Author Topic: Nailbomb first impressions... (Read 3269 times)

Antag · « **on:** June 24, 2006, 11:51:10 PM »

Been on a bit of a spending spree lately, in addition to the HD I reviewed earlier, I also got a Nailbomb bridge & VHII neck for my Les Paul :lol: - very fast turn around by the BKP boys on this order - cheers guys!

After a bit of a struggle I finally got the old pickups out (nevermind solder, that braided wire was damn near welded onto the back of the pot - I nearly cut the blasted thing off before some serious heat & brute force shifted it).

At first, I thought I'd made a mess of the install, next to the Holy Diver in my Korina strat, the Nailbomb had lower output on the clean channel. Checked everything - wiring, pickup height, volume turned up etc - sure enough it was lower output. That's not necessarily a bad thing as it has a real nice clean sound - bright & clear.

Then I stepped on the channel switch.

Holy f&<%!#£ sh*^!!! :o :twisted: :!: - how can such a mild mannered pickup sound so goddam vicious ?!??

I reeled off riff after brutal riff - this thing is made for METAL. My Les Paul is a really nice one & whenever I pick it up any ideas of subtelty or restraint go out of the window :twisted: - but freed of its cr@ppy Gibson pickups it's even more of a riff machine. Palm muted downpicking & thrash style riffs have a real "bite" to them with the NB.

To tell the truth, it's not mild mannered at all - 16k is still pretty hot (compared to 16.4 on my HD & 17.8 on my MM) - yet it's quite an achievement by BKP to get a high output bridge humbucker that cleans up so well.

IMO the NB is the most versatile of the 3 BKP bridge humbuckers I've got. The HD has a thicker, warmer, punchier (louder) clean tone & pushes the valve amp into breaky-up crunch sounds more easily, even though I have it installed in what should be a brighter guitar - I guess that says a lot about how much midrange the HD has, the NB is certainly brighter.

Not sure I really have a preference - the NB, HD & MM are all great pickups. They're all different but between them cover pretty much all the sounds I like (who wants a load of guitars that all sound exactly the same anyway?). YMMV...

Eric · « **Reply #1 on:** June 25, 2006, 01:14:04 AM »

Quote from: Antag

Holy f&<%!#£ sh*^!!! :o :twisted: :!: - how can such a mild mannered pickup sound so goddam vicious ?!??

LOL

Glad you're digging the NB so much. How is the VH2 neck working out for you? The NB bridge VH2 neck sounds pretty damn cool.

OD-Black_Fire · « **Reply #2 on:** June 25, 2006, 01:48:07 AM »

How are the NB's harmonics compaired to the HD?

Antag · « **Reply #3 on:** June 25, 2006, 04:05:09 PM »

The VHII neck seems to balance pretty well, output wise, with the NB bridge. The tone is a really nice rounded PAF tone, with a bit more output - sort of how I always thought a PAF should sound. If you wanted to get a classic rock Les Paul tone then judging by this neck pickup you could do a lot worse than a VHII set...

As for the harmonics, both NB & HD have very rich harmonics, but maybe the HD picks them up a little bit better. However, it's worth noting that I have the two pickups installed in totally different guitars which probably has something to do with it. If you want something that will help with divebomb/pull up squeals & pinch harmonics, they certainly scream on my HD strat :twisted: but I doubt either pickup would let you down.

Tim · « **Reply #4 on:** June 25, 2006, 04:21:34 PM »

Good breakdown of the pickups performances in your guitars-always glad to have feedback like this-very constructive!

deg0ey · « **Reply #5 on:** June 25, 2006, 04:54:02 PM »

When I read your review of the HD, I pretty much decided I wanted to get one of those for my next guitar - but now I want the nailbomb...grrr damn you!

EDIT:

Quote from: Tim

Good breakdown of the pickups performances in your guitars-always glad to have feedback like this-very constructive!

But very annoying for those of us that have to actually choose one of them, due to a lack of funds