Nailbomb in D standard with hybrid med/heavy strings

[darkandrew]

I have a trio of ESP Eclipses and recently decided to down tune one of them to D standard and put on a set of hybrid mid/heavy strings to keep the string tension about the same as it was in E standard with 10 guage strings. This Eclipse had an EMG 81/60 combination in it and I really liked both the fuller tone (presumably as a result of the heavier strings) and the added versatility of being able to go down a little lower. So last night I did the same with my Nailbomb (Alnico) equipped Eclipse, expecting to be similarly impressed but no, for some reason I just didn't like the tone of it. If anything it's a little too full and it's lost its aggressive rasp. I'm going to give it another play tonight but if it's still not doing it for me,  then it will be back to E standard and a set of 10s.

[ericsabbath]

I think the nailbomb particularly sounds better in near standard tunings
I think that's actually a common agreement around here
perhaps you should try something like the rebel yell or painkiller

[darkandrew]

It was just an experiment really, I was so impressed with the 81/60 down tuned and with heavier strings that I thought I'd try it with the Nailbombs - just out of curiosity really. It's strange,  the neck sounds quite good when thickened up a little bit but the bridge really didn't do it for me (although I love my Nailbomb bridge in the same guitar in E standard with 10s fitted). To be honest I was surprised that it made so much difference to the tone.

[Dave Sloven]

I wrote a long post but then this site came up with a stupid error saying that I had just posted less than 15 seconds ago.  I can't see it and I lost my post.

Anyway I use Nailbombs with 11-56 set tuned C-F-A#-D#-G-C with no problems.  I've used it in other tunings like standard tuning (9-46) and D standard (10-52) too.  It sounds different but not in a bad way.  I use it for sludge metal

[darkandrew]

I can see how it would work with that particular genre, and I agree, they don't sound "bad" - they just lose the particular quality that I like most. The thing that I really like is that hairy / scratchy attack and that's what I found disappeared with the down tuning and associated change of string guage.

[Dave Sloven]

In C standard with those strings it becomes more 'throaty' and retains some hair but it's not as pronounced.

In coming up with a tuning for this project I basically fooled around with the Explorer until I found a tuning that sounded right for the genre. I chose the Explorer as it has the most sustain out of all of my guitars.  I also tried Drop B, B Standard, Drop C, and C# Standard with the 10-56 strings I used in D Standard but C Standard was the best, even though the strings were a bit floppy. Going to the D'Addario 11-56 set didn't change that tone much, at least on the low strings.  The high strings were just way too loose with the 10-52 set in C Standard so I went to the heavier gauge, even though I sometimes having trouble getting the 56 through the post of my auto-locking Grovers.

I use the same setup on my SG Special Faded with the A-Pig but I replace the plain 19 with a wound 19 for the third string as the plain 19 doesn't top-wrap properly and wouldn't hold tune.  The Explorer is not top-wrapped.

[CommonCourtesy]

I'm using the ceramic Nailbomb at the moment in a mahogany guitar tuned to Drop C. I use 12-56's (the Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky gauge). Its working quite nicely for me right now, nice throaty full sounding chugs on chords and liquidy sustain for leads (not that I do much in this band). It has a nice play to sit in the mix as well, cuts through and sounds great.
 
I have another guitar with the Alnico Nailbomb and its mostly used in E standard, but I still like it. That's strung with 10-52's and its more of a vintage-y sound I find, works for what I want it to do anyway.

Recently my band have been writing more "poppier" stuff so I may need to keep an eye on other pickups so its not as aggressive. A lot of other bands in the same tuning have either the JB or EMG's, the other guitarist in the band has a JB though.

There's many other factors that can contribute to the tone, like the amp and some pedals. Removing your tone pot as well makes a difference to the brightness too!