Shred neck pickup in Maple Neck Thru?

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I've been doing a ton of research recently into what I want in my Maple Neck thru guitar. I primarily use my ESP Eclipses for live, and recording Rhythm. But I decided on either the Holy Diver or A-Hawk for my ESP Horizon to record solo tracks, etc. Generally to have a guitar with a different flavour as well. But I want something for the neck that's equally as shred worthy. I was thinking maybe the Cold Sweat or the Emerald? I just am not very familiar when it comes to maple neck thru guitars and pickups, so I wondered how these would respond?

[Telerocker]

Cold Sweat-neck.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I was actually going to just go for the Cold Sweat neck to avoid making new threads. I seem to be on a tone spree at the moment haha. The only reason I asked was that the maple neck thru is known to be bright, and when looking at the CS bridge, it definitely doesn't seem like the set was made for a bright guitar - quite the opposite actually. What can I expect from this combo?

[Telerocker]

The neck is not as bright as the bridge, though it's clear. Wit of lot of gain that's a good thing. The Emerald-neck is a tad darker, when I remember well.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

So it definitely won't sound unnaturally piercing?

[Telerocker]

Under gain it's fluid and not earpiercing. It's one of the best neckpickups for shredding.
If you have doubts just throw an email at BKP. Those guys are very helpful.

[nkay]

While it's got some cut, the Cold Sweat is more middy than bright.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I do have experience with maple neck-thru guitars, having owned both Ibanez and Jackson neck-thru guitars. They tend to be more middy than bright so you need to be careful. I found loads of pickups that worked well but it's also fair to say that each one worked better in other guitars. I used a Cold Sweat set in the Ibanez and it worked really well. It was surprisingly open sounding and nice and tight. Very versatile. It was never shrill in any way but I think it sits better in a guitar like a Les Paul. In the Jackson I initially tried an A-Bomb and that was awful. Very aggressive and very hairy and insanely tight, yet it was clear that the tone was there. For me, it's another one that worked a lot better in a Les Paul. Next I tried a Holydiver and much preferred that but you really have to like your mids as the pickup is middy and so is your guitar. The Holydiver works a lot better in my experience in an alder guitar with a bolt-on maple neck. Finally I went to a Miracle Man and that proved to be the best option. It's more scooped in the mids and this sits well with the middy nature of the guitar. It has the smooth, organic and warm tone of the Holydiver but darker, tighter and more aggressive overall.

The neck option is easy. Cold Sweat all day long 

[Duck2587]

A great rule of thumb to go by that has worked for me 90% of the time, listen to your guitars natural sound unplugged. Tailor your needs from there. My Jackson was a maple neck through with alder wings with a  floyd. Should have been pretty darn bright, correct? Wrong. It was dark and a bit middy.

From there, what is your rig like? For example my amp is naturally bright and middy. You have to take those factors into consideration as well.

 
Hope this helps

Keep it evil