Juggernaut Set Installed - Some Initial Impressions

[fdesalvo]

I had a chance to rehearse with the Juggernauts last weekend.  Left me with mixed feelings.

Guitar: Basswood RG Prestige with Gibraltar II fixed bridge.  6 string standard E tuning.  Fender/Marshall flavored Master volume amp driven by various OD pedals.

Reason for purchase:
I bought this set to fit into a guitar purposed for modern/heavy styles in the studio.  This guitar is a very vibrant blue and it's flashier than I'd typically use on stage.  Not concerned about being painted into a corner tone-wise.

Initial impressions:
Some of the mixed feelings I have may be due to the fact my band doesn't play heavy music.  We do pop-rock.  I have no idea why we do this type of music, but we do.  I prefer heavier music, but here I am.  The set I rehearsed calls for pristine cleans and mid-high gain tones, so I had no issue test driving the Juggies within this context. 

In order to install the bridge pickup, I had to route the cavity about .25", so there's some commitment that comes with this set.  After plugging in, I had to check to ensure my tone control was fully open because all of the high end was absent from my tone.  These are very dark pickups in this Basswood body and it caught me off guard.  In order to compensate, I had to move the treble up on my OD pedals about 40%.  Straight off the bat, this is not a guitar that is suitable for use in a cover band context or one that I would feel comfortable with as a backup in a pinch, as I don't know how much time I'd need to get back into the fight after a string break on the primary. 

The bridge pickup, while producing the nicest cleans of any bridge humbucker of this magnitude, easily overcame my amp's input and drove it into clipping.  The neck pickup clean is very fat with tremendous depth.  A bit tubby, so not a great match to my tastes.  In my experience, the upshot of this set began when I switched the drive on.

After adjusting the tone controls on the rig. the high end came into focus, but didn't reach a clear and cutting level.  The dominating spectrum in my personal application is the bass through center mids.  The heavy rhythm prowess of the bridge pickup is on par with the Miracle Man and very few other pickups I've played thus far can match it.  It produces a tone that is reminiscent of the Crawler to my ears - that signature growl that some have attributed to that pickup is present here.  It's a very chewy, organic, and somewhat open tone in this way: If you can imagine a very saturated and compressed signal as one with the waveform's peaks being extremely close together, then you'll be able to visualize this.  The Juggs, again in my experience, feel as though the peaks are clipped, but have more space between them, so there is room for some dynamics with the pick.  There's an openness to the saturation and compression that they produce in my rig that I've only experienced with the Crawler. 

I just wish there was more presence in my application.  I'd love to bring this guitar onstage, but I can't. This limits live use of this guitar to metal rhythm duties, which isn't the primary reason I own this guitar and it's bothering me.  "But, that's not why you bought the set and you mentioned not being concerned about being painted into a corner with the core tone!" you might say.  Yes, I said that.  I meant it.  It's still gnawing at my innards. 

None of this matters if I park this guitar in the studio. All my concern is for naught in that context, because I can shape the tone anyway I like there.  But, even this capability presents an issue for me: I've been able to take a great and neutral design like the Abraxas and morph it into an absolutely savage beast at the recording desk by increasing input gain on my interface and by other means such as compression/EQ treatments - which all guitar signals receive in the end.  So, in this costly little adventure, lessons may have been learned and an understanding of what I actually need may have been gained.  Or, I may have muddied the waters even further.  My working man's sensibilities are preventing me from enjoying a genre-strapped third guitar.  "But but it's your only fixed bridge instrument!" I know!  Part of me regrets not letting the ToneZone and Air Norton stay in their dwelling, but part of me doesn't.  I'm left torn and will likely sell these.

[darkandrew]

An interesting review. I had a similar experience with a Holy Diver set and ended up swapping my Crawlers back in.

[fdesalvo]

Indeed.  I'm thinking this guitar is heavy on the left of the spectrum, so a Rebel Yell set may do it.  Maybe I need some ray guns in my life.

[darkandrew]

I did fancy giving the Juggernauts a go myself at some time, I'd always seen them as a more aggressive Crawler and that's pretty much how you seem to have described them, but I've gone round and round in circles swapping pickups in my guitars and to be honest, the ones that I always come back to in the end are the Mules and Nail Bombs - there's not a lot that can't be done between these two, so I'll probably stick with what I have (for now, anyway!).

[fdesalvo]

I did fancy giving the Juggernauts a go myself at some time, I'd always seen them as a more aggressive Crawler and that's pretty much how you seem to have described them, but I've gone round and round in circles swapping pickups in my guitars and to be honest, the ones that I always come back to in the end are the Mules and Nail Bombs - there's not a lot that can't be done between these two, so I'll probably stick with what I have (for now, anyway!).

Which nailbombs?  Def curious about them, also. I just put the ToneZone and Air Norton back in. I never even listened to them in this guitar, which was a foolish, rookie move on my part. I remember having a TZ years and years back. I recal the lead tone was really stellar for solos. It had that smooth, burning quality.

[darkandrew]

I did fancy giving the Juggernauts a go myself at some time, I'd always seen them as a more aggressive Crawler and that's pretty much how you seem to have described them, but I've gone round and round in circles swapping pickups in my guitars and to be honest, the ones that I always come back to in the end are the Mules and Nail Bombs - there's not a lot that can't be done between these two, so I'll probably stick with what I have (for now, anyway!).

Which nailbombs?  Def curious about them, also. I just put the ToneZone and Air Norton back in. I never even listened to them in this guitar, which was a foolish, rookie move on my part. I remember having a TX years and years back. I recal the lead tone was really stellar for solos. It had that smooth, burning quality.

They're the Alnico variety. Both the Mules and the Nail Bomb's are in ESP Eclipses - sort of a Les Paul with a slightly thinner body and belly cut, so also a little lighter and a little brighter. I've tried the NBs  in a basswood superstrat (Fender Showmaster) but they didn't really work so we'll in there though. The mistake I made in getting the Holy Divers was that I thought I wanted a more aggressive Crawler but what I actually wanted was something similar to the Crawler but with a little more bite, which is now fulfilled by the Mules. The Nail Bomb's are obviously quite different and take care of the heavier stuff (although they also do some nice clean stuff - the neck is great for Cure type lower regester picking and the middle position on the lighter strings is great for delicate arpegios).

[fdesalvo]

Very cool. The Miles get a lot of mileage. I would love to try a Mule Bridge with the Stormy Monday Neck. ABomb sounds wicked versatile in your guitar.

[Dave Sloven]

That Cure comment makes me want a guitar with Mules.

EDIT: Wait, I misread it.  I actually have that Nailbomb pickup and I can see how that would be the case.  Mine is tuned to C standard though so it doesn't seem especially Cure like, although I have gotten an early Cure sound through that neck pickup on the clean channel using parallel wiring.

[fdesalvo]

The guys at BK recommended a set of ray guns.  I'll be trading this back in.  Cheers, gang.

FWIW - I can see how the Juggernauts would SLAY in a more evenly toned or brighter instrument.   

[darkandrew]

That Cure comment makes me want a guitar with Mules.
9
EDIT: Wait, I misread it.  I actually have that Nailbomb pickup and I can see how that would be the case.  Mine is tuned to C standard though so it doesn't seem especially Cure like, although I have gotten an early Cure sound through that neck pickup on the clean channel using parallel wiring.

The Nail Bomb neck is another one of those pickups which gets very little publicity on here but is an absolute gem. It's got a really unique voice - clean it's quite hollow and woody, great for playing Cure type stuff as already mentioned - Google the Cure's "The same deep water as you" or even Duran Duran's "Come undone" (probably not what you would first think of when you mention the words "Nail Bomb"!) for examples,  but when the gain is turned up it's got a great lead voice that's somehow in the sweet spot between your average (if there is such a thing) neck and bridge pickups. Actually, it's probably my favourite and most used neck pickup.

[Dave Sloven]

Yes I've always thought that the Nailbomb neck is the most underrated pickup in the range.  It's very common to pair the Nailbomb bridge pickups with something else - VHII, Cold Sweat, or Rebel Yell - yet I've always really liked this calibrated set.

[Yellowjacket]

This is fascinating.  I find these pickups to be very transparent, but they are definitely voiced toward the lows and center mids.

I really enjoy the warm and gorgeous cleans, and I love how the pickups are balanced throughout their entire range.

Is your Ibanez dark or balanced sounding?  I'm really wondering what sort of frequency contributions the floating trem bridge is making.

I swapped the stock FP bridge for a Hipshot bridge on my RG7421 and with that bridge, I got a lot of high end bite and upper mid attack. 

I really think in your case, it's the guitar, not the pickups, that is the problem.  As much as the anti-dj0nt brigade likes to hate on the Juggs around here, they're fantastic pickups in the RIGHT guitar. 

So, you can try to find pickups to fit with your current set up or you can try and modify the bridge, nut, and electronics to make it work.  With a floating trem system, you're better off to go with the pickup swapping route.  [edit] wait, it is a fixed bridge.  Swapping the bridge and / or saddles certainly can also make a big difference.  A basswood body / maple neck / rosewood board instrument should have plenty of highs and upper mids.   The more contemporary pickups are voiced to be dark to compensate for this.

[fdesalvo]

Hey, my friend.

Fixed bridge here and the guitar seems to have a dark tone overall.  Have some ray guns on the way :).

[Yellowjacket]

Rayguns are absolutely killer in a dark guitar.  My Godin LG is a bolt on mahogany short scale guitar with a bolt on mahogany neck and rosewood board.  It has a ToM bridge.

I'd describe it is dark but also articulate, with a huge weight in the low mids and a notch in the upper mids.  Putting a Rebel Yell in the bridge and a VHII in the neck made that guitar an absolute monster.

It's really the polar opposite of my RG7421 that has the Juggernaut 7s in it.

My Godin Redline III, which is bright but also beefy, has the Juggernaut 6s in it.  The schaller floating bridge with a custom 5/8 brass block makes that guitar the most distinct and detailed drive tone of any guitar I have.  My A-Bomb equipped Les Paul has more beef but the Redline III & RG7421 sound brighter plugged in with Juggernauts than my other two guitars do with an A-Bomb bridge and a Raygun bridge. 

I have to say, I think I prefer the Juggernauts at their best but they're really good for contemporary stuff.  For vintage tones, A-Bomb and Ray Guns win.

[fdesalvo]

Rayguns are absolutely killer in a dark guitar.  My Godin LG is a bolt on mahogany short scale guitar with a bolt on mahogany neck and rosewood board.  It has a ToM bridge.

I'd describe it is dark but also articulate, with a huge weight in the low mids and a notch in the upper mids.  Putting a Rebel Yell in the bridge and a VHII in the neck made that guitar an absolute monster.

It's really the polar opposite of my RG7421 that has the Juggernaut 7s in it.

My Godin Redline III, which is bright but also beefy, has the Juggernaut 6s in it.  The schaller floating bridge with a custom 5/8 brass block makes that guitar the most distinct and detailed drive tone of any guitar I have.  My A-Bomb equipped Les Paul has more beef but the Redline III & RG7421 sound brighter plugged in with Juggernauts than my other two guitars do with an A-Bomb bridge and a Raygun bridge. 

I have to say, I think I prefer the Juggernauts at their best but they're really good for contemporary stuff.  For vintage tones, A-Bomb and Ray Guns win.

You've a ton of guitars!


It's mandatory to have a variety of tones at hand!  Sounds like you have some bases covered with the herd.  The guitar the RYs are going in will be used for rhythm and lead duty, so I expect good things! 

The two other guitars are both SuperStrat floaters.  One has a Gotoh 1996T Floyd with stock brass bottom end and Dimarzio Satchura8 + VV67 Middle + VV54 neck (stunning noiseless SCs!).  Prior to the Satchur8, the guitar had a Gravity Storm bridge (EXCELLENT set) and then a Breed (boringly good, no character).  The Satchur8 is much like the Breed in that it has no character, save a wall of indistinct midrange.  I can see replacing the bridge pickup with a Crawler soon.  The other is a build in progress and has a Schaller Lockmeister with 5/8 brass bottom end a Dimarzio Transition bridge and VV54 neck pickup.  I really love the Transitions!  The neck will have a black ebony board with no inlays mated maple shaft.

I stepped away from BK for a year to do some exploring and here I am - that speaks volumes.  Prior, I was on a 4 year BK bender lol. 




Very hard color to capture.  Looks greener in low light.




Schaller Sure Claw