Nailbomb woes.

[lebowski77]

OK, so I've had a A-bomb set in my PRS SE 245 for about a year. In that time, I've tried everything to get the tone I wanted out if it. Playing with the height, checking my pots (500k), the wiring, new switchcraft jack and 3 way switch, new orange drop 0.022 caps  etc etc.

The 245 is a short scale fat mahogany neck and body with a thin maple cap. The A-bomb just doesn't have the presence I'm after. I get that its a warm pup, but there's juts not enough cut and bite for my liking. It's almost like there's a blanket over my amp. I've come to the conclusion that while the Nailbombs are really popular and are a great pup for most applications, it just isn't right for me and this guitar, which is quite dark. I play mostly rock/metal and this guitar I wanted to be able to do that but have some versatility, which is why I am steering away from ceramics (I have them in 2 other guitars  - a PK and SD Custom).

Now what should I try? The Rebel Yells look like they may do the trick - more treble, bite, can handle hi gain etc while still having the A5 magnet. What about (dare I say it) a JB?

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Dave Sloven]

Try wiring the pickup directly to the jack.  The 'blanket' comment makes me think that might work.

If that gives you the tone you are after, maybe change to either a 1meg volume pot or install some kind of switch for a bypass of the volume pots.

Otherwise I'd say go for the Rebel Yells - the neck pickup is really nice too.

I am installing a bypass on the volume pots for my Explorer with the Warpigs because sometimes they are too dark for a certain style I want to play with them. I had an A-Bomb but I didn't install brighter pots.  If anything I probably could have gone back to the Gibson 300K pots as the mids were really harsh with that pickup.  A different guitar from yours though (an SG).

You might be finding that you have that blanket effect if you have kept moving the pickup down in an effort to smooth it out.  Everything seems to be pointing toward Rebel Yells being a better fit for you but I'd try getting the soldering iron out first and just bypassing the pots so that you can assess the combination of pickup and guitar in itself.

[ericsabbath]

nailbomb is darkish indeed, despite of having a lot of treble

guess the next options would be the rebel yell and the emerald

[darkbluemurder]

Cut and bite but no ceramic = Rebel Yell. Emerald may work, too, but I don't have played one yet.

Cheers Stephan

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'm surprised the A-Bomb isn't cutting through as I found the upper mids that were present made it very cutting and it was also one of the tightest pickups I've ever played in either ceramic or alnico. I also would have expected new pots and caps to rid you of this problem so I guess you simply like a brighter tone.

The Rebel Yell is the obvious choice as it's the pickup that is most closely related to the A-Bomb; it's just that it's a bit brighter and not quite as aggressive. The Emerald would also work as that's the brightest pickup I've tried from BKP so is ideally suited to dark, Les Paul style guitars. It has a beautiful tone and will take masses of gain if you want it to. As it's from the vintage hot section, it's a bit more open sounding than your Nailbomb but that really halps the tone to shine through. The ONLY reason I sent mine back was because the guitar I put it in wasn't naturally dark enough but the tone was sublime. The third suggestion I have for you may seem odd because it's ceramic but bear with me. I'd take a serious look at the Cold Sweat. OK, it's ceramic, but you'd be amazed at just how versatile that pickup is. It's a bright pickup so cuts well but it's certainly not without bottom end. It's tight but not insanely so and has the best clean tone by far of any ceramic I've used. It's a fantastic Rock/Metal pickup that I had for many years before going after a darker and smoother tone.

As for the JB, that's essentially a Holydiver but nothing like as good. I've had a JB before and if the A-bomb doesn't cut through in your guitar, the JB doesn't have a hope in hell.

[Lucas]

nailbomb is darkish indeed, despite of having a lot of treble

agree, I even find Ceramic Nailbomb bridge more on the dark side. While setting up and amp have to dial more treble to get that thing going.

Recently I have changed all pots to BKP CTS 550K and all caps to BKP Jersen and it solved that problem a little bit, guitar became brighter and 'sharper' and more defined. It might solve your problem as well.

[JimmyMoorby]

I agree the nailbomb is dark (Still tight and very angry though) but thats what I needed for my sound to make it a little less harsh but still brutal its a nice balance now.

Personally id consider the rebel yell from this point on

[Telerocker]

Rebel Yells, Cold Sweats (if you like ceramic) or Emeralds

[Kiichi]

Yep Dude, the RY is probably the thing. As the others mentioned the emerald is possible too if you wanne go even brighter. That thing can open any axe up from what I gather. Both are really pubs made for LPs and make chunks of mahagony come alive. I think in comparison the RY is a bit more modern (modern take on a classic sound I call it), while the Emerald would be more classic and open.