Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: AngusYoung01 on December 25, 2007, 11:47:49 PM
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Right, just got my brand new USA Charvel Star, and it is superb, pickups are quite good too, but nothing on my MM's in the SG. So, if and when the time comes when I have money to blow, BKP's will be the way to go, and I have no idea where to look.
Few things to consider-
>Alder body, floyd rose, bolt on neck.
>Going through a Marhsall DSL50 and MXR Distortion+ (and a few mods etc)
What I play -
>Maiden, etc.
>Van Halen, Extreme, Dream Theater
> General 80's stuff
I like them to be hot, and I like them tight. Pinches are used alot, and I'm looking for something classically 80's shred, like EVH (so I'm looking at the VHII) but is it hot enough?
As I say, I also use the guitar for Dream Theater type stuff and a fair few others, but my band is typically 80's style metally rock shiz.
So, you guys know best, what would you reccommend?
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holy diveeEEEEEEEeeeeeeEEEEEeeeeeer yeaahhhh
:santa:
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Any sound clips? 8)
And are they the shiznit for this stuff?
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Hot, tight, 80s shred, pinches, DT... yeah you're screaming for a Diver.
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Hot, tight, 80s shred, pinches, DT... yeah you're screaming for a Diver.
You guys are great :D
So I'll get some nice Van Halen-y stuff from that, aye?
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Holy Diver, if you need any swaying for it just go to the Players section and listen to a guy called Antags clips.
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...well I'd go for VHII's personally, but you will be happy with holydivers
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...well I'd go for VHII's personally, but you will be happy with holydivers
I second this.
My gut says VHII or Painkiller (believe it or not) over a Holy Diver.
There is a butt load of mass on that guitar, and I'm not sure how the HD would deal with that -- would it get even darker still??
I would definitely check with Tim before pulling the trigger because the wrong choice could actually make your guitar sound worse, especially since you like the current tone of the guitar as-is.
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I would definitely check with Tim before pulling the trigger because the wrong choice could actually make your guitar sound worse, especially since you like the current tone of the guitar as-is.
I agree. I have duncans in my edwards, and while there's no doubt my BKP's are better, the duncans are a different style of pickup (JB/'59 versus miracle man/cold sweat), and for the tones at which the duncans are aimed, they're more "authentic" than the BKPs (even though they aren't as "nice" pickups).
That made more sense in my head, and apologies for my inarticulateness, but yeah.
The right BKPs will likely make your guitar better- you just need to make sure you get the right ones. :)
EDIT: the other thing is, if you like the tone of your guitar as is, why the rush to change? Wait a while so you're sure of what you want your new pickups to do to your tone. :)
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Actually Dave and TO, you're both right. I'm learning to use these pups to their best, and I have to say, they are fantastic, as you say Dave, "Authentic".
I'll leave it a long while to see if they need it :D
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OK, the sound isn't as good as it could be. The bottom end is quite flabby tbh, which bugs me. The sound I'm after is John Sykes tone on Whitesnakes 1987 album, and extremely 80's - Van Halen, Bon Jovi etc.
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can't help with recommendations to be honest (haven't tried enough BKPs), but my gut is you're going to have to compromise... sykes is a ceramic, reasonably high output, tight tone, while VH (especially) and sambora are more of a lower output, softer/warmer alnico V tone.
I think. :lol:
basically, which do you want more, and which are you willing to compromise on? Of course, there may be a BKP which'll do all those tones sublimely, in which case I'm willing to stand corrected. :)
On another note, and just for interest: do you have any idea why those charvels have plummetted so much in price? Not so long ago they were going for £1500, now they can be had for £700 on andertons, merchant city music, etc.
Any ideas? Cheers. :)
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I would say Holy Divers, hot enough to do 80's rock with ease and with a slight volume pot adjustment they have a real warm bluesy tone. I use a set in my new Bon Jovi tribute band and for the 80's Sambora tone they get very near.Very versatile, i may have a demo i could add if you want?
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Steve, if you add that'd be great :D
Tim recommends the Cold Sweats
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Tim is probably right. The Diver isn't that hot I don't think. The one in my Strat is great, but maybe not what you really want. Can't say pinches fly out dead easy either, think my Telecaster with Country Boys is easier to get pinch harmonics out...
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can't help with recommendations to be honest (haven't tried enough BKPs), but my gut is you're going to have to compromise... sykes is a ceramic, reasonably high output, tight tone, while VH (especially) and sambora are more of a lower output, softer/warmer alnico V tone.
I think. :lol:
basically, which do you want more, and which are you willing to compromise on? Of course, there may be a BKP which'll do all those tones sublimely, in which case I'm willing to stand corrected. :)
On another note, and just for interest: do you have any idea why those charvels have plummetted so much in price? Not so long ago they were going for £1500, now they can be had for £700 on andertons, merchant city music, etc.
Any ideas? Cheers. :)
Well, Tim has suggested the Cold Sweat, and that seems to fulfil my criteria, and Tim is the shiz nit of course!
Actually, I was speaking with my local guitar tech and he rekons they have a dodgy deal going on with Charvel.
I personally think Charvel are testing the market, as there is no information anywhere on Charvels site (and they're shitee for info anyway) so I rekon its a test on Charvels part - maybe they are not in full production?
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Actually, I was speaking with my local guitar tech and he rekons they have a dodgy deal going on with Charvel.
I personally think Charvel are testing the market, as there is no information anywhere on Charvels site (and they're shitee for info anyway) so I rekon its a test on Charvels part - maybe they are not in full production?
yeah, i dunno. just when things drop by 50%, you start to wonder, you know?
:)
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Yeh, but now I have it, theres nothing wrong at all, its all genuine and I'm so lucky to get it whilst they had one :D Beautiful guitar, can't put it down :)
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Anyway, can someone with Cold Sweats tell me a little about them, and whats the bridge like? (I've heard the neck is like, the best neck pup ever)
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Steve, if you add that'd be great :D
Tim recommends the Cold Sweats
Cool,then Cold Sweat it is then. Tim has always advised the right pickups for me.
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Steve, if you add that'd be great :D
Tim recommends the Cold Sweats
Cool,then Cold Sweat it is then. Tim has always advised the right pickups for me.
He always seems to say the ones lot of people don't think of, and then reading the description, they seem like the obvious ones :lol:
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Yeh, but now I have it, theres nothing wrong at all, its all genuine and I'm so lucky to get it whilst they had one :D Beautiful guitar, can't put it down :)
cool, that's nice to know.
i have the neck cold sweat, by the way. decent cleans, excellent overdriven shreddy lead tone. that about sums it up- if you need cleans more than you need overdrive, i'd look elsewhere. but if you want a neck pickup for shredding, the CS is the one. at least from what I've tried.
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Clean is for posers 8)
:lol: Nah. Yeh its mainly for shred, 80's style hard rock/ metal. Just need to save the money, and with an amazing internet scheme, I will get a set :D
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Well, when I get these Cold Sweats, is it possible to have the screws and poles in gold, and the bobbis in black? That'd look sexy.
And does Tim have BKP written on them, like Seymour Duncan does? That'd be cool too.
Sorry, I have covered MM's, so don't know what they'll do with open pups.
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Well, when I get these Cold Sweats, is it possible to have the screws and poles in gold, and the bobbis in black? That'd look sexy.
And does Tim have BKP written on them, like Seymour Duncan does? That'd be cool too.
Sorry, I have covered MM's, so don't know what they'll do with open pups.
Mine don't have BKP written on top. I think they have it on the underneath.
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But can you get them with gold screws I wonder?
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I'm sure if you leave it in the comment, he'll do it. And as for the BKP thing, it's only on covers I think, engraved as such.
(http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/files/ex_156.jpg)
That's as cool as I can find, picture wise, for you.
And I just found this too.
(http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/files/proto_type_155.jpg)
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Mate, thats really kind of you to post pictures, thanks :D
Se what I mean about gold poles on black... now imagine that on my Charvel :harp: