Fat solo sound

[mattisfrommars]

Hi,

My guitar is a Schecter Blackjack Tempest and although i'm happy with the distorted sound of my bridge pickup (Seymour Duncan JB) i feel that when i'm playing solos, or clean (by rolling down on the volume) the sound could be a bit fatter and more distinct.

Is a new neck pickup the answer? Or maybe a new set of pickups

Which one would you reccomend?

I play heavy metal (Think american bands such as Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, All that Remains mixed in with a good dollop of Iron Maiden. We're calling it the NNWOBHM) and my amp is a Hughes and Kettner Matrix 100 solid state head.

[futuregun]

well man how goes it?
i only have 1 set of bk pups so cant really advise ye, but im intereseted in your matrix 100 amp...im in the market an its one ive had me eye on. i know/like those bands you mentioned an was wonderin what kinda tone can you dail up on that amp?as all three have killer tone i  guess your in that ball park.

[mattisfrommars]

Yeah, the amp rips! For me it blew away every other amp in the price range (and i've played most of them, Marshall, Line6, Randall, Crate, Peavey etc).

It's got silly amounts of gain, rhythm stuff can sound a bit mushy unless you pull the gain to about half in my opinion, but then again, whenever the other guitarist in my band borrows my amp he pushes the gain on 9 & 1/2, and gets a completley different (but still awesome) sound.

The ultimate compliment was when another metal band asked to borrow my amp because theres had blown, and a few weeks after the gig the guitarist had gone out and bought the same head :P

[Johnny Mac]

A Miracle Man might suit you and you'll be able to turn the gain up full!

[plastercaster]

i'm happy with the distorted sound of my bridge pickup (Seymour Duncan JB) i feel that when i'm playing solos, or clean (by rolling down on the volume) the sound could be a bit fatter and more distinct.

Is a new neck pickup the answer? Or maybe a new set of pickups

Which one would you reccomend?

Depends on which pickup you use for your solos... I haven't really caught your drift here. A new neck pickup obviously isn't going to make your bridge JB sound better while soloing.

At any rate, although I don't own one, it seems to me a Holydiver is what you are looking for: similar to the JB from my (limited) experience, but better. I'll leave the more experienced tone connieseurs that reside on the board to elaborate further, but from your description, I think generally consesnsus will swing that way (especially if eric hellstyle posts).

[deg0ey]

(especially if eric hellstyle posts).

I don't take his recommendations seriously anymore - he says one thing far too often for me :P Although it's a very versatile pickup and can be used in many situations, it's not always the best choice for the job...

As it happens, I would also recommend the HD in this case. Although I only have experience with the bridge version, "JB but better" pretty much sums it up, and I have no reason to suspect the neck pickup would be unsuitable to match with the JB

[dave_mc]

i think the jb's your problem. "thin" would be how i'd describe it.

I can't really give too many other recommendations as i haven't tried enough BKPs. But yeah, i'd switch the jb before bothering with the neck pickup... i mean, if you have a '59 or something in there, it's a much nicer pickup than a JB, IMO, even if it's not just as nice as a BKP.

[Transcend]

for your style of music i would definitely say miracle man or painkiller

[mattisfrommars]

hm, a lot of different responses there.

Maybe a tube screamer, EMG afterburner or something would help for the solo boost i'm thinking about. Dunno why i didn't think of that before.

Eventually i do plan on upgrading to BKPs I just want to be sure that it is the best thing to spend my money on at that point in time.

[Johnny Mac]

Eventually i do plan on upgrading to BKPs I just want to be sure that it is the best thing to spend my money on at that point in time.

It is a good place to start, get a good foundation of a good tone 1st then build on that if you have to.

[Metal-Assmoney]

i agree. i wish i had known about bareknuckles before i went through 4 sets of pickups. i tried my stock Gibson 496R/500T, EMG 81/81, EMG 85/85 and Duncan JB/'59. after a spot of research i found that the reason i liked the Duncans and the EMG 85s over the other 2 is that they were Alnico V magnets. while browsing the iced earth website i came across bareknuckles and now i have a set of warpigs sitting in my V and i couldnt be happier.

[Doadman]

I'd agree that a HD would be good but what about a Nailbomb? I'd have thought that would do the trick as well.

[pagan7]

I'm with Doadman on this one...but I'm biased. NBs are my all time fave pups

[ericsabbath]

i'm still waiting for the hardware for my other les paul, so i replaced the holy diver/cold sweat set by my new miracle man set to make a trustful comparison in the same guitar

i'm kinda disapointed with the neck miracle man
i was expecting it to sound like my cold sweat but hotter and fatter, as it's the same old version of cold sweat neck, but it sounds very different... too bassy for my guitar and doesn't sound so open and detailed as the cold sweat... not what i was expecting, but it's nice too... reminds me of a dimarzio air zone, but less middy

the bridge miracle man is incredibly TIGHT
the clean it's just ok, but doesn't get muddy and sounds better than the most famous ceramic pickups
the bass is really strong and powerful without gettin mushy
it really makes you want to palm mute and play everything fast and heavy
it has a motorcyle mid growl, some kind of ceramic magnet grind, but completely different from any other ceramic pickup i've heard
i was expecting something that would remind me of a emg 81 or dimebucker, but it's sound is really unic, and that's the best part
i wanted something different from holy diver, so i'm really satisfied with it
great pickup, but it's an one trick pony
definitely a pure metal pickup


but now i still find that holy diver has a superior tone and it's capable to do anything that miracle man does, and better (except the ultra tight palm mutes)
not as tight, but tight enough
the solo tone sounds better and fatter to me, the cleans are definitely a lot better and it's clearer than any medium high output pickup

i sold my rectifier to a friend today and he preferred the miracle man over the holy diver, but he's a hetfield fanboy  :lol:

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

Holy shite Erick, you make me wanting a calibrated set of COLD SWEATS
ahahah cold sweeties
ahahahahah
Q:P

i'm still waiting for the hardware for my other les paul, so i replaced the holy diver/cold sweat set by my new miracle man set to make a trustful comparison in the same guitar

i'm kinda disapointed with the neck miracle man
i was expecting it to sound like my cold sweat but hotter and fatter, as it's the same old version of cold sweat neck, but it sounds very different... too bassy for my guitar and doesn't sound so open and detailed as the cold sweat... not what i was expecting, but it's nice too... reminds me of a dimarzio air zone, but less middy

the bridge miracle man is incredibly TIGHT
the clean it's just ok, but doesn't get muddy and sounds better than the most famous ceramic pickups
the bass is really strong and powerful without gettin mushy
it really makes you want to palm mute and play everything fast and heavy
it has a motorcyle mid growl, some kind of ceramic magnet grind, but completely different from any other ceramic pickup i've heard
i was expecting something that would remind me of a emg 81 or dimebucker, but it's sound is really unic, and that's the best part
i wanted something different from holy diver, so i'm really satisfied with it
great pickup, but it's an one trick pony
definitely a pure metal pickup


but now i still find that holy diver has a superior tone and it's capable to do anything that miracle man does, and better (except the ultra tight palm mutes)
not as tight, but tight enough
the solo tone sounds better and fatter to me, the cleans are definitely a lot better and it's clearer than any medium high output pickup

i sold my rectifier to a friend today and he preferred the miracle man over the holy diver, but he's a hetfield fanboy  :lol: