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Author Topic: Pickups for ESP Forest GT  (Read 2066 times)

quimaera

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Pickups for ESP Forest GT
« on: January 05, 2026, 05:35:25 PM »
Hi, everyone!  :cool:

I'm new to the server, and am looking to purchase my very first set of Bare Knuckle pickups, to swap into an ESP Forest GT:
https://i.imgur.com/b5qRDdD.png (opting not to embed because it displaces post formatting)
Similar to: https://reverb.com/item/50330724-2000-esp-forest-gt-electric-guitar-see-thru-purple-japan-w-seymour-duncan-shr-1-tb-4

The guitar in question has a Mahogany body, Swamp Ash top, Maple neck, and Ebony fretboard.
It originally comes with a Duncan JB (TB-4) and Hot Rails (SHR-1n), but the 2nd revision of the guitar apparently came with the Duncan Distortion (TB-6) instead.

Here are the specs:
https://espguitars.co.jp/original/forestgt/

The previous owner swapped at least the neck pickup out, so I'm not quite sure what it's currently loaded with. It's aesthetically similar to a "lil 59" though, the single-sized version of the 59... I will confirm this afternoon.
The main issue is the bridge pickup sounds particularly lackluster, and my gut tells me it's not an actual JB. I've had this guitar model before, and it didn't sound nearly this hollow/lifeless to my recollection.

A few questions:

1) For the bridge pickup, as far as I know, the Holy Diver is BKP's take on a JB-inspired pickup - correct?
If I understood correctly, BKP also does custom winds - would it be possible to have the Holy Diver adjusted to a slightly more Duncan Distortion-esque EQ? (Hell, we could even nickname it the UN-holy diver  :wink:)
They seem to both share 16.6k impedance in the bridge position, but the key difference appears that the JB uses an Alnico 5 magnet, whereas the Duncan Distortion uses Ceramic... with that in mind would I just be better off going with one of BKP's Ceramic offerings?

https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/pickup/humbucker/holydiver
https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/jb-model
https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/duncan-distortion

2) As far as the neck pickup, feel free to point me in a different direction, but I'm personally in love with the "blade" aesthetic, so I think a cool idea would be to replace the Hot Rail with one of BKP's bladed offerings - Impulse or Cobra.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/hot-rails-strat
https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/pickup/strat/impulse-single-coil
https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/pickup/strat/cobra-single-coil

Any advice between the two? Cobra does note suitability for "Alder, Swamp Ash, [...] and mahogany body" which seem to align to the tonewoods used in the Forest-GT... but the Impulse seems to be voiced stylistically more towards where the Forest-GT shines: "Progressive Rock & Metal, Hardcore, Thrash, Death Metal, Punk, Hard Rock, Metalcore and Extreme Metal"

Thank you so much, in advance!
« Last Edit: January 05, 2026, 05:45:12 PM by quimaera »

Arthurus

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Re: Pickups for ESP Forest GT
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2026, 11:07:09 PM »
Hey ! Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party.

The Holydiver should fit really nicely in a guitar made of ash imo. It has kind of the "snarl" the JB is known for, but is not as ice picky and has a nice bloom in the low mids.
If you want something in the same ballpark but with a ceramic magnet, maybe look to the Nailbomb.

I think the Impulse neck pickup would be closer to what you're looking for rather than the cobra, simply because the Holydiver is very mid heavy, and the cobra might feel scooped in comparison.

My advice would actually be to get a trilogy neck pickup and order it with a no holes cover - like a telecaster neck pickup. If you get the black cover I bet it would match very well. The Holydiver pairs really well with the Trilogy.
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