bought myself an Explorer - what pickups?

[Tol]

a Nailbomb might do the trick but I've heard they a bit light in the bass and quite trebley - not my kind of thing.  I like alot of weight to my tone.

 :twisted:

I would say Nailbomb, because it is a great all rounder.  (HD is suppose to be a good one too, but I haven't played it.)

The nailbomb is not light in the bass.  In my mahogany guitar it is pretty thick.

For me the treble knob changes the most, over 12oclock is a more metal sound, and below that is a more rock sound.   And the clean is excellent.

[HTH AMPS]

At the minute it sounds like a toss up between a Holy Diver and Nailbomb.  I'll talk to Tim during the week (seems they were shut this afternoon) and see what he recommends.  Decided I'll get a matched set too rather than just the bridge p/up.

As for Laney Klipp amps Twinfan, I'm already a Laney Supergroup user (I'm in the club, heh)

 :twisted:

[PhilKing]

Not that you want a Warpig, but in my Explorer I have a Warpig/Mississippi Queen set.  With a series/parallel push/pull pot for the warpig, I can get clean tones out of it and with the MQ it creates some outrageous sounds.

If you are really going for 70's with metal too, what about the Cold Sweat set?  It is based on the John Sykes Thin Lizzy tones but TO gets some great Iron Maiden sounds from it.

[HTH AMPS]

Not that you want a Warpig, but in my Explorer I have a Warpig/Mississippi Queen set.  With a series/parallel push/pull pot for the warpig, I can get clean tones out of it and with the MQ it creates some outrageous sounds.

If you are really going for 70's with metal too, what about the Cold Sweat set?  It is based on the John Sykes Thin Lizzy tones but TO gets some great Iron Maiden sounds from it.

I love Maiden's tone on Live After Death - thats all Super Distortions right?  I'm not convinced by the Cold Sweat, I'm sure it works for some but ceramic magnet 'buckers always sound empty in the mids to my ears.  All the pickups I've liked the most have been have been A5 so I'm limiting myself to BKPs with that magnet unless Tim gives me good reasons to change my mind.

I'm off to get a fret dress on the Explorer today - a bit sharp on the hand on the low side of the board (ouch).

 :twisted:

[lulusg]

Would a lower out put set like Stormy Mondays, or Riff Raff sound good on a Gibson Explorer?. Does anybody has a vintage set on their X? Would the shape of the guitar and full mahogany body require a higher output set of pickups?, say HD, like it is being discussed here. Thanks HTH for your post.

[HTH AMPS]

Would a lower out put set like Stormy Mondays, or Riff Raff sound good on a Gibson Explorer?. Does anybody has a vintage set on their X? Would the shape of the guitar and full mahogany body require a higher output set of pickups?, say HD, like it is being discussed here. Thanks HTH for your post.

I don't see why a lower output pickup wouldn't sound good since Gibson originally fitted PAFs in the Explorer.

I actually found a gold covered Duncan '59 neck pickup for next to nowt (£25) so that's going in the neck.

I wouldn't use anything but a BKP in the bridge though - HD is what I'll most likely go with.

 :twisted:

[HTH AMPS]

spoke to one of the lads at BKP today (not sure who), they reckoned the HD would be too bassy in the Explorer.

the two pickups they suggested were the VHII and Nailbomb.  Being that I want a hotter pickup I've gone for a Nailbomb with gold covers.

apparently the NB has more chunk in the bass end and has slightly less treble than the Crawler.  I have a Crawler in my LP and like it alot.

looking forward to cranking this axe at rehearsals on Sunday.  picking the guitar up from a local luthier who's dressed the frets for a whopping £20  :D

[Twinfan]

Sounds good mate  :D

I'm taking my Pearl Les Paul to rehearsal tonight to see how it sounds when cranked   :twisted:

[Ratrod]

Would a lower out put set like Stormy Mondays, or Riff Raff sound good on a Gibson Explorer?. Does anybody has a vintage set on their X? Would the shape of the guitar and full mahogany body require a higher output set of pickups?, say HD, like it is being discussed here.

I'm wondering about this too. I still have GAS for an Explorer. If I get one, I don't want it to be a bonafide metal axe. I want it to have some serious vintage/classic vibe. But I don't want it to be a pussy either. I have been able to get a good heavy tone out of low output pickups.

Tim used to have Mules in his Feline Explorer but from what I've read/heard this wasn't a mariage made in heaven. I think this is because of the EQ signature.

So wich classic PAF-style pickup would work best with an explorer?

And what if it's made of alder like a Hamer Standard?

[HTH AMPS]

So which classic PAF-style pickup would work best with an explorer?

one of BKP's suggestions to me was a VHII - thats hot-PAF territory at 9k.  I wanted something with more poke so I went with the NB.

btw, got my guitar back from the local luthier - it plays 100% better now.  fret ends are nice and smooth, plays like buttah!!!  :lol:

[Ratrod]

I've been thinking a while over this.

Would something like a Riff Raff + Stormy Monday set work?

Or maybe an AV + AIV Stormy Monday set?

[HTH AMPS]

I've been thinking a while over this.

Would something like a Riff Raff + Stormy Monday set work?

Or maybe an AV + AIV Stormy Monday set?

both the Riff Raff and Stormy Monday have been reported as sounding great in SGs.  Can't see any reason why they wouldn't work in an Explorer - it's all mahogany too.

 :twisted:

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

a Nailbomb might do the trick but I've heard they a bit light in the bass and quite trebley - not my kind of thing.  I like alot of weight to my tone.

 :twisted:

Hails Man,Mine doens“t Soudn That way AT ALL
the bass is kinda Pumping the amp hard,in a bad way.. i “m even thinking i have a nailbomb neck,instead of the bridge version
:/

[Peter Antal]

Hails Man,Mine doens“t Soudn That way AT ALL
the bass is kinda Pumping the amp hard,in a bad way..

Do you use heavy strings? If you do, that could be the reason why the NB sounds that way.

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

Yah
I“m using 0.12 standard in the D standard tuning