Pickups for Suhr Modern...

[Alfi27]

Evenin' fellas! This summer has been crazy, I bought one Suhr and later did two trades before I ended up with this one.. I thought I wanted an HSS-setup, but it turned out that my suspicions were right; I am a humbucker man by heart and soul. This guitar is a keeper, I won't even think about replacing it! And the split sounds are so nice that I am getting rid of my strat. So why am I talking about new pickups, you might wonder? Well, I have realized that at some point I just have to settle down with my gear, because all this trading and buying and selling is taking too much time and is actually quite stressful as well...

However, this guitar is so nice that it deserves a pair of Knuckles, and I have to make it the best it can be to make sure I will not ever trade/sell it.. These pickups are among the finest pickups Suhr make, a set of Aldrich'. I used to own an Aldrich in the bridge of a Les Paul, and I really liked it, because it replaced a Duncan pickup (which was absolutely trash).. It is equally nice here, but I know that I can do better. I have settled for the neck pickup: VHII. Actually I do have a VHII in a drawer which would fit the guitar perfectly, but the guitar looks so much better with zebra bobbins than all black, and my VHII is all black.. The VHII is probably my favorite neck pickup of all time.

And then comes the bridge pickup, the most important one. As I have mentioned probably too many times before, it has to be tight, and it has to do metal. Quite heavy metal, almost up to metalcore. The Aldrich is kind of vintage voiced, like a Holydiver I have been told, but I think the HD will be too loose for me. With large amounts of gain the Aldrich can get muddy, and a bit fizzy as well. It lacks attack and "thump" for those chugga-chugga kind of tones, and it sounds a bit "scratchy" which is not unusual for an alder strat. Even though I like to solo on the neck pickup I use the bridge pickup equally as much or probably more, so it has to have a fat solo tone. It is of course very nice if it can do lower gain sounds well too, but that is not a requirement. This guitar will mainly be my shred/metal guitar, but also for some funky strat tunes when the neck pickup is split/tapped. My amp is an EVH 5150III with shiteeloads of gain, and I am also thinking about buying a Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier.

Thank you for your help, and I hope this guitar will become the guitar of my dreams with a set of Knuckles!

[Telerocker]

I think you described the Juggernaut-bridge.

[ericsabbath]

c-bomb into 5150 III here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t8dVF4lOrs

[Alfi27]

Awesome video! I have a Mayones as well, magnificent guitar. The C-bomb is awesome, I used to have it in an all mahogany Ibanez RG with very good results, but I think it will be too bright for this guitar. The Juggernaut looks so extremely nice (at least on paper) that I cannot die in peace knowing that I never got to try it.. Haha! Does anyone know which coil is ceramic and which one is alnico?

[Telerocker]

Juggernaut-owners might chime in. Otherwise throw an email at BKP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuCNEite9gg

[Alfi27]

Finally got my Juggernaut-set installed in this guitar! BKP posted a photo of this guitar on Twitter if you want to take a look. The neck pickups sounds like a slightly tweaked VHII, which I obviously really like! The bridge I have to give some time, maybe tweak the height a bit. Are there any Jugg-owners who want to share their experience? Does this pickup like to be close to the strings? The pickup sounds very good, but it is not quite "there" yet. The guitar is quite bright so I might try it close to the strings to get maximum bass response(?)

[darkbluemurder]

You may need to tilt it  which means put it a bit closer to the strings on the bass side. If that does not do it you can also raise the polepieces of the neck facing coil under the E, B and G strings and raise the polepieces of the bridge facing coil under the D, A and low E string.

Good luck,
Stephan

[Dave Sloven]

If you try all of these things and are still not happy maybe exchange the bridge pickup for the C-Pig

[darthphineas]

liking the Aldrich tone, I tried that model and the pickup didn't bond they way I was hoping.  the Suhr SSH+ was another option that REALLY delivered.  if that's too hot, there's the SSH.  is the SSH+ is too bright, there's the DSH+....and if the DSH+ has the tone but it a little bright, there is the DSH.  all are more affordable, and the support team are super helpful.

[Chris Rowberry]

If you're finding the Juggernaut to be too bright in that guitar then I would suggest taking a look at the Alnico Nailbomb. It will give you a thicker tone whilst retaining clarity and definition. It will also give you more bottom end so it wont come across as bright.

[Yellowjacket]

If you're finding the Juggernaut to be too bright in that guitar then I would suggest taking a look at the Alnico Nailbomb. It will give you a thicker tone whilst retaining clarity and definition. It will also give you more bottom end so it wont come across as bright.

Ok, I'm curious as hell about this.  I always thought the Nailbomb was a brighter pickup for darker guitars *cough Les Paul* while a Juggernaut Bridge was a darker pickup for a brighter guitar like a Strat or Super Strat. 

I have the Juggernaut in my brightest guitar and it sounds dark, huge, and modern; with a nice bite in the top end.  I have an Alnico Nailbomb in my Les Paul and it is brash, gnarly, with quite a pronounced cut in the highs.   I'd say the A-Bomb is slightly darker, beefier, and phatter than the Rebel Yell, which is a very bright and open sounding pickup.
The Juggernaut is powerful and pounds, especially in the low mids.  I hear they are absolutely insane in a LP style guitar.

Maybe the OP needs to try an A-Pig in his guitar?