Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: PistottiAmps on January 13, 2010, 07:17:46 PM
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Hello all this is my first post on this fine BKP Forum.
I am getting ready to pick up a set of PUs for my mid 2000's Les Paul Standard (60s neck) and I am still a bit unsure about what I should get.
I play anything from Hard Rock/old school metal to Blues and even some ambient sort of stuff. I mainly want a great powerful/crunch rock tone that's super tight in the bass, pronounced mids, and chimey but not overbearing highs. I want it to be very clear and articulate- but still retain a natural sound with some attitude.
I play a custom amp that is voiced similarly to a Soldano mixed with a Plexi on the OD channel- but it's not really a bright amp.
Naturally I thought the Rebel Yells- but I am open to suggestions.
Thanks!
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screw it!
just get some Mules
you'll be a god with them!
rock on PAFs!
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mules!!! just installed mine in my gibson les paul today!
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No love for anything else?
I think I am looking for something a little more modern and punchy than a PAF styled PU for this guitar. I want it to be versatile- and since I plan to do a lot of soundclips with my various amp projects. So I want it to sound good with a wide range of amplifiers (which may rule out the RY from what I've heard).
I don't know... I have had no experience with BKPs or any "real" winders pickups- so I am just hoping for some good advice. I guess I shouldn't rule out the Mule.
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the only reason i mention the mule is that if you ever wanted to back off the gain it'll still sound good, whereas higher output humbuckers only really sound their best with lots of gain. But thats just my experience.
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That is a good point- I do like to be able to clean up a bit with the volume down... plus I try to make all of my amps very expressive as they interact with the guitar/pu. What does anybody think about the VHII? I figure it may be good since it's lower resistance than the RY- but a little hotter than the Mules.
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There are so many BKPS that would work well for you, have a liten to some Abraxas clips I'm quite sure you will like these they sound very much the same as a Mule (to my ears) only more poke! work extremely well in a LP type guitar.
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Rebel Yells might be a very good alternative; depending on the acoustic tone of the guitar. Have a listen to the clip Steve Stevens himself created, on the player's section. It's not a bottom heavy pickup, so it stays tight. It has fairly aggressive mids, so it punches.
For a typical warm sounding LP, it should be a great pickup! If I remember correctly, it has one vintage and one contemporary wound coil, so it sort of has best of both worlds. Really versatile, and it's not super high output either, so it cleans up too.
-Zaned
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Hi
You may want to have a look at Crawlers too.
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You may want to have a look at Crawlers too.
Dunno, Crawlers wouldn't be my first suggestion for ultra tight bass..in an LP. A maple neck-through is of course a whole different animal (referring to BigB's guitar). That kind of guitar tends to be very tight in both lows and highs, but the typical LP is not.
-Zaned
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Hi PistottiAmps, I'm not sure about Mules for this either - even before I read your later post about maybe not PAF.
The only other BKP humbucker I have is Riff Raffs - but I haven't ever had them in a Les Paul (SG and Explorer only). I think they'd go some way to what you want but might be a tad bright in maple capped LP???
If it was me, I'd be sniffing around Abraxus. No personal experience of them, this is based on some very useful threads on here a few months back. The impression I was getting was that they'd give me a "PAF+", as it were, a modern take on "vintage"...
This might be a good one for contacting Tim at BKP - it sounds like you've got a very good idea of what you want out of the pickups, and he'll know straight away... (it'll probably be Mules, after all! :lol:)
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dude...always ask Tim...give him all the info you can(guitar,wood,pots,amp,effects,etc...)I can say for sure,however, that the Rebs are killer in a LP Standard!blues,modern,etc...a killer all arounder-I play thru Boogie MArk amps,and EVERY time I play out, EVERY time......guitarists in the crowd ask me about my pickups!they have a killer juice!-I am going for a Lukather/Schon tone ,in terms of lead, and it nails it....a Sykes tone? yessir...the Crawlers rule as well in my Classic...as tim told me/....."sweeter highs"
to me, I need an Alnico V in my amps(they are higher preamp gain...) anything less is a little on the brittle side in MY setup..as always, MMV! ask TIm-THE MASTER!
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Man... I am gone for a day and all of this input. You are all awesome!
I did email Tim last night. He said that the RY sounds like what I am looking for- in the bridge. I wanted something with a different sort of flavor for the neck- so I think I am actually going to go with a Mule. Tim said that the combo sounds like it would fit my situation well... And even though I do play a lot of "modern" stuff- I love that vintage PAF sound.
I think the Crawler is a bit more vintage and not quite as tight as I am going for... but my maple strat has a cr@ppy sounding bridge PU... hmmm
And I think the ABXS doesn't have the tightness I'd like... but time will tell on both of these now won't it.
Now I just have to play the waiting game... I think I may do a few clips when I get the PUs of the stock vs BKPs- I would have loved to hear some sort of A/B sort of things in my decision making process.
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I think you will be quite pleased with the RY bridge. Below is a clip I did with my 2006 custom
http://www.youtube.com/user/jmp100watt#p/f/18/FxdkBN69I8s
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Sounds pretty awesome- and I think that's what I'm going for. I really like the growling mids that you hear a few times in the video. I want to be able to play leads and have it be articulate yet smooth- but then hitting a fat chord or even just a power chord and have it feel like the rich mid harmonics will just tear you in half.
It is on Youtube and all but I think I can still get a picture of it... also- gotta love those 800's! Sounds like a match made in heaven straight from the 80's
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Les Paul through a Marshall valve amp! just about as good as it gets!
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You may want to have a look at Crawlers too.
Dunno, Crawlers wouldn't be my first suggestion for ultra tight bass..in an LP. A maple neck-through is of course a whole different animal (referring to BigB's guitar).
Indeed, and that's why I only suggested to have a look at - instead of "strongly recommanded" :wink:
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There are so many BKPS that would work well for you, have a liten to some Abraxas clips I'm quite sure you will like these they sound very much the same as a Mule (to my ears) only more poke! work extremely well in a LP type guitar.
^ +1
check out the video clips linked in my signature - all done with an Abraxas-loaded Les Paul.
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Thanks HTH!
I think part of the problem is that Tim offers too many good pickups and choosing is difficult. I think that's why so many of the veterans here a multitudes of guitars loaded with BKPs.
I did finally place the order for the RY and Mule today.
I am super excited about it. I had heard of BKPs a while ago and always figured that they were something that I wanted to try in the distant future. When I got my new strat I kind of realized how limited my LP sounded and really how much I disliked my bridge PU. I looked at lots of other brands with cheaper sets and what not... but every time I go into upgrading my gear I always end up getting the top of the line in the end. I figured this time I'd bypass all of the trying/being disappointed and just go for the BKPs. I think that I'm making the right decision this time though.
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bridge RY + neck mule is a great combo, and i've just got it in my LesPaul (replacing the bridge mule, great pickup but too vintagey for my metalhead tastes... :))!
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It's a bit overdue- but I got the pickups about a week ago. Exactly what I was looking for. Through my amp the RY is great. Really mean sounding mids- and since the amp has ample bass/tightness- I really don't miss it coming from the pickup. The mule is awesome too- though it's clear I'll be using the RY more. The mule is exactly what Tim said though- one of the best PAF sounds I've ever heard.
Just curious- what kind of caps did you guys use? I had ODs in there... they were ok- a bit grainy. I tried some Mallory 150s and I actually like them better. I have a ton of other types from my amp building stash- just no paper/oil. Any suggestions to improve my tone further?
In the mean time... saving up to replace the strat pickups!
Thanks guys!
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Just curious- what kind of caps did you guys use? I had ODs in there... they were ok- a bit grainy. I tried some Mallory 150s and I actually like them better. I have a ton of other types from my amp building stash- just no paper/oil. Any suggestions to improve my tone further?
In the mean time... saving up to replace the strat pickups!
Thanks guys!
Glad to know you enjoy your new pups :D
wrt/ tone caps, it's really a matter of personal tastes I'd say. I currently use russian PIOs - can get them for a reasonnable price on evil-bay - and find they "sweeten" the tone quite well. On my Vox Custom 24 I did a whole pups + pots + tone caps replacement at once so it's hard to tell about the caps themselves (I'll possibly try other options one day or another, but that's not exactly my priority). But I swapped only the caps on a friend's LP copy recently, and going from a modern-wiring / cheap ceramic caps to a vintage-wiring / russian PIO caps was a noticeable improvement in both overall tone and volume/tone pots usability.
wrt/ your strat, if it's the "maple strat (with ) a cr@ppy sounding bridge" you mentioned - and assuming it's an HSS -, then the Crawler might indeed be a good option. On my Vox (ok, a bit different since it's a going-thru neck), the Crawler bridge is at once sharp and yet still sweet, and performs as well from chimey cleans to cutting crunch to singing&screaming hi-gain leads - with of course all the distinctive features you can expect from a BKP : even & well balanced tone, very articulate even on highest gain settings, and literally "breathing".
But anyway : as you know now, Tim is THE man when it comes to "which pups for this axe and tone" questions 8)
My 2 cents.