Neck Question

[Slartibartfarst42]

OK, so I've pretty much decided that I'm going to give the A-Bomb another try in my Vintage V100 so now I need to think about neck pickups. Now I don't need a neck pickup specifically for the V100 as it won't be my main soloing guitar so I'm happy to move around the neck pickups I already have (Emerald and Holydiver) and I'm also happy to buy a duplicate of something I've already got if it happens to be the best for the job.

This neck pickup will be used primarily for playing lead. Due to a complete lack of talent with fast alternate picking, my soloing style relies heavily on legato playing when I want to get as near as I can to shredding. I know that I should try to develop my alternate picking but as I'm now very nearly 50 years old, I frankly can't be bothered so legato it is  :D

I need a neck pickup that is fantastic for legato playing. Something that is very fluid and rounded on the highs while being clearly defined in the lows. My main guitar for fast legato playing is a PRS SE CU24 and has a Holydiver in the bridge. It currently uses an Emerald in the neck and if that's the best neck pickup for the job, it will stay there and I'll need suggestions to go with the A-Bomb in the V100. If the Emerald isn't the best option for what I describe, I'll move the Emerald into the V100 and put the new one into the PRS.

That's probably about as clear as mud!

[lamp]

I've got an ABomb paired with a Rebel Yell neck in an LP Custom and I have to say it is my favourite neck pup I have tried.  I'm no shredder either, and to ally it sits really well with the ABomb.  It's fluid and not harsh or ice picky in the highs at all. I find it really clear.  Has been likened to sit between the VHII and Cold Sweat necks, but I haven't tried either of those.

[Dave Sloven]

That's the neck (RY) I would pair with  the A-bomb, otherwise a Nailbomb neck or a Stockholm

[Slartibartfarst42]

Interesting. This all depends on application. If the Holydiver, Emerald and Rebel Yell are all equally good at flowing legato leads and the RY sits best with the A-Bomb, that's where I'll put it and I'll leave the other two where they are. Conversely, if the RY is clearly the best neck option for fast and fluid legato leads then I'd be more inclined to put it in the PRS with the Holydiver bridge and move either the Emerald or Holydiver neck pickups in with the A-Bomb. Whichever neck pickup is the best for fast legato lead is the one that needs to go into the PRS with the Holydiver in the bridge as that's the guitar I'll be playing the fastest solos on.

The Rebel Yell makes sense in many ways as I was already toying with the idea of a Cold Sweat for this application and I think it shares some common features with the Rebel Yell and the Holydiver neck.

[Dave Sloven]

I always thought my Cold Sweat neck clashed a little tonally with the A-Bomb when that was in my SG. I always thought that a Rebel Yell neck would give me the same kind of performance as a CS but with a tonality that was closer to that of the A-Bomb, simply because the A-Bomb and RY bridge are closer in many ways than the Cold Sweat bridge and the A-bomb.  I would assume that the same could be said for the C-Bomb with the RY neck, although the C-Bomb might seem more like the CS bridge due to its magnet the windings are (as far as I know) the same as the A-Bomb.

[Lucas]

I have CBomb bridge and CS neck and to be honest cannot complain. CS deals beautifuly with fast legato soloing, sweep picking as well as as screaming solos.
When it comes to matching with CBomb in the middle position I must say that brightness and crispiness of CS takes over a little CBomb (which is more on the dark side to my ears). But in that case it`s not a bad thing to me.

By the way some time ago when I was replacing my Dean Michael Batio pickup and was looking for something to match with bridge CBomb, Tim from BKP automatically suggested neck CS.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'll message Tim at some point for confirmation but so far this seems pretty close to what I anticipated. I reasoned the Cold Sweat would have to be an option and the RY is also logical due to its connection with both the CS neck and A-Bomb bridge. I guess it will be one of those two so now all I need to decide is whether the CS or RY is a better pickup for fast legato runs than the Emerald and that will determine which guitar it goes into  :D

[Lucas]

Slart, let us know what you picked up. Quite interesting which would handle it better, CS or RY.
At some point most people were praising CS, while nowadays RY really shines in people`s comments.

When it comes to neck pickups I can only compare neck CS to Dean DMT Michael Angelo Batio signature neck pickup which I had previously.
CS is faaaar way better, more fluid, not as muddy in mahogany, more articulate, more precise, sings better with leads, better clean, better split, more defined, more musical and not as 'cheap' sounding as Dean DMT  :D seriously. Huge improvement.

Slart, by the way, what is wrong with Emerald neck that you`re planning to replace it???

[Telerocker]

No love for the VHII-neck?

[Dave Sloven]

The Cold Sweat neck is a great pickup.  I can definitely see how it would match up well with a Miracle Man or even a Holy Diver in the bridge.  I wouldn't choose the Rebel Yell over the Cold Sweat to go with either of those bridge pickups. Seems like the Cold Sweat neck is very much like the Rebel Yell neck, but the Rebel Yell bridge is closer in sound to the Nailbomb bridge than the Cold Sweat bridge, so it would make sense that it might match better in terms of tone with the Nailbomb.  The Cold Sweat would still work, but if you have the option of one that might do all the same stuff and fit *slightly* better with your bridge pickup then that's the one I'd go for.  I see it as a choice of two amazing pickups that will do the same job

[Slartibartfarst42]

Slart, by the way, what is wrong with Emerald neck that you`re planning to replace it???

God, nothing at all. The Emerald neck is superb and I still love it. I was just curious if there was a pickup out there that is recognised at being better at fast and fluid legato runs. If there is, it just makes sense to put it in the guitar where I'll be playing that style most. If the Emerald is just as good as anything else I may just get a second Emerald or if I did get something else, it would only be for the sake of getting something different. I've owned four neck pickups in my time and kept three of them. The Crawler neck wasn't quite my thing but the Cold Sweat, Emerald and Holydiver neck pickups have all been superb. It's a close call but the Emerald just takes it as the best neck pickup I've ever played.

[ericsabbath]

the cold sweat works well with any of the contemporary models
but the vhII sounds like a slightly more natural match to me
something about the mids  :?
it sounds a little more organic and less "proggy" than the cold sweat

[Lucas]

I`m suprised that no one has mentioned Juggernaut neck. If that pickup sounds as good as it does in the "Heavy Lead Demo' on the BKP website it makes it a truly wonderful neck pup with that sparkle and attitude!

Don`t get me wrong, CS neck is a superb pickup but in my opinion it only does what it supposed to be doing. It does it extremely well indeed but at the end of the day it`s a superb piuckup for soloing, legato runs ect and great clean but nothing else. It doesn`t have that specific voicing, that sparkle, attitude what makes it standing out. I hope you get my point, while lets say neck Juggernaut has a really distinctive, genuine and 'different', one-off voicing. Which makes it more interesting as well.
So far I`ve tried only BKP CS neck, but can compare it to Dean Michael Batio sig. pickup and that`s why I came to that conclusion.

Does anyone agree with me?