wow... BKPs really are good...

[sambo]

my mate just had a Nailbomb installed on his new ibanez and brought it round for a run through the Screamer...

the original bridge pickup was a V8 or V7 or something, and i tried it with him in the shop, through a Screamer fortunately.

we first tried it and were shocked with how little the difference was..... (the master and channel volume were on about 2/3).... then i thought....

"damn if i dont show him some major improvement somehow, he's gonna be pretty annoyed with me for convincing him to shell out £100 for a pickup"...

so, against the will of my mum and neighbours, i got both volume's up to about 6, and WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! tone HEAVEN.

even i was shocked. having never given a BK humbucker a proper good test out on a decent amp, i was completely taken aback at how good it sounded.


only one problem out of all this....


now i NEED some BK's for my Burny...  

[Ted]

Whatcha gonna get? Mules ?

[Philly Q]

But did you also try the Burny while your mum and neighbours had their ears covered Sam?

I mean, maybe it wasn't just the pickup that made the difference?

[sambo]

i was thinking mules maybe yer, or even a Nailbomb set... im stuck in a low output vs. high output debate in my head... hmm

and Philly- yup i made sure to check the burny as well. it sounded great, just not AS good as the Nailbomb.  and i have played the Burny regularly loud as well.  

then again, the VH-1s in the Burny are vintage-style pickups, the nailbomb of course, isnt really. and considering the settings and what we were playing, the nailbomb was the most suitable of the two.


it would be very interesting to compare though- putting a nailbomb in the Burny- comparing it both against the Ibanez and the VH1s i've got in there now.

[_tom_]

I would say go with lower output pickups, at least from my experience I prefer them. The RY in my Charvel is nice but I think it drives the amp too much for my liking - can sound kinda fizzy and loose compared to the mules in my LP - then again that could just be the differences in guitars who knows.

[jt]

:D Lower gain P/U`s give a richer tone but your playing is exposed so you`ve got to play very precisley. Higher gain P/U`s help cover sloppy playing but have lesser tone. Mid gain are a compromise between the two. Be honest about your playing & about how much you want to practice your playing inorder to get it very very precise & accurate. For what its worth i`d stick a VH2 set or a Mule set in your Burney but thats just my personnal choice.

 :D  8)

[Ted]

I have two LP's at the moment one with VHII's and one with standard Tokai gotoh pups. The gotohs equal mules (8.5k approx) in output and to me less is definately more...

[dave_mc]

i don't think you can say high output or low output is "better"; it depends what you want. I can certainly appreciate both, depending on what I'm playing.

EDIT: holy cr@p every time i see my avatar i'm like  :?

[sambo]

cheers for the info guys.



tom your mules always sound great and Tims/HJMs Mule Clip has always really appealed to me.

and jt- again- VHIIs were another i was considering. im happy to go for a lower gain pickup, (as im sure it would improve my precision/playing), but im worried about going 'too' low and then not getting the sound im after.

Ted- interesting you should say that... what exactly can the Mules cover? i mean, sure they CAN do higher gain stuff, but is there a point when another pickup becomes better at a certain sound?

i dont want all out metal gain levels or anything, (which is why nailbomb e.t.c. may be a bit too much), but i certainly dont want a vintage sound.

so maybe a mid-output compromise is the best way to go?

dave- thats exactly my trouble... because after the nailbomb, and i've had a pretty good try on a warpig as well, i can appreciate how great they do their thing.... but they're not really the tone im after...


(and yes your avatar is just... disturbing.. :lol:)

so basically... ARGH!

[_tom_]

Well Sam I always post this one but it shows the Mule doing something higher gain and less vintage sounding than usual.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=493678&songID=4951909

I imagine that with your Engl it'll sound a bit more modern. If you want I can do some metal clips using my LP and Charvel to compare the difference between RY and Mule?

I think the VHII had a bit more bite and mids than the Mule, they sounded great in the PRS at the BK stand a few years ago if I remember right! Then again thats all mahogany isnt it, so it'll sound darker/warmer than an lp with maple top (mine doesnt have a maple cap either, alder instead). James Healey is raving about the Black Dogs which may also be worth checking out as apparently theyre a bit darker..

[Twinfan]

I'm a firm believer in the "Less is More" approach.  I only buy low output vintage style humbuckers when I'm replacing pups in guitar.  They feel better to me and are much more responsive.  You can always add a booster pedal if you want to increase the drive from your guitar for more gain.  I also prefer the warmth you get from Alnico pickups.  To me there are only two options of pickup types:

1)  Alnico humbuckers with low-ish output - clean tones, rock, bit of everything but they're not as tight under high gain.

2)  Ceramic magnet humbuckers with low to medium output - metal and tight rhythm chugging.

I've never really liked any other types e.g. high output Alnicos etc.  There are plenty of flavours of the above two types to get the tone you want.

[dave_mc]

so maybe a mid-output compromise is the best way to go?

dave- thats exactly my trouble... because after the nailbomb, and i've had a pretty good try on a warpig as well, i can appreciate how great they do their thing.... but they're not really the tone im after...


(and yes your avatar is just... disturbing.. :lol:)

so basically... ARGH!

yeah, i'd probably go in between. I can't advise on specific BKP's, as I've only tried the ones I have, but i do have a selection of pickups here at home from vintage to modern output, and each excels at a particular thing. it really depends what you want- i'd have thought you want medium hot alnico V, but I can't obviously say for sure as I haven't tried those BKP's, and also you may disagree anyway.

[sambo]

after checking out James' recommendation and going back and listening to a load of hunters clips... Black Dogs are becoming appealing actually... because as you say, the ENGL will make it more modern.

and that would hopefully get me somewhere in between as dave is saying.

not all out vintage but not monster output.

and dave- i think black dog is alnico V actually... ? someone correct me on that.

TwinF- thanks for the advice.  having to add a boost would be a pain in the arse money wise, and hence hopefully if i get the balance/choice right (between you're two numbers essentially actually :) ) i won't need to do that. fingers crossed any way.

Tom the opeth clip is great, not exactly my thing but sounds very good.

if doing some clips wasnt too much trouble that would be fantastic. the mules specifically. anything that tries to make it sound as huge as possible... not in a gainy, metally, 'face-melting' way... just massive if you see what i mean.

just some basic evil punky chord stuff would be fantastic. smack the les paul in drop D and just mess around on the first 7 frets...? lol.

it would be a great help if you could.


cheers again guys, 'tis all very helpful!

[_tom_]

Ok I've done a quick clip of my LP through the Laney.. sounds a bit fizzy here for some reason but hopefully its not too bad. Sounds much better in the room - I'm starting to think that an SM57 isnt that good for capturing an accurate sound :x Didnt really know what you wanted, I only know a couple of drop d riffs so I just did a few tool ones :lol:

http://download.yousendit.com/C0DEB37912EBCF09

[sambo]

haha, thats excellent man cheers.

thats definitely getting more into the ballpark of what i'm after.

was that with the laney? and if so, what were the settings, gain especially?