After some new pickups.. Miracle Man bridge + ???

[chrisola]

Hi, 1st post for me.... so hello everyone!

I've got a LP Classic and the stock p/ups are bit poo to my ears (the guitar has best neck i've ever played though!) so its time to change.

I like prog rock\death metal\classic rock and am after a sound similar to Timo Tolkki from Stratovarius... soaring hot lead tones on the neck and great dirty crunch on the bridge(not overly bassy or TOO chuggy lol)... basically if you've ever heard stratovarius live you will know the sound i mean.

So far i like the sound of the Miracle Man for the bridge, but going off the sound clips the neck sounds a bit too harsh and zakk wyldey (maybe thats just the JCM 800 doing that?) for my tastes...

Any recommendations for a neck p/up, or is the calibrated set the way to go? (will be running through a 40w Randall Dimebag Camo amp.. soon to be either a DSL201 or a conford harlequin being nailed by a boost pedal)

Thanks for any ideas in advance!

[HJM]

Hi and welcome! :twisted:

How about a Nailbomb or VH2 set? Or pair the Miracle Man with a lower output neck such as a VH2 nack, that sounds great as a lead pickup, check JTs demo in the players section!

 :D

[TwilightOdyssey]

If you're looking for that power metal neck tone, my advice is to get something HOTTER than not for the bridge position. Why not get 2 Miracle Man pups? If you play like Timo, you will need serious sustain for that inticate lead work, and MOST shredders (Petrucci, Gilbert, Yngwie, Vai) prefer a hot neck pickup for that reason.

[chrisola]

heh i dont play like him just yet... (practiceing still)

hard decisions to make, i've had a few guitars\pickups in the past and i'm still searching for 'my' tone... the bridge tone of the  MM p/up off the demo on here is EXACTLY what i want so thats a 100% definite...

meh!

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

The calibrated neck for the miracle man set is actually the same as the bridge, both have a DC of about 17.5K. its just got an alnico V mag in it insted of a ceramic. I think that a set of miracle men would be what your looking for.

[chrisola]

Heh i need a miracle to re-invent my playing, i guess they will do the job and inspire me!!

Been quoted £230 for a full setup \ set of pickups \ fitting \ return courier (getting my newish LP setup as still running dead strings and with a cr@pish action)..afaik £155 for the set of miracle mans + £55 setup\restring\fitting + return courier... does that seem reasonable?

Anyone recommend a good shop in uk for setups\fittings etc?? (shops seem to be cheaper than buying the pickups direct from the wesbite???)

[Tim]

TOs right sometimes the rule of high gain or high output bridge with low output neck isn't always the right way to go.
For vintage applications I rarely advise going over DC8K for a neck,normally around DC7K however if you're wanting to rip on your neck pickup then you can go as hot as you like. The Miracle Man, as Steve's pointed out, has a matching neck with a different magnet . The new Cold Sweat set will feature a neck with a higher DC than the bridge which just goes to show that DC ratings are only relevant when you're comparing pickups would with the same wire.