Neck Pickup for High-Gain Rhythm!?!! Aka - bridge pickup pt.2??

[gepetto33]

More wacky ideas coming from my head today - this time in the form of neck pickup experimentation. One i'm confident should work out well, if done right. This query will be for the sake of purchasing my first BK neck pickup, which i would like your guy's input on. I'll preface this by outlining the desired result, then will include more specific needs -


Objective: A neck pickup that will literally only be used for high gain chording. Yes, i know that's what the bridge pickup is for, but for the sake experimentation we are thinking outside the box here. These are some things it needs to pull the sound off properly -

- Less low end, but tight: I know this will not work if the pickup is the least bit boomy. The inherent acoustical nature of the neck position means there will already be plenty of low end, which this pickup simply has to tame, harness, and tighten. Which neck pickup is the least boomy?

- Midrange/Aggression: Can stand to have plenty, though so long as it doesn't honk-out/mud-up easily. Maybe perhaps since the acoustical nature of the neck position has plenty of low/mid-mids then it will just need attack. Are there any neck pickups that would be considered aggressive, with good attack for chording? The more the better, like a painkiller bridge does.

- Top End: Needs plenty of this, since it's already working against the inherent warmer sound of the neck position. Emerald?


So, to recap - Which neck pickup is the most aggressive, has the best highs, and the least, most manageable/tight lows? I've already tried this sound on a veeeeery cr@ppy single coil SD neck pickup i had in my guitar, so hence i've deduced the above needs from hearing how it reacted (kinda terribly, but on the right track.. had characteristics i could use, but with too much low-end).

I've heard great things about the Emerald neck, but not sure if it can come across aggressive in any way... (or can it?). Think of this as essentially a 2nd bridge pickup sound (tonally), but with the acoustic characteristics of the neck position. This does NOT need to match the bridge pickup in any way.. as i will never be using middle to blend them. Perhaps only in output, which shouldn't be hard to match (an Abraxas). Just a 2nd sound to flip to for different character within the song.  Like always your input will be much praised and appreciated!


-Z

[Yellowjacket]

Sounds like you need a boost / OD pedal.

[gepetto33]

Sounds like you need a boost / OD pedal.

???

Nope. I'm actually looking for what neck pickup has the closest characteristics to what i described. I've been a gearhead and sound engineer for over a decade, along with 5 years experience playing on BKP... so no education on gear is required here, mate - just pickup advice. Cheers.

[gepetto33]

I know this is unconventional and may be hard to grasp, but just entertain me on what pickups might have this sound, if you would please......

Anyone?

[AnnunakiMassacr]

How about a Riff Raff neck? It's meant to be the brightest in an aggressive sort of way

[gepetto33]

How about a Riff Raff neck? It's meant to be the brightest in an aggressive sort of way

1 vote down for RR. The output looks a little low to push an amp with, but i'm not sure that matters for a neck position.

[darrenw5094]

The RR is not low output. I have a RR neck paired with a PK bridge in an Ibanez J Custom and they are a match in all departments.
Possibly the HD neck is a fit for your description.

[seancorker]

The cold sweat in my Kramer Pacer is a all the things you describe. Very precise, articulate and tight.

[gepetto33]

The RR is not low output. I have a RR neck paired with a PK bridge in an Ibanez J Custom and they are a match in all departments.
Possibly the HD neck is a fit for your description.

Well hey.. The Painkiller is definitely the most aggressive sounding pickup BK makes!

I was mostly going off the 7.4k specs it has, though maybe that doesn't make a difference here. So by this you're saying the RR is a match in terms of aggression? And how does it fair on low end response?

HD neck was another one i considered... though i'm not really sure how bright/aggressive it sits. Any input on the tone characteristics of these...?

The cold sweat in my Kramer Pacer is a all the things you describe. Very precise, articulate and tight.

Cool... i've heard these even work well as bridge pickups... hah! It's said to have an upper mid spike that sounds pretty cool, along with being very articulate and clear. The CS neck is definitely in contention now..... But how is the bass response?? Is it just tight, or pretty heavy/bassy?

[seancorker]

The Cold Sweat in my Alder Pacer is what I would describe as 'balanced' . Not bass heavy but just right. I've often used mine as a 'rhythm P/U' when called upon. It's tight enough to do say RAtM riffs single note riffs and will strum distorted chords without muddying or cr@pping out.

[gepetto33]

The Cold Sweat in my Alder Pacer is what I would describe as 'balanced' . Not bass heavy but just right. I've often used mine as a 'rhythm P/U' when called upon. It's tight enough to do say RAtM riffs single note riffs and will strum distorted chords without muddying or cr@pping out.

That's very promising... Thanks for the reply!

Because of the upper mid spike this is one of the front-runners I wanted to try out. Just for the sake of entertaining all options can anyone reflect on the balance of the Holy Diver or Emerald neck? Under high gain...?

[Serratus]

I haven't had many BKP neck humbuckers (mainly cos I often have a single coil at the neck), but I have had a cold sweat and holy diver. I think that the cold sweat would be pretty good for what you want. I found it to be almost unlike a 'normal' neck pickup sound because it still had a lot of cut and wasn't bassy at all - when solo-ing it wasn't immediately apparent when you changed between neck and bridge pickups (like it normally is) because they were more similar than normal - the neck was just a bit more fluid for legato, etc. So I think as a second rhythm sound it would be pretty good. The Holy Diver neck I've found to be quite vintage in character, so I'm not sure that'd suit you so well.

[gepetto33]

Rad, thanks for the input guys. Think I'm gonna go with a cold sweat neck, unless someone busts in and says I have to try an emerald. ;)

[Kiichi]

Nah, no Emerald. The CS sounds good from what the others say, but i have no experience with it. My initial thought for this was the MQ actually. That P90 bottom end definition does a lot for this kind of stuff. Even the Supermassive does it alright, but with MQ being brighter is even better. How it compares to the CS I can not say, but even my Manhattan neck can do really fuzzy hardrock and psychedelic riffs with a wonderful tone.

[gepetto33]

Nah, no Emerald. The CS sounds good from what the others say, but i have no experience with it. My initial thought for this was the MQ actually. That P90 bottom end definition does a lot for this kind of stuff. Even the Supermassive does it alright, but with MQ being brighter is even better. How it compares to the CS I can not say, but even my Manhattan neck can do really fuzzy hardrock and psychedelic riffs with a wonderful tone.

Cool. I was thinking the Emerald might be in contention because of it's subdued lows, but there's a good chance it won't have much/any midrange bite. Cold Sweat is probably what i'll end up going with, but wanted to see what Tim thought about the Riff Raff first. i've heard it's fairly aggressive, but don't know about the lows/tightness.