Author Topic: New here!! Need a set of humbuckers =) \m/ (Read 6173 times)

opeth · « **on:** December 04, 2006, 10:05:16 AM »

as you can see by my moniker, you can see I'm an Opeth fan!! (but love most neoclassical shredders also)

wicked overdrive, superb cleans, tight defined tone, articulate chords, and super mellow sweet leads.

need those :D

I would also likey that I could get a good shred tone out of them. Opeth are not much into shredding but I like to shred and like very versatil control on my riffs and lead playing because I'm the only guitar player in my band so I need to sound full on!

I normally use alder guitars with maple necks. I want to fit them in a Jackson randy rhoads"1" version. and fit them into my other alder guitars with maple neck guitars!

I play mesa boogie amps, mostly on the vintage side like Mark III and mark IV 8)

so can you please help me out?

Metal :twisted: Forever!!! \m/

maliciousteve · « **Reply #1 on:** December 04, 2006, 11:12:46 AM »

I would really suggest the Holy Diver for you. It can pretty much give you what you're looking for in your search. Listen to the clips in the players area and check out some previous posts about them to see what people say about them.

Antag · « **Reply #2 on:** December 04, 2006, 11:29:31 AM »

Welcome to the forum, I'm a huge fan of Opeth too :)

My Jackson RR1T is about to get a Holy Diver set fitted to it. The bridge has a thick midrange "chunk" to it that gives a really nice lead tone & a full, warm clean sound, while the neck is really clear & bright - superb for cleans. It's my ideal combination for alternating between soft clean passages, crushingly heavy riffage, & twin lead harmonies (the key elements of my songwriting :))

Another pickup to consider (& possibly the one many people here will recommend) is the Nailbomb - it's an extremely versatile pickup that sounds fantastic under high gain, but bright & clear clean too. I haven't tried it in an alder guitar though (mine are in Les Pauls) so I'll leave others to comment on that...

You can find a couple of HD clips & more NB clips than you can count :lol: in the Players forum...

opeth · « **Reply #3 on:** December 04, 2006, 04:46:01 PM »

:) holy dover and nailbomb?

but could you please suggest the neck pickup and the bridge pickup as options for me to consider? and why?

which should be better for the neck? and which for the bridge?

thanks 8)

Antag · « **Reply #4 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:03:43 PM »

Quote from: opeth

but could you please suggest the neck pickup and the bridge pickup as options for me to consider? and why?

which should be better for the neck? and which for the bridge?

I was recommending a Holy Diver calibrated set (i.e. Holy Diver bridge & Holy Diver neck).

As for the Nailbomb, I mentioned it as an alternative bridge pickup. For cleans, I'm not sure a Nailbomb neck would be my first choice but I've only had a NB neck for two days so perhaps it's a bit early to comment :) (I've had a Nailbomb bridge since June). The Cold Sweat neck seems a popular choice with the NB bridge...

opeth · « **Reply #5 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:08:01 PM »

mmmmm....

My Options are going down to:

Cold Sweat Neck & Nailbomb Bridge

The Nailbomb seems more aggressive than a Holy Diver but I could be wrong. I like the way people describe the Cold Sweat for shredding and nice cleans.

but the holy diver is also tempting...

carlaz · « **Reply #6 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:31:12 PM »

For shredding, I would have thought a ceramic bridge humbucker, like a Cold Sweat or Miracle Man, would have been ideal ....

Antag · « **Reply #7 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:33:04 PM »

Quote from: opeth

The Nailbomb seems more aggressive than a Holy Diver but I could be wrong. I like the way people describe the Cold Sweat for shredding and nice cleans.

Yep, the Cold Sweat neck certainly does that. Probably handles the "shredding" requirement better than an HD neck, but I think both of them have really nice cleans.

For bridge pickups it's an interesting question, depends how you define "aggressive". I find the Nailbomb gives high gain a really vicious quality with loads of mid-high "cut" to the sound - sort of makes the guitar scythe through the mix like an executioner's axe :twisted: In my hands, the HD is more of a hammer punching through - I love the low-mid "chunk" from it & the thick, warm cleans I can get. In a Les Paul with high gain the HD bridge growls - it sounds HUGE.

If I get a chance to install the HD set in my Jackson tonight, I'll post some first impressions comments for you. As noted above, I've only owned a Nailbomb in Les Pauls so have no idea what it will sound like with Alder/Maple guitars...

opeth · « **Reply #8 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:45:00 PM »

I found some clips of the cold sweat with the nailbomb... simply WOW!!

so I could use the cold sweat for mellow, cleans and shred and most leads

and use the nailbomb for wicked, articulated, crunchy grind, odd chords and heavy fast stuff :twisted: cutting thru the mix (I hope they both cut nicely in a mix live and recording)

sounds good?

or am I wrong?

it would be nice if the creator "Tim" posted here :D

carlaz · « **Reply #9 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:47:01 PM »

Quote from: opeth

it would be nice if the creator "Tim" posted here :D

You can always email directly or send him a private message. He's very good about responding to those.

Antag · « **Reply #10 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:47:14 PM »

Quote from: carlaz

For shredding, I would have thought a ceramic bridge humbucker, like a Cold Sweat or Miracle Man, would have been ideal ....

Well, there's a couple of reasons I didn't mention the Miracle Man:

1) If he's an Opeth fan then he plays clean a lot :) I'm not saying you can't get a clean sound out of an MM, but in Tim's own words the MM "is a weapon of war" - I don't find it as dynamic or capable of some of the softer clean sounds that you might hear with Opeth - it's quite punchy & very LOUD played clean :)

2) It's very tight & focussed which is great for most metal riffing - esp palm-muted. But Opeth do a lot of wide open riffing with ringing chords & an almost "folky" strummed feel to them (e.g. the opening riffs of "Moonlapse Vertigo" from Still Life). I think the NB or HD just handles those sounds better.

3) I was hoping not to re-open the debate about the MM in an alder guitar :lol: (FWIW, I think it sounds fine in such a guitar)

Antag · « **Reply #11 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:47:59 PM »

Quote from: carlaz

You can always email directly or send him a private message. He's very good about responding to those.

^
+1

Tim is very helpful on email :)

carlaz · « **Reply #12 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:49:28 PM »

Well, for the record I'm no shredder :) but I do like what I've heard of the HD and NB bridge pups! :)

Antag · « **Reply #13 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:51:09 PM »

Quote from: opeth

I hope they both cut nicely in a mix live and recording

Don't worry about that. The NB & CS go well together, you won't be the first to go for that combination...

BloodMountain · « **Reply #14 on:** December 04, 2006, 05:54:23 PM »

hey this dude is looking for exactly what i am! i am a HUUUUGE opeth fan, and you have described the tone im after!
im gonna be watching this closely!
sounds like Nailbomb bridge + cold sweat neck for Opeth, it has been recommended for Opeth twice on this forum before, so it sounds like a great combo!

EDIT: i think the fastest way to Opeths sound is getting a Laney aggressive amp like the GH100L, GH50L, or the mighty VH100R.

Author Topic: New here!! Need a set of humbuckers =) \m/ (Read 6173 times)

maliciousteve