A or C-Bomb for mahogany?

[Ardez]

Hi everyone!

Last time when I asked your help you convinced me to get PKs for my mahogany Regius 6. Damn, that axe sounds great! Now I need your knowledge again.

I've got a new guitar on its way. Going to be mahogany body, fixed bridge, 25,5 scale, bolt-on and rosewood board (LTD TE-406). I'm not too fond of EMGs and am changing them to passives. This axe is going to be in Drop C# for some Alter Bridge/Stone Sour type of goodness: growling and crunching rock tones. So the pickup shouldn't be too hot. The low end should be tight but not as tight as for example PK. Just a big, growling rock tone.

I was thinking of ceramic nailbomb but when listening to the soundclips I actually like the A-bomb a lot more. Would the A-bomb be too muddy or a good choice? What would you guys suggest?

Cheers!

[Yellowjacket]

A-Bomb is not muddy at all.  It will probably be perfect for what you want. 

[darkandrew]

I bought an A-bomb set and after trying them out in all of my guitars (mahogany and maple ESP Eclipse, basswood Fender Showmaster and all mahogany Telecaster custom) they ended up in the warmest sounding of all of them; an all mahogany Telecaster custom with a mahogany set neck. Although the A-bomb is described as having quite a full bottom end, it actually needs quite a warm sounding guitar to acheive this. Likewise it also has a very hairy top end which a mahogany guitar tempers just perfectly.

[littleredguitars2]

both of the "bombs" work great in mahogany but it is a POWERFUL pickup. maybe not in the same league as the warpig or something but you said you want something that  isnt "too hot" so i dont know.

[nordra]

In my opinion the ceramic nail bomb is tighter than painkiller  in the bottom . The painkiller is more crunchy in the mahogany body.

[Yellowjacket]

The A-Bomb isn't over the top powerful.  It's a pretty awesome pickup and it works really well, especially with a more vintage voiced amp.

In lieu of an A-Bomb, a Rebel Yell is a little more 'toned down' pup.

[wolfenstein]

I've had Abomb 3 times and I was never satisfied with sound in  mahogany...For these bands I would recomend Miracle Man which now sits in full mahogany Ibanez sz320 with excellent result...

[darkandrew]

Is the Miracle Man a lot hotter than the A-Bomb?

[Dave Sloven]

If you think a Miracle Man would be too hot a Cold Sweat bridge is a good alternative that works very well in mahogany, while being around as powerful as a Rebel Yell but with more bottom end and less upper mids.  The MM has pretty much the same profile but more powerful and a bit darker.  Both are tight but the extra power of the MM is more suited for pinch harmonics

I personally think that the C-Bomb is a pretty safe bet.  The A-Bomb is a bit more finicky and can be overly middy in some mahogany guitars, at least the thinner set-neck SG types that have very pronounced and focused mids acoustically.

[Ardez]

Thanks for the opinions guys. So it would seem that the C-Bomb would be the safest bet after all. Cold Sweat got me interested, though. Which one of them has a looser bass response? Don't want things to be ''surgically'' tight.

[Dave Sloven]

This video compares the Cold Sweat and C-Bomb with the Aftermath.

The Aftermath is more 'honky' and 'tighter' than the other two.

The C-Bomb is 'hairier' than the CS.  Not sure which of the two is 'tighter' in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILpDPYKI0Tc

[BigB]

Thanks for the opinions guys. So it would seem that the C-Bomb would be the safest bet after all.

Well, I have a Abomb set in my SG and I really like how it sounds - in fact I only had compliments on my tone with this guitar - so you really cannot tell how you'll like a ABomb in a given guitar before you try it, I guess. For the record my own SG is (acoustically) rather on the dark side (not overly bright at least) but still well balanced (=> not overly middy either). With the abomb it sounds tight yet still very organic, with roaring low-mids, thick lead tones and just the right amount of top-end to make sure it cuts thru a heavy mix. Cleans up nicely with quite some chimes left and a somewhat more vintagey vibe when rolling down the volume pot, but with the volume full cranked it's a savage beast.

TL;DR: don't rule out the ABomb too fast, it's possibly not the "safest" bet indeed but if it finds it's home in your guitar it's a real killer.

[Ardez]

Thanks for the opinions guys. So it would seem that the C-Bomb would be the safest bet after all.

Well, I have a Abomb set in my SG and I really like how it sounds - in fact I only had compliments on my tone with this guitar - so you really cannot tell how you'll like a ABomb in a given guitar before you try it, I guess. For the record my own SG is (acoustically) rather on the dark side (not overly bright at least) but still well balanced (=> not overly middy either). With the abomb it sounds tight yet still very organic, with roaring low-mids, thick lead tones and just the right amount of top-end to make sure it cuts thru a heavy mix. Cleans up nicely with quite some chimes left and a somewhat more vintagey vibe when rolling down the volume pot, but with the volume full cranked it's a savage beast.

TL;DR: don't rule out the ABomb too fast, it's possibly not the "safest" bet indeed but if it finds it's home in your guitar it's a real killer.

Haha, you are not making my decision any easier, sir ;)

Acoustically my guitar is on the dark/middy side definitely. Well, I think I'm going with the A-Bomb. Let's see what happens and if it's overly middy I'll change it to the C-Bomb. I feel like I need to try the A before C because I just love how it roars in the clips.