Rebel Yells to bright for LP? Or in general? Crawlers dark?

[keano]

I got a LP goldtop Standard and was thinking of putting RY in there but I keep hearing that there great but brite. Cralwer sounds great in clip in bridge then I hear people call it dark?? And who knows what amps he used. Half the equation.

I am going for versatilitiy, cleans, to balls rock. Think AC/DC, Zeppelin, heavy soutern rock, Scorpions).To some modern heavy rock.

It is hard listening to things here because amps affect tones asmuch as pickup and lots of peple play through modelled amps totally different. Aguy playing a RY through a DSL is going to sound different to a guy playing Mesa B.

[sskint]

I am actually curious about this also...... picked up a old 800. I love Cinderella tone. Darkness, well Dans tone. Bluesy ballsy crunch... and cleans.

[sskint]

Oh yeah Audioslave is hard as it gets. But Cinderella Tom Keifer pher sure

[Yamhammer]

I got a LP goldtop Standard and was thinking of putting RY in there but I keep hearing that there great but brite. Cralwer sounds great in clip in bridge then I hear people call it dark?? And who knows what amps he used. Half the equation.

I am going for versatilitiy, cleans, to balls rock. Think AC/DC, Zeppelin, heavy soutern rock, Scorpions).To some modern heavy rock.

It is hard listening to things here because amps affect tones asmuch as pickup and lots of peple play through modelled amps totally different. Aguy playing a RY through a DSL is going to sound different to a guy playing Mesa B.

If your LP is naturally dark sounding, the Rebel Yells will be great.

[Ratrod]

Actually, you should considder Mules as well. They can handle the heavy stuff better than you might think. And they can provide THE southern rock tone.

[steve]

Actually, you should considder Mules as well. They can handle the heavy stuff better than you might think. And they can provide THE southern rock tone.

I agree with Ratrod. Mules do it all! Lets not forget Abraxas either, like i mule with more gain and a fuller mid to my ears.

[Twinfan]

So many things have an affect on tone brightness - pots, capacitors, pickups, pickup heights, polepiece heights, tailpiece/bridge material, string gauge, amps, amp settings, plectrum thickness etc.  If you're only changing the pickups, then RYs appear to be brighter than other humbuckers in the clips I've heard.  I don't know if they really are though.

For the tones you mention, I'd go with Mules.  Old skool LP tones.  If you want to bright then tone a touch, then get them unpotted and/or uncovered.  For something more modern, then the Rebel Yells are probably the ones to go for.

[Yamhammer]

then RYs appear to be brighter than other humbuckers in the clips I've heard.  I don't know if they really are though.

 For something more modern, then the Rebel Yells are probably the ones to go for.

They ARE bright sounding humbuckers!

[Philly Q]

Crawler sounds great in clip in bridge then I hear people call it dark??

I was under the impression the Crawler bridge was dark too, until this thread:

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5628&highlight=crawlers

Sounds like they're definitely a bit darker than RYs, but not actually dark.  I'm planning to get Crawlers for my own LP, eventually.

They ARE bright sounding humbuckers!. You really can fall in love with those RY's or definately not...it's a personal taste. The Rebel Yells are not really modern, they are more 80's-style humbuckers.

Agreed.  Call me a crazy fool, but I think the RY bridge in my The Paul gives it a hint of an 80s hair-metal Superstrat tone.  In a good way.

[Yamhammer]

Nice

[Tellboy]

I think it is really difficult to choose a pickup on someone else's recommendation. One person's definition of 'bright' or 'dark' may be completely different to the next guy. And obviously amp choice plays a large part.
Even listening to clips is not completely satisfactory (loss of quality in conversion to mp3 etc). Also I would never consider any clips recorded on amp sims - nothing against them, have got a POD and a Black Box and can get some great sounds but would not road test a guitar or pickup on them.
Example - I started a thread on the Wizard Modern Classic amp (in the G,A and Effects forum) after hearing what I thought was an excellent clip of an fantastic sounding amplifier. Although about 130 people have listened to it so far only one person thought it sounded OK (thanks 38thBeatle - I love you and have already fitted a 4 way switch to my tele  :) ). I expect most forum members thought it was s**t and are looking for something 'darker' or 'heavier'.  My amp choice would be a Fuchs OD, Cornford Hellcat or (now) a Wizard all of which I'm sure would be too bright or not heavy enough for many on this forum. I recently bought a Matamp Minimat after reading several good reviews/comments(and having owned an original 1970 Matamp OR100). I was crushingly  disappointed with it - thought it was totally unsuitable for humbuckers and overly dependent on pedals - but that's my opinion (please no hate mail from all the Matamp lovers  here - this is just my opinion), and I know that there are legions of fans of the Minimat around.

Sorry for rambling on but I have got a 1989 Les Paul Standard with Crawlers and I think they are just about the right bright/dark balance but I wouldn't want you to fit them on my recommendation without reading that spiel above !  Because they have a relatively high DC rating they provide a very usable single coil sound (push/pull pot fitted)

[PhilKing]

I have both Rebel Yell's and Crawlers (and just about every other BK humbucker!), and also have a few LP's.  Before you can say what a pickup will sound like in a guitar, you do need to have a feel for the overall acoustic tone of the instrument.  Strings will also make a huge difference (I only use pure nickel strings, which means that someone who uses either steel or nickel plated, will get a brighter sound than I will even if everything else is the same).  I have a lot of amps to compare tones and I do move pickups around.

I had the hardest time in the world getting a good sound out of the Abraxas set, but I knew they were capable of the sound I wanted (I had heard them at LGS last year).  In the end I put them in my Hamer Standard and they sound perfect (if you like old Santana tones!!!).  

One of my Les Pauls is very picky about pickups, when I got it there was a set of Tom Holmes pickups in.  I really didn't think that they worked at all, I changed them to an old SD JB bridge (the very original 14.75K one), and a Seth Lover neck, which worked better.  Then I found BK's, and I put an Emerald/Mule set into it, which was much better.  Then I moved the Emerald/Mule to my Zemaitis clone (where they sond even better), and put a Cold Sweat/Painkiller set into the LP - that was a disaster!! I hated the sound, mind you I play rock and blues and like the 60's and 70's tones.  I pulled those out and put in a PG Blues set.  I will not be changing the pickups in the guitar anymore.  The sound is exactly where I want it to be, I can still get good overdrive with either a pedal or using preamp gain, but I can also bring the volume down and get a really sweet clean tone.

So the point is that any reccomenation will be subject to the sound of the guitar that the pickups are in, just as much as the amp used and the strings, and last but not least, the way the player attacks the strings when they play.

So, I don't find RY's too bright, but mine are in an all mahogany PRS Standard.  I think that they work really well in that guitar.

One last point, Matamps!  I have a miniMat and it sound best through a Heritage G12M (I tried all the speakers in Matamp's test bed).  It really works best with a pedal in front of it too, though the boost isn't bad, but you can't adjust the tone for just the boost.  Matamp actually make their amps to be cleaner and let you use a pedal to push them, this is especially true on the more powerful amps.

[Philly Q]

I think it is really difficult to choose a pickup on someone else's recommendation. One person's definition of 'bright' or 'dark' may be completely different to the next guy. And obviously amp choice plays a large part.

I agree, but it's still possible to make relative comparisons - most of us have some experience of generic PAF-type pickups, Duncan JBs, EMG81s etc, so if someone says a pickup's "brighter and more focused than a JB" it doesn't really matter if I personally think of a JB as bright or dark, I have some idea what they're talking about.

With BKPs, the toughest decision was choosing my first one.  Now I have a few for reference, it's much easier to get a "mental picture" from other people's comments.

[Tellboy]

One last point, Matamps!  I have a miniMat and it sound best through a Heritage G12M (I tried all the speakers in Matamp's test bed).  It really works best with a pedal in front of it too, though the boost isn't bad, but you can't adjust the tone for just the boost.  Matamp actually make their amps to be cleaner and let you use a pedal to push them, this is especially true on the more powerful amps.

I'm sure you're right Phil  - just my old age - several years (decades) of playing loud music hasn't done my hearing any favours. My biggest problem with Matamps is that nearly all clips are Stoner/Doom (with DAM pedals usually) which gives a fantastic full sound but I just can't pick any detail out. I would love to hear somebody playing a Paul Gilbert/Vai/Beck/EVH type number through a Matamp with no pedals - they don't seem to be voiced for that type of music. I know they can be custom voiced but I haven't heard of anybody asking for that type of sound. I would be very interested what the guy playing the Wizard Modern Classic (see my other thread) sounds like through a Matamp. ( http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8520 )
Again ..this is just my opinion which I'm sure the majority of you will disagree with...... and all this highlights the problem of trying to convey to somebody what a pickup or amp sounds like.

[sskint]

I like the JB but 2 thing is would change would be tighter low end as it muddies up fast and hi end isn't too bad actually. Is the RY more bright then JB?

I love that OD Bridge Crawler clip. Sounds sweet. Worried it might be to warm or muddy up on low end like JB also. Though I prefer CS neck to Crawler. Love CS neck clips.

One guitar will be tuned a whole step down. Playing a variety of stuff. Mainly hard rock but with touches of versatiity needed. Cleans, ballads etc. Other is a 1/2 step down again hard rock but versatile. Again no harder then Tom Keifer Cinderella stuff.