Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: rsterren on April 29, 2005, 07:52:06 AM
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http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1058862#post1058862
Got me a bit worryd about the NailBomb being 'Bright'...
I need a darker higher output Pub.
So what options do you guys have?
next week the Burny is ready and i have to make a dissision on the pickups...
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Can't seem to follow the link, what was it about?
Check out Steve's clip in the player's room for the Nailbomb, I'll hopefully post up another more rhythm based Nailbomb clip later.
The Nailbomb isn't overly bright, it's meaty as hell especially in a LP.
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http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1058862#post1058862
link worked here.. its a compare between Bare Knuckle and WCR Pickups.
Steve's clip sound great! thats wasnt there yesterday when i checked the forum ;-), i'm convinced ;-)
and in a strat, so a LP will give it even more balls!
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http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1058862#post1058862
link worked here.. its a compare between Bare Knuckle and WCR Pickups.
Unfortunately Les Paul is a member only forum and not everyone is a member. Could you "summarise" it for us, pretty please :roll:
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ok here goes:
Has anyone compared Bare Knuckle to WCR Pickups?
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Guys, I am really interested in a set of Darkbursts for my, soon to arrive, 2005 R8 although I have never experienced
Burstbuckers before. As I live in the UK the Bare Knuckle pickups are all the rage, has anyone compared them? For me the
difference in cost is not that much and as you have to buy before hearing with pickups I cannot lose either way. For
reference I like Gary Moore (Blues) Slash and Billy Gibbons and all nice hard rock and roll.
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Talk to Tim Mills himself, he can be reached by phone. As long as you ask for what you actually want, you will not be
disappointed. Guitarists are often quite poor at realising what part a pup plays in a tone as witnessed by the number some
people go through.
A far better pup than Gibson's offerings.
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I had a pair of DB for that Slash tone too. They are great PAF. Bridge has lots of treble and clarity, hollow mids, good
bass. Very punchy and clear. I found them not enough smooth, and lacking mids (bridge) for me. I sold them.
I have BK PUs but for a different tone (more screaming): Nailbomb bridge + Riff Raff. BK has the same qualities : punchy and
clear. NB and Riff Raff has a strong treble content but it was what I was after for this guitar (a full mahogany slim body)
For my PRS I am looking for the kind of tone you want. I talked to Tim @BK and they told me about the Mules Alnico IV that
could do exactly what I want. Others ideas: Rio Grande BBQ+ Texas (or A2P), Voodoo 57's, or WCR ********s. Let me know what
you choose.
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here's my twopenneth.
from the above mentioned pickups makers i have tried:
WCR Filmores and Hercs
BARE KNUCKLE emeralds and mules.
In my opionion bare knuckle don't come close to wcr.
Posts: 57 Re: Has anyone compared Bare Knuckle to WCR Pickups?
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Nickysplendid!
You've finally come out and said it! Cheers.
I was torn between WCR & BKs and went with Darkbursts because of the favourable exchange rate, also I couldn't resist them
due to forum opinion.
Tim Mills charges £90 a pickup, which is too expensive. I can get WCR stuff sent from the US for less than BK can do from
Cornwall!
As far as I can tell, you're the only guy out there to have A/B'd BOTH makers so you're an authority mate..... This months
Guitarist Mag rates BKs very highly, but they don't mention any of the forum faves in the sidebar stuff, just the usual
Dimarzio / Duncan stuff.
Thanks again for putting me out of my mysery
Proby
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I've just spent 40 mins putting together a reply that i've just deleted. it was a bit too contravertial .if i could've mailed
u proby..i would have.
there are a couple of uk pickup makers that have always been "value for money"...they haven't ever really been in the running
as serious quality pickups. Bare Knuckle have been very pricey from day one. Tim has clearly spent a lot on advertising and
getting the right image out there.
U know how it is...when u spend a lot of money on anything u almost think it's good regardless. I think the same rule applies
to cheap stuff too...u buy cheap pups...u think they sound cheap.
what say u proby?
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Im looking into BK for a burny les paul thats a bit to bright to my taste now.
Tim adviced the NailBomb, but CED77 remark "NB and Riff Raff has a strong treble content" make me worry again.....
i have duncan distortions in my GibsonLP but the gibson is darker sounding than the burny, so i was looking at darker
sounding PUbs for the burny, any ideas?
rsterren
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as u can probably tell...i'd advise against the BKs.
I really like the Gibson 57 plus at the bridge on my les. I prefered the filmores though.
I have wcr Hercs in my V at the mo...i love to get another herc to try in my les.
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Nicky,
I've met Tim a couple of times at shows in the Midlands and he seems a really clever guy that knows a lot about pickups. I
tried some BK's in 2 LP's on his stands on both occasions but could not make a judgement due to confusing models names and
the low volume of the amps.
Jim Wagner's stuff is well known around here, loads of forum members have his kit, he has like 4 models to choose from and by
and large he gets the "thumbs up" , an easy choice.
I'd really like to have tried the BK's properly because I wanted to make a fair judgement. The sad thing is the US guys are
not going to shell out what Tims asking and the UK Mags seem oblivious to the pups favoured around here.
Your earlier posts swung it for me, as you were the only guy out there to have actually had both BKs and WCRs in your
guitars! Thanks bloke....
Proby
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsterren
Im looking into BK for a burny les paul thats a bit to bright to my taste now.
Tim adviced the NailBomb, but CED77 remark "NB and Riff Raff has a strong treble content" make me worry again.....
i have duncan distortions in my GibsonLP but the gibson is darker sounding than the burny, so i was looking at darker
sounding PUbs for the burny, any ideas?
I had a Duncan Distortion too but in another guitar. It would be hard to say who is the trebliest between NB and DD .... Both
are close in my memories (I still have not the DD to compare). The NB is a bit more powerfull maybe.
I had a pair WCR Darkburst, but they are completly different beast. Less powerfull, lots of treble too, less mids. More
vintage.
If you like DD, maybe a Custom (thicker than DD) could please you?
I did not try a 57 Classic+, but read they are plenty bright. Don't know if it's true....
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I have researched what PAF type pickup I need and have gone with a set of RS Fralins coming is shortly from RS Guitar Parts.
They use alnico IV (4) mags and fall directly between the WCR Crossroads and the Darkbursts. They are a proprietary pickup
built by Lindy Fralin to the exact specs of a set of 1960 PAFS that Roy at RS has. They can be purchased from RS Guitar Parts
directly in black, zebra or with nickel covers.
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Still would like to give BK a go, price is not very different from Duncan (i'm in holland)
I Kinda like the image Tim is having, and the personal approache he's using.
I do need a high output pickup but dont wanna go with 'what everyone is using' and a SD custom is in every hot LP these days
i guess.
So if the NailBomb is to bright i will ask hime to make me a pickup thats darker.. lets hope it works out ;-)
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Interesting, they look to be doing things very much like BKP and a host of other hand winders - but the website is cr@p....and judging from what's being said on the site teh attention to detail just isn't anywhere near what Tim goes to.
Also a pair of black HBs for $250, plus £20 for four conductor wiring, and some shipping, it'll be $300. So call it £160, then you need to add VAT and duty (assuming you get hit), and bingo, BKP are cheaper....
Just 'cause you don't always get hit at customs, doesn't mean that any given product is cheaper.
Oh and by the way, I don't work for BKP, I just help them out because I think they're the best pickups I've ever come accross, have done since I first met Tim a couple of years ago.
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:lol:
I know the guy who's posting-he bought some of our first pickups,played them for over a year and then decided he didn't like them and emailed me complaining about it.I made him another set FOC and sent them out-his response-he loved them....doesn't say much about that does he!
He's come on the stand a couple of times and I get the feeling he just doesn't like someone that's got off his arse and gone and done something rather than just moan on forums.
It is hard to hear at the trade shows but we do our best and we always offer to exchange a pickup if a customer isn't happy-I'm not in it to make money at any cost-I'm in this because I'm a guitar player, same as the rest of you, who wants their guitar to sound it's best.
WCR coils are fine, I've had quite a few in here for rewinds, they're made from pretty standard components, put together very well and very lightly potted-got nothing against them at all.If this guy prefers them then all power to him.
Jim makes his pickups exactly the same way I do-to the best of his ability.
The type of Emerald mentioned was a prototype which we phased out very quickly( the guy in question tried it out before he bought too so he knew what he was buying) and replaced with the Emerald we now sell-the Mules were custom speced hotter than I would normally wind at the his own request, also with Alnico V unlike the usual Alnico IV I would normally use so basically his experience counts for nothing-I know the type of pickup he likes but he's never tried one of ours that is in that ballpark so I can't really fight my corner on this one.
As for expensive-I don't think £90 is a lot here in the UK for a totally handmade pickup. A SD Antiquity will set you back £120, Fralin, humbucker £110-140, Gibsn 57 Classic £100, Rio Grande £90....so we're not over the top by a long mark.
As for WCR coils being cheaper, they're $250 a set plus import plus carriage-by the time you've got through that lot you'll be close on the £170 a set we charge(yes, our sets are £10 cheaper than buying individual pickups!). Remember the $ is very weak to the £ at the moment so it's not a level playing field.
All BKPs are warrantied for life and come with a complimentary set of strings too(and no, that's not marked into the price, that comes out of my own pocket).
Plus we work in Devon not Cornwall so he should get his facts right too before shooting his mouth off.
I wouldn't worry about the comments re:treble in respect of Nailbomb and Riff Raff-that's way off the mark too. Check the clips in the players room.
As you can see I'm FIERCELY protective about what we do here-I work 14 hours a day, every day making pickups, speaking to customers, trying to keep a handle on what's going on in the forum, replying to over 100 mails a day. I'm not niave enough to think I can please everyone but I'll go head on with anyother pickup on the planet for build quality and tone bar none.
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I would say something clever here but I can't think of anything.
Although I have to admit, my playing an tone have never been good since I tried the BKP's through Marshalls at last years LGS, those WarPigs were brutal and whatever was in that Charvel was really cool too!
Andy!
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ok guys, thnx for the clearing up bit!
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Hi, and that clip was recorded using a £250 digital recorder, through a valve amp my strat now sounds more like a Les Paul. Fat!!!!
Steve.
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This is a what the guy on the LP forum actually said to me in an email after I replaced the pickups he decided he didn't like(after a year!!):
'The pickups have improved the SG a great deal. I am very pleased with the hotness.
They are also very nicely balanced between the bridge and neck and sound pretty hot. great stuff! '
'yes..a real result.
The biggest difference I noticed was that the new ones have loads of clarity (but don't make the sg sound like i'm using a stanley blade for a plectrum)'
So there you have it from the horses mouth as it were.
When he caught up with me at a trade show after that he continued to say how pleased he was with them and also how much he liked WCR's too which is fair enough in my book.
As for the other guy finding the names I call my pickups confusing..........Warpig, hmmmm now I wonder what that's all about
:twisted:
OK I like to indulge myself in the names but why not and I personally think it's an easy way of getting a ballpark idea of the tone they'll produce as well as being a bit of fun.
:D
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I disagree with the comment in that forum that players in the U.S. won't pay the money for BK.
The dollar is weak now, so going to local Guitar Center and buying a Duncan or DiMarzio is going to be less money. And there are many players that will go this route.
But to anyone serious about thier tone, the price of a BK pickup is miniscule compared to other equipment. My amp head alone was $3,200. And I didn't mind paying that. I want the best tone for myself.
The Miracle Man took my tone to the next level, just as my amp purchase did. When I look at what BK did for my sound and what I spent, it's a great bargain!
Mark
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The Miracle Man took my tone to the next level, just as my amp purchase did. When I look at what BK did for my sound and what I spent, it's a great bargain!
Amen!
What head, Mark? I saw the Engl logo on the new album ...
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http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1058862#post1058862
Got me a bit worryd about the NailBomb being 'Bright'...
I need a darker higher output Pub.
So what options do you guys have?
next week the Burny is ready and i have to make a dissision on the pickups...
8) Tim i read your coments with great interest life throws up these situations you no & i no theres allways someone who thinks its hip to go against the grain. Your defence is simple just look on Harmony Central are we the users of your P/U`s all wrong ? highly unlikely and lets be fair here if your confused by more than 4 P/U names you can`t be to bright to start with can you !!! To slat you for advertising your company in guitar mags and then complaining that the ads look good what your supposed to spend ex amount of thousands of pounds on a shite looking ad !!! i would never have checked out your web site if it wasn`t for your profesional looking ads and the name [Stormy Monday] which suggested tone more so than gain which was exactly what i was looking for. As for value for money Duncan antiquetes are £120. each your right your product is hand made and better and cheaper than the big players. if the idiots that think its cool to put you and your excellent product down without listening to the players page & downloading the sounds then they can`t be to bright can they !!!
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You won´t imagine how expensive is for me, i live in Argentina!!!!
BUT, If tone is what you want then there´s nothing close. There´s no price for tone people should understand that. Then nobody would waste their money on lousy products like DIMARZIO, SEYMOUR DUNCAN and so on. I prefer spending my money on someone who cares for what i need, who stands himself behind his products. Man! when i play a chord my jaw just drops!!!!!
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Tim, you shouldn´t even worry about some people talking bullshitee in forums. To me, a lot of people don´t even know what they are saying and since it´s free, and nobody sees their faces, they just like to rat on everybody. To bad for them, i prefer using that time to play guitar while i work on my tone. Man, tone is 90% hands and heart 10% gear.
Thanks for that 10% Tim!!!!
Cheers!
Santiago
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Amen to that Santiago!
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You won´t imagine how expensive is for me, i live in Argentina!!!!
BUT, If tone is what you want then there´s nothing close. There´s no price for tone people should understand that. Then nobody would waste their money on lousy products like DIMARZIO, SEYMOUR DUNCAN and so on. I prefer spending my money on someone who cares for what i need, who stands himself behind his products. Man! when i play a chord my jaw just drops!!!!!
8) Amen brother Balde !!
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im not gonna come n start slating people for their opinions. everyone has the right to be wrong now and then, just try not to abuse it. :wink:
i'v just gotten off the phone with tim, after endless emails and long chats, he's still more than willing to help, thats rare to find!
bk's gave me the sound i heard in my head, and when my needs changed slightly tim's still there providing the right answers! cos he's cool!
bareknuckle made me a man!
8)
keep it up!!!!
p.s. a big hi to everyone on the board!
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I'm a member of the LPF, but don't think I've made a single post there. There are LOADS of experienced and knowledgable bods over there, some great learning to be done. It's far from all good though.... forums are a great place to read and learn stuff, especially both sides of the coin and all opinions, but there will always be one or two who post for the sake of it, with no real experience or knowledge of what they're on about. I find this to be true of all forums I frequent.
Why did I go BKP? Well, at first I thought it was hype.... I spent an afternoon with a guy in a guitar store who was telling me about this Tim guy who made pickups, and he gave me an article to read. One of the first sentences I picked up on was along the lines of the pickups being the brains of the guitar, the woods were not a massive factor, more of something to hold the pickups. I have to admit to taking umbrage to this, how could my fancy topped PRS not sound better for the fancy wood, eh?? :lol: But I dropped Tim a mail and it was clear he knew a thing or two, something I've never professed to do personally (I play to an ok standard, that's as far as I go generally). A little while later I asked Tim to make some replacements for the pickups in my PRS Santana 3 and that was that, hooked. I got all the interaction and customer service all you guys know about, and Tim was very specific in asking what I wanted. Did he deliver?? Hell yeah. And so when it came time for me requiring 3 P90s for a guitar?? BK again. I would have absolute FAITH in a guitar simply built well enough not to fall apart and hold it's tuning, with a pair of BKs in. I still wouldn't go so far as to say the construction and materials of a guitar add nothing to the tone, but MAN pickups can make a guitar a completely different animal.
My point? I'll have to admit to having been something of a guitar 'tw@t' until the last 3 or so years. My answer to finding and improving tone had more often than not been to buy a more expensive, exclusive guitar. Then the Santana 3 turned all that on it's head. A pickup wound to how I want it to sound, replaced and/or re-built if it's not quite how I like it?? A £2k+ guitar brought to life by a £90 pickup?? I honestly don't see how can anyone could feasibly argue with that being a bargain. BKs have changed my approach to what a guitar is and how to find and make tone. All for less than a decent pedal. Also not to be underestimated is what I learnt from Tim when my first pair of BKs were being made..... true, I have forgotten nearly all of it but I don't care, I'm not technical and don't really want/need to be so long as there are such people in the world who can be relied upon.
Right, I'm off to wipe the brown from my nose and beat the cr@p out of some guitars for a while.
Cheers all, saturday rant over.
N.
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The point I was trying to make about wood vs pickups was basically that without a pickup an electric guitar won't work :shock: -yeah really :lol: so all the constant talk about this and that type timber has to be balanced with the other factors that contribute to tone.
The single most important factor in tone is the player-then a split of wood/construction and pickups ending in the amplified tone. Everything goes into the pot but the single most important ingredient is the player.
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Hi Tim, yeah I'd kinda agree with that. During a recent discussion on another forum I made this post relating to importance of contributing factors to overall tone:
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1: Amp
2: Pickups
3: Player
4: Construction materials
I absolutely appreciate the 'all in the fingers' side of things, I agree with it.... I also agree that a truly good guitarist will sound like her/herself on whatever rig. However fingers and technique very rarely make equipment sound like other equipment IMO. If anyone would like to pop round and make my daughter's Yamaha guitar and Fender amp sound like my AT into the Bluesbreaker, I'd love to hear from you.
For me I have to have confidence in my amp. Next is the pickups. If they're right then I have everything I need to do my thing.
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I don't think amp *should* be at the top of the list in all honesty.... an ideal for me is an amp which simply 'makes louder' the player and the guitar, with no colouration of the tone (why I like my Yamaha and some older Marshalls). That's kinda a rare thing these days though, amps tend to more frequently be chosen based on their tone-shaping so I put 'em on top. Pickups is number 2 purely based on some extremely naff ones I've played, if they're THAT bad then you're kinda sunk from square one. If all's well in amp and pickup land though, then one is set to go!!! I do see construction technique and material as nice and important ways to shape tone, but to me that's kinda extreme and much easier to do in the pickups. Still fun choosing woods and what not, mind. :)
I'd also put cables and plectrums in there too, but the above would be my personal top 4.
N.
ps Oops, sorry for derailing the thread...normal service will now resume (i.e. I'll shut the hell up). Go BK!
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EVERYTHING COUNTS TOWARDS THE FINAL PICTURE.
The player is ultimately the most important but don't overlook the vital part of both the timbers AND the pickups.
I'm really lucky in my job where this is concerned.
I deal with loads of guitars, loads of pickups and the only cinstant in the equation is me. Now some guitars float my boat more than others , and inspire me to play in a certain way or just more.
We have had a busy week changing pickups to BKPs in our own guitars which are about as good as they come (try one and see) and my goodness do the pickups make a difference!
Guitars that I liked loads - I now love with the BKPs.
And that can be a problem as I won't want to sell them and that is what my business is all about.
We have made these fab guitars loaded with great pickups just sing through a 12W Marshall practise amp - cheap tranny job, and couldn't wait to try them through a big valve amp (we weren't disappointed!!)
But every part of the signal chain is important - so don't go cheaping out on cables and the like. it is very much like Hi-Fi to a degree where your sound is only as good as your weakest link.
But timbers, hardware and pickups are all important.
Different timbers colour the sound and my pickup choices vary depending on this.
I have often swapped out pickups and ended up using something very different to what I thought i would because I'm using a different timber to where I had based my previous experiences.
So experimentation is the key ...if you can afford that luxuary.[/i]
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I was talking with a friend today saying that tone was probably 33% wood, 33% pickups and 33% player-he pointed out that to an audience it was more like 90% players and 10% equipment.
A great player will have the same tone through whatever they play coloured by whatever they're using-it'll be in the way they phrase, just like speaking really.
Anyway the point I was originally trying to make is that it's the sum of the whole-some people get too carried away pinning it all on one facet like wood or pickups.For example you can put a 3K PRS or Gibbo up against my little test axe which is a shoe box size piece of wood with a neck screwed onto it-put the same pickup into both and plug into the same amp and I'll be damned if it doesn't give the expensively timbered guitar a run for it's money.Looks horrible mind but when you close your eyes the tone is there.
For me getting the feel of a guitar correct is as important as the timber-if it feels wrong you won't pick it up in the first place,. Once thats right everything else combines together to shape the tone-construcution, timber,hardware, pickups, strings, cable, amp and most importantly the person playing it!
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:) Balde...Vos tenés razón Che....
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Tim made a good point.
To someone listening - the player is 90% of the equation
To the player - the gear is much more important part of the equation.
The player is always trying to achieve a sound that exists only in his/her head and will change their playing style to accomodate that tone with whatever they are playing through - however if the gear gets them closer to that tone without them having to physically compensate- it can "open up their playing style " and inspire them differently
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que flash!!!!!!!!! de donde sos lulu?
Sorry folks, think i met some that speaks spanish!!!
:D
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Tim has a point here. I´ve seen it so many times, people playing with their rigs or with ss amps and a cheap guitar, and sounding just like themselves. I mean, does a korean strat sound the same as a 64 strat? Of course not. Does a Marshall valvestate sound as a Vintage Marshall Plexi? Hell no!!! But there´s something that goes far beyond that and it´s the way you pulse the strings. And not only that, there are so many other things involved, such as passion, feeling and so on.
If gear defined a good tone, then everybody would sound the same and whoever has the money to buy good gear will instantly have good tone right? We all know it doesn´t work that way. To me, the search of gear is more related to which tool can help, me myself achieve the tone i am looking for, than for the tone that specific thing provides. Not only that, i believe that such thing doesn´t exist. Of course a marshall is a marshall and a fender is a fender etc. But grab a guitar and an amp, put 10 people playing through the exact same rig, same settings, and there we´ll get 10 different tones.
I guess the search for tone is an exact analogy to life itself, there isn´t any correct way but the one we find best for ourselves. The concept of good tone is so controversial, that there would never be something that could even stand for that definition.
I got to a point where i am happy with the tools i have(of course i wouldn´t say that´s definite!) but feel that there´s too much work to be done, and that´s my friends, KEEP ON PLAYING THE GUITAR. That´s were true tone stands out, by working hard making music. After all, music is pure expression and that has nothing to do with the fact of which gear we use right?
Cheers to everybody!!!!
I LOVE THIS FORUM :D
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Tim has a point here. I´ve seen it so many times, people playing with their rigs or with ss amps and a cheap guitar, and sounding just like themselves. I mean, does a korean strat sound the same as a 64 strat? Of course not. Does a Marshall valvestate sound as a Vintage Marshall Plexi? Hell no!!! But there´s something that goes far beyond that and it´s the way you pulse the strings. And not only that, there are so many other things involved, such as passion, feeling and so on.
If gear defined a good tone, then everybody would sound the same and whoever has the money to buy good gear will instantly have good tone right? We all know it doesn´t work that way. To me, the search of gear is more related to which tool can help, me myself achieve the tone i am looking for, than for the tone that specific thing provides. Not only that, i believe that such thing doesn´t exist. Of course a marshall is a marshall and a fender is a fender etc. But grab a guitar and an amp, put 10 people playing through the exact same rig, same settings, and there we´ll get 10 different tones.
I guess the search for tone is an exact analogy to life itself, there isn´t any correct way but the one we find best for ourselves. The concept of good tone is so controversial, that there would never be something that could even stand for that definition.
I got to a point where i am happy with the tools i have(of course i wouldn´t say that´s definite!) but feel that there´s too much work to be done, and that´s my friends, KEEP ON PLAYING THE GUITAR. That´s were true tone stands out, by working hard making music. After all, music is pure expression and that has nothing to do with the fact of which gear we use right?
Cheers to everybody!!!!
I LOVE THIS FORUM :D
:guitar4: One of the big reasons why players playing through the same gear sound so different is there ears !! :P we all hear things differently and we make in some cases minor changes to how we play or sound notes in order to compensate or accent a note or chords. this can give a complety different expretion to a phrase or passage. we adjust the settings on our amps and pedals to help us do this it`s what helps make us as players unique it`s also the biggest reason why guitars wil never die as an instrument. 8)
the point i tried [badly] to make to Tim earlier in this discussion was that its a sure sign of success that your recieving complaints no matter how unjustified you may feel they are; we are all hear because we have problems with other P/U manufacters !! but you would have to say that Di*****o or D*****Ns are successfull companys yet how many of us complain about them!!?? :o So don`t take it personally the reviews on Harmony Central are testiment to how good your P/U`s are Tim and word of mouth is also helping to spread the good news :shock:
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I had some of the Timbuckers that are very popular on the LPF and they are indeed very nice PAF repros, the best I've tried in fact (also had Seth Lover, Antiquity, 57 Classic, Virtual PAF, '59, T-Tops). I sold them recently though as I'm playing stuff which is alot heavier and I need a pickup to translate that style.
I've also tried the WCR Fillmores - don't know if I had a dodgy set but both pickups were thin and weedy (on par with those cr@p humbuckers that Gibson were loading in their LPs during the late 80s/early 90s).
As for hotter pickups, the DiMarzio AirZone is a really under-rated pickup - huge bass response that's great with alot of gain.
With the current £-$ exchange rate, its unfair to compare prices - you have to price to your domestic market.
:twisted:
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I had some of the Timbuckers that are very popular on the LPF and they are indeed very nice PAF repros, the best I've tried in fact (also had Seth Lover, Antiquity, 57 Classic, Virtual PAF, '59, T-Tops). I sold them recently though as I'm playing stuff which is alot heavier and I need a pickup to translate that style.
I've also tried the WCR Fillmores - don't know if I had a dodgy set but both pickups were thin and weedy (on par with those cr@p humbuckers that Gibson were loading in their LPs during the late 80s/early 90s).
As for hotter pickups, the DiMarzio AirZone is a really under-rated pickup - huge bass response that's great with alot of gain.
With the current £-$ exchange rate, its unfair to compare prices - you have to price to your domestic market.
:twisted:
:guitar4: Utter bullshitee !! :evil:
the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound means that U.S based P/U manufactures should be supplying there P/U`s for a fraction of what there actually charging for them !! :evil: :shock: You shouldn`t be charging more or less for your P/U`s based on wether your British or American. Maybe we should charge more for products to players that come from Newcastle and charge half the price to those of us that come from the south !!? :?:
Do you think that`s fare ?? :?:
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:twisted:
:guitar4: Utter bullshitee !! :evil:
the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound means that U.S based P/U manufactures should be supplying there P/U`s for a fraction of what there actually charging for them !! :evil: :shock: You shouldn`t be charging more or less for your P/U`s based on wether your British or American. Maybe we should charge more for products to players that come from Newcastle and charge half the price to those of us that come from the south !!? :?:
Do you think that`s fare ?? :?:
That sounds like petrol pricing.....just paid 92p a litre - what the hell's going on.... :o
The really anoying thing is that, IMHO, prices should reflect the exchange rate variances, after all, if the £ dropped against the $, damn sure that we'd see price increases.
I know several retailers that are moaning about people importing gear from the States, but why not!? They could put presure onto distributers to drop prices if they all wanted too.
On the other hand, it's the dealers that take the largest cut of the profits, by the time the distributer has taken a share, you can place a safe bet that the manufacturer makes the least profit out of the chain....
BKPs aren't cheap, but the price is great for the quality you get. Considering the fact that out of all boutique pickup manufacturers BKP have the highest content of vintage correct parts and bespoke tooling. Really BKP are worth every penny. How many times have you bought Lindy's, Duncans, Gibsons etc and been dissapointed? - I have.
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There's nout wrong with importing from the states, it's what I'm doing with the Warmoth, except for the pickups (Bare Knuckle all the way) and case that is. If people here want me to buy from them instead of from the yanks then they can adjust their prices to a more competative rate.
That said, the Ibanez AFS77T I'm gonna try and get hold of (shouldn't have clicked that etched cover thread :lol: ) is £298 or $399.95, and it's about $1:80 or $1:90 to the pound at the moment, after shipping and tax, that would be pretty much the same, maybe more.
I guess it's luck of the draw or whatever, those Ibanez guitars seem like pretty good bang for the buck, I'm hoping it'll smoke by the time I get around to hotrodding it with some new hardwear and some BKPs.
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There's nout wrong with importing from the states, it's what I'm doing with the Warmoth, except for the pickups (Bare Knuckle all the way) and case that is. If people here want me to buy from them instead of from the yanks then they can adjust their prices to a more competative rate.
That said, the Ibanez AFS77T I'm gonna try and get hold of (shouldn't have clicked that etched cover thread :lol: ) is £298 or $399.95, and it's about $1:80 or $1:90 to the pound at the moment, after shipping and tax, that would be pretty much the same, maybe more.
I guess it's luck of the draw or whatever, those Ibanez guitars seem like pretty good bang for the buck, I'm hoping it'll smoke by the time I get around to hotrodding it with some new hardwear and some BKPs.
:guitar4: Right on there Brotrhers :!: :!:
Your right if the dollar rises you can bet your ass that prices will rise and i completly agree with you about importing gear if the Shops want me to buy it of them then they have to lower there prices !! :evil:As for BK there not the cheapest but there the best and there only slightly more expensive than D******Ns i`m more than happy to pay a good price for something that is HAND MADE & gives me the sounds i hear in my head.
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Can't agree more. I too order a lot of stuff from the states. Example: The EMG-25 set I had in my LP are being sold here for 500 Euro's! Got 'em in the US for less than 250 Euro's, including shipping, taxes etc. THAT'S HALF!
I'm gonna get my Levi's from the states as well; 80 Euro's here, 35 there! If you're gonna buy a top of the line American guitar you could save yourselves up to a 1000 Euro's! BTW customer service is way better in the US than overhere (generaly speaking of course)
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jt, calm down man - get a cold beer and chill out :roll:
How can you say it's shitee that products are not priced to their domestic market - it's FACT, I'm not making this up.
For the sake of illustrating my point, I can get the Zakk Wylde EMG 81/85 set from the US for $159 (£84) all day long - I'd be adding another £100 to that price to get the exact same thing in the UK. I understand that there's a distributor involved so we pay another markup but the pricing difference is still night and day.
That's just my opinion and I'm well entitled to it thankyou very much. btw, you southerners SHOULD pay more for your pickups - you earn more :wink:
:twisted:
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Steady on there Heavier. Lets not get a North vs South thing going eh? If you had to buy a house down here you'd have to earn more just to eat
( & buy gear which is far more important). Most of my pals in the North have far more disposable income than me and are on the same money and bloody good luck to them I say. It means they can buy more gear and that has to be good. The only thing I'd add to the rate of exchange debate is that I think that prices ought to be coming down for US gear but it aint. With one or two exceptions, the savings are not being passed onto the consumer so who can blame anyone for buying direct. If the £ was weak against the $ I just know what would happen to prices. Oh, there is also duty to be paid and VAT- so the government gets a cut for doing nothing- no change there then.
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38thBeatle, the north/south thing was said in jest - hence the 'winking' smiley.
From my expereinces of London, it seems that cost-of-living prices are pretty similar to Newcastle in all honesty (with the exception of property of course). Transport also seems pricey - the Tube ain't cheap by any standards.
:twisted:
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38thBeatle, the north/south thing was said in jest - hence the 'winking' smiley.
From my expereinces of London, it seems that cost-of-living prices are pretty similar to Newcastle in all honesty (with the exception of property of course). Transport also seems pricey - the Tube ain't cheap by any standards.
:twisted:
At least there is public transport,now where's that bus.... :wink:
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Ditto...........in fact what does public mean? PDT_004
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I am lucky in a way with living in both the States and England, so I can take advantage of the exchange rate at the moment. I think that Tim is making a great product at an incredible price, though I know in the States the pickups are a lot more relatively, but you are getting a different animal to the generic mainstream pickups.
Just check the picing on the original PAF that was posted a while ago. I know Tim's pickups sound just as good - I have a Patent number with PAF coils and let Tim work on it to give me the sound I wanted. Same with my original strat pu. I also swapped out the PRS Artist pickups for a set of VHII's.
I will be moving back to the States to live in a couple of months, but I will still be buying more of Tim's pickups. At this point he is supplying the last link in my tone chain, and with the personal service, I can get the tone I want for each guitar. This is the best custom making service I ever found. I don't know any other pickup maker that gives you this (Lindy Fralin used to 15 years ago, but not anymore, and Seymour will if you are a star!).
I hate to say this, but I would pay more for this custom service, because if I have a guitar or amp made to my spec's then I expect to pay more for it. The fact that Tim does this for free is great.
Tim has already made me several non-standard pickups (the newest 2 are a coil tapped h/b sized p-90 and an EMG shaped strat p/u [to fit into a custom guitar with EMG sized pickup cavity]). To get these anywhere else I would have to pay a lot more.
Of course after the guitar show I am sure I will have lots more ideas for non-standard pickups :lol:
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btw. I have a Nailbomb with 2 sets of screw coils. This gives more mottom end in the pickup. Perhaps this could be an option for a less bright sound?
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I am lucky in a way with living in both the States and England, so I can take advantage of the exchange rate at the moment. I think that Tim is making a great product at an incredible price, though I know in the States the pickups are a lot more relatively, but you are getting a different animal to the generic mainstream pickups.
Just check the picing on the original PAF that was posted a while ago. I know Tim's pickups sound just as good - I have a Patent number with PAF coils and let Tim work on it to give me the sound I wanted. Same with my original strat pu. I also swapped out the PRS Artist pickups for a set of VHII's.
I will be moving back to the States to live in a couple of months, but I will still be buying more of Tim's pickups. At this point he is supplying the last link in my tone chain, and with the personal service, I can get the tone I want for each guitar. This is the best custom making service I ever found. I don't know any other pickup maker that gives you this (Lindy Fralin used to 15 years ago, but not anymore, and Seymour will if you are a star!).
I hate to say this, but I would pay more for this custom service, because if I have a guitar or amp made to my spec's then I expect to pay more for it. The fact that Tim does this for free is great.
Tim has already made me several non-standard pickups (the newest 2 are a coil tapped h/b sized p-90 and an EMG shaped strat p/u [to fit into a custom guitar with EMG sized pickup cavity]). To get these anywhere else I would have to pay a lot more.
Of course after the guitar show I am sure I will have lots more ideas for non-standard pickups :lol:
:guitar4: Hi Guys just for the record i am chilled out !!! :P
i agree that there is a pricing fraud going on my responses are based on the fact that i don`t like being ripped off !! :shock:
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For what it's worth, I think BKP's are a bloody good investment.
Remember that these pickups are handmade, and in many cases bespoke.
£90 is alot of money to me, but it's all relative. I get the tone I want and direct feedback from the guys that make them.
£90 also covers the cost of a trendy pair of jeans from Diesel.
If you dont like the product, please keep all critisisms constructive, as this allows Tim and Co to enhance their product. Shopping elsewhere is always an option in a free market economy.
A final word.
I give my support to the guys who treat the end user as a person, not a commodity. And if they make a profit in doing so, then that's what they deserve.
Cheers
Chris.
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I give my support to the guys who treat the end user as a person, not a commodity. And if they make a profit in doing so, then that's what they deserve.
All very, very true. I have grown to dislike big companies who surf on their name and brand rather than actually caring about the people. BKP have been a refreshing change! :D