Neck pickup for painkiller bridge (Mahogany Ibanez RGA121)

[O731]

Hey guys,

I've been trying to find a good pickup combo for my Mahogany Ibanez RGA121. I tried a Ragnarok bridge and Miracle man neck, but it wasn't the tone I was looking for. The Ragnarok was very mid dominant, with a lot of high mids. Moreover, I liked the miracle man a lot but it was just too dark for my mahogany guitar.

I had a Dimarzio X2N bridge and Tone zone neck and I liked the combo, but I wanted some of that BKP magic because all their pickups leave me in awe whenever I installed them in my other guitars. I also wanted a tad bit more brightness compared to my Dimarzio setup.

I have a painkiller set in my other basswood Ibanez and absolutely love it to death. It sounds very meaty and articulate, and it's great for shredding type stuff. In that regard, i'm going to get a painkiller bridge for my mahogany RGA 121 because I would only imagine it would sound even better in a more darker tonewood.

I know a painkiller neck to match the bridge seems like the most logical thing to do, considering I enjoy the setup in my basswood Ibanez, but I wanted to have a similar tone that my previous Dimarzio set up (X2N Bridge, Tone zone neck gave me). However, I wanted to make it sound just ONE TINY NOTCH brighter. What that considered, I wanted a darker sounding, alcino neck to complement my painkiller bridge in my mahogany guitar.

What I loved about my tone zone is it had a very nice low mid growl, and the alcino made it sound "brown" and "warm" if you get what I mean. Although the miracle man was a very beautiful neck pickup, it didn't have that low mid growl and it sounded more cold relative to the Tone zone.

When I look at the EQ charts on the BKP website, it seems like an alcino nailbomb neck or holy diver neck would help me get that tone zone type of tone i'm looking for. Would anyone be able to help me out with deciding between the two, or could provide other recommendations to achieve my goal?

Your input will be very much appreciated!

[ericsabbath]

well the painkiler should deliver more upper mids than the ragnarok
if you don't worry about pole spacing, you could try the neck miracle man in the bridge position
sounds a bit like a warpig, but less middy and compressed
there's not neck equivalent to the tone zone, and definitely not the neck nailbomb or neck holy diver, but you could try a bridge pickup in the neck position
the bridge holy diver or bridge alnico nailbomb should get you closer to a tone zone than their neck versions

note that the eq charts on the website don't really represent the neck pickups

[O731]

Thank you. Although the painkiller does give more upper mids, I found the ragnarok to just sound too airy. The painkiller has a lot of upper mids, but I love the meaty low end.

Also, why is it you think the Alcino nailbomb or holy diver in the neck won't be the equivalent to a tone zone? They both seem to be more darker and have prominent low mids.

[ericsabbath]

did you try setting it closer to strings and also setting the strings a little higher?

those neck pickups aren't dark at all, and nowhere near as high output and compressed as a tone zone

[O731]

Hmm...I didn't really play around with the pickup height. I still have it around so i'm going to install it in one of my basswood Ibanez guitars just to see how it sounds in a more neutral tonewood.

[ericsabbath]

maybe you didn't have them close enough for the low end to kick in properly
this makes a ton of difference with bkps

[darkandrew]

Also, why is it you think the Alcino nailbomb or holy diver in the neck won't be the equivalent to a tone zone? They both seem to be more darker and have prominent low mids.

Whilst I've never tried a ToneZone, or any Dimarzio pick up actually, the Nailbomb is one of my favourite pickups in a mahogany guitar and I would imagine it would pair rather well with the Pain Killer. The NB neck has a lovely woodiness or hollowness that I've not found in any other BKP pickup, it's also bright without being too bright and deep without being too deep (if that makes sense). Clean, it's great for Cure type guitar parts and when the gain is turned all the way up, it's great for lead parts so long as the guitar has the warmth and sustain to support the bottom end, but even without this low-end boost from the guitar, because it's "bright without being too bright" it never gets fizzy at the top end and so still manages to remain balanced. The one thing it will never do is that signature Slash tone that some people like, and seems to be quite popular for some reason (sorry Slash fans) but if you want something that has its own voice and sounds great in mahogany then I'd always put the Nail Bomb neck high on my wish list.

[ericsabbath]

I agree, but the voicing is almost the opposite of a tone zone
Lots of top end, scooped mids and a spanky and woody response instead of a meaty fat midrange and compressed response
The tone zone is usually used as a neck pickup, but it's voices like a modern bridge pickup

[O731]

I agree, but the voicing is almost the opposite of a tone zone
Lots of top end, scooped mids and a spanky and woody response instead of a meaty fat midrange and compressed response
The time zone is usually used as a neck pickup, but it's voices like a modern bridge pickup

Ahh, well thanks for that. Now I know not to get the painkiller. I know i'm being picky here and making it difficult asking for a BKP equivalent to a Dimarzio. The only reason why i'm so set on keeping a "tone zone" type tone on the bridge is because this is a guitar that i've had for a really long time, that always had the tone zone neck and X2N bridge. I'm trying to maintain the nostalgia factor as much as possible.

Would you happen to know what kind of pickup would best give the "meaty fat midrange" of a tone zone? What about the holy diver?

[darkandrew]

I agree, but the voicing is almost the opposite of a tone zone
Lots of top end, scooped mids and a spanky and woody response instead of a meaty fat midrange and compressed response
The time zone is usually used as a neck pickup, but it's voices like a modern bridge pickup

Ahh, well thanks for that. Now I know not to get the painkiller. I know i'm being picky here and making it difficult asking for a BKP equivalent to a Dimarzio. The only reason why i'm so set on keeping a "tone zone" type tone on the bridge is because this is a guitar that i've had for a really long time, that always had the tone zone neck and X2N bridge. I'm trying to maintain the nostalgia factor as much as possible.

Would you happen to know what kind of pickup would best give the "meaty fat midrange" of a tone zone? What about the holy diver?

The default "meaty fat midrange" pickup is the Crawler although it isn't really thought of as a metal pickup - more of a souped-up PAF on steroids.

[O731]

I agree, but the voicing is almost the opposite of a tone zone
Lots of top end, scooped mids and a spanky and woody response instead of a meaty fat midrange and compressed response
The time zone is usually used as a neck pickup, but it's voices like a modern bridge pickup

Ahh, well thanks for that. Now I know not to get the painkiller. I know i'm being picky here and making it difficult asking for a BKP equivalent to a Dimarzio. The only reason why i'm so set on keeping a "tone zone" type tone on the bridge is because this is a guitar that i've had for a really long time, that always had the tone zone neck and X2N bridge. I'm trying to maintain the nostalgia factor as much as possible.

Would you happen to know what kind of pickup would best give the "meaty fat midrange" of a tone zone? What about the holy diver?

The default "meaty fat midrange" pickup is the Crawler although it isn't really thought of as a metal pickup - more of a suped-up PAF on steroids.

Hmm, does dc resistance = output?

It seems like a crawler bridge in the neck position might be similar to a tone zone. I’m also looking at the holy diver and it seems like a possible candidate too.

[capac]

It does not. It often does seem so, but it depends on the type of wire used, magnets... That leads people to think DCR directly translates to output. Black hawk is 9k dcr and is still one of the hottest BKPs.

[O731]

Is the Crawler a high output pickup?

[capac]

It's got more heat than a PAF, but it's not super hot.

[O731]

I consulted with BKP and they advised against using a crawler neck or bridge in the neck position for my goal. If anyone could still provide me with neck pickup recommendations it would be very much appreciated.