Note separation and brightness

[aris17561]

Hello everyone ,

I have an esp horizon with vh2... My goal is to reach a sound that the notes are very dinstictive and have a very open and bright sound. I am a little confused beacause I play mostly metal like iced earth , killswitch engage etc , and my amp is a marshall jvm which has plenty of gain , but I am not sure that vh2 is my cup of tea. I mean that the pickup is not made for metal and even if the sound with the jvm sounds brutal , my stupid mind dont leave me to judge it by ear , but by eyes.

So i consider of buying a new knuckle that will give me the note separation that vh2 gives me , and the brightness too because horizon is a bit dark guitar. So i am confused because I send mails twice to Ben and Tim , and the answers confused me more. I wiil not saying who suggest me what , because I dont wanna influence you. I will tell you though in a couple of answers !!!

Before knuckles I had in my esp JB , DUNCAN DISTORTION , TB-5 ... It was a disaster !!!

[metale]

I would choose the Emerald.

[Dave Sloven]

I'm guessing you would like the alnico Black Hawk.

[aris17561]

According to the answers I have taken from you guys and from Ben and Tim I guess that all knuckles have the so called string separation right ?

With duncan I hear a sound that is a mass ... Not dinstictibe notes ... Ok I wait for more people to say an opinion in order to have a more popular solution for my problem ... Thanks

[Dave Sloven]

Well, the string separation has been very clear on the Nailbomb, Cold Sweat, and Stockholm I have, and especially noticeable when playing clean.  I think it's there on the Warpigs too, just that I have never played that many chords on them except arpeggiated chords, so I can't say for sure.  But yes it is common to BKPs

[Dave Sloven]

In terms of brightness you are probably looking at the following candidates:

VHII
Emerald
Rebel Yell
Cold Sweat
Black Hawk

All of these can do 'metal' - it just depends on what kind of metal you are talking about.  It is a very broad genre.

[Yellowjacket]

Rebel Yell Bridge + Dual Rectifier = instant love.  It can get damn heavy with clever EQ settings and it's always so articulate, edgy, and pissed off.

[Kiichi]

Well, the string separation has been very clear on the Nailbomb, Cold Sweat, and Stockholm I have, and especially noticeable when playing clean.  I think it's there on the Warpigs too, just that I have never played that many chords on them except arpeggiated chords, so I can't say for sure.  But yes it is common to BKPs

I have always felt that BKPs are great on the separation, but that their P90s kill everything in that regard. The way the bottom strings are defined is amazing to me.

Now that you have had some more playing around with your Stockholm and a good sample size besides that (plus a lot more musical experience than I do) I wonder if you have noticed something similar or not.

[aris17561]

All of these can do 'metal' - it just depends on what kind of metal you are talking about.  It is a very broad genre.

Metal like iced earth , killswitch engage , low tunings , but versality also , some dio , eye if the tiger etc . I am in a band and we play live guns n roses 80 hard rock metal so I need the pup can do these but in my own life outside the band I play more metal . So a pup that can handle all these ? Can vh2 do this ?

Rebel Yell Bridge + Dual Rectifier = instant love.  It can get damn heavy with clever EQ settings and it's always so articulate, edgy, and pissed off.

Have you tried cold sweat ?

[Kiichi]

Metal like iced earth , killswitch engage , low tunings , but versality also , some dio , eye if the tiger etc . I am in a band and we play live guns n roses 80 hard rock metal so I need the pup can do these but in my own life outside the band I play more metal . So a pup that can handle all these ? Can vh2 do this ?

I do not know enough about the VHII to comment on that, but I hear it is versatile and underrated at this time. When thinking about those styles in one PU it comes largely down to the amp, cab and pedals. I can see the RY and Emerald doing it mainly, but the CS is also possible.

All of these will cut through enough to work with the guitar and all are quite versatile. It also largely depends on where you put your stylistic focus. When it comes to metal the RY does a brilliant job, modern take on a classic sound, tight, agressive upper mid spike, overtones, etc. The text on the website really tells the truth.
The CS has a different agression. Where the RY has lots of mids the CS is slightly scooped in feel and has a more agressive treble. Often recommended for Dimebag sounds, but much more versatile and old school than the implications of that.
The Emerald has become much overlooked for metal applications. While back it was traded as one of the best modern metal PUs out there. Tight, being able to take a sh*tload of gain and all around pretty insane. Still one of the, if not the best PU for extended range guitars.

[Dave Sloven]

Now that you have had some more playing around with your Stockholm and a good sample size besides that (plus a lot more musical experience than I do) I wonder if you have noticed something similar or not.

I think you have more musical experience than me.

I will have to compare the Cold Sweat and Stockholm again to be sure, but they are two of the best contemporary sounding pickups that BKP makes, that is for sure.  The A-Bomb has always been excellent in terms of separation and clarity too.

I would be really surprised if aris17651 did not find that the Rebel Yell and Cold Sweat were the two options in the balance.  The RY can definitely do the '80s hard rock stuff (as could the Emerald, and a RY bridge/EM neck combo might be optimum).  The Cold Sweat is similar to the RY at the neck but the bridge is more metal sounding than the RY, if that makes any sense.  The CS can play anything from Sin After Sin era Judas Priest through to Pantera, Slayer, and Celtic Frost.  I don't know how the RY handles those, but I keep hearing it does a great Randy Rhoads tone

[ericsabbath]

in my experience, having both in the same guitar (a jap les paul copy), the cold sweat has a quite similar voicing to the vhII, but with the ceramic edge and extra balls
not the KsE type of tone, but will deliver more string separation than a painkiller or miracle man
more of a Vulgar Display of Power vibe, that also works well for 90's Jon Schaffer stuff
newer Iced Earth has a more PAFish openness

[aris17561]

Ok now I think it's time to say that Ben suggested me the cold sweat and Tim suggested  me the rebel yell ... So indeed according to you answers it's the big dilemma ... I have to choose between them . Does any of the two make my job a little bit better ?

[Kiichi]

Ok now I think it's time to say that Ben suggested me the cold sweat and Tim suggested  me the rebel yell ... So indeed according to you answers it's the big dilemma ... I have to choose between them . Does any of the two make my job a little bit better ?

Big question: You play a lot of styles and both PUs should do those, but where is your focus. Which sounds have to really be there?

Plus from just thinking, how would you like your sound to be, especially in regards to the bass?

It really is the BKP dilemma: There is more than one PU that will do a thing or style amazingly, they just do it in different ways, with different flavours.

I think you have more musical experience than me.

Thanks, but from what I know that can not be true.^^ I dunno at which age you started playing, but chances are you got a few on me. And more gigs. And more years of listening to it.

[Dave Sloven]

A lot more years of gigs, but I turned 40 before I got my first guitar.  I had a bass in the '90s, but that had to be sold after a few years to pay for some really silly stuff, like marriage/divorce related stuff.