Replacing a Seymour Duncan JB(/59 maybe) - let's talk Holydivers.

[Lucas]

Nailbomb was my first BKP I bought, once I started using it, it was great until I bought second set for another guitar and started using Miracle Man. Miracle Man was real game changer for me, my favorite pickup so far, then I installed another Miracle Man in another guitar and the rest is history (meanwhile I got Cold Sweat too).

Long story short, I have mixed fellings regarding Nailbomb, in my eyes it could be an ideal pickup for recording second guitar, for doubling parts as it has its own thing going on. Actually I`m planning to use it this way in my next recordings while Miracle Man will at the front but if you`re looking for precision and riffing machine, from my experience you`ll be disappointed with Nailbomb.

I might be biased towards Miracle Man indeed, so you`ll have to trust your own ears too, but providing that your guitar is not really dark sounding MM might be the right choice.
Miracle Man is more versatile in my opinion that people might think. Recently I produced track with MM doing some bluesy/rock thing (check PLAYERS section, have 2 songs with MM). It has great leads, great rhythm abilities and I even like cleans on it too (more on modern side) plus it`s not extreme metal pickup at all, yes more towards metal but nothing crazy like Ragnarok I guess.

By the way MM neck is really underestimated, I wrote my review of that pickup recently, amazing set overall.

[one]

Nailbomb was my first BKP I bought, once I started using it, it was great until I bought second set for another guitar and started using Miracle Man. Miracle Man was real game changer for me, my favorite pickup so far, then I installed another Miracle Man in another guitar and the rest is history (meanwhile I got Cold Sweat too).

Long story short, I have mixed fellings regarding Nailbomb, in my eyes it could be an ideal pickup for recording second guitar, for doubling parts as it has its own thing going on. Actually I`m planning to use it this way in my next recordings while Miracle Man will at the front but if you`re looking for precision and riffing machine, from my experience you`ll be disappointed with Nailbomb.

Nailbombs were my first bkp pups too and I sold them and never looked back. God knows I tried to like it. It was futile, as you said, it's the opposite to precision and not as good for riffs as others in the bkp catalogue. Plus, I had it on a 27 scale 7 baritone with walnut top and SS frets, everything adding a little bit more of shrillness to the trebblish character of the NB. Though I could stand riffs and chords, soloing was for me the worst part. Too much grind and hair. I love my juggs and cpigs though and I also agree about the great coldsweat. Now, let's see in a couple of months how I like the raggs that are to come.

[Yellowjacket]

A-Bomb is great in a Les Paul.  A 7 string baritone maybe is not the right wood for it.
My Les Paul has 11 - 52 strings and it is in half step down tuning.  Eb Standard / Drop Db (C#). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97juia7do7w

I think a warmer, darker short scale 6 string is great for this pickup.

[Dave Sloven]

I agree.  The A-bomb works well in my Explorer (11-56, C standard).  It was awful in my SG (9-46, E standard) though

[Lucas]

Today I`ve taken my CBomb equipped guitar out of case first time for at least 8 moths or so (as I pretty much only use Miracle Mans recently), put new strings on, checked the setup ect, played it for a good while and...

-I don`t think that it`s super versatile pickup, I find Miracle Man way more versatile.
-It`s hard to tame while playing due to it`s wild nature, it`s wild pickup for sure, hairy, compressed (feels more compressed that MM), it shows your sloppy playing and your mistakes more
-it`s not great on leads but that`s well known fact
-upper mids are wild and pronounced
-quite a lot bottom end (but guitar is dark sounding)
-It`s operating theritory is quite narrow music wise I think, pissed off punk rock, hard rock but with specific edge, sludgy doom metal ect (I`m not familar that much with those subgernes)
- I like how distorted chords sound with this pickup, would be great as second guitar doubling main riff
-not too bad cleans for ceramic

Basically it`s unique pickup with unique voicing, not sure either bad or good way, but for sure not very versatile. Might suit some type of music, but I think that window is quite narrow.
Specific pickup for specific task, definitely not every day go-to pickup

Would anyone agree, or it`s only my opinion?

[Dave Sloven]

I've never used the ceramic version.  I suspect that the alnico is better for lead work.  Otherwise I agree

[Telerocker]

I would take the Miracle Man over any Nailbomb. I admit I'm biased, I just don't like the NB.

[Yellowjacket]

Today I`ve taken my CBomb equipped guitar out of case first time for at least 8 moths or so (as I pretty much only use Miracle Mans recently), put new strings on, checked the setup ect, played it for a good while and...

-I don`t think that it`s super versatile pickup, I find Miracle Man way more versatile.
-It`s hard to tame while playing due to it`s wild nature, it`s wild pickup for sure, hairy, compressed (feels more compressed that MM), it shows your sloppy playing and your mistakes more
-it`s not great on leads but that`s well known fact
-upper mids are wild and pronounced
-quite a lot bottom end (but guitar is dark sounding)
-It`s operating theritory is quite narrow music wise I think, pissed off punk rock, hard rock but with specific edge, sludgy doom metal ect (I`m not familar that much with those subgernes)
- I like how distorted chords sound with this pickup, would be great as second guitar doubling main riff
-not too bad cleans for ceramic

Basically it`s unique pickup with unique voicing, not sure either bad or good way, but for sure not very versatile. Might suit some type of music, but I think that window is quite narrow.
Specific pickup for specific task, definitely not every day go-to pickup

Would anyone agree, or it`s only my opinion?

I dunno.  I have gotten lots of tones out of an A-Bomb.  But definitely not great for cleans.  It will cover a lot of ground in a Les Paul, especially tuned in e standard with 10 - 46 strings.  Using a less modern amp also helps with this. 

 

[one]

I agree with Lucas in everything and I have the C-bomb, those happy with nailbombs always seem to own the Alnico version

[Lucas]

After 2 days of comparisons of my Ceramic Nailbomb with my other BKP equipped guitars I decided to replace NB with something else. I actually put the NB guitar away into case for months as I preferred other BKPs.

Don`t know what to replace it with yet, but after trying Miracle Man and Cold Sweat bridges Cbomb feels like a black sheep.

[darthphineas]

I'm honestly wondering what you'd think of the Alnico Nailbomb

what I was thinking.  A-bomb.


the RY can be a little too sharp.  the HD is too soft.

[ericsabbath]

just make sure you have a proper boost pedal and the holy diver will scream like a chained priest being dragged on a river by the devil himself

[timmy_pix]

Well this went from a Holydiver thread to a Nailbomb thread. To reiterate, I like the Nailbomb but having played one it's not quite what I'm after.

just make sure you have a proper boost pedal and the holy diver will scream like a chained priest being dragged on a river by the devil himself

This sounds more like it! Have you played the neck pickup as well or just the bridge?

[ericsabbath]

just make sure you have a proper boost pedal and the holy diver will scream like a chained priest being dragged on a river by the devil himself

This sounds more like it! Have you played the neck pickup as well or just the bridge?

had it paired with the cold sweat, mule and emerald
haven't played the neck version