Best choice for Schecter Hellraiser Solo 6

[dgaroz]

Hi everyone,

I have a Schecter Hellraiser Solo 6, mahogany neck and body with flame maple top and rosewood fretboard. It's like a lighter Les Paul or a PRS singlecut (so, set neck, H-H pickup configuration) but with a 25,5" scale.

This axe has now Duncans SH1 (neck) and SH6 (bridge), what seems to be a poor choice. It sounds absolutely flat (no mids, no bass, poor treble), cold, blurry, and not tight at all. In some way, it remains me the reason why I sold my PRS Tremonti... too balance, too "polite", OK for everything but excellent for nothing... simply too boring (of course, the PRS was still better than this Schecter is now).

To be fair, this guitar sounded nice with its original EMG (... well it sounded like EMG's... so didn't know how it really sound until I put the Duncans). However, I love the looking and the neck feeling of this guitar and, even being a Korean made instrument, looking at the construction, the wood and the global quality (these Koreans can do really good stuff!) I feel that it is possible to make it sound much better.

I am looking for a Black Stone Cherry sound (to give you a rough idea). So, it should have some kind of vintage character whilst being hot, as chunky as possible and tight for the downtuned heavy riffs... of course plenty of clarity (I take that for granted with BKPs). For the neck I prefer something more bluesy (think in Gary moore, Joe Bonamassa, etc). 

My first choice is a calibrated abraxas set, but Mule and Emerald for the neck and Rebel yell and Nailbomb (A5) for the bridge look like good options as well.

What do you think?

[dgaroz]

Hey... No one wants to help me... ?  :(

[Kiichi]

Wish I could, but I am a little at a loss for that. The Abraxas seems like a good idea, but I am no expert on those sounds, sorry.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'll take a punt  :D

To me, Black Stone Cherry are a bit too tight and aggressive for an Abraxas in the bridge. I think you'd be better off with an alnico Nailbomb for that style and an Emerald in the neck will be great for those Gary Moore style tones.

[dgaroz]

Thanks for the answers!

Nailbomb-emerald combo was in fact my first choice... I'm sure that the A-bomb will do the job with the metal riffs, but I guess that I might miss the vintage touch required for some other stuff (much more closer to southern rock than to metal). That's why I thought in Abraxas. Maybe if A-bomb has too much metal character and the Abraxas is not tight enough the answer is Rebel Yell... :? I guess that RY is slightly more "vintage" than the Nailbomb... Isn't it?

I think that I can never go wrong with emerald in the neck... But having an Abraxas in the bridge I thought that it would be wise to have a calibrated set (both Emerald and Abraxas are Alnico IV and with similar character). On the other hand I don't use the middle position a lot... So, I'd better go with the Emerald anyway (...for sure if I don't get the Abraxas bridge)

[Kiichi]

Nailbomb-emerald combo was in fact my first choice... I'm sure that the A-bomb will do the job with the metal riffs, but I guess that I might miss the vintage touch required for some other stuff (much more closer to southern rock than to metal). That's why I thought in Abraxas. Maybe if A-bomb has too much metal character and the Abraxas is not tight enough the answer is Rebel Yell... :? I guess that RY is slightly more "vintage" than the Nailbomb... Isn't it?

I think that I can never go wrong with emerald in the neck... But having an Abraxas in the bridge I thought that it would be wise to have a calibrated set (both Emerald and Abraxas are Alnico IV and with similar character). On the other hand I don't use the middle position a lot... So, I'd better go with the Emerald anyway (...for sure if I don't get the Abraxas bridge)

Well the RY is somewhat of an underwound NB. It uses a modern magnet and somewhat vintage wire to create a sound which is modern, but rooted in the past. I like to put it as modern with a great vintage throwback. Put it on tilt and you get modern sounds, be it tight metal or Blink 182, put it, or the amp, a little lower and you get a wonderful rock sound.
The bottom end is present and punchy but now the focus point of the voicing here, that is the midrange which especially shines in the upper mid spike. Itīs the thing that gives the RY its rock feel, that screaming agressiveness which always remains so nicely warm and organic.

For the neck  both the emerald and the Ry would do a great job too.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I think that I can never go wrong with emerald in the neck... But having an Abraxas in the bridge I thought that it would be wise to have a calibrated set (both Emerald and Abraxas are Alnico IV and with similar character). On the other hand I don't use the middle position a lot... So, I'd better go with the Emerald anyway (...for sure if I don't get the Abraxas bridge)

The Emerald and Abraxas are not the same at all in reality. Now while I've never tried an Abraxas neck, I have tried a Crawler neck which is virtually the same pickup. The difference between the Emerald and Abraxas is in the wire. The Abraxas uses a very vintage wire in 42PE so you get a very vintage tone whereas the Emerald keeps a vintage character thanks to the AIV magnet but it uses a more modern 43PE wire and that gives it a lot more cut. Put it this way, the Emerald neck is easily my favourite neck pickup while I sent the Crawler neck back. That's how much of a difference there is.

[darkbluemurder]

But then Keep in mind that the Crawler neck and the Abraxas neck are not the same pickup either. The Abraxas is much brighter than the Crawler and should therefore be closer to the Emerald neck based on your description. Nevertheless, the Emerald neck is probably the better fit to the A-Bomb bridge than the Abraxas neck.

Cheers Stephan

[dgaroz]

Thanks a lot for your posts! I am sure I will go for Emerald in the neck.

However the main doubt is still the bridge pickup. Both (RY, NB) will work well but I wonder if any of these might solve the main problem... This guitar sounds too thin, too flat... and I need a chunky guitar sound (My main axe is still a Les Paul Custom 1981). Maybe Holydiver is a better solution from this point of view, even I would loose any trace of vintage tone choosing this one. If I have to choose between a chunky sound or a (slightly) vintage sound, I definetely go for the chunky one. Also the guitar is not dark (neither bright, just flat) so I guess that the Holydiver is suitable as well.

Between Rebel Yell and Nailbomb, I have the perception that NB is thicker (chunkier) than RY, am I right?

[dgaroz]

Hi guys!

I finally ordered Emerald neck and Nailbomb (A5) bridge. I have just tested them... I can't imagine how this guitar could sound better now!!!!

There is now a total definition of each string, no matter how hard or soft you play. Everything is now totally clear... for the good and for the worst (now the poor playing sounds also more...  :? :( ). Definitely I would say that clarity is the biggest advantage you get going with BKP (at least comparing it with Seymour Duncan). On the other hand I've got the chunky and percussive tone I was looking for, whilst still sounding warm and organic... Ceramics sound far too cold for me.

The Emerald has some kind of modern-vintage tone (yeah... hard  to explain... somehow it is just in the middle)... Bluesy but really thick. It combines perfectly with the A-bomb. The Nailbomb is a take-no-prisioner sledgehammer, I have honestly to say that it is darker (but not blurry) than expected but, I might agree that it could have enough high end for "softer" stuff (i.e. classic rock). However, I love the massive low mids and low end that this pup gives... I hardly understand the tone guide of the BKP website... For me it has more lows than highs (at least in this guitar... ).

Thanks everyone for your help!

[Telerocker]

Glad you like them! Just tweak the bridge a bit to find sweet spot. Scatterwound pickups are sensitive for (the right) height.

[fps_dean]

I'll take a punt  :D

To me, Black Stone Cherry are a bit too tight and aggressive for an Abraxas in the bridge. I think you'd be better off with an alnico Nailbomb for that style and an Emerald in the neck will be great for those Gary Moore style tones.

I can second this...  The Abomb is somewhat modern voiced but very versatile as well, and the emerald neck I gather is pretty vintage sounding with a little extra kick for pairing with louder bridge pickups.

[dgaroz]

Glad you like them! Just tweak the bridge a bit to find sweet spot. Scatterwound pickups are sensitive for (the right) height.

I guess that I might increase the high end response tweaking the bridge pickup a little closer to the strings, is that right? However, I will also increase the output, and I already have tons of output... (huge pup this A-Bomb...)

[Chris Rowberry]

The Naillbomb and Emerald are a great choice from your description - especially if you were finding your guitar sounding a bit thin. Raising the pickups will give the impression of more output as the pickups will be able to pick up more string vibrations due to the strings being closer. 
Its just a case of moving them slightly and playing until you hit the right spot for you.