Well this video taught me two things. Not to get the lithiums and that I need to learn to play some more blues music. This was delightful and impressive to listen to.
I thought the combo of the beryllium in the neck and the lithium in the bridge sounded ideal for your guitar and playing. Lithium seemed to even out the frequency levels using gain/distortion, and the beryllium seemed to cut some of the upper midrange and define the lower frequencies a bit more. Kiesel is putting out some great guitars and pickups these days.
Thanks for this demo, this is great and really contributed a lot in my decision between the two sets! I could hear in the isolated demos that the beryllium set was more compressed, and I like having a bit more dynamic range myself. They both sound wonderful and you did a great job in showing what these pickups can do!
I think you nailed it! I was looking for what the biggest differences were and yes " more compressed" on the beryllium is the best way to describe what I'm hearing.
Thanks for the comparison. My Vader VM7 has the Lithiums, they ARE bright, but I am more often on the bridge pickup so it doesn't really bother me. I just last week put in a new build, a Zeus ZM8 just like this one, and it is going to have the Berylliums. To my ear, along with the midrange hump, the Berylliums had more note separation in the chords. Hoping the midrange hump is a different frequency than the upper mid hump my 5150 has!
Thank you for this, I was close to ordering a c6 assuming that the Beryllium’s would be close to a pAF type pup however that is not the case at all. I would need to go off market for pups. Thank you
Thank you very much for this video! Finally I've decided what pick ups I want when I order my own Kiesel! Think I'm gonna go with the Beryllium in the neck & Lithium in the bridge. Killer combo 👍
Make sure you call or email Kiesel before you put your order in. Beryllium pickups are only available by request and not a standard option at the moment (I just placed and order for a guitar and had to make the inquiry afterwards).
Just for an update, I'm pretty sure all the models now list both Beryllium and Lithium options, and most also show Holdsworth and some other pickup choices in the online builder. That said, it's great to talk to someone in person to make sure you are getting exactly what you want.
Great demo, I like that it cuts between the two when playing similar material.The beryllium sounded a bit smoother / more rounded off in the highs to me than the lithium
Different strokes for different folks. In some situations I can see them being a great fit! Although I didn't like mine as a neck pickup, I actually liked the bridge pickup because I usually played it with a lot of gain, , too.
In order to play the same thing twice more easily, I wrote out what I played on the first take, so here's the transcription to the blues and for the Proto Cosmos solo if you're interested: www.dropbox.com/s/hr578tq5790e1af/Kiesel%20Pickup%20Test.pdf?dl=0
@@Poparad huge thanks for your efforts!! Unfortunately I can't read classic notes like this =( I'm one of those tabs-grown guys. Not sure about the software you've used - but maybe there's a way to export it as a tab with strings and frets?
One thing i noticed about my lithiums is on bridge under gain (multiscale 7) it almost sounds like a bass on the lowest string for single note chugs, its really odd and kind of cool. Almost sounds coil split and scooped. I might swap it out for something a little more traditional
Great playing, great sound. I have beryllium in my hss Osiris. Almost unusable without the tone completely scooped. It’s crazy to think any pickup on the planet has more glass breaking high end. Waiting for bare knuckle replacements.
Hi, sorry for the late reply! I was using the USA Pre Lead 2 Yellow amp model in the AxeFx II and it looks like I was using two free cab IRs: HJ 4x12 RCA (122 B) and the 4x12 BritLM (Larry Mitchell). Both can be found on the forums. Also, I have on the Axechange an FM3 patch called "Allan's Magic" where I dialed in the sounds as closely as I could to my Yamaha Magicstomp running Allan's patches.
Cool video! I kind of like the lithium’s more. I just ordered my first Kiesel from the stock page and hopefully it arrives within the week. It comes with Beryllium pickups, which still sounded good to my ears. Cheers!
Weren't you able to EQ out the differences instead of changing pickups? Love the playing, so fresh seeing this style on a headless 8 that most people just seem to djent on.
With quite a bit of finagling, yes, I was able to EQ it on the AxeFX II. However, there are lots of times where I might just be plugging straight into a Fender amp and I won't have the luxury of lots of EQ options so it's nice to have the guitar sounding the way I want from the get-go without all the extensive corrections needed.
I can tell absolutely no difference. I scrolled down so that I could not see the video, only the audio and I just cannot tell when the change of pick ups comes in. I'm tempted to say that without looking not many people could tell a difference, but that would be presumptive, maybe most people can. I have a brand new Kiesel cs6, or is it sc6? Anyhow, I have the berillium's in and I love it.
I've heard some other examples where the clean tone on Lithium sounds very glassy, but maybe other factors were involved. Once you layer the sound with signal processing and other instruments, I guess the irritation of it gets buried. The question is whether unwanted sounds hidden in the mix will make the entire song less enjoyable. I don't have golden ears so I probably wouldn't be able to tell. I think for pure clean tone on the bridge, I'd go with the beryllium to be safe.
Yeah I agree. I think the Berillium's sound slightly less bright but it is really hard to tell. I listened both with some nice speakers and headphones. not a big difference
Hey! I like your style man. I’ll be honest, they both sound pretty good, but I can definitely hear the slight difference between the two. Honestly, it sounds like the lithium belongs at the bridge and the beryllium at the neck. That’s my personal preference of course. To some people of different music styles and/or preferences may like it the other way around. In any case, it doesn’t feel like you can go wrong with either of the combinations. I’m assuming both pickups are available through the “build your own guitar” section on the Kiesel website, correct?
Yeah, I liked both the lithium and beryllium in the bridge but the beryllium definitely wins for the neck position. Having lithium brdige/beryllium neck would be a nice combination with a little more contrast. Yes, you can select any combination online on the builder. For the longest time it didn't list all the available pickup options but around the end of 2019 they finally updated it and now all the standard pickups are selectable.
My two cents, the most noticeable differences are the Lithium Bridge has a hotter output and is a bit "edgier" tone-wise than the Beryllium Bridge. And the Beryllium Neck is def "creamier" or more mellow than the Lithium Neck. I'm a rock player and I had a Zeus with a Lith Bridge and B Neck and they worked well together. The Lith and Beryl Neck(s) have basically the same output as each other. The B Neck while creamy-er than the L Neck, it's not as much as I would like, that a SD '59 or a Dimarzio Air Norton would have but, it's passable. I see how ppl could complain about the brightness of the Lithium (bridge) but try it with a band before chucking it. What sounds good while playing alone in the practice room or mixed with a band are two different things. With the Lith Bridge, I also liked how focused the sound was and I was hearing all the notes in chords even while going thru a fairly heavy gain amp setting. I don't think I'd ever have a use for the Lithium Neck, however. Brightness in that position, to me, is unusable.
What does the thorium bring to the table? I wasn't happy with the lithium neck pick up. It's just clean kinda bland imo but my 27in scale might make it less "warm" or glassy. The bridge is good with distortion otherwise I don't touch it.
Thanks! Little known fact, but jazz dudes invented extended rage guitars! George Van Eps was playing a seven-string decades before even Sabbath was around.
No tab, but I do have it notated. I improvised the first take with the Lithiums, transcribed what I played, and then I was reading off of this the second time around for the Beryllium takes: www.dropbox.com/s/qes5ney3b4y8264/Kiesel%20Pickup%20Test.pdf?dl=0
@@Poparad Awesome. I liked how you were reaching for the uncommon chord on some of those. I'll have to check it out when I have a few minutes. Thanks again!
I don't quite recall, but I think it was 200pf. Here's the original thread in the Facebook group with audio examples for a variety of values: m.facebook.com/groups/15314035284?view=permalink&id=10160519558285285
It's a lot more subtle than I was expecting it to be. They're actually pretty similar pickups, tonally, but the Lithiums have a significant bump around 2k and maybe a little more around 700-800.
I have a American Strat and a Kiesel C6 with Lithiums. With the same amps settings they are worlds apart. Especially when distortion is added. The Lithiums are so much better and the stock Fender single coils.
Hey m@n im so glad to find this cool vid ...i have a PUs comparison ++ a really good jazz lesson in the same place /// im on the point to order a Vader 7strings regular frets in order to get a Trem N i thought i will get the AH PUs but now that i've seen several PUs comparison between AH/Lithium/Beryllium i think i will definitely choose the Beryllium coz they have so much clarity N articulation even if the output volume is little bit weaker ...How do you compare those to the Holdsworth PUs ? ***BTW I really like your style N your musical ideas***
I have a Carvin Fatboy with the older H22 Holdsworth pickups and they're very nice. The new Kiesel pickup comparison video from 2019 does a great job of showcasing them. The Holdsworth pickups are very similar to the Berylliums but with less bass response. Holdsworth was always trying to find ways to cut the bass out of his tone to help the clarity of both the distorted lead sound and the choruses clean tone. For an unaffected clean tone, though, I find it to be a little lacking in bass, so if I were to order a new Kiesel, I'd probably go with either a set of Berylliums or a Beryllium neck with a Holdsworth bridge (I don't mind a lack of bass for bridge pickups since I mainly use it for distorted tones).
@@Poparad Alright thank you 4 the reply ...i found the Beryllium having a nice character with some very pleasant low-mids frequencies coupled with a chimy but not too much high-end ...The Kiesel Beryllium PUs Demo is also really good N those of Wes Thraikill as well ...a killer dude... BTW you have both the same guitar with different set of PUs in this demo ?
![Kiesel Delos - [Complete Demo, Playthrough, and Impressions]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TURQxWd50UI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Kiesel Delos - [Complete Demo, Playthrough, and Impressions]](/img/tr.png)
![Making Music with Pascal's Triangle + the LOCRIAN scale [RIFFING WITH MODES #7]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RhKXolkwyDM/mqdefault.jpg)
Well this video taught me two things. Not to get the lithiums and that I need to learn to play some more blues music. This was delightful and impressive to listen to.
I thought the combo of the beryllium in the neck and the lithium in the bridge sounded ideal for your guitar and playing. Lithium seemed to even out the frequency levels using gain/distortion, and the beryllium seemed to cut some of the upper midrange and define the lower frequencies a bit more. Kiesel is putting out some great guitars and pickups these days.
Thanks for this demo, this is great and really contributed a lot in my decision between the two sets! I could hear in the isolated demos that the beryllium set was more compressed, and I like having a bit more dynamic range myself. They both sound wonderful and you did a great job in showing what these pickups can do!
I think you nailed it! I was looking for what the biggest differences were and yes " more compressed" on the beryllium is the best way to describe what I'm hearing.
Excellent demo, thank you! Huge difference between these!
Why am I not surprised that you were the guy who made this video, this is awesome
Haha!
Thanks for the comparison. My Vader VM7 has the Lithiums, they ARE bright, but I am more often on the bridge pickup so it doesn't really bother me. I just last week put in a new build, a Zeus ZM8 just like this one, and it is going to have the Berylliums. To my ear, along with the midrange hump, the Berylliums had more note separation in the chords. Hoping the midrange hump is a different frequency than the upper mid hump my 5150 has!
Thank you for this, I was close to ordering a c6 assuming that the Beryllium’s would be close to a pAF type pup however that is not the case at all. I would need to go off market for pups. Thank you
I like the lithiums in my Aries. Bright and tight…but Can be tamed with the tone knob.
Thanks for the video, super helpful, think I’m goin beryllium bridge lithium neck
Thank you very much for this video! Finally I've decided what pick ups I want when I order my own Kiesel! Think I'm gonna go with the Beryllium in the neck & Lithium in the bridge. Killer combo 👍
Make sure you call or email Kiesel before you put your order in. Beryllium pickups are only available by request and not a standard option at the moment (I just placed and order for a guitar and had to make the inquiry afterwards).
Just for an update, I'm pretty sure all the models now list both Beryllium and Lithium options, and most also show Holdsworth and some other pickup choices in the online builder. That said, it's great to talk to someone in person to make sure you are getting exactly what you want.
Great demo, I like that it cuts between the two when playing similar material.The beryllium sounded a bit smoother / more rounded off in the highs to me than the lithium
I guess I never noticed a problem with the lithies, because I always play with the Gain on
Different strokes for different folks. In some situations I can see them being a great fit! Although I didn't like mine as a neck pickup, I actually liked the bridge pickup because I usually played it with a lot of gain, , too.
such a nice blues! Wow, I gotta learn something like this
In order to play the same thing twice more easily, I wrote out what I played on the first take, so here's the transcription to the blues and for the Proto Cosmos solo if you're interested:
www.dropbox.com/s/hr578tq5790e1af/Kiesel%20Pickup%20Test.pdf?dl=0
@@Poparad huge thanks for your efforts!! Unfortunately I can't read classic notes like this =( I'm one of those tabs-grown guys. Not sure about the software you've used - but maybe there's a way to export it as a tab with strings and frets?
btw, what is the wood your guitar made of? Body and neck. Did I miss anything?
Maple neck, swamp ash chambered body, stainless jumbo frets.
@@Poparad cool, this is what I’m planning to order. But I’ll try a walnut+maple neck, just for a nice look
One thing i noticed about my lithiums is on bridge under gain (multiscale 7) it almost sounds like a bass on the lowest string for single note chugs, its really odd and kind of cool. Almost sounds coil split and scooped. I might swap it out for something a little more traditional
Thanks, very helpful. Nice playing.👍😀
Thanks for this man!
Great playing, great sound. I have beryllium in my hss Osiris. Almost unusable without the tone completely scooped. It’s crazy to think any pickup on the planet has more glass breaking high end. Waiting for bare knuckle replacements.
WOW. Thanks for an incredible demo. You are quite a player. Can you tell us the amp setup you used to get Allan's sound on Proto-Cosmos? THANKS!
Hi, sorry for the late reply! I was using the USA Pre Lead 2 Yellow amp model in the AxeFx II and it looks like I was using two free cab IRs: HJ 4x12 RCA (122 B) and the 4x12 BritLM (Larry Mitchell). Both can be found on the forums. Also, I have on the Axechange an FM3 patch called "Allan's Magic" where I dialed in the sounds as closely as I could to my Yamaha Magicstomp running Allan's patches.
Thanks a lot for doing this!
Cool video! I kind of like the lithium’s more. I just ordered my first Kiesel from the stock page and hopefully it arrives within the week. It comes with Beryllium pickups, which still sounded good to my ears. Cheers!
fascinating music..!
Weren't you able to EQ out the differences instead of changing pickups?
Love the playing, so fresh seeing this style on a headless 8 that most people just seem to djent on.
With quite a bit of finagling, yes, I was able to EQ it on the AxeFX II. However, there are lots of times where I might just be plugging straight into a Fender amp and I won't have the luxury of lots of EQ options so it's nice to have the guitar sounding the way I want from the get-go without all the extensive corrections needed.
I can tell absolutely no difference. I scrolled down so that I could not see the video, only the audio and I just cannot tell when the change of pick ups comes in. I'm tempted to say that without looking not many people could tell a difference, but that would be presumptive, maybe most people can. I have a brand new Kiesel cs6, or is it sc6? Anyhow, I have the berillium's in and I love it.
@Virgil Grin Hi Virgil, BX5 speakers with headphones on my macbook pro.
I've heard some other examples where the clean tone on Lithium sounds very glassy, but maybe other factors were involved. Once you layer the sound with signal processing and other instruments, I guess the irritation of it gets buried. The question is whether unwanted sounds hidden in the mix will make the entire song less enjoyable. I don't have golden ears so I probably wouldn't be able to tell. I think for pure clean tone on the bridge, I'd go with the beryllium to be safe.
Yeah I agree. I think the Berillium's sound slightly less bright but it is really hard to tell. I listened both with some nice speakers and headphones. not a big difference
Great video, man!
Tough choice... great demo👍
Hey!
I like your style man.
I’ll be honest, they both sound pretty good, but I can definitely hear the slight difference between the two. Honestly, it sounds like the lithium belongs at the bridge and the beryllium at the neck. That’s my personal preference of course.
To some people of different music styles and/or preferences may like it the other way around. In any case, it doesn’t feel like you can go wrong with either of the combinations.
I’m assuming both pickups are available through the “build your own guitar” section on the Kiesel website, correct?
Yeah, I liked both the lithium and beryllium in the bridge but the beryllium definitely wins for the neck position. Having lithium brdige/beryllium neck would be a nice combination with a little more contrast.
Yes, you can select any combination online on the builder. For the longest time it didn't list all the available pickup options but around the end of 2019 they finally updated it and now all the standard pickups are selectable.
My two cents, the most noticeable differences are the Lithium Bridge has a hotter output and is a bit "edgier" tone-wise than the Beryllium Bridge. And the Beryllium Neck is def "creamier" or more mellow than the Lithium Neck. I'm a rock player and I had a Zeus with a Lith Bridge and B Neck and they worked well together. The Lith and Beryl Neck(s) have basically the same output as each other. The B Neck while creamy-er than the L Neck, it's not as much as I would like, that a SD '59 or a Dimarzio Air Norton would have but, it's passable. I see how ppl could complain about the brightness of the Lithium (bridge) but try it with a band before chucking it. What sounds good while playing alone in the practice room or mixed with a band are two different things. With the Lith Bridge, I also liked how focused the sound was and I was hearing all the notes in chords even while going thru a fairly heavy gain amp setting. I don't think I'd ever have a use for the Lithium Neck, however. Brightness in that position, to me, is unusable.
What does the thorium bring to the table?
I wasn't happy with the lithium neck pick up. It's just clean kinda bland imo but my 27in scale might make it less "warm" or glassy. The bridge is good with distortion otherwise I don't touch it.
I don't know, I've never played a thorium, but from the videos I've seen, it's extremely mid heavy.
Thanks 4 the vid
your one talented dude to play jazz on a multi string guitar i would make a comment on the guitar . Thats another story. yep your the real deal .
Thanks! Little known fact, but jazz dudes invented extended rage guitars! George Van Eps was playing a seven-string decades before even Sabbath was around.
You got tabs for the Cm blues? Thanks!
No tab, but I do have it notated. I improvised the first take with the Lithiums, transcribed what I played, and then I was reading off of this the second time around for the Beryllium takes:
www.dropbox.com/s/qes5ney3b4y8264/Kiesel%20Pickup%20Test.pdf?dl=0
@@Poparad Awesome. I liked how you were reaching for the uncommon chord on some of those. I'll have to check it out when I have a few minutes. Thanks again!
What Capacitor did you use for the lithium pickup?
I don't quite recall, but I think it was 200pf. Here's the original thread in the Facebook group with audio examples for a variety of values:
m.facebook.com/groups/15314035284?view=permalink&id=10160519558285285
I must have crappy headphones, they sound so scuttle in difference I’m not sure which to order
It's a lot more subtle than I was expecting it to be. They're actually pretty similar pickups, tonally, but the Lithiums have a significant bump around 2k and maybe a little more around 700-800.
8 string jazz, cool!
the lithium sounds almost like the SCN single coils in my strat
The added brilliance definitely moves it closer to spanky Strat territory. Split, they definitely get a great Strat sound.
I have a American Strat and a Kiesel C6 with Lithiums. With the same amps settings they are worlds apart. Especially when distortion is added. The Lithiums are so much better and the stock Fender single coils.
I have lithium berilium sound a lil warmer n creamier flavor in the blues
Hey m@n im so glad to find this cool vid ...i have a PUs comparison ++ a really good jazz lesson in the same place /// im on the point to order a Vader 7strings regular frets in order to get a Trem N i thought i will get the AH PUs but now that i've seen several PUs comparison between AH/Lithium/Beryllium i think i will definitely choose the Beryllium coz they have so much clarity N articulation even if the output volume is little bit weaker ...How do you compare those to the Holdsworth PUs ? ***BTW I really like your style N your musical ideas***
I have a Carvin Fatboy with the older H22 Holdsworth pickups and they're very nice. The new Kiesel pickup comparison video from 2019 does a great job of showcasing them. The Holdsworth pickups are very similar to the Berylliums but with less bass response. Holdsworth was always trying to find ways to cut the bass out of his tone to help the clarity of both the distorted lead sound and the choruses clean tone. For an unaffected clean tone, though, I find it to be a little lacking in bass, so if I were to order a new Kiesel, I'd probably go with either a set of Berylliums or a Beryllium neck with a Holdsworth bridge (I don't mind a lack of bass for bridge pickups since I mainly use it for distorted tones).
@@Poparad Alright thank you 4 the reply ...i found the Beryllium having a nice character with some very pleasant low-mids frequencies coupled with a chimy but not too much high-end ...The Kiesel Beryllium PUs Demo is also really good N those of Wes Thraikill as well ...a killer dude... BTW you have both the same guitar with different set of PUs in this demo ?
Yeah, it's the same guitar. I recorded the Lithium examples first, swapped the pickups, and then recorded the Beryllium examples second.
Basically if you have lithium pickups, you have no neck sound.
To me beryllium sound more single coil.
I enjoyed playing and beryllium sounded better to my ear.
I'm still using the Berylliums in it now!
Beryllium for me…no question!
I like the Lithium neck better... More spank
Can't hear a difference at all
Yeah very slight, you can feel it if your playing the guitar.
Thats because everything he fucking plays sounds the same. SHIT.I hate his guitar and him.
Just a great perfect example of why you should just go with DImarzios or Duncans.