Question from a soon to be user

[**P~NeV**]

Hey everyone, this is my first post on this site as i have decided to go ahead and get some BK's.

I have chosen the Miracle Man as a bridge humbucker, after hearing a sample in the forums which just had me sold (the rhytmn was just mouth watering).

But i need a neck pickup too, and i can't decide which one. I am looking at either the matched MM or a Cold Sweat (based on majority votes ive read).

My guitar is a Shine Sil-51 (a VERY good guitar for the price i paid for it) which has a Basswood body with a red maple quilt, a bolt on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and a liscenced floyd rose. Now the pickups sound good through my Spider II (hoping for a better amp soon)but they lack sustain, and drive and harmonicsare quite hard to nail. I play in Standard tuning also

My musical style is a Power Metal/Melodic Death/Folky Viking style, so im looking at artist sounds such as Iced Earth, Norther, Ensiferum, Hammerfall, Sonata Arctica, Bal Sagoth, Amon Amarth, Wintersun etc

Please help me in choosing a neck pickup, and if needs be, a bridge pickup too, if your experiences think that it wouldn't match my style

Thanks loads

Peter

(not bad for a 1st post, a complete bio  :D )

p.s. here is a photo of the guitar

[Philly Q]

Hey Peter, welcome aboard!  :D

Can't really help with pickup recommendations as I'm more into old-guy hard rock, but I saw your post had been sitting there all day unanswered!

If you want a shred-capable tone from the neck pickup, I suspect the guys will say Cold Sweat as that seems to be the favourite.  I know nothing about the MM neck, I'm afraid.

[**P~NeV**]

Thanks for replying, i get the feeling that the CS is going to be the neck choice. I will see what other people will have to say

Again i am still willing to listen to opinions on the bridge pickup too.

[Crazy_Joe]

For the bands you suggested and due to many happy customers with these pickups in basswood guitars i'm feeling the Nailbomb more than the Miracle Man for this job.

Nailbomb can get great harmonics but is also a nice and organic sounding pickup with great articulation, it's very versatile too. Works well with the CS in the neck.

Saying that Miracle Man will do the job too with huge harmonics and more power, though when it comes to cleans and other lower gain type things (if you play that) then it won't perform as well as the Nailbomb.

It's your choice though, i think they would both do a great job. Just listen to some clips in the Players section and that should make your mind up :D

[Transcend]

from what ive played of the nailbomb my mate has in his basswood RG and my miracle man in my basswood v i would say the nailbomb would do what you want very well but the miracle man would do it with a lot more edge.

[**P~NeV**]

Thanks for your comments, i am now jugling between the Nailbomb and the Miracle Man, im going to keep rumaging through the forums finding clips.

In my band i do play clean passages so i would also like a nice clean tone from the neck as well as a good lead (which i understand from the players here is the Cold Sweats' ideal job).

Whether it would help id like to put that the other guitarist has an Ibanez RG1570 with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and Air Norton in the neck.

[**P~NeV**]

Sorry for the double post here, but i think i should describe my bands style.

We play a mix of Symphonic/Melodic Blackened Death Metal, and again we play in standard. A lot of the song structures are complex and aren't just simple power chords. there are lots of lead fills aswell as lengthy solos. We have keyboards too 8)

I tend to do the melodic sweepy/legato styled solos, so i need both the bridge and neck to be able to give the clearest tone possible. Riff wise we use a fair bit of tremolo picking, along with the power chords, so id like them to sound clear also.

What is leaning me towards the MM is the fact that everyone ALWAYS mentions the Harmonics. I love to do artificial harmonics but i dont OVER use them. So id like to throw in the odd pinch to a solo or to a riff, since our main song writer doesn't include them (he plays bass though).

Thanks for all your help guys, im hopinh at the end of the day im making the right choice!