Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Modular1 on May 20, 2008, 05:50:21 PM
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:D
Finally got hold of a BKP. Got it installed this afternoon in my fender usa strat. Ive had half hours worth of playing on it so far and im very happy with it. Great distorted tone. Great clean tone. There's a nice amount of bass. It does chuggy palm muting wonderfully. The sustain is great. I even noticed that the controlled feedback sounds amazing. All my mistakes show up horrendously now tho... but thats for me to correct :P
Every note rings out clearly even with distortion (which was the problem i've had with all my other pickups). You get some lovely pinch harmonics with it (probably even more if i was a better player hehe) and I'm looking forward to getting to know it a lot better. Hopefully with a bigger amp! :wink:
My only negative point from the experience so far (its a minor one now its installed,but could have been a real horror show) is the mounting screws are slotted and not crosshead ones.
The springs that are provided are very strong (which i know is a good thing) and the screwholes were full of wax. Im used to doing fiddly jobs being a sparky by trade (i do a lot of jobs which it would be handy to have 3 hands) but found its quite easy to have the screwdriver slip out of a slotted screw when installing the pickup in its scratchplate because you are fighting the spring tension while holding everything in place.
I had one minor slip and it left a tiny scratch in the plate next to the screw. This would not have happened if the screws had been crossheaded. Its nothing major but thought id mention it. A bigger slip could have been a nightmare!!
Doing it by hand would be even trickier cos you needed to squeeze the whole thing even tighter. Its something ill be aware of if i get another pup.
Anyway that minor point does not distract from the fact that i'm dead chuffed with the pickup. I'm liking the new style of my strat too!
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So, what'd ya pay for the Nintendo Wii? :lol:
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Glad you're impressed.
Now go play something heavy :twisted: .
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So, what'd ya pay for the Nintendo Wii? :lol:
More than the Holy Diver!
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I like the marble tiling but I would recommend you didn't lean the guitar against a radiator :wink: .
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that champ looks positvely comical next to the blackstar pedal!!
I am using my single holydiver equipped explorer quite a lot recently... i would say its one of my favorites but i say that everytime i get my hands on a BKP i havnt used before!!!
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Very nice! I'm horribly tempted by a HH strat with a holydiver set... I loves me the HD.
Also a top tip, I had the same problems you did- but i cut the springs down to the length of the screw. Less fiddily to install, and the tension it taken up when you tighten. Saved my sight more than a few times, bloody springs.
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Nice one - looks great.
Join the club on the mounting springs/screws! - I thought it was just me until a few weeks back when there was a thread somewhere about it. Sounds like we all struggle with those springs.
It gets easier with practice though...
Funnily enough I actually prefer the look of the flathead screws now :? And I also find the flathead is easier to judge when you're adjusting the pickup heights to find that sweet spot that's just right for you.
Anyway, enjoy :D
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That Strat looks great, simple but effective!
I know what you mean about the slot-head screws - DiMarzio and Duncan use them too. I suppose they're more "vintage", but I don't like them. I always replace them with Phillips ones.
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that champ looks positvely comical next to the blackstar pedal!!
I know. Lol. Cheap valve tone does not come looking very cool. lol.
PS. Thats not where the guitar stands normally. hehe. warp!!
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What is the recommended distance from the strings for this pickup?
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I have mine in a telecaster- around 3mm flat from the strings. That was set up by a pro too, sounds excellent.
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I seem to find them quite bassy, so have them far from the strings.
It takes away a part of the HD's signature HUGE sound, but it still has that fat presence without cutting too much of the treble.
The High E side came off the spring today whilst I was playing :? the process to put it back on cost me a B string, annoying when its my only guitar at the moment and only strings I have
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The High E side came off the spring today whilst I was playing :? the process to put it back on cost me a B string, annoying when its my only guitar at the moment and only strings I have
i had to cut down the screws after i fitted the pickup cos they were too long for the body cavity! I made sure i had room for adjustment though!
How close did you trim them???!!!
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I think they may be the old Epiphone stuffs. So I left everything untouched and uncut. Deep LP body, so no need really
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That looks great. I was looking into getting a blackmore styled warmoth strat but I'm interested in a single bucker type thing now! I love the all black with maple look. I dont really like the flat head screws either, they just make it fiddlier. My Mules came with cross head ones but the other bkp humbuckers I got have been with flat head :\
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I think they may be the old Epiphone stuffs. So I left everything untouched and uncut. Deep LP body, so no need really
ah. not the original 8ft long screws then. hehe.
well im sat up at 10 to 1 with a line6 toneport gx on sennheiser headphones and this pickup sounds a whole lot more blissful than i remember on the stock usa strat singlecoils (is there a brandname for them?) and the stock humbuckers in the OLP mm1 i have in the same situ.
They have made my strat come to life!!
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Nice guit, very different! A good starting point for p'up height is (while pressing down the 'E' strings on the last fret:
Bass side - 2.5mm
Treb side - 2.8mm
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Looks awesome, Holydivers are great in strats! :twisted:
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Double post.
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now ive got my holy diver as a reference, ive got another strat that im looking for a pickup for.
im thinking about a VHII bridge humbucker for it. Is there a huge tonal difference between that pickup and the one i already own?
would they seem to be quite similar? i noticed they use the same kind of magnet.
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The VHII is lower-output and, I think, much brighter than the HD - but I'm going by what I've read, not personal experience. Everyone says its a great humbucker for a Strat.
They both have Alnico V magnets, but different windings and types of wire in the coils, I believe.