Author Topic: Pickup choice (Read 5988 times)

BigBassBob · « **on:** December 28, 2006, 02:06:16 AM »

Hi guys, have been looking at the forums for a while but only just bothered to make an account lol. BTW, guitar isn't my first instrument, I primarily play bass so lay off the bass jokes please :shock: :lol:

I recently bought a Gibson '67 reissue V and despite how much i love the look and feel of the guitar, I find the stock pups very dissapointing. I play a mix of clean, low gain and high gain along with classic and modern rock covers. I play alot of Rush, Michael Schenker/UFO and other 70's/80's rock with some modern covers by the likes of Coheed and Cambria and Avenged Sevenfold.

Basically I'm looking for a calibrated set of pickups that can cover modern, higher gain stuff but still have a vintage vibe. I was thinking about a set of Rebel Yells and Tim from BKP said they should cover what I'm looking for but he also suggested looking at the VHII pups. Any advice from you BKP veterans is highly appreciated :D

Cheers!
BOB

blue · « **Reply #1 on:** December 28, 2006, 06:41:53 AM »

i'm not one to contradict Tim, but from your description i would suggest Mules. although, possibly overall you want more modern tones, but i think the mule is a phenomanal general purpose humbucker! but i've never used a v, and apparently they sound quite different from other guitars, so fmneh, i don't care, i'm drunk, i'm away to drink too much with inappropriate people, (i'll tell y9u about them later), a Polish girl just invited me back to her house, so goodight!!!

oh yeah, i seem to recall, v's by there nature have a mid-range hump, so do a lot of medium powered humbuckers, so again i'm going to recommend Mules, or possibly even Stormy Mondays, as < lets face it, these days we can get pretty much all the gain we want from our amps!!!

blue · « **Reply #2 on:** December 28, 2006, 06:55:35 AM »

i apologise profusely for the spelling mistakes in the preceding post, but i hav ebeen drinking for two days, so gimme some slack, baby! there are myriad other reasons for this sudden surge of alchoholism, but i think you need to get a little closer before i tell you!! in other news, why has Hussein been sentenced to death and not the other mass murderer Bush ??? surely he's killed enough iraqis to qualify?

(by the way, on principal i oppose the death penalty.) think of it this way, when some one kills them selves( which a close friend of mine did about two months ago) people say they took the easy way out, surely Saddam would more dread a lifetime in a cell than the possibillity of becoming an (however unlikely) islamic martyr? like so many others (bush?) he is using religion as a truly evil excuse for their obnoxious ploys

blue · « **Reply #3 on:** December 28, 2006, 06:56:24 AM »

that was "slightly" off topic, sorry!!

38thBeatle · « **Reply #4 on:** December 28, 2006, 07:17:06 AM »

Hi Bob, I think Blue may be "tired and emotional". I can't help regarding the pickups as I play Strats and Teles but as a bass player, I say welcome aboard.

blue · « **Reply #5 on:** December 28, 2006, 08:50:56 AM »

i'm not tired and emotional, i'm loaded!!

anyway, somewhere in there i think i did talk about pickups, i stand my suggestion of mules. although it seems that Rebel Yells are kinda like mules on steroids, so maybe Tim's right. (which wouldn't be a surprise, after all he is the guru)

and hey, mr beatle, happy between christmas and new year!

(the reason for tonight's inebriation is a family party, we've had two sudden bereavements in recent months so tonight was a bit of a blowout)

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #6 on:** December 28, 2006, 12:24:06 PM »

My Korina V has a pair of VH2s in & they sound great
Slightly less aggressive than the RY - has more of a Van Halen vibe to it so no lack of anything really

They are surprisingly warm and balances but have a great attack

I myself love UFO/MSG and the guitar does work well for that

If I put RYs in it would still stay great- maybe a little more focussed in the mids and a touch hotter too.

Because of the higher gain stuff that you do I am tempted to suggest the RYs whilst the VH2s may indeed be a touch more suited to the clean stuff

I guess either set will work well

The Vh2 would be my own first choice as it works so well for me and is maybe a touch more versatile

BigBassBob · « **Reply #7 on:** January 01, 2007, 07:32:03 AM »

Thanks very much for your replies guys, but I'm still stuck on this problem. Felineguitars, I'm curious as to how your guitar sounds with the VHIIs cause I was told that Korina is alot like Mahogany except a bit lighter and has more mids so would the VHIIs sound a bit dark in my V? I'm mainly concerned about getting the best tone while having a fair bit of power. The V is my main axe atm so what pickups would you recommend if you could only use that guitar? (I'm at uni = 1bass+1guitar lol)

Cheers
BOB

P.S. HAPPY NEW YEARS!

BigBassBob · « **Reply #8 on:** January 01, 2007, 07:36:47 AM »

Oh btw, how do you think it would turn out if I ordered a VHII for the neck and a Rebel Yell for the bridge and possibly put in a coil splitter? I mostly use a mix of the two pups or the neck for cleans anyway.

Cheers!
BOB

fps_dean · « **Reply #9 on:** January 01, 2007, 08:44:35 AM »

VHIIs, Rebel Yells and maybe even Emeralds?

Rebel Yells may be a little loud and bright for you, but I have a set in my Les Paul and that guitar is the best sounding guitar I have ever played without competition... just a perfect match!

Philly Q · « **Reply #10 on:** January 01, 2007, 11:18:05 AM »

Interested in this one as I'm starting to think about pickups for my Edwards V.

Surprised Tim mentioned VHIIs, I'd have thought he'd say to avoid medium-output pickups, the same as with SGs :? (OK, a V is a different shape but it's still all-mahogany). From previous comments on the forum, and some of my own questions, I believe the VHIIs have more bass than the "vintage" models SM, Mule and Riff Raff - and I thought this might make them a bit bass-boomy in mahogany.

It's difficult choosing though - the "vintage-hot" models do appeal, so I'm thinking maybe use one in the bridge position (where mudding out is less of a problem) and stick to vintage in the neck position.

The RY is great (and is bright enough to work fine in mahog), but sounds quite "modern" to me. Maybe VHII bridge plus Mule neck? Or (this is what I'm considering for my own V... ) Black Dog bridge plus (AIV) Stormy Monday neck?

keith · « **Reply #11 on:** January 01, 2007, 09:02:10 PM »

Quote from: Philly Q

Interested in this one as I'm starting to think about pickups for my Edwards V.

Surprised Tim mentioned VHIIs, I'd have thought he'd say to avoid medium-output pickups, the same as with SGs :? (OK, a V is a different shape but it's still all-mahogany). From previous comments on the forum, and some of my own questions, I believe the VHIIs have more bass than the "vintage" models SM, Mule and Riff Raff - and I thought this might make them a bit bass-boomy in mahogany.

It's difficult choosing though - the "vintage-hot" models do appeal, so I'm thinking maybe use one in the bridge position (where mudding out is less of a problem) and stick to vintage in the neck position.

The RY is great (and is bright enough to work fine in mahog), but sounds quite "modern" to me. Maybe VHII bridge plus Mule neck? Or (this is what I'm considering for my own V... ) Black Dog bridge plus (AIV) Stormy Monday neck?

PhillyQ what model V is your Edwards and whats your opinion on the quality
cheers
keith Sorry for the hijack BTW

stuckin93 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 02, 2007, 12:18:57 AM »

Seems theres a few V owners checking out possible upgrades! Just to put my opinion in the stock pickups are Gibson's highest output ones & are also ceramic and a bit compressed (& maybe even a bit harsh). What sound are you going for?

Fubar · « **Reply #13 on:** January 02, 2007, 01:01:52 AM »

Quote from: blue

i'm not tired and emotional, i'm loaded!!

:lol:

A man after my own heart, keep up the good work!

*Salutes*

Philly Q · « **Reply #14 on:** January 02, 2007, 02:03:20 AM »

Quote from: keith

PhillyQ what model V is your Edwards and whats your opinion on the quality
cheers
keith Sorry for the hijack BTW

Quickest answer is see this thread!

Quote from: stuckin93

Seems theres a few V owners checking out possible upgrades! Just to put my opinion in the stock pickups are Gibson's highest output ones & are also ceramic and a bit compressed (& maybe even a bit harsh). What sound are you going for?

Me or BigBassBob? For me, 70s/80s hard rock, nothing too metal (well, I'd call it metal, but these youngsters wouldn't!

). Schenker/Scorpions basically. Riff Raffs would be the nearest equivalent of the 70s Gibson pickups, but I want a bit more midrange grunt from the bridge.