A-Bomb in an Epiphone '58 Korina Explorer, C standard tuning

[Dave Sloven]

Some footage of my band playing a show the other night.  You can hear the characteristic hairy roar of the A-Bomb

Nailbomb set (but ignore the awful bit with the neck pickup, it doesn't show it off the best advantage as I was experiencing feedback issues due to a bumped boost pedal), alnico bridge magnet, 550K matched CTS volume pots, no tone pot, Peavey 6534+ through two V30-equipped 412 cabs.  The reverb pedal is an EQD Ghost Echo.  Other pedals I use more than once are an MXR Black Label Chorus and an MXR Carbon Copy.

Strings are D'Addario EXL117 set, 11-56

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxctW11cfjQ

[littleredguitars2]

diggin it man. really pissed off tone!

[Dave Sloven]

Cheers!  That was a really sweaty gig ... January shows in Adelaide are not fun

I forgot to mention that I use an MXR 10-band EQ, but to be honest it is set relatively flat, nothing extreme

I also think picks have a big impact on sound, so I should have mentioned that I use Dunlop Max-Grip Jazz III Carbon Fiber picks.

[Yellowjacket]

Awesome tone.  Reminds me a lot of sepultura. 

[Dave Sloven]

Cheers, I am thinking I might use my A-Pig loaded SG Special next time, just to give it an outing.  I use it a lot at band practice because it is easier on my shoulder.  Now that I have shielded the SG it is better than it was in live environments.

I prefer the Warpig neck pickup for playing that lead part in the Celtic Frost cover.  I have to be really careful not to get that screeching going live.  The Warpig neck has more bass.  Part of the problem though was that we didn't have a soundcheck and I only discovered that my boost pedal was cranked when we were playing, and I didn't get the chance to adjust it until we had that break (where you can see me squatting down to adjust it).  It should be at 9 o'clock but it was at 3 o'clock.

[Yellowjacket]

It's ok.  I have played entire songs live with a c--ked way pedal on.  And yeah, I never know if my 3 year old will have been playing with my boost pedal.

I have a ReVv Generator 120 on order and that thing doesn't need a boost.

What gauge of string are you using with the Explorer?

[Dave Sloven]

D'Addario EXL117 11-56

[Yellowjacket]

D'Addario EXL117 11-56

Ah, the light top medium bottoms.  I have a couple of sets of those kicking around.  You don't find the lows get overly tubby, sloppy, or boomy?  Or do you compensate for that with amp EQ and boost?

[Dave Sloven]

I don't really have a problem with it.  I am not playing fast so the fact that the strings are a little slacker than optimum isn't a huge deal.

I am used to playing with lighter strings anyway.  My SG Standard in E tuning has an Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky 9-46 set, and the tension seems to be roughly the same

On my SG Special I used the D'Addario set in the same tuning but swap the 3rd string for a NW019 (same gauge, but wound) as it works better for top-wrapped strings.

[Yellowjacket]

I meant medium top heavy bottom.   I quite like the higher string tension on my superstrats.  I was thinking of going from 10 - 46 to 11 - 52 on my a bombed Les Paul to tune to e flat standard and drop c#.  I had heard that the a - bomb does not like being drop tuned and can get  boomy, loose, and squishy but your tone sounds tight in the recording.

[Dave Sloven]

Well I only tuned down to C standard.  I've had it down to B standard and it starts to sound a little boomy there.  But most of it is just adjusting the pickup height a little if something sounds out when you tune down.  You also have to check the truss rod etc.

I do have an MXR 10-band EQ but if you look at the settings they are not very drastic.  Most people would say that I've wasted my money.  I do fool around with the presence and resonance controls.  You have to remember that besides the JSX the 6534+ is probably the tightest sounding amp Peavey have made.  It has a tighter bottom end and stronger mids than the 6505+ due to the EL34 tubes.

Also I use only a small amount of pre-amp gain on the lead channel, typically between 4.5 and 5.0, generally 4.5 ... then I boost the front end with the MXR/CAE clean boost set to 9 o'clock.  This avoids the mush that can sometimes be a problem with cranking the pre-amp gain on these Peaveys.

I think the EXL117 set is called medium top / extra-heavy bottom or something like that.

I turn my reverb pedal off when playing faster picked sections.  It is an EQD Ghost Echo.

[Yellowjacket]

Ah.  So lower the 'bass' side of the pickup and raise the pole pieces to compensate for boomy rhythm?  I will have to try that ;)

[Dave Sloven]

Yes but it doesn't have to be lowered too far.

The only time I lowered the A-Bomb and raised its pole pieces a lot was when it was in my SG Standard, as it sounded obnoxious there with the raspy mids.  It lost output by doing that though and I had problems balancing it with the Cold Sweat neck

[Yellowjacket]

I switched from 10 - 46 to 11 - 52 for now.  Eb Standard / Drop C# (Drop Db) tuning. 
I'm surprised how much phatter and darker the pickup sounds.  I'll report back once I have more time with it.  Heavier strings certainly increase output for obvious reasons.

[Yellowjacket]

This is pretty awesome.  The tone is more beefy, even than my redline III with the Juggs.  There is more sustain with the heavier strings and the added tension on the low strings is great for metal.  A-Bomb is still noticeably less compressed and less low mid dominant than the Juggs but it seems to sound pattern in a l.p. than Juggs in a start style guitar.  The results here are obviously not surprising.