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Author Topic: Vintage hot bridge humbuckers  (Read 3775 times)

Alex

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Re: Vintage hot bridge humbuckers
« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2014, 09:20:56 PM »
Hmm, I read your post a couple of times and I think some things definitely ring true. I find it difficult to put my finger on the tonal characteristics of this guitar and it seems that high output pickups work more easily with it.
It's all worried me a bit now... maybe the Miracle Man is as good as it will get, tonally.
I could go back to the drawing board and consider getting lower output pickups for my Voodoo Les Paul instead.
Current BKPs: Miracle Man, Nailbomb, Juggernaut, VHII
Past BKPS: Holy Diver, Trilogy Suite, Sinner, Black Dog

darkandrew

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Re: Vintage hot bridge humbuckers
« Reply #16 on: November 01, 2014, 12:58:09 AM »
I've just put my Crawler back into one of my Eclipses (I had taken the Crawler set out to replace them with a Mule set) and I've just surprised myself with how good the bridge pickup sounds (the neck is a bit too dark for this guitar) - it certainly has that vintage vibe going on but with just enough compression and volume to work really well in this guitar, so I'd probably recommend that over the VH-II in the bridge although I'd probably consider the VH-II neck as one of the favourites to go in that position.

Alex

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Re: Vintage hot bridge humbuckers
« Reply #17 on: November 01, 2014, 09:16:24 PM »
I've played around more with my guitars and I'd only change the pickups in the Eclipse.
Crawler sounds interesting, but it isn't what I had in mind really.

Darkanddrew, which pickups have you tried in Eclipses and which didn't really work? How about the Mule? Have you tried that?
Current BKPs: Miracle Man, Nailbomb, Juggernaut, VHII
Past BKPS: Holy Diver, Trilogy Suite, Sinner, Black Dog

darkandrew

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Re: Vintage hot bridge humbuckers
« Reply #18 on: November 01, 2014, 10:40:50 PM »
The Mules were OK if a little tame; the tone was very neutral and the volume was hot enough to drive the amp with a little bit of grit in the low end but they didn't quite have enough bite in the upper mids to stand out. On low gain they are very mellow rather than jangly which suits the neck better than the bridge, and on high gain you can get Steve Steven's tone from "White Wedding" quite easily. So basically,  nothing wrong with them at all - a bit of a "jack of all trades" really.

The Crawler bridge in the Eclipse  is great for  80's rock and pop; driven hard with some chorus it covers most new wave bases very convincingly, take the chorus off and turn the gain down a little and you've got a more traditional rock tone, and take the gain down further and split the coils and you've got a very convincing single coil tone.

The Rebel Yells in the Eclipse took some tweaking (they are notoriously height sensitive) but once the sweet spot was found I real liked them; they really roar when driven hard but also have the presence that the Mules lack when the gain is turned down, however they're not as convincing as the Mules when it comes to a more vintage tone.

The Nailbombs, for whatever reason, didn't seem to work in the Eclipse; they worked perfectly well in other guitars but the chemistry just didn't work between NBs and the Eclipse - reflecting on it I think the NB needs a more resonant guitar.

I haven't tried the VH IIs yet in the Eclipse but from using them in my Showmaster and knowing how other pickups behave in the two respective guitars, I'd expect the VH II to have too much low end and not enough presence to shine in bridge position of the Eclipse, however, I'd expect the neck pickup to be ideal for clear, articulate leads.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2014, 11:01:42 PM by darkandrew »

Telerocker

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Re: Vintage hot bridge humbuckers
« Reply #19 on: November 02, 2014, 01:56:29 AM »
I've played around more with my guitars and I'd only change the pickups in the Eclipse.
Crawler sounds interesting, but it isn't what I had in mind really.

Darkanddrew, which pickups have you tried in Eclipses and which didn't really work? How about the Mule? Have you tried that?

If your Eclipse is dark and warm, like you describe it, a Crawler is a no-go. Midrange on midrange, and I mean especially the lower midrange, will strangle the tone. You need a pickup that opens up the guitar, like a Mule, RR, Emerald (has quite some topend), Cold Sweat, Rebel Yell.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

Dave Sloven

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Re: Vintage hot bridge humbuckers
« Reply #20 on: November 02, 2014, 02:04:18 AM »
+1

Emerald set would be a great choice
BLACK HAWKS
IMPULSES
COBRA-T
WAR PIGS
STOCKHOLM
COLD SWEATS
MIRACLE MAN
TRUE GRIT

https://slovendoom.bandcamp.com/releases