Pickups for a 2016 Flying V Pro T

[mtmartin71]

I haven't received my Flying V Pro T yet, but my sense is I'm not going to like the combo of the 57 Classic Neck and BB3 that comes stock in that guitar. Many say the BB3 is very bright and harsh. I might try rolling back the tone first. Curious though around some other hot PAF style pickups that would fit the Flying V platform. Two I have in mind are the Abraxas set but worried it might be a little too polite. Also, I read the Cold Sweat is good for all mahogany guitars. I think the Emerald and Riff Raff may be too bright and thin in a V. I've had the Mules in a Les Paul Traditional and thought they were "OK" but the neck was too wooly for my tastes in that guitar.

[Dave Sloven]

Cold Sweat should be nice in the V

[mtmartin71]

Been thinking about the Cold Sweat. I'm not sure if I'd like Ceramic though. All of my humbuckers are Alnico (Slash Set, Whole Lotta Humbucker, Thornbucker/Thornbucker +). I guess I'm looking for something around or just north of the WLH in terms of output and response. The WLH is brightish but not too bright. With this V, I think it will lean brighter so I have to be wary of that. I've read up that the stock Burstbucker 3 is a pretty harsh pickup and I don't know that I want that.

I've had both The Mule and the Abraxas in a Les Paul Traditional Pro with 500K pots and 50s wiring. I liked the Abraxas as far as the fatness and the response of the pickup to distortion and then dial down to vintage. Maybe the best I've had in that sense in terms of getting two pickups in one. Sometimes though I felt it lacked in the high end so I then tried The Mules. They were "OK" and added back in the high end in that same Les Paul. The neck was a bit woofy for my tastes and I just didn't bond with that so I put a Slash set in there and they've stayed put so far. Of the Mules and the Abraxas, I'd probably pick the Abraxas to try again in this guitar.

While I'm tempted to build a flamethrower with this V, I don't have projects that would call for that kind of heat unless I got a more vintage neck and used the neck and middle for non hard rock songs. I want to try Bare Knuckles again though. I have to say that I really like the Thornbucker/Thornbucker + combo. I put that in an all mahogany DGT and it cleared it right up and also gave it a more versatile and slightly modern sound. The neck is much better, for me, than the Mule was but not the same guitar so I know it's not apples to apples. The Thornbuckers remind me a bit of The Mules...both are kind of even and slightly polite vs raunchy/gritty. Maybe that's an A4 thing.

[Telerocker]

I think the height is important. If you set the Mule-neck too low, it's gonna sound dull and woofy. Maybe you tried that already.

I would consider a Rebel Yell-set for your V. Our honorable longtime member gwEm raves about it in a V.

https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=12995.0

[darkandrew]

Been thinking about the Cold Sweat. I'm not sure if I'd like Ceramic.

I think I've already said this in a different thread, but the best way that I can describe the Cold Sweat is as the ceramic pickup for people that don't like ceramic pickups! Don't get me wrong, it's nothing like an A2 or the typical "Slash" tone but it's a great rock/metal pickup.

[Lucas]

I think I've already said this in a different thread, but the best way that I can describe the Cold Sweat is as the ceramic pickup for people that don't like ceramic pickups! Don't get me wrong, it's nothing like an A2 or the typical "Slash" tone but it's a great rock/metal pickup.

Totally agree with that.
At the moment I took a break from my Miracle Man guitars and spent last week with another guitar equipped with Cold Sweat bridge while working on new song. Some people described it as screaming and crisp but it`s more polite and smoother than Miracle Man for sure. I wouldn`t call it a typical metal pickup but it shines in hard rock and trash metal on the other end of spectrum. Maybe only in my guitar but  it`s quite smooth with loads of presence and nice bottom end. More vintage sounding than modern. Nice cleans and nice leads too.

[ericsabbath]

the cold sweat sounds pretty ceramic to me and that's not a bad thing at all
even the ceramic warpig sounds pretty clear

[mtmartin71]

I'm going to try the stock pickups first and live with them for a bit and see what I do (and possibly don't) like about them. This V will not be a metal guitar. I don't have any metal projects I'd be working. I'm up through hard rock. The Cold Sweat will be on the radar if I decide I don't like the stock ones. I mean, they put these Gibson pickups in $5000+ guitars. I guess it's all about whether you like a certain sound or not.