What are Crawler bridge users putting in the neck?

[darkandrew]

Hi, I was just wondering what Crawler bridge players are putting in the neck position as an alternative  to the Crawler neck? Personally while I think the Crawler neck is well suited for silky leads, I never play lead parts and am looking for something more suited to rythm parts.

[darkandrew]

I remember reading in a different thread that someone had paired their Crawler bridge with an Emerald neck and described it as an 'inspired' combination. Any more thoughts on that combo? I was possibly thinking of a VHii?

[Telerocker]

For rhythm I would focus on a brighter neckpickup like the Emerald.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I remember reading in a different thread that someone had paired their Crawler bridge with an Emerald neck and described it as an 'inspired' combination. Any more thoughts on that combo? I was possibly thinking of a VHii?

Yep, that was me  :D

Actually, I do play leads but for me, the Crawler neck lacked cut, which the Emerald has in spades. I also find the Emerald neck is quite a thick sound, which compliments the very fat Crawler really well. What may surprise you is that another really good match for the Crawler bridge is the Holydiver neck. It may be a contemporary pickup that uses modern wire but it uses a very light wind that gives you bright, clear cleans that remain well articulated as you pile on the gain. As I've just bought another guitar, I'm toying with moving some pickups around and one possibility I'm seriously considering is moving the Emerald back with the Holydiver bridge and moving the Holydiver neck in with the Crawler. I haven't tried it yet but as all these pickups are in Custom 24 guitars, I have no doubt it would work. You'll find my review of the Holydiver neck in the review thread and I think you'll find it will be good for what you're looking for.

[darkbluemurder]

I use the VHII neck with the Crawler in my PRS Custom but that is a 24 fret guitar. The VHII neck sounds a bit bolder and tighter compared to the Crawler neck which is a bit smoother.

Cheers Stephan

[darkandrew]

" another really good match for the Crawler bridge is the Holydiver neck" - I really like the sound of the whole Holydiver set, the specs look as though the Bridge is similar to the Crawler but with a little less bottom end - is this right? My concern would be that if I did go for the set, the recommended guitar for this is a bright double-cut bolt-on (ie superstrat) and mine is a Les Paul style mahogany/maple body with a mahogany set neck (tonally well balanced but not necessarily what you would call bright), however having said that, if it has got less bottom end than the Crawler that's already in there then that should be OK.

[darkandrew]

" another really good match for the Crawler bridge is the Holydiver neck" - I really like the sound of the whole Holydiver set, the specs look as though the Bridge is similar to the Crawler but with a little less bottom end - is this right? My concern would be that if I did go for the set, the recommended guitar for this is a bright double-cut bolt-on (ie superstrat) and mine is a Les Paul style mahogany/maple body with a mahogany set neck (tonally well balanced but not necessarily what you would call bright), however having said that, if it has got less bottom end than the Crawler that's already in there then that should be OK.

Listening to the clips again, the Holydiver set sounds very, very similar (ie. practically identical) to the EMG 57/66 set I've got in my other Eclipse. So maybe I'll keep to what I've got to keep a bit of difference between the two guitars.

I might try this mod from the Seymour Duncan website though:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/tips-and-tricks/mod-squad-muddy-sounding-neck-pickup/