Gibson Explorer

[orionz06]

So my Black Dog/Riff Raff combo, https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=34465.msg429446#msg429446, worked amazingly well in my LP Custom but I've since listed the guitar for sale.  Grabbed a PRS 509 and fell in love with all the things it does for what it is.  Grabbed a PRS Custom 24 that's not here yet but had to list the LP to pay for it.  This leaves my stock Explorer needing some love to get me kinda what the LP has. 

This thread seems to cover a lot for me: https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=25787.0

I'm curious if anything has changed or what the changes to suggestions might be for standard tuning rock/punk/metal.  The stock 496/500 just sound sterile or bland compared to the PRS and BKP's in my LP. 

[ericsabbath]

I'd try True Grits
Maybe Rebel Yells

[Nolly]

My experience with Explorers has been that they often have buckets of low end and need quite lean sounding pickups to balance out. If that's the case with yours, I'd recommend trying a set of Riff Raffs.

[orionz06]

My experience with Explorers has been that they often have buckets of low end and need quite lean sounding pickups to balance out. If that's the case with yours, I'd recommend trying a set of Riff Raffs.

Any reason to avoid the Rebel Yells or were you basing that on my Black Dog/Riff Raff love from my LP?

[Dave Sloven]

Riff Raffs, Emeralds, and Rebel Yells would all be good.  Cold Sweats would also be a good option

[Nolly]

Any reason to avoid the Rebel Yells or were you basing that on my Black Dog/Riff Raff love from my LP?

Only that with the hotter wind, the Rebel Yells do generate more low end than the Riff Raffs do - if your Explorer is indeed bass-heavy you might want stick to pickups that don't reproduce that much low end.

[Dave Sloven]

It depends on how much bottom end you want/need.  I am quite happy with the A-bomb in my Explorer, even though it is in C standard, but I keep the bass on my amp around noon.

[orionz06]

Any reason to avoid the Rebel Yells or were you basing that on my Black Dog/Riff Raff love from my LP?

Only that with the hotter wind, the Rebel Yells do generate more low end than the Riff Raffs do - if your Explorer is indeed bass-heavy you might want stick to pickups that don't reproduce that much low end.

Ahh, gotcha.  Yeah, it's a little bass heavy but I feel like the current pickups are making it hard to tell in the first place.  It's just way too much signal without any character.  I can take my PRS 509 and LP with BD/RR and get some very distinct sounds from mild to wild and cleans that are unreal and then plug in the Explorer and feel like I'm playing direct into a home stereo with a distortion pedal. 


My biggest fear is losing too much "metal" from the Explorer.  It's not a metal guitar for me, per say, it's just another shape and arguably more known for rock/southern rock just as much as Hetfield and the like. 

[Dave Sloven]

I would be surprised if you did not like the Emerald in your Explorer.  I think they lack a bit of bottom end in some Les Pauls, but would balance out an Explorer very well.

As far as the neck pickup in the set goes it is lovely, but if you are used to the Riff Raff neck you might find it to be a bit dark.  Personally I think it is one of the nicest neck pickups I've heard, especially if you are into expressive playing like bends etc

[orionz06]

Sorry to draw this out.  Finally had a chance to test guitars back and forth with some standard amp settings.  My PRS 509 is rather awesome, does all that guitar should do.  Not too dark, not too bright, amazing balance for so many styles.  Feels a little weak for some heavier stuff but it should.  A new Custom 24 with their \m/ pickups is very powerful.  Semi-balanced, just more output.  A little less bassy but that's how they're voiced and they're intended to be paired with a bassy/gainy amp.  The Black Dog/RR LP is brighter than both PRS's now and very vintage/classic feeling with a fair amount of bite.  The Explorer is certainly darker than the Cu24, both sharing similar outputs right now.  The PRS is compressed a little but not nearly as sterile feeling as the Explorer.  The 496/500 just feel like they've got gobs of output, just nothing to note beyond that, bland. 

I'm OK with it remaining to be a little dark but I don't wanna deal with too much bass, all of my guitars now work well with similar settings and keeping that would be great. 

Narrowed down to the Riff Raff or Emerald set.  Thoughts?

[timmy_pix]

Well, the Emerald is kind of like the Riff Raff's big brother, so it depends how much you want in the balls department. Emerald is still very PAF voiced but very punchy; very tight low end, with a lot of weight behind every note, and a fat, creamy neck.

I would imagine it'd make Explorer sound huge, and it's very happy doing everything from rock to metal (tight bass helps there), but cleans up beautifully too. Got mine in a Les Paul and adore them, but I bet a big weighty monster like an Explorer would love them.

[Telerocker]

Mules will do a nice job in an Explorer. Lenny Kravitz loaded his V with Mules, which has more or less the same specs as an Explorer.

[Dave Sloven]

I'm still thinking the Emeralds.  I was very tempted to try them in my Explorer.  The neck is wonderful and the bridge is amazing but needs a big bottom heavy beast like an Explorer to do it justice.

[Telerocker]

I'm still thinking the Emeralds.  I was very tempted to try them in my Explorer.  The neck is wonderful and the bridge is amazing but needs a big bottom heavy beast like an Explorer to do it justice.

It could work, but the general opinion at BKP is that mediumoutput pickups are not the best choice for SG's, Explorers and V's. You don't want to much bass and mids in a lump of mahogany. But anyway, I don't have that much experience with those guitars, so just my 2 cents. 

[Dave Sloven]

Well that does generally hold for SGs but I don't think it is the case for Explorers and probably not for Vs.  It is the thin body, unusual pickup placement and the neck joint that make SGs difficult.  Explorers and Vs seem much closer to all-mahogany solid Les Pauls.

Rebel Yells for example seem to have a great rep in Explorers and Vs (but not in SGs).