Bridge Pickup Comparison \m/

[Serratus]

I have a Nailbomb incoming at the moment, so that'll definitely get added.
Next is to do a reasonably comprehensive BKP Cobra review - just finished a guitar with them in and I love it!

Single coil?

Yeah I've just finished building a 7-string body (with an Ibanez neck) that has a Cobra set. The Cobra's are single coils with blade magnets. Lovely tone from them, proper single coil sounds but they handle gain really well - brilliant for early EVH tone!

 

[fek]

Holy Diver, Emerald, and Stockholm for me. I thought the Ibby pickup was horrible compared to any of the BK's in this vid.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I have a Nailbomb incoming at the moment, so that'll definitely get added.
Next is to do a reasonably comprehensive BKP Cobra review - just finished a guitar with them in and I love it!

Single coil?

Yeah I've just finished building a 7-string body (with an Ibanez neck) that has a Cobra set. The Cobra's are single coils with blade magnets. Lovely tone from them, proper single coil sounds but they handle gain really well - brilliant for early EVH tone!

Are they hum canceling? Sorry for all the questions. The whole "true" single coil and dual blades is throwing me for a loop. I'm strongly considering a Cobra for my Tele.

 

[Serratus]

No they're not hum cancelling. Although they look like hot-rails style humbuckers, they're actually true single coils - they just have two blade magnets (I think they took the design of their Blackhawk humbucker and used that for the cobra design).

 

[charvelstrat81]

I liked the RY the most then the stockholm 90

 

[chumbucket]

I would guess from hearing these clips that depending on the wood/bridge/strings on the guitar, that the Holy Diver, Emerald, and Rebel Yell would sound close enough to not matter all that much.

 

[Serratus]

I would guess from hearing these clips that depending on the wood/bridge/strings on the guitar, that the Holy Diver, Emerald, and Rebel Yell would sound close enough to not matter all that much.

The Emerald feels a lot lower output to play - it doesn't saturate so much and so is cleaner; you have to dig in harder to get the same amounts of gain as the other two. The Holy Diver and Rebel Yell are closer to each other, but the HD feels warmer and fatter whereas the RY is a bit brasher. Because of that, the RY is the easiest to get harmonics out of, etc. I think you can tell the differences in the clips, although it does depend what speakers you're playing it through - also I think I notice the differences more because I know how they felt when I played them

 

[chumbucket]

I would guess from hearing these clips that depending on the wood/bridge/strings on the guitar, that the Holy Diver, Emerald, and Rebel Yell would sound close enough to not matter all that much.

The Emerald feels a lot lower output to play - it doesn't saturate so much and so is cleaner; you have to dig in harder to get the same amounts of gain as the other two. The Holy Diver and Rebel Yell are closer to each other, but the HD feels warmer and fatter whereas the RY is a bit brasher. Because of that, the RY is the easiest to get harmonics out of, etc. I think you can tell the differences in the clips, although it does depend what speakers you're playing it through - also I think I notice the differences more because I know how they felt when I played them

I think that the manufacturers should come up with a standardized method for recording their samples.

Have the pickups in the same LP, Super Strat, etc and have the same amp, same settings, pickup adjusted to the same height from the strings, etc.

 

[nigelpkay]

I think that the manufacturers should come up with a standardized method for recording their samples.

Have the pickups in the same LP, Super Strat, etc and have the same amp, same settings, pickup adjusted to the same height from the strings, etc.

Bare Knuckle clips on their own website were all I believe in the same Les Paul through the same AxeFX patches. You can't find better representative samples than those.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I'm really digging the HD here. Does it clean up with the volume knob well?

 

[lowmantotempole]

I'll be doing another comparison soon with the following pickups (all with the same guitar and various setups

Rebel Yell
Blackhawk
Holy Diver
Black Dog
DiMarzio Jason Becker

 

[Serratus]

I'm really digging the HD here. Does it clean up with the volume knob well?

Yeah it sure does - HD is one of my favourites, used it in a covers band where I needed to cover lots of different tones

 

[Mr. Willy]

I'm really digging the HD here. Does it clean up with the volume knob well?

Yeah it sure does - HD is one of my favourites, used it in a covers band where I needed to cover lots of different tones

I'm using a VHII in my PRS, and l dig it a lot. I love the clarity and the ability to clean up easily with it. Sometimes I'd like a little more bite and push. I appreciate the comparison you did here because I always thought the HD had a lot of high mids from the descriptions I'd heard of it. The low mids are very apparent in your demo. Seems like that would sound excellent in a PRS type guitar. The longer I play the VHII, the more it seems to me that it'd really shine in a super strat style guitar with alder or ash (go figure). It sounds very Straty.

 

[FourT6and2]

I liked the Holy Diver the best overall, with the Emerald and Painkiller for lead.

Definitely do the Nailbomb and Black Dog for the next test.

Also, add in a Duncan JB for reference if you can.

 

[Serratus]

Good idea!

I'm really digging the HD here. Does it clean up with the volume knob well?

Yeah it sure does - HD is one of my favourites, used it in a covers band where I needed to cover lots of different tones

I'm using a VHII in my PRS, and l dig it a lot. I love the clarity and the ability to clean up easily with it. Sometimes I'd like a little more bite and push. I appreciate the comparison you did here because I always thought the HD had a lot of high mids from the descriptions I'd heard of it. The low mids are very apparent in your demo. Seems like that would sound excellent in a PRS type guitar. The longer I play the VHII, the more it seems to me that it'd really shine in a super strat style guitar with alder or ash (go figure). It sounds very Straty.

I've had the HD in two guitars and I would say that its more low-mid focused than high-mid, and a bit warmer than the VHII. I liked the VHII but I did find it quite single-coil like in feel and, while not being scooped, it had a lot of bottom and top whereas I think the HD has more balanced mids. I'm a massive EVH fan and I found the VHII was perfect for his early sound but I find the HD more versatile in general (ymmv, obviously)