up

humbucker only fender strat
mesa boogie dual rectifier roadster
orange ppc212c

thank you so much to anyone who can help me.

[Telerocker]

Or the punchy, bright yet balanced with good mids and lowend VHII, which has quite some output, nearly on par with the Crawler in my other strat.

[littleredguitars2]

yeah the vhii looked good but i wasnt sure how heavy it could get

[Telerocker]

Certainly enough oomph for rock and poppunk.

[littleredguitars2]

so i think i decided i want to lean more towards a classic/power metal tone with this guitar. since most of my other guitars are good for the pop punk type stuff. basically in my alder/maple/rosewood fender mexi strat i want to have a great "brown sound" but i want it to really have a lot of life and be really good with those pinch harmonics. i'm definitely looking for something thats hot. i've heard clips with the crawler and the vhii and i'm just not sure they will be as hot as i'm looking for. i've been hearing good things about the holy diver and miracle man though... thoughts?

by the way, the sort of tones i'm leaning towards are like some of the late 90s Hammerfall type tones if anyones familiar with them. i'll post a link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzNZU8HFnGU

as you can hear, its got some great crunch but really sings in those solos.

[fhn_lopes]

Well I have a bit of experience with the brown sound and a few pickups, so I'm going to say some things

1) You DON'T need a high output pickup with a Mesa Boogie Roadster. The amp has more than enough gain for almost any aplication, even if you use single coils. So choose your pickup by the tone and not output.
2) You WON'T get any closer to the brown sound without a MARSHALL and a 4x12 with GREENBACKS. PERIOD.
3) The VHII is WAY more versatile than only early VH tones, and it has lots of gain even being a "vintage hot" pup, it saturates an amp really well, pairing with other contemporary pickups such as the DSD (another good option for brown tones) and so... I own one and I can say. I used to run it through a Orange ppc 2x12 and a MEsa Mark III, and the tone was MASSIVE. I could play everything from blues (in the clean/crunch channel) to Dream Theater with the same guitar with only a tube screamer in the front, and it was not because of the lack of gain, but to tight up the bass a bit. The VHII has a huge bass response and has lots of punch too.

I wound't get a Crawler because of its low mids, maybe it's not going to pair with the Mesa as it has TONS of it too.. maybe it can sound a bit muddy in that region even thoug BKPs are clear and defined, the crawler has a vintage voicing low end that is a bit loose. I think the RY and the VHII are nice options for a one humbucker guitar.

[Sarkasis]

Pretty sure the easiest way to get a power metal sound would be something like a Holydiver into a Marshall. From what I hear the Rebel Yell seems like a good option to get you those Hammerfall tones, they seem like they're a little brighter and more high-mid focused.

[littleredguitars2]

Thank you both for the responses. they helped a lot. My search is definitely narrowing down.

Another quick thing. If I was going to make it  an HSS, which would bemy best best for something that won't sound twangy? I haven't don much research on the single coils

[Alex]

I think the range VHII - Holy Diver/Nailbomb are the ones you're looking at. Probably the Rebel Yell is a very good recommendation after all.

I play some Hammerfall and the Nailbomb and EMG 81- equipped guitars that i have nail the rhythm sounds quite well, but the lead sounds probably could to with something a bit "sweeter". I would think that the Holy Diver (which I had) would be a bit closer, and I would suspect the same of the Rebel Yell (which I've never had). Hammerfall's sound isn't too tight on the low end, they've got a quite healthy and natural low end punch going on, which is of course also partly the ENGLs that they use (I think they use a Special SE EL34 mixed with a Savage a lot).

[fhn_lopes]

Thank you both for the responses. they helped a lot. My search is definitely narrowing down.

Another quick thing. If I was going to make it  an HSS, which would bemy best best for something that won't sound twangy? I haven't don much research on the single coils

Dependes what bridge pu you're going for, because you need to balance the outputs... But if you go for the VHII or Rebell Yell , I'd say get the Irish Tours middle and neck pups... The Slow Hands aren't that twangy, they have focused mids and are a bit darker. On the vintage side, I really dig the apaches, but I'm afraid you may lose too much output when changing pickups...

If you're going for a darker pickup (like the Crawler or Holydiver) I'd take a look over the trilogy suit, but again, they are more modern sounding pu's, think of final era Blackmore or malmsteen tones, it's not something TWAAANGY but they are still single coils.... Maybe the Holydiver can match outputs with the slowhands if you use them a bit far from the strings though....

There's a few recomendations for HSS sets at the BKP site, check'em out.

[Kiichi]

Thank you both for the responses. they helped a lot. My search is definitely narrowing down.

Another quick thing. If I was going to make it  an HSS, which would bemy best best for something that won't sound twangy? I haven't don much research on the single coils

Dependes what bridge pu you're going for, because you need to balance the outputs... But if you go for the VHII or Rebell Yell , I'd say get the Irish Tours middle and neck pups... The Slow Hands aren't that twangy, they have focused mids and are a bit darker. On the vintage side, I really dig the apaches, but I'm afraid you may lose too much output when changing pickups...

I can really recommend the Irish Tours. Take a classic SC, add some mids, dirt and power, generally just making it bigger and meaner and you got the IT. One step up again is the Slowhand.

[Telerocker]

Thank you both for the responses. they helped a lot. My search is definitely narrowing down.

Another quick thing. If I was going to make it  an HSS, which would bemy best best for something that won't sound twangy? I haven't don much research on the single coils

Dependes what bridge pu you're going for, because you need to balance the outputs... But if you go for the VHII or Rebell Yell , I'd say get the Irish Tours middle and neck pups... The Slow Hands aren't that twangy, they have focused mids and are a bit darker. On the vintage side, I really dig the apaches, but I'm afraid you may lose too much output when changing pickups...

I can really recommend the Irish Tours. Take a classic SC, add some mids, dirt and power, generally just making it bigger and meaner and you got the IT. One step up again is the Slowhand.

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Plus that a VHII might fit a bolt-on strat a bit better then the RY, which might be a bit bright.

[littleredguitars2]

Yeah it may be in my best interest to go with a darker pickup. I never realised that the seymour duncan invaders I've been using for years were so low and mid focused because of how much the rest of the guitar brightens it up. The website lists the Low/mid/treb at 7/8/4 and I never would've guessed that. Personally I think I'm leaning towards either a VHII HSS setup or a holy diver HSS with whichever single coils come recommended.

Someone probably said this already but how does the miracle man compare to the holy diver?

[Telerocker]

The VHII isn't dark, it has a good balance with the right amount of bass and mids, just the highs are pronounced but in a pleasant way. Not shrill at all. With the Mesa you don't need anything hotter, I think.

[littleredguitars2]

At this point I'm ready to just take a chance on any of the ones that you guys have mentioned. I really don't think I'll go wrong with any of them as long as I don't get one that has too much high end. Plus I could always throw it on ebay if I don't end up lovin it.

Thanks everyone for the replies. You guys are very helpful