unless your gibson is a sleeper Skrull agent like yourself (ha! I'm reading the Secret Invasion, so I know it, Skrull! 8)), I don't see any relation with the mahogany density with what you're not liking about it
it's just normal that a les paul pickup sounds completely different from the bridge, espacially in your situation, considering the rebel yell bridge and neck models have completely different specs
maybe the pickups just didn't match your tastes for this particular guitar
if you want more push and thickness without switching to ceramics, there's the nailbomb and the holy diver
I'm not sure a riff raff on the neck will fix your problems... maybe a neck holy diver
HA! Is it bad that I had to google 'skrulls'? 8)
Well, I find it bizarre that certain models of Les Pauls all have different tonal characteristics depending on how they are constructed (Chambered vs Solid Body heavy vs Solid Body Light vs Weight Relieved) but that is neither here nor there. Regardless of the cause, the end result is that the pickups aren't quite doing what I want them to do. My playing style has evolved and I have acquired a new #1 amp so I am trying to adjust my pickups to better accommodate how I approach the guitar as a player. My needs are to be able to switch between the neck and bridge pickup to go from open, phat, warm, and articulate --WITHOUT being boomy-- to thick, crunchy, focused, and generally pissed off. The bridge Rebel Yell is just a bit too thin with not quite the output I need while I'm perfectly happy with the neck pickup and really LOVE it. The problem is that as I try and turn up the gain / bass, the bridge pickup phattens up but then the neck pickup gets muddy and boomy. A thicker, slightly deeper, and more pissed off bridge pickup means I can back off the gain and bass slightly which will remove the booming from the neck pickup.
(The only thing that makes me sad is that the Rebel Yell is absolutely mind blowingly good with my Recto. If I was to tailor this guitar specifically for that amp, I'd swap the neck pickup and leave the bridge as is. Judging from some Roadster / Nailbomb clips, I won't be losing any ground at all from the switch)
To me, moving to the A-Bomb bridge makes a lot of sense as it has a lot in common with the Rebel Yell but is a bit darker, fatter and more aggressive. By the same token, I honestly feel like the Holydiver neck might be an equally good solution because the Cold Sweat, Rebel Yell and Holydiver necks are all closely related but the Cold Sweat is the darkest and most modern while the Holydiver is the brightest and most vintage. You clearly like the Rebel Yell neck but want it a bit brighter so the Holydiver is the obvious solution. There you go: A-Bomb bridge and Holydiver neck :D
I shot Ben an email explaining that I love the core voice of the Rebel Yells but that I want to tweak the sound slightly. He recommended the Black Dog in the neck and the Nailbomb in the bridge. Listening to sound clips, I think he's right. The Black Dog has that slightly more breathy / airy low end that I'm going for. I emailed him asking if I could get the custom chrome cover / ray gun etch :shock: cover on a nailbomb to match the neck pickup. I'll either just swap that one pickup (which would honestly be enough) or I can swap both and get the Black Dog / Nailbomb in open coil / zebra for a new look. Either way, I'll have to flip the Rebel Yells to offset the cost. I still have the unfilled warranty card as well as the box and candy so it shouldn't be such an issue to flip them for a reasonable price. If I held onto them, the wife would think this to be a prohibitively expensive swap, and this would be BEFORE I looked for more wood for the Rebel Yells. **GRIN**
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