Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: ShotgunInnocence on August 30, 2009, 02:12:49 AM

Title: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: ShotgunInnocence on August 30, 2009, 02:12:49 AM
Just got my guitar back from having two spankin' new BKPs installed (Holy Diver Bridge wired for series or parallel and a Trilogy neck).  Body is a solid 2-piece flamed maple San Dimas style from Musikraft, neck/board is a flamed maple Explorer style from Warmoth.  Please pardon the fingerprints.......I had to have it pried out of my hands long enough to take pics..... :lol:
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: Afghan Dave on August 30, 2009, 02:20:04 AM
Very nice with some gorgeous wood on that neck. I bet that guitar is pretty heavy too.
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: Keven on August 30, 2009, 08:55:07 AM
whoa. i love how all that flame looks. kudos for the maple fretboard too :D
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: d1dsj on August 30, 2009, 09:50:58 AM
Fantastic looking guitar, congrats!
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: sgmypod on August 30, 2009, 10:19:41 AM
Nice...pretty
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: Jonny on August 30, 2009, 10:56:48 AM
Flame maple. Awesome. Love the finish on it.
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: 38thBeatle on August 30, 2009, 12:01:48 PM
PC probs mean I can't see it right now but congrats anyway.
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: ShotgunInnocence on August 30, 2009, 01:40:53 PM
Thank ya kindly gents.  Haven't had a chance to really crank it up properly yet (for some reason 100 watt Laneys in 3rd floor apartments of a house don't seem to go over too well :twisted:), but first impressions at bedroom volume are that it's gonna be fairly versatile. 

The HD in series is bright, yet still warm and tight, and doesn't want to stop sustaining.  I think it was a good choice for some additional low end (I like some girth to my sound) and while I was worried about it possibly having a hard mid tone, I'm enjoying the warmth and growl that it's giving me and thankfully not very hard mids at all (at least to my ears).  Switch to parallel and you get a nice vintage sounds from it.

The Trilogy is freakin' HUGE!!!  Warm and beefy sound while still maintaining a distinct (almost vintage) SC sound.  Amazing.  Liquid fluidity when playing solos.  Hit a chord and almost fell off the stool!  LOL!  In the middle position with both pups running, it has a somewhat Tele flavor to it.......

I wasn't able to get a really good shot of the flaming in the body but my bud Dave who installed the pups got a couple of good shots before it was all assembled.....

Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: JDC on August 30, 2009, 02:02:03 PM
the flame maple is sweet, silly question but I thought the grain on the neck was suppose go along the length of the neck, not across the width
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: dheim on August 30, 2009, 02:26:41 PM
the flame maple is sweet, silly question but I thought the grain on the neck was suppose go along the length of the neck, not across the width

good flamed necks are made this way... cheaper maple necks are as you say.
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: gwEm on August 30, 2009, 04:55:58 PM
the flame maple is sweet, silly question but I thought the grain on the neck was suppose go along the length of the neck, not across the width

good flamed necks are made this way... cheaper maple necks are as you say.

looks impressive horizontally though
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: AndyR on August 30, 2009, 05:02:58 PM
Looks really good (I'm always partial to red guitars, though :lol:)
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: gingataff on August 30, 2009, 05:12:49 PM
Looks nice, but I've never seen a BKP single coil with a white base.
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: gingataff on August 30, 2009, 05:21:41 PM
the flame maple is sweet, silly question but I thought the grain on the neck was suppose go along the length of the neck, not across the width

You're right,  but flame isn't grain.
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: ShotgunInnocence on August 30, 2009, 05:57:10 PM
Looks nice, but I've never seen a BKP single coil with a white base.

I was a lil surprised myself when I opened the box.  But that's how Tim sent it to me and the tone is spot on so I'm not gonna quibble.   :D
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: BigB on August 30, 2009, 10:26:51 PM
The Trilogy is freakin' HUGE!!!  Warm and beefy sound while still maintaining a distinct (almost vintage) SC sound.  Amazing.  Liquid fluidity when playing solos.  Hit a chord and almost fell off the stool! 

If I may hikack this thread: how does the trilogy compare to a more "standard" strat pup when played clean ? I'm thinking about replacing my (all-maple) Vox Standard 25's stock DiMarzio FS-1 (which are not bad but...) with BKPs, and while my first choice was slowhands,  I'm starting considering trilogy as a possible option too...
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: ShotgunInnocence on August 31, 2009, 12:19:13 AM
The Trilogy is freakin' HUGE!!!  Warm and beefy sound while still maintaining a distinct (almost vintage) SC sound.  Amazing.  Liquid fluidity when playing solos.  Hit a chord and almost fell off the stool!

If I may hikack this thread: how does the trilogy compare to a more "standard" strat pup when played clean ? I'm thinking about replacing my (all-maple) Vox Standard 25's stock DiMarzio FS-1 (which are not bad but...) with BKPs, and while my first choice was slowhands,  I'm starting considering trilogy as a possible option too...


I only have a Trilogy in the neck position, so I can't comment from experience about it in other positions and mine also has the zinc base plate option (definitely recommend it).  When played clean, it has that characteristic strat "quack" and sparkle.  The difference is that the Trilogy has a richer low end and overall fuller sound (not a bad thing with maple IMHO) with no loss of single coil clarity or definition.  One other observation.......because mine was calibrated with a Holy Diver, it was wound a bit hotter than a typical neck Trilogy.  I'm pretty sure that even wound slightly less hot (in a standard calibrated set) you'd achieve similar results.
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: FernandoDuarte on August 31, 2009, 01:10:39 AM
8)
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: dave_mc on August 31, 2009, 11:25:29 PM
wow, that looks awesome. :)
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: BigB on September 01, 2009, 09:48:55 AM

I only have a Trilogy in the neck position, so I can't comment from experience about it in other positions and mine also has the zinc base plate option (definitely recommend it).  When played clean, it has that characteristic strat "quack" and sparkle.  The difference is that the Trilogy has a richer low end and overall fuller sound (not a bad thing with maple IMHO) with no loss of single coil clarity or definition.  One other observation.......because mine was calibrated with a Holy Diver, it was wound a bit hotter than a typical neck Trilogy.  I'm pretty sure that even wound slightly less hot (in a standard calibrated set) you'd achieve similar results.

Thanks a lot - looks like I'd really should consider trilogy too.

Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: ShotgunInnocence on September 01, 2009, 01:22:01 PM

I only have a Trilogy in the neck position, so I can't comment from experience about it in other positions and mine also has the zinc base plate option (definitely recommend it).  When played clean, it has that characteristic strat "quack" and sparkle.  The difference is that the Trilogy has a richer low end and overall fuller sound (not a bad thing with maple IMHO) with no loss of single coil clarity or definition.  One other observation.......because mine was calibrated with a Holy Diver, it was wound a bit hotter than a typical neck Trilogy.  I'm pretty sure that even wound slightly less hot (in a standard calibrated set) you'd achieve similar results.

Thanks a lot - looks like I'd really should consider trilogy too.


I think if you're looking to add some warmth and fullness to the sound of a maple guitar, it's just what the doctor ordered.  I'd definitely recommend the the zinc baseplate for the bridge pup too (little extra warmth and fullness).


Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: FernandoDuarte on September 01, 2009, 02:52:57 PM
How much hotter than typical Trilogy, Shotgun?
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: ShotgunInnocence on September 01, 2009, 03:00:30 PM
The standard neck Trilogy is wound to 11.2k I believe......mine was wound to 13k.  When I wrote to Tim inquiring about the hotter wind, he told me that was standard procedure when calibrating it with a hotter humbucker like the HD.  Works for me Tim!   :lol:
Title: Re: NGD........doin' my "Happy Dance"!!!
Post by: BigB on September 02, 2009, 11:43:54 AM

Thanks a lot - looks like I'd really should consider trilogy too.

I think if you're looking to add some warmth and fullness to the sound of a maple guitar, it's just what the doctor ordered. 

Well, it's actually mounted with the stock DiMarzio FS-1, which are in the same ballpark as the trilogy wrt/ DC resistance (or even slightly hotter - the spec reads 14.23k). Not-bad pups for this axe, tame down the bightness, still preserve kind of a straty character, and (more a side benefit than a requirement) the output level more or less matches the crawlers on my other Vox so I don't have to mess too much with my amp settings when swapping guitar. But I'm pretty confident that well-chosen BKPs would beat them hands down  8). I initially ruled out the contemporary category - not being into shredding / metal stuff at all - but well, I'm not after a pure vintage strat tone neither.

Thanks again for your  answer, that should help.

I'd definitely recommend the the zinc baseplate for the bridge pup too (little extra warmth and fullness).

Yeps, that was planned already whatever set I finally choose (that is, for now, slowhands or trilogy).