Juggernaut or Nailbomb (Alnico) in PRS SE Custom 24 for these tones and styles?

[Yellowjacket]

To expand on the rebel yell story,  the rebel yell was bright, a bit thin, and lacking output in my Les Paul.   It sounded very good but I had the pole  pieces cranked down and pickup set  very high.

The A- Bomb is noticeably hotter, thicker, phatter,  warmer, and aggressive than the RY is in that same guitar.

Since the a-bomb was better in the .Les Paul,  I moved the displaced Rebel Yell bridge pup to the Godin LG.

The ry bridge in the Godin actually sounds bigger, phatter, and more open than the a-bomb in the .l.p.. , which gives a clear indication on how much guitars impact tone.  (I wonder how an a bomb would sound in an LG.  Probably mammoth)

Man I love the RY bridge in that guitar.  My advice to any guitarist is to get a used Godin LG and put .in an RY bridge and VHII neck.

[brennislav]

Thank you for all the detailed responses, Yellowjacket, appreciate it. The Juggernaut bridge does indeed seem to tick most of my boxes, but I'm just a little wary of the 'too modern' idea with respect to its voicing.

I was listening to the new Opeth album today and it struck me how much I love a lot of their warmer, medium and low gain tones that they've had since Ghost Reveries or so (I'm not sure how familiar you are with their music). I'd say those kinds of tones are a big part of my style and I'm just a bit unsure that the Juggernaut can do those comfortably as well. The ideal situation as you've mentioned earlier would obviously be owning different guitars for these two very different styles and sounds, but I'm not at a point where I can afford that yet.

This may all be a completely misplaced and purely psychological worry based mostly on the semantics of things here, with a lot of these low/medium gain, warm tones commonly being described as 'vintage' and the Juggernauts often being described as 'modern'.

On the other hand, many of these sounds tend to be neck pickup sounds, and the Jugg neck seems to be voiced less far away from that world, if I understand the descriptions correctly.

[Yellowjacket]

The warm, lower gain tones are achieved by rolling back the volume pot.  The nice clean tones with the Juggerset as a whole means that the amp transitions into clip in a really lovely way.

I think reviews will only take you so far and that eventually you need to simply try something and see if it works for you.  With the 10 day return / exchange policy, BKP has you and your tone covered so there is really little risk involved. 

I mean the Nailbomb set is also great but it is brash, hairy, articulate, throaty, ill tempered, and covered in tattoos.  Good fun!
The Juggernauts are powerful, aggressive, but also refined, smooth, and cultivated.  And yeah, the neck pickup is close to the VHII so it isn't super compressed. 

The Holy Diver may be another option but we're talking more of an 80s hot rodded humbucker sound.  I love the Rebel Yell bridge pickup and the VHII neck but we're really talking classic rock, blues, 80s rock, hair metal, 80s metal, hard rock punk rock territory.  I still think that the Juggernaut set is the best option and that you need to experiment with the pickup selector, amp settings, volume pot, tone pot, and try to see what you can get the pickups to do.  So many people just select either the bridge or neck pickup and just run the pickups on 10.  The volume and tone pots are there for a reason.  Just some ideas of things to try.

At the end of the day you will just have to try something and it may be awesome or you may need to try something else.  I personally believe the Juggernauts are some of the best pickups I have ever tried which is why I rave about them so much.  Brian Tataryn, a guitar tech from WPG, Canada, also loves them and he's into a lot of older music such as classic rock. 

I hope this helps.

[one]

I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.

I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.

Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.

[brennislav]

I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.

I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.

Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.

What would you think of the idea of them in a PRS SE Custom 24, which is maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard?

[Yellowjacket]

I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.

I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.

Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.

What would you think of the idea of them in a PRS SE Custom 24, which is maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard?

Misha uses them in his PRS guitars and forum member Littleredguitar used one in a Les Paul Custom, which is a set neck mahogany body and mahogany neck guitar with a rosewood board.
Keep in mind that you are playing primarily through marshalls, not Mesas, Engls, etc.  Bright and upper mid dominant amps with less low end will sound positively amazing with Juggernauts.

[one]

I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.

I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.

Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.

What would you think of the idea of them in a PRS SE Custom 24, which is maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard?

Yeah, what YellowJacket recommended should be fine, I'm not an expert in BKPs, only tried Csweats, Juggs, Cbombs and now Cpigs. They differ a lot depending on the guitar, but I think the amp, as YJ suggested, is even more important. Using Cbomb in a mahogany guitar might sound crazy for tech death metal purposes but through an EVH 5153 it's not so much.

So, if you are using mid to trebblish amps there, I think the Juggernauts would be my go to for sure. I had a little time to get used to them, as I came from other less dynamic brands and active pickups, mainly alnico, but now I fully appreciate all the richness and versatily you get out of them.

[brennislav]

All right guys, I think I'm clearer on my choice now. I'll drop by the stores this week and pick up a set of Juggernauts. Thank you all for the advice!