Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: MrBump on June 17, 2009, 09:43:22 PM
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I only venture on to the pickup board when I'm planning a project!!!
I've acquired a nice-ish strat body - beaten up, needs work, but a nice piece of light coloured wood (possibly ash, alder, or basswood).
I'm thinking about a vintage sounding strat build. I guess that the tones that I have in my head are the usual culprits; Hendrix, SRV, Gallagher, Blackmore...
Soooo... I guess that the obvious choices in this category are Apaches, Mothers Milks and Sultans.
Can anyone comment on the differences between them?
I initally thought about Irish Tours - they seem to be very popular on the board at the moment, and it fits with the Gallagher connection.
Whaddayathink?
Mark.
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I cant compare Apaches very much as I have limited experience of only one of the other sets that you mention namely the Mothers Milks. The Apaches are classic vintage-not puny or thin in any way, sweet clear classic warm Strat tones. The other set you might like to think about would be Slowhands. Nice rounded tone-a bit more oomph than the Apaches with the clarity.
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I cant compare Apaches very much as I have limited experience of only one of the other sets that you mention namely the Mothers Milks. The Apaches are classic vintage-not puny or thin in any way, sweet clear classic warm Strat tones. The other set you might like to think about would be Slowhands. Nice rounded tone-a bit more oomph than the Apaches with the clarity.
Thanks, Mr 38th. I'd sort of discounted the Slowhands - for some reason I've got it in my head that they might be very middy. And also, there's the Clapton association. I know that it's not a literal comparison, but I'm not a great fan of Clapton with a Strat... I guess I'll have to check them out!
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did you try my strat at the bkp meet mrbump? that had slowhands..
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If its basswood - then go Apaches - Basswood has a meaty midrange of its own than can turn Alnico V single coils to mud like anything = Alnico III puts the strat back into basswood!
Otherwise, my personal face would be either Mother's Milks for that early Hendrix tone or Irish Tours.
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did you try my strat at the bkp meet mrbump? that had slowhands..
No, didn't try your Strat, gwEm - I think that I checked out the neck but not through an amp.
Will check out some clips.
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Elliot's said what I would have said :lol:
If I was looking for that "60s" tone used by most of your references I would be going Mother's Milk or Irish Tour. ITs if you want a bit more oomph from it - that was my choice, and I haven't been disappointed. I have wondered about another strat for MMs though... (And a 50s type for Apaches :lol:)
The "Apaches/Basswood" bit, for me, is from reading on here... I have a basswood JV squier, and I haven't yet put BKPs in it. One of the plans was to get MMs for my main strat and put the ITs in the JV, until I read about the basswood thing... Having said that, I quite like quacky/middy sounding strats, so I suspect that I might not dislike AV in the JV :roll:
So I left it for a while... and now, having left it, and seeing as the JV's not really up to being one of my favourite players anyway, it's unlikely to happen...
It's funny you've got the same slight "clapton-phobia" as me, though... never even considered Slowhands :lol:. Actually, for ages I thought that Slowhands were to deliver the "Just One Night" tones (which I quite like), but apparently not - I understand that Slowhands are inspired by a later EC strat sound?? Is that right? (And I think gwem's has baseplates to fatten them up a bit more?)
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gwEm's bridge pickup only has a baseplate I think. Sounded nice a beefy, as did the other pickups. They're a fatter sounding single coil to my ears.
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gwEm's bridge pickup only has a baseplate I think. Sounded nice a beefy, as did the other pickups. They're a fatter sounding single coil to my ears.
thats right twinfan - only the bridge has a baseplate
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I just fitted a set of Irish Tours to my new Amerian standard strat a couple of weeks ago and they sound really great. I was also looking for the Gallagher/Hendrix/SRV tone and the Irish Tours nail that tone perfectly.
I can't speak for the other BKP strat sets as I have only tried the IT's but I would highly recommend the IT's to anyone!
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The Slowhands are a fairly robust Strat pickup set. They are still typical Strat tone but have a little more girth. I would always recommend to people to take the names merely as a guide. I was very nearly put off by the name Apache -not because I dislike Hank or anything but I associated the name with very clean and old hat tone whereas in fact the pickups are well rounded and true vintage Strat but can be cranked up if required( and one of these days I might post something from the live set of my band on something a bit rocky).
I haven't had a go at ITs but I have heard enough posts and I would imagine them to be a terrific set. Ideally I'd like a Strat for each set but as that isn't possible or practical I have to enjoy what I have.
By the way my Slowhand Strat is a Jap r/i with a basswood body.
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Actually, for ages I thought that Slowhands were to deliver the "Just One Night" tones (which I quite like), but apparently not - I understand that Slowhands are inspired by a later EC strat sound?? Is that right? (And I think gwem's has baseplates to fatten them up a bit more?)
I've always assumed the Slowhands were supposed to sound more along the lines of EC's recent(ish) signature Strat - Lace Sensors/Vintage Noiseless plus mid-boost. I like that sound, even though I'm not a big fan of his music.
For his thinner, brighter '70s tones I'd guess you'd want a more typical vintage Strat set (although I think Blackie may actually have had one or more '70s pickups.... but I can't be bothered to research it! :P ).
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For his thinner, brighter '70s tones I'd guess you'd want a more typical vintage Strat set (although I think Blackie may actually have had one or more '70s pickups.... but I can't be bothered to research it! :P ).
It is also my understanding that Blackie had grey bottom pickups. At any rate, it was a bitsa.
BTW, how does the SH bridge pickup compare with the old diMarzio FS-1?
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The neck makes it, really! If you have a maple neck, go for Apaches or Mother's Milks. Rosewood are the '62 specials (you need to order them directly from Tim) or the Irish Tours
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I have Apaches in my maple-boarded Strat and I find them great for my needs which are Gilmour/Hendrix/Trower/SRV territory. They handle extra overdrive grunt a lot better than the Shadows association might imply. I did some tests recording them a few weeks back. The results are on this thread (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=18339.0); it's my first effort at recording guitars with an actual amp and an actual mic so I have much to learn but hopefully it'll give you some idea of the range of noises that the Apache is capable of.
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Sounds good, Andrew!
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No one's giving you a push for Sultans, but I love the sound of mine. They are a bit more blues rock sounding than the Mothers Milks but they are a really sing when you have things cranked. I have mine in an old basswood body with a maple/ebony neck (which does affect the tone especially on the note attack), and I have an HSS set (with a Stormy Monday bridge), however I find myself playing them more than the Mothers Milks or Apaches. I do like the Apaches too, I have them in 3 different configurations, the originals, a full set with baseplates and an AV magnet set. All of them sound good and can get that hollow strat sound even when driven, with the AV giving more push and edge to the sound. The Sultans are AII magnets which I think makes the difference.
The problem with your question is that you haven't said what the neck will be or given the weight of the body, and both of those will make a difference. for example, I found Irish Tours very bright with a maple neck, though I am sure others like them. The difference could be that I had them in a hardtail maple neck guitar which was already naturally bright. I now have a set of Apaches with baseplates in the guitar and they sound great. It's always worth knowing the acoustic sound before looking at pickups.
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I just got Tim to wind me a custom set for my Surf Green machine - Alnico V, heavy formvar 6.1k in the neck and 6.6k in the bridge - based on the spec readings of a very hot 1963 set I saw on Eddie Vegas's 2nd hand pickup site (and Tim's ever excellent advice on what is possible). Because its for a modern 9.5 radus guitar they have flat profile and RWRP (which I prefer for the 'tween positions).
Awesome - I am going to call them the Miserlou set! Put them in yesterday - exactly what I was looking for - truly the balls of strat tone. Still honeymoon period, though, and getting used to them, so I'll post a review in a couple of months time (best to let things settle in.....)
Cheers Tim and BKP!
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That's awesome Elliot ! A new set of pickups done to your own spec!! Like Phil says, it's good to know the acoustic sound and potential of the instrument. The possibilities and uses of the BKP pickups seem endless. Great product!!
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I think, from reading another thread, that Tim is developing a new set of strat pickups which are inspired by a '62 strat. Maybe they could be interesting?
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I think, from reading another thread, that Tim is developing a new set of strat pickups which are inspired by a '62 strat. Maybe they could be interesting?
Mine arrived yesterday. They are VERY nice indeed.
Ive just finished an A/B test between them and the stock pups. While theres not a hugely noticable difference, they have a lot more clarity to them, kind of like someone rolled down the lower-mids on the eq. They have a touch less output (to my ears anyway) and the bridge doesnt have anywhere near the same bite and bark as the stock, which suits me as Im not all that keen on the strat bridge anyway. (I didnt go for the baseplate option, so the brighter bridge is available if you wanted it.)
Ill post the A/B test video in a bit. I recorded a bit of Wind Cries Mary over a backing track and I think the pups do a great impersonation. They are also amazing for a John Frusciante tone. They obviously arent quite as good as the Texas Specials I used to have for an SRV sound straight off the bat, but with a bit of tweaking they can do wonders.
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Very convincing tone on those 62s!