Need Help choosing single-coil pickups

[Texasouthpaw]

I have a left-handed mexican strat and I am in the need of some new pickups. I really like a nice ware clean tone, but when It comes to a distorted sound think Matt Bellamy Stockholm Syndrome, really bassy and warm , but i still want to have a good midrange. I have heard that matt uses Nailbomb pickups in his Mansons, is it possible for any BKP single coils to sound like a Nailbomb Humbucker? Thanks

[Elliot]

Look at the Sinners for hot hot single coils but the ability to play clean as well.

[TwilightOdyssey]

The Trilogy Suite probably comes closest in terms of output, and the Irish Tour in midrange.

[Texasouthpaw]

what to do what do.....thanks for the help....Yeh i had been looking at the trilogy suites, but I think I am going to go with the sinners. How much more output do the sinners have than the Triology Suites?

[TwilightOdyssey]

How much more output do the sinners have than the Triology Suites?

Hmm, That's one I can't answer! Sorry!!

[Searcher]

what to do what do.....thanks for the help....Yeh i had been looking at the trilogy suites, but I think I am going to go with the sinners. How much more output do the sinners have than the Triology Suites?

Strictly speaking, Sinners come in the bridge position only.  But Tim can overwind any pickup you choose to have the same kinda output.  If you look at this thread the guy there has a set of single coils that have a ton of output.

So you could go with a Sinner in the bridge and some overwound Slow Hands in the neck and middle, for example.  Or a set of overwound Slow Hands, or . . .   ;)

[Peterku]

is it possible for any BKP single coils to sound like a Nailbomb Humbucker?

No. I have a Nailbomb in the bridge position of my Strat and I'm sure it's impossible to get that full humbucker sound from any single coil.

If I were you, I'd change the pickguard and get a matched HSS set including a Nailbomb, or even a prewired pickguard with the set already in. If the Strat isn't routed for humbuckers, I'd rout it. It's not difficult, you'll only need some patience. ;)

[Texasouthpaw]

That is a great idea. I never even thought about wiring my guitar H/S/S. Would it be possible to wire a strat with two humbuckers??I'm sure it's possible, but is it within reason.  Thanks for the help

[Texasouthpaw]

I think I have come to a choice. I am going to get a The Nailbomb and two Irish Tours. So would it be a Nailbomb in the Bridge, and Irish Tours in the Middle and Neck?? I'm somewhat new to all this pickup stuff. Also would it sound better to have Irish Tours a bit overwound to balance it out since the Nailbomb has a higher output than the Irish Tours?

[TwilightOdyssey]

I don't think you will have a problem with the output from the Irish Tours to the Nailbomb. I have a guitar with a Miracle Man in the bridge and an Irish Tour in the neck and it sounds just fine!

[Searcher]

Yeah, what TO says.  The high-powered pickups don't seem to give a big volume jump; they just drive the amp to break-up faster.

[Peterku]

Good choice. The Irish Tours will give you a nice warm clean sound (not really glassy, though) with detailed mids, and a really ballsy overdrive sound.

[Elliot]

You wouldn't need them overwound - in fact overwound does not necessarily mean better, bigger in sound terms - it can in fact mean muddy (although BKP would never let you have such a pickup  :D ).

Nailbomb and Tours sound good to me.

[Texasouthpaw]

Thanks for all the info. I love being left handed, but I am having serious trouble finding a Left Hand Strat h/s/s pickguard. Hopefully I can find one, but I am ordering them soon so I will post some clips once they are installed.

[Peterku]

One cool thing you could do when you install the pickups, is a treble bleed mod on the volume pot. It will let you venture into a low-output, more 'vintage' territory when you roll back the volume pot a little bit.

I think the Nailbomb doesn't like 250K pots. You might want to try 500K pots with the set to allow the nice top end articulation come through, and also let the Irish Tours breathe a little bit more. But that's just my opinion -- I use a 1 Meg volume and no tone pot with my Nailbomb, lol.