new bridge pickup

[Doog]

well the other guitarist in my band emailed tim for some advice, I think he mentioned dimebag as a major influence and he said the recommendations he got were miracle man for the bridge and cold sweat for the neck

[rockguitarstar]

hey man if your looking for something thats completely different, the rebel yells or the VHII are amazing pickups that clean up well, have great character to them and hold up under any amount of gain and are lower measured output than the painkiller or other pickups that people have mentioned, im in the US too and honestly if you email Tim and give him a pretty detialed idea of what your looking for, he nails it everytime...

[Doadman]

If the WP is too powerful and you don't like the ceramics then I'd go back to the first suggestion made and look at a Holydiver. I've just been through this myself on the forum and had some contact with Tim. He suggested that the Warpig would be more power than I required and I find the ceramic Miracle Man to be a little too clinical and artificial in it's tone. I was told that the Holydiver was very similar to a Miracle Man but the Alnico V magnet would give it a warmer tone and more versatility. Sounds like a good compromise to me and I am inclined to trust Tim's judgement though I admit that in terms of soundclips, the HD is seriously under-represented on this forum.

[CJ]

i guess i should specify a little more. the guitar i'm putting this in won't be my main guitar. i'm going to use my les paul to play all my usual stuff, because it does it perfectly. the only reason i'm getting a different pickup in my other guitar is so i can have something nice and heavy on the occasions when i would like it. i've thought about the miracle man, but i would think it is fairly similar to the pickup that is already in my guitar right now, and i don't like it. Even if its much better quality, i don't like that ceramic sound all that much.

When i mentioned pantera, i don't really want dimebag's overall tone-i don't like it. What i do like is how heavy his lows are.

also, tim suggested warpigs, miracle mans, or painkillers. the miracle mans are tempting, but i think the warpigs would be better. i wouldn't have to downtune any guitars!

hmm... but then again i've always wanted some more killer pinch harmonics and screaming highs. Am i correct in assuming that warpig is heaviest, miracle man has best p.h.'s, and the painkiller has the most screaming highs? what a decision...

[ericsabbath]

hmm... but then again i've always wanted some more killer pinch harmonics and screaming highs. Am i correct in assuming that warpig is heaviest, miracle man has best p.h.'s, and the painkiller has the most screaming highs? what a decision...

you must need the holy diver clarity too
ask Tim if he could wind a HOLY MIRACULOUS PIGKILLER
i'd buy 10 of it!
 :lol:

[Doadman]

I sympathise with the problem. I was thinking of a MM but felt that it sounded too clinical. In search of a warmer tone and more versatility I switched to the WP. Tim thought that might be a bit too hot so suggested a HD. Sounded great and I was set on it but ideally I'd like it to have more of the balls of a MM. I've started wondering if I could get a MM on an Alnico V to give me the power and a warmer tone. The HOLY MIRACULOUS PIGKILLER sounds like a winner to me  :D

[CJ]

what are the advantages/disadvantages of the miracle man/warpig. And i'm really looking for a hotter pickup so i'm not sure about the holy diver...

[Doadman]

I had the same concerns and Antag on this forum was a great help. My concern was that it would do Classic Rock but wouldn't have the balls for modern high gain Metal. Antag explained that I shouldn't get hung up on the DC resistance and due the the Holydiver's midrange punch it ended up only a shade less powerful than the MM. I love the MM but it can sound a little artificial whereas the HD has a more organic tone to it. Antag reckoned it was slightly hotter than a Duncan Distortion and that's certainly a hot pup. When I mentioned putting a MM on an A5 magnet he reckoned it would just take away the MM strengths but still not give it what the HD had. I guess it's always a compromise but it seems to me that a ceramic magnet always ends up a little limited so it makes sense to go A5 and if you want hot that means it's the HD or WP. If the WP is too hot, as Tim suggested to me, that leaves the HD as the best compromise and unless you are fortunate enough to have a different guitar for each sound you want then a compromise of some description is the best solution. Having said that, I've heard loads of HD clips and it does seem very good at a hell of a lot.

[CJ]

after listening to some clips i'm just more confused. I really like the painkiller from what i heard, but i could only find two clips. I also couldn't find the warpig doing too many soloing or anything besides heavy riffing. Which one of these do you think has the best highs? most sustain? I'm still thinking since i already have a LP to do most of my stuff i should get a warpig in my V to play some real heavy stuff. But then again it'd be nice to have some killer harmonics from the MM or screaming highs from the painkiller.

Sorry for the repeating questions and stuff, but i just can't decide.

[CJ]

well i just realized that i don't really play anything all too heavy. and i don't know how well a warpig would sound through a 4x10, so i'm thinking more of a painkiller or a miracle man. i'm eliminated the HD because tim didn't recommend it for a V. So what are the adv/disadv. of a miracle man vs. painkiller? which will get me closer to iron maidens version of sabbath bloody sabbath? painkiller?

[The Emperor]

i gave my mom the link for the regular alnico warpig already. anyway, keep giving me some opinions in case she doesn't get it in time. who would you compare the miracle man pickup to (musicians tone)?

I can't speak for the Warpig but that pickup rocks! since i have heard a few clips.

I have the Miracle Man and the nailbomb in neckthrujacksons straight into an Engl Savage 120.

 The Miracle Man is buy far the best pickup i have ever tried and trust me here i have tried 10-12 pickups through the years. I play heavy stuff real heavy fast speed picking down toMetallica thrash riffing. I does the  Zakk Wylde tone well but can do early maiden metal to fast Black detah metal like the bands Dawn and Dissection  with no problem.


E

[CJ]

i'd like to note that i cannot play fast.

well, i can play pretty fast if i need to, but i generally don't. i'm by no means a shredder. i figure if my solos are going to be more on the slow side, i should really have a killer high end to really bring out those notes. i'm not really sure how the mm and pk compare in that department-or at all really...

[WraithChild]

Heres a little advice, you'll never sound like anyone no matter what kind of gear you have (even if you have their own actual set up), "Tone" comes from your fingers. My advice to you is to walk away from trying to sound like someone else and sound like yourself  . As far as you and which pickup to get, i'd try and figure out what you're trying to acheive out of your over all EQ. Going that route helped me a bunch instead of guessing around.

Good luck.

[CJ]

Heres a little advice, you'll never sound like anyone no matter what kind of gear you have (even if you have their own actual set up), "Tone" comes from your fingers. My advice to you is to walk away from trying to sound like someone else and sound like yourself  . As far as you and which pickup to get, i'd try and figure out what you're trying to acheive out of your over all EQ. Going that route helped me a bunch instead of guessing around.

Good luck.

very good advice. i know i should just try to get my own sound. the reason i'm asking how what pickup sounds more like which band is because i know their tone and i want to start from somewhere around that point. basically i just want a reference point of where to look.

ok, so here's the tone i want, in order of most important:
-very smooth mid range. iron maiden iced earthish (iron maiden's version of sabbath bloody sabbath is a good reference)
-screaming yet smooth highs with a whole bunch of sustain. i don't shred so the notes really need to stand out.
-some heavy lows, nice and tight. metallicaish
-some squealing pinch harmonics

[Doog]

that's pretty much exactly what I'm going for as well... I'm pretty much settled on the holydiver for the bridge, and now I just need to decide whether to get a calibrated set or go for the abraxas in the neck