What’s your favourite guitar/pickup to use with a Diezel?

rickenbacker198

Active member
Straight foreword question,

For versatility I usually use an ‘01 PRS swamp ash with stock McCarty pickups.
Been my #1 for many years.
Clean to mean it covers a lot of ground.
This guitar + whichever Diezel, does almost everything well, except super high gain chunk.
The bridge pickup is a bit too woolly for that.

For all out crushing crunch, a 70’s Greco LP with a JB in the bridge.
The JB adds some beautiful high mids to the Diezel sound.
Sounds like Tool in a box.

What do you guys use?
 
Well, I only have a Herbert and I've only had that for about 5 months, but so far, I've been liking my BKP A-Bomb and Holydiver the best. The BKP Crawler and SD Distortion sound pretty good, too. Personally, I've never been a big fan of the SD JB, but I've got one laying around. Based on your comments, sounds like I should give it a try.
 
Stock PRS Custom 24s into a VH4S. I know a lot of folks change out the pups but I don't hear hear the need. YMMV

Martin
 
Can't comment on the Diezel, but I have many high gainers. Since you have a PRS, original PRS T&B pickups are the best IMO, cut, clarity, nice tight lows. I put a 1985 PRS reissue treble in my 2015 Custom 24, it's the best. Been through several PRS pups.
 
SD Jazz/Distortion
Suhr Aldrich Set
BK CS/Miracle Man

... anything Alnico V or Ceramic in the 16-17K Ohm range.

PAF-type pups can work too... but depending on the voicing, they can lack the kick, and umpf on the front-end I like from a higher output pickup. If you play more rock-modern rock... PAF-type pups may work great for you. A bridge in the 8.5-9.0K range is a good place to start. Not a fan of actives... they sound cool for the first 5 minutes, but quickly loose the luster and little pick changes/nuances I hear with passives.
 
LunatiBSW":1g3o7r8q said:
Really liking my esp with het set emg’s. BRUTAL
My superstrat with a jb sounds badass also

+1 here - the Diezel seemed a little more sensitive to the "active vs passive" thing than a lot of other amps we tried that day, and sounded particularly brutal with the ESP that had EMG's in it.
 
+1 on the BKP Rebel Yells. Sounds good through everything, not just my Diezel Herbert. Just a great, great pup!
 
ChurchHill":3953nl9x said:
+1 on the BKP Rebel Yells. Sounds good through everything, not just my Diezel Herbert. Just a great, great pup!

Never tried BKP’s but want to in my too warm sounding McCarty with 57/08 ..
How does the Rebel Yell compare with the Holy Diver through Herbert?
 
Well, the Rebel Yell is a slightly lower output pup. It's more vintage sounding, but not so much that anyone could mistake it for anything other than high-output. It's got a great upper-midrange bite to it that's never harsh. It's a little tighter and cuts a little easier (I've never had any difficulties getting the Herbert to cut, though).

The Holy Diver is a darker sounding pup. Basically, BKP's take on an "original" spec JB. Not sure how accurate that description is, I don't have any old JBs or the new Antiquity JBs with which to compare. Anyway, it's definitely a high-output pup, singing mids, and the perfect amount of lower-mid It's a little looser, but not so much that the Herbert can't still sound as tight as... (pick your euphemism here). :D

If I was going to compare these to stereotypical amp sounds, I'd say the Rebel Yell is to a Marshall what a Holy Diver is to a Boogie. They're both great, they just have their own unique sounds. My favorite is the Holy Diver at the moment, but that could change tomorrow. Personally, I don't think you could go wrong with either, just my opinion. As they say, YMMV.
 
I used to have either SD Distortions or Custom Customs in just about all my guitars. The BKP Rebel Yell, to my ears, is probably closer to the SD Custom than it is to the SD Distortion. I think the BKP Nailbomb is closer to the SD Distortion. For now, I'm using just about the entire range of BKPs in almost all of my guitars, but I do still have an SD Distortion and a Custom Custom around in two of them.

So much has to do with the guitar itself, and so much of it is just personal preference. Definitely, both SD and BKP make some great pickups!
 
Back
Top