Having two Kiesels built soon. Both identical Aries (bolt on) models. They will be alder body, maple neck, fixed bridge. The pickup configuration will be HSS. Controls will be one volume, one 5-way switch, no tone. Style/sounds will be mostly metal, ranging from classic to a more modern sound as well. Of course the hum will be my primary, and I'll use the middle and neck singles both individually, and also in some combination for a variety of clean and distorted sounds.
As for the Hum, after carefully listening to Tim's Modern Metal clips repeatedly, and meticulously cross-comparing every pickup that has them, I'm torn between the Holy Diver and the Nailbomb Alnico. Both are clearly just killer pups. I realize they are also quite different in tone, and I would imagine feel as well. The NB has lowered mids, while the HD has thicker/raised mids. I tend to prefer thicker more prominent mids, which on the surface I think screams HD, yet the qualities I hear in the NB make me want to try one of them as well. All that being said, I think I'll need to get one of each, and actually play these guitars back to back to make the final decision. Are there any from the Vintage Hot line I should also be considering, even though I've got no Modern Metal clips do go by and compare with except for the Black Dog? Speaking of which, would the Black Dog be top dog out of the Vintage Hot line for metal?
As for the singles, I'll need something high-output, which for me means either the Sinner or the Trilogy Suite. And since I'll need the best cleans between the two, to me that then points to the Trilogy.
Does all this sound about right?
Update since my OP:
After having added the Black Dog to the comparison, thanks to Tim doing a Modern Metal clip of it. I think I'm leaning on dropping the Nailbomb, and replacing it with the Black Dog to go along with the Holy Diver for the other guitar. The very present and clear mids, articulation, and I imagine the more open dynamics, yet aggressive nature of the Black Dog are what's attracting me to it.
