Recent Posts

1

Pickups / Re: Les paul new pickups. Help

« Last post by Ale84 on Today at 12:05:19 AM »

Hi guys,
I’ve been playing during the weekend and at first it sounded strange then it grew on me . It’s a great pickup , with bass , clarity and it’s really bright with a good push. Mich better than the 57 classic plus i had before

2

Pickups / Re: Black Dog Bridge Review in 2021

« Last post by Joshua Jimenez on May 17, 2021, 10:52:58 AM »

The Black Dog bridge is quite possibly my favourite pickup of all time, especially in a Les Paul. I can't stand higher output pickups in Les Pauls, when I sent my BD in for wax potting at BKP I put a Holydiver in it temporarily, and it sounded like a horrible muddy mess... The BD retains everything I love about PAF style pickups while jacking things up a notch or two, I think the EQ graph on the product site is a little inaccurate to be honest. Sure it's got more mids than for example the Riff Raff, but it still sounds very balanced and not much darker in the top end, if at all, than a Riff Raff.

Glad to hear! Indeed; it's got a solid, biting top end that reminds me of Zep's "How the West Was Won." A very firm tone. Not the sweetest but that's the point.

What was the result of the wax-potting, if I may ask? I want to install a nickel cover for aesthetic reasons, but also because I think it will smoothen and round out the sound--thereby making it closer to the OG in the neck.

3

Pickups / HSP90 vs P90

« Last post by julio77 on May 16, 2021, 06:37:03 PM »

Hello,

From what I've read here and also experienced myself HSP90s (humbucker sized P90s) are great pickups but sounds a little bit different to real P90 pickups due to the modification of the bobbin shape.
I own a bridge Mississippi Queen which I love but it sounds more fattey and is hotter than a 50's specs P90, it lacks some midrange cut and woodyness.

So, would some of you have some advice or tips (polescrew/pickup height, caps, wiring, potted/unpotted...) on how to make a HSP90 sound closer to a real vintage P90 ?

Thanks !

4

Guitars, Amps and Effects / Re: 2021 Squier Contemporary Telecaster RH

« Last post by Dave Sloven on May 16, 2021, 11:28:55 AM »

I am currently still waiting for my order from BKP with the Cobra-T and Impulse neck humbucker in white to match the paintwork .... I made a couple more mods while I've been waiting.  The first was to install a Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL string tree.  I bought a pack of two and fitted one to my Schecter PT Apocalypse as well.  I was warned by a local luthier to be extremely careful when drilling into roasted maple (it is quite prone to cracking) so I drilled the hole to just below size with my Tamiya Handy Drill (very low torque, with a 1mm bit) and then screwed in the shortest screw in the pack. It was a nickel screw so to make it match the hardware I simply coloured it in with a black permanent marker.  The string tree was the same height as the stock one (on both guitars) so no sanding or filing was needed.



The other 'mod' was more a replacement for a terrible jack that couldn't wait as my cables kept falling out of the jack.  The stock jack is the usual Squier rubbish so I replaced it with a Switchcraft jack.  I will use this jack for a brand new harness after my Bare Knuckle order arrives.  I squashed the original so that I wouldn't be tempted to reuse it!  In this photo you can see the original control plate with the Gotoh VK-18 knobs, which will be transferred over to the new CRL, CTS, and Neuland loaded control plate when my order arrives.  I used the denim rag to protect the finish when soldering.





As you can see in this photo the Contemporary Telecaster RH has a jack plate, not the old school 'cup'

5

Pickups / Re: Black Dog Bridge Review in 2021

« Last post by Alfi27 on May 15, 2021, 12:16:16 PM »

The Black Dog bridge is quite possibly my favourite pickup of all time, especially in a Les Paul. I can't stand higher output pickups in Les Pauls, when I sent my BD in for wax potting at BKP I put a Holydiver in it temporarily, and it sounded like a horrible muddy mess... The BD retains everything I love about PAF style pickups while jacking things up a notch or two, I think the EQ graph on the product site is a little inaccurate to be honest. Sure it's got more mids than for example the Riff Raff, but it still sounds very balanced and not much darker in the top end, if at all, than a Riff Raff.

6

Pickups / Re: Pickup recommendations for Mayones Regius

« Last post by RobAbrams84 on May 13, 2021, 05:16:34 PM »

Quick update: I'm still loving the VHII neck, it's definitely my favorite Bare Knuckle Neck humbucker so far.  It's not much like the Suhr SSV though; it's more modern, voiced darker, yet still clearer with better note separation.  It's not quite as bassy or warm as the Emerald, but it's warmer than I was expecting.  Split coil tones are just as good as the SSV to my ear, but with extra (necessary) output.

The output is surprisingly high, higher than the SSV, True Grit, Emerald, and Holydiver necks, and hotter than any PAF-style neck I've tried.  It's actually a little hard for my Holydiver bridge to keep up, so I spent a long time dialing in the heights and adjusting the pole pieces slightly before I got them reasonably balanced.  Which makes me wonder: how hot is the VHII bridge?  Is that the highest output of the Vintage Hot series?  I'm just surprised at how powerful the VHII neck is, and I see why it's often paired with a Nailbomb for instance.

7

Pickups / Re: Abraxas or Crawler for Custom 24 bridge

« Last post by Nerd on May 13, 2021, 01:59:44 AM »

I was finally able to put the pickups in my Paul Reed yesterday. I'm still in honeymoon period and I will write a proper review ones I cool down but I love it so far. Emerald is huge - otherwise website description fits it well, great both driven and clean. It's in perfect balance of power and tone indeed. May be the settings on my amp or the amp itself, different guitar - I used to have one in EBMM JP7 but Riff Raff is darker than how I remember it, it still has that scent of RR personality I always loved about this pickup - it's truly special and I yet have to try better neck pickup to suit me. Both pickups splits gorgeously. Have them with half splits with variable resistors set to 1k5-ish at neck and 3k3-ish at the bridge and I won't touch a thing as it's just perfect - noise free too.

Anyway - back to playing and tweaking. I will get proper review when I get my shiteee together 

8

Tech / Re: Assistance with PRS 35th Anniversary wiring

« Last post by Nerd on May 11, 2021, 03:07:41 PM »

Timmy @tech support sorted me out.

Thank you

9

Pickups / Re: Les paul new pickups. Help

« Last post by Ale84 on May 10, 2021, 08:06:00 PM »

I really hope. I’ll let you know during the weekend. Thanks!

10

Tech / Assistance with PRS 35th Anniversary wiring

« Last post by Nerd on May 10, 2021, 06:31:40 PM »

Hi There.

I'm just in process of fitting a set of BKP's in to my new guitar. It's 35th Anniversary Custom 24. It has usual Master Volume, Master Tone, 3 way toggle and additionally for this model two mini toggles for independent coils splits for bridge and neck humbackers. I have decided to add some additional features such as Half-Out-of-Phase push pull activated with a tone knob and mute switch push pull activated with a volume knob.

As much as I'm okay with soldering iron, done some DIY pedals in past - I'm in no way an EE wiz so I need some help with the layout. I would like the bridge pickup doing the Half OoP thing as that will make cavity layout cleaner. Set of BKP that arrived to me has a magnet flipped in the neck as per Ben's recommendation - it's a bit confusing the hell out of me if the layout is correct or not - I can always flip it back to what it was if that's necessary. I would like the split to work as: neck - screw coil active, bridge - slug coil active - I know I have an error here but there is no way I can figure it out how to correct it.

I have already gutted my guitar and in process of shielding the whole cavity with copper foil and I really need some help to put this thing together. I will be supper grateful for any assistance.

Layout is made in DIYLC, I can email the source file - otherwise any input appreciated#

Pots used are CTS branded BKP's

Thank you