Bridge pickup for ESP Horizon NTII

MourningEngine

MourningEngine

Active member
Hello everyone,

I am still searching for the right pickup for my ESP Horizon NTII. So far I've tried

  • BKP Holy Diver: too much bass, too fat, not tight enough, not enough high mids, not enough high end
  • BKP Rebel Yell: still not tight enough, sounds a bit like "Hit the pot"

I play the guitar thru the following gear:

  • Diezel Herbert w/ SED EL34 tubes
  • Diezel VH4 w/ SED EL34 tubes
  • Diezel frontloaded 4x12 w/ Celestion G12K-100 speakers
  • Diezel frontloaded 4x12 w/ Celestion V30 speakers
  • Diezel rearloaded 2x12 w/ Tone Tubby Ceramic Hempcones
  • Diezel rearloaded 4x12 w/ Celestion V30 speakers

I am looking for a very tight, agressive pickup with enough high-mids and high-end but sill no scooped low-mids.

Maybe you guys have some recommendations for me.

I am thinking about:

  • BKP Ceramic Nailbomb
  • BKP Painkiller
  • Motor City Afwayu
  • Motor City Torque

But of course I am open to other pickups aswell.
 
MourningEngine":1ho9rq8i said:
Hello everyone,

I am still searching for the right pickup for my ESP Horizon NTII. So far I've tried

  • BKP Holy Diver: too much bass, too fat, not tight enough, not enough high mids, not enough high end
  • BKP Rebel Yell: still not tight enough, sounds a bit like "Hit the pot"

I play the guitar thru the following gear:

  • Diezel Herbert w/ SED EL34 tubes
  • Diezel VH4 w/ SED EL34 tubes
  • Diezel frontloaded 4x12 w/ Celestion G12K-100 speakers
  • Diezel frontloaded 4x12 w/ Celestion V30 speakers
  • Diezel rearloaded 2x12 w/ Tone Tubby Ceramic Hempcones
  • Diezel rearloaded 4x12 w/ Celestion V30 speakers

I am looking for a very tight, agressive pickup with enough high-mids and high-end but sill no scooped low-mids.

Maybe you guys have some recommendations for me.

I am thinking about:

  • BKP Ceramic Nailbomb
  • BKP Painkiller
  • Motor City Afwayu
  • Motor City Torque

But of course I am open to other pickups aswell.
Click to expand...

Motor City Afwayu
Motor City Torque
Motor City 2nd Degree Black Belt
Lindy Fralin custom pickups
Maybe even a good ol' Duncan JB?
 
I had an Afwayu in the one I just sold. I loved it in that guitar. My other Horizon has a Solution. Both are great.
 
Maybe PM nbarts as I know he's powering through a Horizon and loves it - but has tried a number of different pups in them...

Peace,
V.
 
JB - that's right, the one that comes in it stock for brutals. I have a Motor City pickup on order, but I think it's gonna go into my LP instead. Channel 3 & ch2- sound wicked with JB IMO. It's weird how much things change, new amp settings, new style of playing, totally new experience from the JB. I would definitely swap the 59er for something else though.

Ceramic Nailbomb is all around winner in it, you can easily play from rock to metal with it. Listen to Nolly's clip in clips section, if you dig that transparent, flat, polished sound, that's the type of metal sound you get from it, especially CH2+.

Rebel Yell, well you already know it, it's alright, but nothing that special. If the rebel is almost getting close, then the ceramic nailbomb will nail it.

Holy Diver - nothing sounded right about this pickup for me, as you have already noticed ;)

Custom Ceramic Afwayu on order, but like I said, I'll probably just leave the JB in there, sounds so fuckin awesome for really heavy stuff.

Painkiller - who knows, it might just do it for you. For me it was weak in lows & low mids. Just didn't glue with Herbert IMO. Sounds like high quality duncan distortion, if you ever had one.

Ceramic Warpig - take the painkiller & flip it around, the holy grail of low end. If you have more than one guitar player in the band, you risk not being heard with this pickup, especially if the other guy doesn't give a rat's ass.

So to sum it up:
Ceramic Nailbomb if you want a super glass like transparent sound with tons of harmonic content.
JB for really heavy & tight metal content, aka brootlz or whatever the hell they call it
or try other suggestions :)

Good luck in your search & congrats on a great guitar!
 
I'm no authority on this subject, but I put a Seymour Duncan 'Parallel Axis' in the bridge of my ibanez and it absolutely transformed it from a muddy dull sounding guitar, to a really tight tone machine. It might be one to check out. Also as Papa said ^ SH6's are great. (I have that in the neck position for the same guitar).
 
Thank you so much guys for the great suggestions, especially nbarts for his detailed review.

So I will try the following:

  • Seymour Duncan JB
  • BKP Painkiller
  • BKP Ceramic Nailbomb

Btw, which boutique pickup (from BKP, Motor City, WCR, ...) is voiced like the Duncan JB?
 
I have a BKP Holy Diver in my 1st Ibanez and wanted something more aggressive for my second one.

Regarding the Holy Diver: It really depends on the high of that pu, how it sounds. I like to have set it really high,
than there come in a lot of mids. Try to do that first, before you through it out.

Bought a Painkiller and love(!!!) that pickup. Very tight, aggressive, chunky, a little bit like an emg81, but with better tonal character and less sterile. Have it for a few days now, but I am realy satisfied =)
 
MourningEngine":2it7whe2 said:
Thank you so much guys for the great suggestions, especially nbarts for his detailed review.

So I will try the following:

  • Seymour Duncan JB
  • BKP Painkiller
  • BKP Ceramic Nailbomb

Btw, which boutique pickup (from BKP, Motor City, WCR, ...) is voiced like the Duncan JB?
Click to expand...

Like I said in my first post, check out the 2nd Degree Black Belt, Afwayu and Duncan JB.
 
FourT6and2":1gixpo74 said:
MourningEngine":1gixpo74 said:
Thank you so much guys for the great suggestions, especially nbarts for his detailed review.

So I will try the following:

  • Seymour Duncan JB
  • BKP Painkiller
  • BKP Ceramic Nailbomb

Btw, which boutique pickup (from BKP, Motor City, WCR, ...) is voiced like the Duncan JB?
Click to expand...

Like I said in my first post, check out the 2nd Degree Black Belt, Afwayu and Duncan JB.
Click to expand...

I'll do that too :)
 
kinda hard to explain because these PU's I use are custom made for a located guitar shop here.

just send them/him an eMail, tell them what you are looking for and they're going to build what you want...
 
FourT6and2":3mf12r80 said:
MourningEngine":3mf12r80 said:
Thank you so much guys for the great suggestions, especially nbarts for his detailed review.

So I will try the following:

  • Seymour Duncan JB
  • BKP Painkiller
  • BKP Ceramic Nailbomb

Btw, which boutique pickup (from BKP, Motor City, WCR, ...) is voiced like the Duncan JB?
Click to expand...

Like I said in my first post, check out the 2nd Degree Black Belt, Afwayu and Duncan JB.
Click to expand...

@FourT6and2:
Could you compare these pickups for me? What's the difference soundwise? What pickups are comparable?

@All:
Can anybody tell me which exact potentiometers are used in the ESP Horizon NTII? CTS? What resistance?
 
MourningEngine":1c34din3 said:
FourT6and2":1c34din3 said:
MourningEngine":1c34din3 said:
Thank you so much guys for the great suggestions, especially nbarts for his detailed review.

So I will try the following:

  • Seymour Duncan JB
  • BKP Painkiller
  • BKP Ceramic Nailbomb

Btw, which boutique pickup (from BKP, Motor City, WCR, ...) is voiced like the Duncan JB?
Click to expand...

Like I said in my first post, check out the 2nd Degree Black Belt, Afwayu and Duncan JB.
Click to expand...

@FourT6and2:
Could you compare these pickups for me? What's the difference soundwise? What pickups are comparable?

@All:
Can anybody tell me which exact potentiometers are used in the ESP Horizon NTII? CTS? What resistance?
Click to expand...

Check out James Lugo's pickup shootout video and clips. He basically swapped like 39484949 different pickups into the same guitars and played the same riffs so you can hear the differences. The JB, Afwayu and Black Belt were all part of the demo.
 
FourT6and2":2b0wgaxe said:
Check out James Lugo's pickup shootout video and clips. He basically swapped like 39484949 different pickups into the same guitars and played the same riffs so you can hear the differences. The JB, Afwayu and Black Belt were all part of the demo.
Click to expand...

I did, but to be honest I can't hear much difference between the recordings. Maybe my speakers aren't good enough.
 
MourningEngine":17cpffv3 said:
Hello everyone,

I am still searching for the right pickup for my ESP Horizon NTII. So far I've tried

  • BKP Holy Diver: too much bass, too fat, not tight enough, not enough high mids, not enough high end
  • BKP Rebel Yell: still not tight enough, sounds a bit like "Hit the pot"
Click to expand...

Hey Markus. Sorry you're not digging the Rebel Yell anymore. For those who don't know, I have the Holydiver and Rebel Yell in two of my guitars. I agree the HD is a bit dark but it also has excellent attack and definition through every amp I've tried it through. The Rebel Yell I also found to be the tightest alnico pickup I've ever tried. I can't help but wonder if there's something off. I know the Herbert is pretty low-mid heavy but I got great results with those pickups thru the Herbert here.

That said, both of those ARE alnicos and if you're after maximum tightness, clarity, and upper midrange crunch, you should be looking at their ceramic models. The Painkiller and Cold Sweat models come to mind as ideal candidates. They're two of the tightest pickups on the market, supremely defined and great harmonics. The ceramic Nailbomb is good too but it also is a little dark.

The Painkiller is what I'd recommend. Tight as balls and a huge upper midrange 'snarl' to it. It's ideal in warm guitars or bass heavy rigs. I have had no problems with the Rebel Yell or HD with my rig, as I use a good boost in front of the amp and half-stack is super tight as is... but the ceramics are definitely going to be the best bet.

People recommending the JB should probably rethink that as the Holydiver is a JB pretty much, only with improved tightness and a more 'sweet' singing lead character. Tim based it off an 80s JB. If you don't like the HD you won't like the JB either, as the JB has an even looser, woofier bottom end.

Peter Diezel recommended the Duncan SH6, which is the Distortion model. That model is super tight, bright, and clear but I've found that pickup to have a very 'honky' midrange and a thin/harsh high-end. Super compressed. I think the Painkiller model from BKP has the good qualities of the SH6 but with a more organic, full tone.

Just my two cents.
 
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