Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: h_o_r_i_z_o_n on June 05, 2009, 05:10:33 PM
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Im thinking about buying one but i cant stand the hum/buzz coming out of my strat pickups.
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BKP strat pickups are wound the vintage way, and do have hum and noise. sound great though ;) you can get a rw/rp option so the inbetween setting are noise cancelling
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No... Usually they have less noise than most pickups because they're good waxed, but don't expect a "Noiseless" equal Fender does... :)
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They are very quiet, but not noiseless. Kinmann makes great noiseless pups, if that's your speed.
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thanks for the quick replies guys
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I was in the same boat as you at first. One of the big reasons for swapping out pickups on my strat was to go noiseless. But, after countless hours of research, I opted to deal with the hum so I can ensure no character is lost (if you believe that sort of hype). In the end, BKPs are much quieter than stock so I can handle a bit of noise since my tone is now perfect (for me).
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I wouldn't exactly call them noiseless, but they're MUCH quieter than stock pickups. They sound better too :D
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I had Kinman pickups in my previous strat, which I sold to my father. That guitar still has them.
They were indeed very quiet (considering noise), and sound very good! But I was still missing something. There is a certain thing they don't have, and it's very noticeable in the high end, at least for me. I've had a direct comparison between that strat and my BKP-equipped strat. I do like the Kinmans a lot more than the Dimarzio Virtual Vintages that I had, at least in this guitar they were wrong for me, too dark.
But it was a compromise I didn't want to live with. I'd rather live with the noise, and turn down the volume pot when not playing :) However, I'm strongly considering this solution: http://www.suhrguitars.com/pickups.aspx#bpssc (http://www.suhrguitars.com/pickups.aspx#bpssc)
Ain't exactly cheap though!
-Zaned
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I've actually grown to enjoy 60-cycle hum. I think it gives the sound some character. Only when it's not out of control though :P
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The BKP strat pickups have great tone and are good for noise compared to some old strat pickups because they are well made with the polepieces insulated, but they are as prone to 50/60cycle hum as any single coil pickup
As far as the stacked humcancelling types like the Kinman etc there are a number of brands available
I have had great success using the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage ones - the Area 61 is a firm fave in that range
They do sound really good - the lack a bit of the true single coil mojo/magic that the BKPs have , but if I had to go noiseless or recommend noiseless ones then they are my firm choice at present.
The other option mentioned of the Suhr backplate is a cool one because then you can use the BKPs and reduce the noise too!
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something metal enough to start a schoolbus fire.
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The BKP strat pickups have great tone and are good for noise compared to some old strat pickups because they are well made with the polepieces insulated, but they are as prone to 50/60cycle hum as any single coil pickup
As far as the stacked humcancelling types like the Kinman etc there are a number of brands available
I have had great success using the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage ones - the Area 61 is a firm fave in that range
They do sound really good - the lack a bit of the true single coil mojo/magic that the BKPs have , but if I had to go noiseless or recommend noiseless ones then they are my firm choice at present.
The other option mentioned of the Suhr backplate is a cool one because then you can use the BKPs and reduce the noise too!
I've been using the neck and middle virtual vintages for little while now and I agree. They lack the top end chime of something like the Apaches but they sound great and quiet! Not so keen on the virtual paf though, it's totally useless under highgain.
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Bear in mind there are lots of different models in the Virtual Vintage range, and DiMarzio are constantly refining/tweaking them. I like the Area 58 and Area 61. They don't sound exactly like vintage single coils, but they do sound good, which is more important IMO.
(Wouldn't normally be praising another brand on the BKP forum, but it seems to be acceptable on this thread!)