My Nailbomb doesn't sound aggressive enough

[johnny_rock_it]

I recently ordered a Alnico Nailbomb to put into my HSS Strat. I already have an A-Bomb in a tele, so I'm pretty used to this pick up and keen on what I expect to be hearing.

The tone woods and specs between the strat and tele are nearly identical (Alder body, 25.5", maple neck/RW fretboard); but the A Bomb I received isn't nearly as aggressive.

It's actually tamer than my Rebel Yell I have in my PRS.

I've tried adjusting the pick up height, but when I raise it higher, it just gets squishy and doesn't sound as good. I got it to an optimal height but still missing the throaty mids and growl the A Bombs are known for. It's also lacking in bass and it just does not sound as aggressive overall.  The Rebel Yell sounds more aggressive than this Nailbomb I received.

I think the tamer version does sound pretty good in the strat, but it just wasn't what I was expecting?

My multimeter reads 15.8K ohms on the dot, so I'm not sure what it could be?

[Yellowjacket]

I would contact Bare Knuckle and ask them some questions.  I want to say this doesn't sound quite right and yet I also know how much construction impacts tone.

N00b Qu3sti0n

Have you checked all your solder joints?  Are there any cold solder joints?

If the wiring is 100% in place you really have two options:

1) Something isn't quite right with the pickup.  This is unlikely, but it happens.

2) The pickup simply is not taking to the guitar.   

Try swapping the A-Bombs between the two guitars and this will address both these issues.

My Rebel Yell bridge pickup was bright and almost overly thin sounding in my Les Paul Standard.  When I put the Rebel Yell in my Godin LG, the pickup became alive.  It was phatter, warmer, raunchier, and more aggressive, and it still had that wonderful harmonic spread and wide pick attack.  It made the guitar crazy good. 

The A-Bomb in my LP standard has this crazy throaty roar and it sounds big, open, and huge.  I suspect it would sound mammoth in the Godin LG.

The possibility exists that you may have to try something else in the strat if heft, beef, aggression, and roar is what you're after.  Juggernaut, or A-Pig hahahaha. 

[johnny_rock_it]

Thanks for the reply!

The solders are good, I'm 100% sure.

I am always careful and double check that the solder joints are solid and that there are no loose wires that are stray before closing up the guitar. I hate wasting strings, and opening up the strat pickguard is a pain in the butt so I try to be as thorough and careful as I can be.

When I stack 2 over drives pedals, I definitely can hear that growl/throatiness of the A bomb.... Just don't hear it with when doing a guitar to guitar comparison between my tele with the exact same settings. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I don't know what it is, maybe it's the bridge angle of the strat (which has a gotoh 510) vs the fixed bridge angle of a tele.

I have been raising the pick up little by little and I am not hearing the nailbomb aggression. It starts getting SQUISHY and LOOSE (which means I've probably gone too high in pick up height) before I hear any aggression.

[pac90]

Pot values and wiring config maybe not optimal for the humbucker?

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'm at a loss. The A-Bomb is one of the most aggressive pups I've ever tried, to the point that while I can see me warming to it in a Les Paul, I really don't like it in anything else. I can't imagine an A-Bomb ever being associated with words like 'subdued' and 'tame' etc. so I'd be talking to BKP about this one and possibly returning it for something else, though I'm equally at a loss as to what you could get that is more aggressive sounding than an A-Bomb. I think swapping it with the other A-Bomb you have to see if there's any difference is a great idea. I know that the specifications of both guitars are VERY similar but two alder guitars can sound very different.

[darkbluemurder]

The DC measurement looks fine. It appears that you are getting the expected volume out of the pickup so my guess is the pickup is fine and that it just does not work as well with this particular guitar. That happens more often than not - pickups that sound meh in one guitar sound great in another and vice versa.

Just one question: what is the pot value in your HSS strat? If it is 250k it may be worth a try to swap it with a 500k. If this helps the A-bomb in the desired manner but makes the single coils too bright, you can add a 470k resistor to the wiring that goes to ground only in the positions where the single coils are engaged.

Cheers Stephan

[johnny_rock_it]

Hey thanks all for the reply and suggestions.

The nailbomb in my tele is a chrome covered 50mm and the nailbomb in my HSS strat is 53mm. Both are Alnico V's, but I don't think it will be an apples to apple comparison.

The DC measurement looks fine. It appears that you are getting the expected volume out of the pickup so my guess is the pickup is fine and that it just does not work as well with this particular guitar. That happens more often than not - pickups that sound meh in one guitar sound great in another and vice versa.

Just one question: what is the pot value in your HSS strat? If it is 250k it may be worth a try to swap it with a 500k. If this helps the A-bomb in the desired manner but makes the single coils too bright, you can add a 470k resistor to the wiring that goes to ground only in the positions where the single coils are engaged.

Cheers Stephan

I have it wired Master Volume/Tone/Tone.

The volume and tone pots are both 500K (with .022uf cap for bridge tone). The middle tone pot is 250K (with .015uf cap wired to the neck and middle.)

I've come to the conclusion this is just the guitar's natural voicing. I raised the pick up height to get as close to the nailbomb I'm used to hearing, but it lacks that extra throatiness.

Sometimes guitars are not the sum of the parts, but the whole as one unit. Another difference between the strat and tele is the strat has stainless steel frets vs nickel frets on the tele.

The single coils sound hella good on this strat, and the bridge still sounds good. A little milder than the tele but still good.

[littleredguitars2]

my 2 cents. i've tried nailbombs in alder strats and mahogany les pauls and they were wildly different in each one. the strat bomb sounding very tame. still throaty and hairy but it felt like the output just wasnt there. and in the LP it was an absolutely screaming animal. so every situation is going to be a little different.

[johnny_rock_it]

Did a 10 second clip comparing the two A-Bombs in similar spec guitars.

Pretty obvious which one is the tamer and which one is more throatier.

Exact same settings and EQ for both recordings. Just pulled out one guitar and played the other back to back.

Strat - Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood FB, 25.5" scale, Gotoh 510 Trem, Stainless Steel Frets. 500k pots, 0.022uf cap on tone pot. 53mm open coil.
https://soundcloud.com/johnny21-941516462/strat

Tele - Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood FB, 25.5" scale, LP style bridge, Nickel Frets. 500k pots, 0.022uf cap on tone pot. 50mm chrome covered.
https://soundcloud.com/johnny21-941516462/tele

[Yellowjacket]

Interesting.  The biggest   construction difference is the 'gibson style'bridge vs the trek on the strat.   Come to think of It, the  direct mount juggernauts in my handrail Ibanez sound brighter and articulate than the ones in the pickup rings with with the trem bridge.

[Nolly]

Might be a wild goose chase, but do they measure the same distance from the bridge? As in, take the high E saddle, measure from the point the string leaves the saddle to the middle of the bridge side polepiece. Do that on both guitars to see if they're different. If the pickup is even slightly closer to the bridge you'll get less  output, low end and more overtones (generally unpleasant).

[johnny_rock_it]

Might be a wild goose chase, but do they measure the same distance from the bridge? As in, take the high E saddle, measure from the point the string leaves the saddle to the middle of the bridge side polepiece. Do that on both guitars to see if they're different. If the pickup is even slightly closer to the bridge you'll get less  output, low end and more overtones (generally unpleasant).

I think you may have found the culprit sir. However, the closer pick up to bridge distance yielded more output with more low end.

(Measured to pickup).

Tele pickup to bridge distance is about 1 inch.

Strat pickup to bridge distance is about 1.5 inches.

[Nolly]

Might be a wild goose chase, but do they measure the same distance from the bridge? As in, take the high E saddle, measure from the point the string leaves the saddle to the middle of the bridge side polepiece. Do that on both guitars to see if they're different. If the pickup is even slightly closer to the bridge you'll get less  output, low end and more overtones (generally unpleasant).

I think you may have found the culprit sir. However, the closer pick up to bridge distance yielded more output with more low end.

(Measured to pickup).

Tele pickup to bridge distance is about 1 inch.

Strat pickup to bridge distance is about 1.5 inches.

Very interesting! Are you using the same string gauges on both guitars?

[Dave Sloven]

Theoretically shouldn't it be the reverse?  I mean that's why bridge pickups are often wound hotter, to compensate for less string vibration near the bridge.

I am wondering if (1) pickup height (2) string tension & (3) bridge style might be factors.

[johnny_rock_it]

Might be a wild goose chase, but do they measure the same distance from the bridge? As in, take the high E saddle, measure from the point the string leaves the saddle to the middle of the bridge side polepiece. Do that on both guitars to see if they're different. If the pickup is even slightly closer to the bridge you'll get less  output, low end and more overtones (generally unpleasant).

I think you may have found the culprit sir. However, the closer pick up to bridge distance yielded more output with more low end.

(Measured to pickup).

Tele pickup to bridge distance is about 1 inch.

Strat pickup to bridge distance is about 1.5 inches.

Very interesting! Are you using the same string gauges on both guitars?

Yepp, same gauge and brand of strings!