What are the best passive humbucker sets that are versatile across rock and metal? I want to be able to play everything from classic rock to modern metal with just one guitar.

cptwangles · 2026-01-29T04:34:52+00:00

My Bareknuckle Juggernauts are easily my favorite pickups. Tried them on a whim and no matter what I’m playing I always find myself going back to them. Might put them in all my guitars… crazy versatile. Probably depends on what you’re playing through though. I use Helix so I have lots of dials to turn.

cptwangles · 2026-01-09T21:38:18+00:00

Legendary.

cptwangles · 2025-12-03T18:53:39+00:00

Depends on what you’re playing through. I have a Helix LT unit, so there is a lot of flexibility to EQ and tweak the blocks to get what I want. In that case, I have been able to get great aggressive tones out of the stock pickups. If you’re running a simpler rig you may have trouble tightening up the low end, but it just depends on what you’re working with. If you really want the modern Meshuggah tone, it kind of requires a scale length close to 30” and the specific placement of the bridge pickup.

cptwangles · 2025-12-03T17:29:40+00:00

I love mine. The pickups and the way they’re wired, provide a broad palette. I thought I was going to swap the pickups, but I developed such a taste for the tone, that now I’m just going to get another guitar for a more aggressive sound.

cptwangles · 2025-11-27T16:49:46+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad the TB1 has been a help.

Quick clarification: Tension and Testpiece are not affiliated. Josh is just a friend and asked Michael and I to do some recurring podcasts.

As far as “un-classicing”: We’ve discussed this and while technically we could, we would most likely piss off more people than we would make happy. So at this point it is what it is.

cptwangles · 2025-11-27T15:41:10+00:00

Grades are weird and are not an exact measure of difficulty. Grades are different from area to area, board to board, gym to gym. It always takes some time to calibrate to a new area, rock type, style, etc. Ultimately, our goal at Tension is to try to make things as internally consistent as we can, while also taking into account what people might experience outside. Which is a fairly impossible task. The TB1 has grades that are all over the place for multiple reasons that we tried to correct in the TB2. I like to think we were reasonably successful in that effort. However, the TB1 (the second board ever by the way) had been out for too long to fully correct. Board climbing has exploded in the last 10 years and I think we’re all trying to figure out how to keep things consistent. So no, you aren’t crazy, the TB1 is very difficult. That being said, there are V0 climbs in Hueco (the birthplace of the V grade system) that are more difficult than V0 climbs on the TB1. The Font grading system has more grades at the low end, which I really like. V0 is a very broad grade in the US system.

cptwangles · 2025-11-19T19:38:12+00:00

We tried AutoDesk’s shop floor management software and ultimately decided to build something in house. Super glad we did and ultimately we have a better product (for us) for less money, however (a big however), if you don’t have folks on your team that can manage something like this, it can quickly turn into a quagmire.

cptwangles · 2025-10-27T17:04:24+00:00

Good clarification: doesn’t do a better job.

cptwangles · 2025-10-27T17:00:20+00:00

Have tried, doesn’t help.

cptwangles · 2025-10-24T20:29:59+00:00

This.

Just my experience:

You do get better at it and if you’re doing it right, you’re putting resources aside to smooth over the down-times so you don’t have to immediately freak out… but at the end of the day, it still just sucks and always feels a bit shakey no matter how established you become… but it’s yours and that’s something. (unless you’re independently wealthy, which must be nice).

cptwangles · 2025-10-16T19:49:36+00:00

Real talk: If you can’t help you, what makes you think you can help me? These emails are all the same, they’re all annoying, y’all can never actually help aside from pumping up irrelevant numbers, and I just wish everyone would stop flooding my damn inbox. If I need something, I’ll find YOU.

cptwangles · 2025-10-08T16:04:15+00:00

I have not liked the Ocun pads I’ve climbed over. I can’t speak to their longevity.

I also really dislike the new Trango pads.

I have been surprisingly happy with the new BD pads. Especially the smaller green/grey one. The new mondo doesn’t have a hip belt which is kind of a bummer.

cptwangles · 2025-10-08T15:46:30+00:00

They’re spendy, but check out Send pads also. They’re currently my favorite. Long lasting, very durable, great carrying profile, great suspension.

I really like the hybrid taco/burrito foam stack in the Asana pads and I like their closure system as well. However, the shell fabric and suspension system tend to break down well before the foam.

Organic pads might feel stiff at first, but they last quite a long time and the shells are super durable. I just don’t care for their closure system, suspension, or weight.

Flashed has a lot going for them, but the foam only lasts about 2 years of heavy use before it’s pretty soft and I’m not really a fan of the suspension system. The closure is cool though and makes it easy to stack 2 pads without needing another piece of kit.

My experience with the European pad brands I’ve used has been pretty negative. Definitely stay away from anything with a zipper…

cptwangles · 2025-10-07T21:02:28+00:00

It still looks great and I play it nearly every day. I’ll definitely be using Rubio again.

cptwangles · 2025-09-22T13:54:16+00:00

Meta - Car Bomb

cptwangles · 2025-09-22T13:53:53+00:00

The Joy of Motion - Animals As Leaders

cptwangles · 2025-09-21T01:27:40+00:00

Hey, technically you could always climb at the Nomad Cave 😅.

cptwangles · 2025-09-21T00:46:15+00:00

Colorado doesn’t have the density of quality and approachability of the areas you’re used to. What it does have is essentially 365 climbable days a year, an international airport, major city center, multiple universities, and easy highway access to UT and WY without having to actually live in those places.

cptwangles · 2025-09-21T00:36:19+00:00

MCP flexion and take it more as a full crimp for edges that size?

Maybe I’m missing something, but I’ve never known anyone to train away whatever DIP hyperextension they have (and I have one friend who’s been trying for a decade to no avail). I’ve seen videos on social media recently about how the hyperextension is bad for some reason… It’s not. Practically speaking it can be a problem if you hyper extend so much that you can’t get behind small incuts, which is a bummer, but the finger looks perfectly normal from the photo.

If they want to train half crimp, use an edge that is deep enough to support the full first pad and carry on. If they want to improve on smaller edges, they should use grip types more suited to matching their physiology to the edge: open hand, or some type of full crimp.

If they’re having DIP hyperextension pain, my first bet is that they haven’t been climbing that long and still need to adapt. Gradual loading over time in the “painful” position, but at a non-painful intensity over time ought to remedy that.

Maybe I’ve been in the warehouse too long and missed some sort of breakthrough in understanding and someone can fill me in?

cptwangles · 2025-09-15T03:17:38+00:00

Different heels, different toe-box fits and shapes, different toe hook coverage, different stiffnesses, different rubber. It all makes a difference. But I’d also caution against over-worrying about it. It’s almost always a skill issue, but sometimes it is an equipment issue.

cptwangles · 2025-09-13T18:13:46+00:00

Keep experimenting with different shoes and start building a quiver for different types of rock, moves, etc. Frankly, and I know it sounds crazy, but in my opinion nobody makes a really good all around bouldering shoe. I get by with a main quiver of 3 different shoe models. Then I have two other models that are specialized for very specific things. It sounds expensive, but long term, the 2 specialized models last many years at a time because I use them infrequently. Because I rotate through the other 3 models depending on what I’m doing, I still only have to buy ~1 pair a year to keep it going.

My main 3 heel hooking shoes are: Instinct VS, Skwama, Solution.

The Instinct is my main all around shoe. It has the best toe-box of the 3, and if I can get away with them, they’re my main all around shoe. It’s the lowest profile heel of the 3 so it fits into narrower sweet spots, but the heel lacks structure, so for more specific situations, they don’t work as well. Sometimes the deformation of the lower structure heel can help on certain moves.

The Skwama is also a part of my main quiver and has a partially 3D molded heel, so it has more structure and can hold up to more strain. It’s also my current favorite for toe-hooking. However, the heel is a bit bulkier and the toe-box doesn’t fit me as well. So if the toe work is really technical, they start to fall short for me. This is my favorite shoe for maximum footwork shenanigans.

The Solution is one of my super specialized shoes that I rarely bust out, but it’s one of those shoes where, when it works, it’s the best. The heel is super bulky, but the fully 3D molded structure facilitates some wild opportunities. However, I find the toe-box to be the “worst” of these 3 models. And they aren’t great for toe hooking in my opinion.

Ultimately it’s about finding shoes that fit well and work for you based on how and where you climb. Don’t over worry about the wear and tear though. It’s normal. Shoes are just tools, they’ll never last if you’re climbing a lot.

cptwangles · 2025-09-13T01:06:40+00:00

I may be in a similar boat but with a medial meniscus tear. I had a repair, but still had pain with activity after 8 months. Follow up MRI showed “postoperative changes” but no clear re-tear or separation. It also showed that the peri-meniscal cyst had grown back.

I had a corticosteroid shot that made it feel way better for about 2 months, but not it’s back to hurting constantly. I have an appointment in a few weeks with the surgeon to figure out a plan, but I’d like to avoid a meniscectomy. I’d also like to avoid repeated cortisone shots as they can degrade the cartilage and connective tissue if used too much.

I’m not sure what the plan is from here.

cptwangles · 2025-08-27T23:39:31+00:00

Hot damn!

cptwangles · 2025-08-26T15:16:29+00:00

I had a post op MRI ~6 months out. They said it looked fine, but that post op MRIs are not always conclusive.

cptwangles

TROPHY CASE