Bridge pickup suggestions

[ProjectX]

Hey guys,I'm new here and would like to get some advice.I have a killer playing Wayne Charvel parts guitar that needs a new bridge pickup.I play tunes from bands such as Ratt,Billy Idol,Maiden,old Priest,Thin Lizzy,Alice In Chains.It currently has a VH2 in it but for me it sounds a little too thin and bright,almost tele-ish.I need something a little warmer with higher output but still cuts through in a band situation.The body of the guitar is a Wayne body made of Alder with a beautiful quilt top and the neck is a Musikraft one piece rock maple made to Charvel specs.Here's a pic:


What pickup do you guys think?Oh by the way,the neck pickup is an Irish Tour and absolutely slays in this guitar.

[dave_mc]

I have no idea on the pickup front, but that is one awesome guitar!

welcome to the forum! :D

[sambo]

holy mother of mothers......... thats the maddest quilt top ive ever seen...

...thats.... thats.... thats just crazy man...  :o


anyway yer, cant help with pickups sorry man...  :lol:

but that guitar  :o

[March]

Stunning guitar. I'm thinking something like the Crawler would deliver what you require.

[Neemo]

is that a d-tuna you have in the floyd?

[sambo]

^yer i saw that too

well you said Billy Idol so obvious choice there is the new Rebel Yell which is being launched 5-7 May........

[ProjectX]

I was thinking along the lines of something equivalent (of course BK's will be much better) to the Duncan JB which quite a few of those guys use or have used in the past.What would that be?

[ProjectX]

is that a d-tuna you have in the floyd?

Yes sir it is.It works awesome.I have a Performance Guitars Big Block on the Floyd too which increases sutain and tone unbelievably.Also I have KTS titanium blocks in the Floyd that hold the strings in.No more cracked blocks.

[TwilightOdyssey]

The VHII can be bright in some guitars. I had the same issue in my Strat, but a simple HF rolloff circuit cured it.

The bottom line is that a bright guitar is a bright guitar, and BKs have a LOT of high freqency clarity. If you're looking for more warmth, tho ... I would think something like the Black DOg, actually, would be a good pickup if you wanted something in the same ballpark.

Your influences are all over the place, tonally, but for the Thin Lizzy/old Priest thing, I love the Cold Sweat ... once again, your guitar may simply be overly bright and nothing short of a high freq rolloff will do the trick.

On a side note: I don't like wood tops, but that is a SICK guitar!!

Edit: Just saw your JB comment. If you're looking for something in that range, look at the Rebel Yell or Holy Diver.

[Twinfan]

Great guitar - looks superb!

What about a Nailbomb???

[ProjectX]

The VHII can be bright in some guitars. I had the same issue in my Strat, but a simple HF rolloff circuit cured it.

The bottom line is that a bright guitar is a bright guitar, and BKs have a LOT of high freqency clarity. If you're looking for more warmth, tho ... I would think something like the Black DOg, actually, would be a good pickup if you wanted something in the same ballpark.

Your influences are all over the place, but for the Thin Lizzy/old Priest thing, I love the Cold Sweat ... once again, your guitar may simply be overly bright and nothing short of a high freq rolloff will do the trick.

On a side note: I don't like wood tops, but that is a SICK guitar!!

Could you give me info on the HF rolloff circuit ? I'm real handy with the soldering iron.Hell,if I could roll off some of the peakiness this pickup could stay where it is.

[sambo]

im gonna say Rebel Yell again (for the Billy Idol stuff) or what about an Emerald (for the Thin Lizzy stuff?) like TO said, your influences are kinda all over the place... so its hard to say... but one of them would be good i reckon...

ive got a feeling the Rebel Yell is higher output than the VHII....?

and what TO said about the Black Dog could work as well... ive heard people say that that is very mids-orientated/warm....

[indysmith]

cold sweat or nailbomb, hmmm.
that guitar is hawt. could yu explain how the d-tuna works? i have one on my ibanez but it's built in with the ZR tremolo; my tech told me that mine works in a more accurate way than the EVH one, but im not really sure how?

[TwilightOdyssey]

Could you give me info on the HF rolloff circuit ? I'm real handy with the soldering iron.

I can give you LOTS OF info on the circuit!

PhilKing will chime in with the values we chose, but here's what we did:

We took a Gibson tone circuit and set it back to 9, and then measured the resistance.  The capacitor is the same as is used in the Gibson.

Then we took a Fender tone circuit and did the same, and measured that.

Then we took a mini switch and wired in resistors/capacitors to match the tone pots. In the UP position, it's the Gibbo circuit and in the DOWN position, it's the Fender. And the funny thing is, you can hear the difference, even tho electrically, they are only slightly different!! I prefer the Gibson for riffing and the Fender circuit for solos.

The bottom line is, it REALLY tamed the highs on the guitar!! Here's a clip I did using the VHII on all tracks ...  

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3624776&q=hi

I've never been happier with the pup. Of course, the effect is VERY subtle, but it rolls off just enuff of the bite in the high freqs to make it less ear bleeding!!

Hope you find this helpful!!

[ProjectX]

I wonder if using a 250k pot instead of the 500k would tame it?