Another possible route

[Slartibartfarst42]

As many of you may know, I recently bought a Vintage V100 and I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do with it. I have a PRS Custom 24 with a Holydiver set that covers my Metal requirements and my other CU24 uses a Crawler/Emerald combo that was to cover Blues Rock and Classic Rock. That being the case, I intended to make the Vintage a straightforward Blues guitar but so far I'm finding that I really like the Rock tones it can generate and it gives me something a bit different to the Custom 24's. I'm now thinking that it might be better to slot the Vintage in between the two PRS guitars. I think that now I'll make the Crawler equipped PRS my Blues based guitar seeing as it already has a Crawler in there that is great at Blues and Blues Rock pickup so I now need a set of pickups that will slot between the two PRS's.

I'm thinking of something that would run from Classic Rock to 80's Metal, sit ideally in a Les Paul style guitar, pack plenty punch and be a bit more open and classic sounding than the Holydiver. As with all of my favourite pickups, I'd like it to be nicely thick, reasonably smooth but with a bit more bite and with sweet leads. At the moment I'm thinking of either a Cold Sweat or Rebel Yell set as being the best suited to the job but as I have very limited experience of Les Paul style guitars I thought it best to ask for some second opinions.

Any thoughts?

[littleredguitars2]

i was going to say rebel yell personally. i was searching pretty much for the same sound you were and most people suggested that which is what i ordered and is also going into a les paul. but i really dont know much about the cold sweats.

[darkbluemurder]

If you had continued to go the Blues route with the Vintage I would have said Abraxas. Still that would fit the Classic Rock to 80s Rock requirement but it would sit between the Crawler and Holydiver neither from the output perspective (less output than both) nor from a tonal perspective (brighter than both).

Since you decidedly did not like the Alnico Nailbomb in one of your guitars I am very hesitant to recommend the Rebel Yell or Cold Sweat to you as these are both pickups that can impart an aggressive edge to the guitar - of course just the ticket if the guitar is too tame right now. Of these two the Rebel Yell covers Classic Rock a Little better than the Cold Sweat IMHO. 

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

Abraxas- or a VHII-set. The latter that does hair metal and rock with authority and has the bite you want. Still will have good meat  (good bass and mids) in a Les Paul.

[Slartibartfarst42]

It's true that I wasn't keen on the A-Bomb though that was in a maple neck-thru and this guitar is all mahogany. Nevertheless, too many hairy upper mids probably isn't my thing. If the Rebel Yell also has hairy upper mids, it may not be what I want. If it helps, I have had a Cold Sweat before and quite liked it. The VHII doesn't appeal as I like quite a thick sound and the asymetric wind would suggest that isn't the VHII. From what has been said so far the Cold Sweat is my best option. I suppose the Emerald and Black Dog may also work.

[Telerocker]

The VHII isn't that far away from the Diver, just noncompressed. Certainly in mahogany it will sound quite beefy, but with enough cut that isn't shrill. I guess the Emerald is way brighter. A BD is totally different bird, but you know that. But hey, actually you want an Abraxas!  :)

[Dave Sloven]

The Cold Sweat can go from brighter than the A-bomb to very dark - darker than the A-bomb can manage - using just my 500K CTS tone pot (WD Music blue PIO cap) in the bridge of my SG.  I have been able to get some great Celtic Frost tones out of it by rolling the tone back to around 6-7, which is not really that far.  You can get a decent Black Sabbath sound with the tone around 8-9 and maybe rolling the volume of slightly to 9

One thing that impressed me about it was the cleans, which I think are on a par with an alnico pickup and don't have the typical ceramic character.

I haven't tried the Rebel Yell but that's the other one I would consider.  I doubt that I would use it for heavier tones like Celtic Frost but it might have even more available on the rock & glam metal side

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Cold Sweat is a safe bet as I've had one before and quite liked it. If the Rebel yell has all those hairy high mids like the A-Bomb, that might not be for me. I'd dismissed the VHII due to all the references to it sounding like a single coil because of the asymetric wind but perhaps I was wrong with that. I wondered about the Black Dog because I've read a few reports that say it's a bit like a Holydiver backed down a step or two.

If I think of the bridge pickups I like most (Holydiver and Crawler) there are core characteristics that are common to both. They're both quite thick sounding, both smooth, both organic, both have sweet leads and both with a reasonable amount of compression. It seems to me that the pickup I want to slot between them needs to share a lot of those characteristics but be a bit more open sounding for its Classic Rock remit.

[Telerocker]

The VHII doesn't sound like a singlecoil, believe me, but it cleans up to near singlecoil vocal quality: very expressive, clear and articulate. But if you like a bit of compression, you can skip this one.

[Dave Sloven]

The Cold Sweat is a safe bet as I've had one before and quite liked it. If the Rebel yell has all those hairy high mids like the A-Bomb, that might not be for me.

You'd have to ask Tim but I remember reading something like the Rebel Yell bridge has a more symmetrical wind and that this makes it a much smoother sounding pickup. The Cold Sweat though is a safe bet, as is the matching neck.  From what I've read the Cold Sweat and Rebel Yell necks are very similar, and you wouldn't be gaining or losing much by choosing one over the other.  The CS set is also seems to be a set that can suit a wide range of guitars, so if you decide you want another sound in that guitar later you could swap into something else.  It works well in any mahogany guitar, even SGs.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'm going to move the Holydiver neck into the Vintage purely because I think its bright nature will sit well in all that mahogany and I'll move the Emerald neck back in with the Holydiver. That will leave me with two vacancies: the neck of a PRS that has a Crawler in the bridge and the bridge of the Vintage to go with a Holydiver neck. Tim assures me that the Mule neck has more cut than the Crawler neck so I think I'll try that in with the Crawler bridge, unless anyone disagrees with that.

As for the bridge of the Vintage, I'm increasingly drawn towards trying a Black Dog. I've read a number of reviews and some common traits quickly emerged:

PAF in nature
Has real punch
Plenty mids
Thick
Smooth
Similar to a Holydiver

Most of these things are characteristics I generally like in a pickup plus it has that 'PAF' feel, which is just what I'll need in a guitar I want to run from Classic Rock to 80's Metal. I'd assumed I wanted something with higher output but unless someone tells me it won't work well in a Vintage V100, I think this is what I'll go for.

[Telerocker]

The BD works very well in LP's, unless it's has a very dark natural voice. You also have to think about what works best with your amp. On my Rockerverb I prefer beefier pickups, the The Valve 2/50 likes brighter pickups better.

[fps_dean]

If you had continued to go the Blues route with the Vintage I would have said Abraxas. Still that would fit the Classic Rock to 80s Rock requirement but it would sit between the Crawler and Holydiver neither from the output perspective (less output than both) nor from a tonal perspective (brighter than both).

Since you decidedly did not like the Alnico Nailbomb in one of your guitars I am very hesitant to recommend the Rebel Yell or Cold Sweat to you as these are both pickups that can impart an aggressive edge to the guitar - of course just the ticket if the guitar is too tame right now. Of these two the Rebel Yell covers Classic Rock a Little better than the Cold Sweat IMHO. 

Cheers Stephan

He wants something more vintage than the Holy Diver, so from what I hear the Abraxas just might be what he wants!

[Slartibartfarst42]

When I say that I want something to sit between the Holydiver loaded guitar and the one with a Crawler in the bridge, I wasn't particularly thinking of output at all; it's more a case of what it will actually do. The Holydiver has the tightness and output I need for the more aggressive and Metal tones I play while the Crawler has the fat, richness I like for Blues and Blues Rock. Although suited to very different styles, there is some crossover and both of these pickups share some core characteristics that clearly I like in my guitars. The new pickup would need to also have these core characteristics of being thick, smooth and with a good bit of mids. It doesn't need to be as tight as the Holydiver but it does need to be tighter than the Crawler. It will probably be slightly more open than both because even the Crawler has a good chunk of compression but I do still want some compression because that's what I like. I don't need to reinvent the wheel with this pickup, I just need something that has all those characteristics I know I like but do something slightly different. I imagine that this Vintage will sound big and punchy with the new pickup. A huge sound that compliments the tonal qualities of a Les Paul style and allows me to make the most of that fantastic sustain without it going into the realms of all out Metal. I suppose that in terms of output, I'm naturally drawn to the contemporary range but I just don't see anything in there that will fit the bill. I can see both the Black Dog and Abraxas doing what I want and having only two choices is fine by me as it simplifies the process a bit. Either way I'll need to be patient because the student loan company have changed their mind on how much money they're giving my son so unfortunately the Bank of Dad is going to have to blow his savings on more pressing matters for now  :(