Bright-ish rock NECK pickup to go with Abraxas bridge.

[Lucas]

Hi, as I`m in the last stage of finishing my first Warmoth Telecaster, I need... pickups.
The guitar is chambered alder body with maple veneer, neck is Gibson scale, bubinga, ebony fingerboard. It`s HH configured.
I`ve already decided on bridge pickup, Abraxas... but I`m totally confused with NECK pickup.
What I want from neck pickup:

- to be more on the bright side, but not overly to the point being too bright. I`m not after Slash warm and mellow tone at all. Need neck pickup to have some bite, attack, attitude.     Pickup that  cuts well through the mix.
- I don`t want big open tone, don`t really mind some compression going on.
- be fluid just enough to perform some melodic lead parts
- generally speaking rock/hard rock neck pickup with bite and attitude

After hours spent deciding I`m torn between 3 pickups.

1. RIFF RAFF neck (absolutely love the cleans, but how bright is it? wouldn`t it be too bright in alder Telecaster?)
2. VHII neck (I really have mixed feelings about this one, haven`t found too many samples that I like)
3. EMERALD neck (I`m afraid that it could be too polite and too mellow, I already have Cold Sweat neck in my Dean, and don`t want to end up with something similar to CS)

any thoughts, suggestions?
Many thanks as always!

[Slartibartfarst42]

TBH, I'd suggest looking at the Holydiver neck based on your description

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=30491

[Lucas]

is it much different than Cold Sweat neck? I don`t want to end up with another CS.
Mainly I`m looking for bite, attack either on the cleans as well as leads. In my all mahogany Dean CS lacks cut as well as bite.

To be honest, I felt in love in RR neck cleans (based on website samples). How does Holydiver performs on cleans? I don`t want dull and too open, lush sound.

[Slartibartfarst42]

In one sense I'm tempted to say that if you're in love with the RR neck then perhaps you should by that and as I've never owned a RR it's not easy to compare, however, I think I can make some educated guesses about how they would compare.

Both the RR and HD neck pickups use an AV magnet and both are wound to a similar DC resistance (7.4K for the RR and 7.9K for the HD). Because the RR uses 42AWG and the HD uses the slightly thinner and more modern 42.5AWG, that would explain the higher resistance of the HD so I would expect them to be about as hot as each other. This would suggest that what we have here is two pickups that are in a similar tonal territory, though not exactly the same. The difference in the wire would lead me to expect that the RR will have a more traditionally PAF feel to it with a more rounded bottom and and a slightly creamier feel. The HD still feels a lot like a PAF but with a slightly more modern voicing and it will feel more articulate in the bottom end and be able to take more gain. Unsurprisingly, I can confirm that like the RR, the cleans on the HD are excellent. Both will be quite bright pickups and with light winds, both will be quite open, certainly compared to the Abraxas in the bridge but I wouldn't describe the HD as a 'big' open sound at all. I think the 42.5AWG wire used on the HD will probably give it a bit more bite and attack than the RR because that tends to be what more modern wire does for you but the degree of offset on the winds will also affect that.

I really liked the HD neck because I prefer a PAF feel to the neck but I don't like that slight softness in the bottom end under gain that I always find you get with pickups using 42AWG. It's a very nice compromise. Fashions come and go but there was a time on here when the HD was considered the premier neck pickup, though these days it seems to be passed by more. It's a shame because it's a very good pickup indeed.

[Lucas]

Slarti, may thanks that was really informative! Cheers!

I dont have muck knowlegde especially technical about pickups, but to be honest I was thinking totally opposite about HD and RR necks. So you`re saying that HD will have more cut, be more precise and more rock attitude than RR?
I read somewhere here that apparently HD neck is quite similar to CS neck, and I don`t really want to end up with second CS.

Long story short, so it`s only HD vs RR now.
shame that there`s not many RR neck users here. I only found 2 good YT videos so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH_FDsg_hig
is it jugg or RR?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx_qcsy7-To

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Holydiver isn't similar to the Cold Sweat at all in my opinion. It's the Rebel Yell neck that's similar to the Cold Sweat.

As I have no direct experience of the RR I can only speculate about their comparative cut, attack and Rock attitude but as they both use an AV magnet, that only really leaves the wire and the degree of offset that will fundamentally affect the tone. It is a fact that 42.5AWG wire, certainly in my experience, produces a more modern tone and provides more cut, which is why I use 42.5AWG with an AII magnet in my preferred neck pickup - it always seems to give me that bit more cut and modernity than 42AWG.

[darkbluemurder]

I would agree with your shortlist except that I have no experience with the Emerald neck and cannot comment on that.

Sorry for asking the obvious but why haven't you considered the Abraxas neck? It would do what you want and be different enough from the CS neck. I

Cheers Stephan

[Lucas]

Well, apparently Abraxas neck is really similar to Mule neck, I`m not looking for totally mellow vintage sound.

many thanks

[Slartibartfarst42]

Mule, Abraxas and Crawler neck pickups are all very PAF in nature so have a more mellow and vintage nature than I think you're looking for. The RR and VHII share the same 42AWG wire but you will get a bit more cut from the AV magnet. The Em and HD should both have more cut with their more modern wire. I think it all depends where your priorities lie between those two. A bit thinner and brighter suggests the HD and a bit thicker and darker would be the Em. Both are superb but in different ways.

[Dave Sloven]

If you love the sound of the Riff Raff neck I think that's a pretty safe choice.  In general I have found neck pickups to be a lot less sensitive to wood, construction etc than bridge pickups.

[Lucas]

Many thanks guys!

To be honest, after some time listening to Holydiver neck, I don`t really find anything there what grabs my attention. Not saying it`s a bad pickup by any means, but does not grab my attention.
As I don`t want to make a quick decision, I would like to get some information about VHII as well.

As far as I know VHII neck is a bit darker but but it`s 'single coil' character it has a lot of attack and cut, am I right?

[Dave Sloven]

Here's a nice video of the Riff Raff set that I had never seen before now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2njW44oqvrA

[Lucas]

Many thanks gentlemen for truly great help!!!

Coming back to HD neck, to me based on website samples it sounds more vintage and more 'dull' than RR neck. Surprisingly RR is placed in vintage category, but neck model sounds more modern. It could be only me, don`t know. It is hard to describe in words, but RR neck sounds not as open as HD, sounds more 'squashed' (which I like), less organic, does not ring out so openly, sounds meaner, with more 'attitude'. I`m might be wrong, but that`s how it sounds on BKP samples.

Agent Orange, I haven`t seen that video either. In that video RR neck sounds slightly different than BKP sample, maybe due to different guitar. Sounds more in the vintage, mellow way.
I`m getting really confused here :)

would anyone agree that RR neck sounds more modern than HD neck?

Still haven`t make a decision, as I don`t have 10 guitars and loads of money, want to make a careful decision.

cheers.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

Have you not thought of an HSP90? Power of a humbucker, but right between a humbucker and singlecoil. They have that top end you seem to be wanting. And they are definitely not as polite as a PAF neck if you pick the right one

[Lucas]

Have you not thought of an HSP90? Power of a humbucker, but right between a humbucker and singlecoil. They have that top end you seem to be wanting. And they are definitely not as polite as a PAF neck if you pick the right one

I was thinking about it, but never had any experience with P90, so being a little bit skeptic.