Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: ztikmaen on May 06, 2011, 11:53:00 AM
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I'm thinking of getting a NEW humbucker guitar so I'm looking at the current range (so no more Chargers or Roundhouses I guess :/).
I know they are made in Korea or something but is the quality good? Because the reviews about their guitars in general are really positive. I'm specifically looking at the Warhawk at the moment, looks pretty funky and seems like an appropriate guitar to swap the pickups out of. Cool looking wing layout, set neck, unique but not weird.
What are the thoughts about Reverend guitars, the current ones in particular?
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Ah anything? Also I'm kinda getting sucked into the Fender Special Edition Custom Tele FMT HB... Might not be different enough to my Mia Standard Tele though
But Reverends would be a step closer to that Gibson-ish humbucker mindset
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If you fancy Gibson-esque quitars focus on good copies like Tokai and Edwards, or a Epiphone Tribute. Or a good used Gibson. I think Reverend have a sound of their own, which is of course related with the big brands (bolt-on- Fender - setneck - Gibson). What I heard is that they are quite nice. But so is the Michael Kelly Patriot Custom, Of course this one has not the real Gibson-shape.
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Never tried or even seen a Reverend guitar, they don't seem to be widely available in the UK.
They always get good reviews, and I like the way they take influences from classic Gibson and Fender designs but give them a twist with their own body shapes and hardware (rather like Eastwood guitars in that respect). I like their choice of korina as a tonewood, too.
I do wonder about their resale value, if that's something you're bothered about.
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Yeah well my biggest concern is availability as I'm down under, but at least I'll know enough if I get my hands on one.
And @Telerocker, what I mean by that Gibson mindset is that tone of a real classic Humbucking guitar, but now I'm actually a little turned away by Les Pauls and their copies because of how popular they are... I kinda want to find my own thing to be different, but I still want that great Humbucking feel. So actually what I want out of this thread is past experiences with Reverends and even what you'd personally recommend for a true Humbucking guitar with a fixed bridge and hopefully set neck? My current list:
•Reverend Warhawk
•<Breathe in> Fender Special Edition Custom FM HH Telecaster
•Perhaps an SG styled thing? Although people say pickup shopping is a challenge...
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If you want stand out of the crowd, then a Reverend is certainly a good guitar. I like the shapes. I think Mr. Air (forummember) plays a Reverend Manta Ray. He installed MQ's. You can pm him.
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*spam time*...oooooooooooooooor you could buy my Ltd Viper...humbuckers....new pickup, great guitars for bargin money etc etc.
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*spam time*...oooooooooooooooor you could buy my Ltd Viper...humbuckers....new pickup, great guitars for bargin money etc etc.
Hmm don't really like the shape though...
And you know how I was considering the Warhawk and the Humbucking Special Edition Custom Tele, and how I thought the Tele might be too similar to my current Tele. Well OMFG after looking at the User Gallery section I now want an Ibanez RG321 -_____________________________-"
Its just a completely better version of my Ibbie. No annoying single coil to get in the way of picking, nice shape, mahogany instead of basswood, no chambering, hardtail etc... Seems so simple and awesome but it might waaay outclass my 370DX and make it useless... One of those guitars that I just WANT lol.
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I once tried the Flatroc for an evening and it was a pretty good guitar for the money and much more versatile that I thought it would be.
(http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/images/guitars/bolt_on_series/hi_res/flatroc_rorg.jpg)
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FWIW, IMO the only relation that the fender special edition FMT tele bears to a "normal" tele is the shape.
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FWIW, IMO the only relation that the fender special edition FMT tele bears to a "normal" tele is the shape.
It's basically a slimline Les Paul in Tele shape. And nothing wrong with that! :wink:
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FWIW, IMO the only relation that the fender special edition FMT tele bears to a "normal" tele is the shape.
It's basically a slimline Les Paul in Tele shape. And nothing wrong with that! :wink:
Yeah, and since it already has Seymour Duncans in it I was thinking that maybe I could swap them into the Ibbie for the meantime and put the BKPs into the Standard and Special Custom Tele.
What brands do you recommend? I know this seems like a stupid question but it gives me some space to look around in. I'm starting look a little bit at Schecters too, they seem like good quality for the price.
Fender Special Custom Tele
Reverend Warhawk
?!?!!?Ibbie RG321MH?!?!?!
Schecter C-1?
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Blimey, there are so many options - most of the well-known manufacturers make mid-price LP derivatives or Strat-types with humbuckers.
Apart from the one you've mentioned, you could look at Dean, Washburn, Aria, ESP LTD, Sterling by Music Man, PRS SE series.... nobody makes bad guitars anymore.
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I tried lpoking at Dean, Sterling, and PRS and stuff and I just WISH that there were more fixed bridge guitars... Ibanez shOuld make a hardtail equivalent to every line they have -__-
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nobody makes bad guitars anymore.
Apart from Encore
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I tried lpoking at Dean, Sterling, and PRS and stuff and I just WISH that there were more fixed bridge guitars... Ibanez shOuld make a hardtail equivalent to every line they have -__-
What are you looking at in particular?
The Art series is quite LP like and is hardtail.
For a good budget super strat the Ibanez RGA32 is great and is hardtail.
The stock pickups aren't terrible either, not fantastic but a lot better than most stock pups
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I may as well state exactly what I want now...
In order of Importance:
Price Range: $630-$1500 USD
Humbuckers
Fixed bridge
Mahogany or similar
Good looking...
Not trying to copy something/Original
Nice neck, not a flat shredding one preferably
Not Bolt-on neck
No middle pickup
Tone knob
And preferably passive PUps so they will work on my Ibbie 370DX. I was looking at the RGA42FM and was really into it but then I saw that it had no tone knob... I don't really like the quilted counterpart that much. I kinda want a guitar that when you open the case people would say "Woah, this guy must know his stuff cos that looks awesome :O" in the least superficial way possible haha
But yeah, that's the list. Is their any guitar that looks exactly like a Strat but is mahogany and has a set neck and Humbuckers? Cos I'd love to see that... Ultimate Blacktop lol
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Haha i have the RGA42 and adding a tone knob is an absolute minimal thing to do costs about £6 tops and is really easy. It is an absolutely fantastic guitar.
i think your best bet would be to go the warmoth route or something similar
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Haha i have the RGA42 and adding a tone knob is an absolute minimal thing to do costs about £6 tops and is really easy. It is an absolutely fantastic guitar.
i think your best bet would be to go the warmoth route or something similar
Well I'm not a very hands on person at all... So the furthest I go is installing pickups :/ Wouldn't you have to cut holes and stuff? :( Sorry, I'm very bad with hardware. I just pick up and play lol
Oh and what do you guys think of the Hardtail Jackson Soloists? Seems to fit the bill, but if anything it looks kinda bland.
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Haha i have the RGA42 and adding a tone knob is an absolute minimal thing to do costs about £6 tops and is really easy. It is an absolutely fantastic guitar.
i think your best bet would be to go the warmoth route or something similar
Well I'm not a very hands on person at all... So the furthest I go is installing pickups :/ Wouldn't you have to cut holes and stuff? :( Sorry, I'm very bad with hardware. I just pick up and play lol
Oh and what do you guys think of the Hardtail Jackson Soloists? Seems to fit the bill, but if anything it looks kinda bland.
its easier than intalling pickups!
You don't have to cut any holes or anything just remove the active EQ switch and drop a pot in the only type that wont fit straight away are the CTS pots as they are slightly too big but this goes for the volume too in ibanez guitars .
Alpha pots will fit fine as will most others.
I wasn't aware that they did hardtail soloists.
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As Telerocker stated earlier i this thread I do have a Reverend Manta Ray with MQs in.
I find that the Manta Ray is a really good guitar. As far as I can tell it's well build and the hardware is quite good too. The neck feels good and it's a joy to play the guitar as you don't have to put in much work.
Apart from the "twisted" takes on classic guitar shapes all Reverends also have the bass contour which make the guitars stand out in the crowd. I don't use the bass contour much myself, but it is a great little adition to a great guitar.
If you want a nice player and bang for the buck I'll defenitely recommend a Reverend. The Warhawk does look nice apart from the reverse headstock which really isn't my thing. I would go for a Sensei :D
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As Telerocker stated earlier i this thread I do have a Reverend Manta Ray with MQs in.
I find that the Manta Ray is a really good guitar. As far as I can tell it's well build and the hardware is quite good too. The neck feels good and it's a joy to play the guitar as you don't have to put in much work.
Apart from the "twisted" takes on classic guitar shapes all Reverends also have the bass contour which make the guitars stand out in the crowd. I don't use the bass contour much myself, but it is a great little adition to a great guitar.
If you want a nice player and bang for the buck I'll defenitely recommend a Reverend. The Warhawk does look nice apart from the reverse headstock which really isn't my thing. I would go for a Sensei :D
Haha yeah, I was looking at the Sensei at first. The way I think of it compared to the Jaguar/Jetstream/Warhawk shape is the Sensei is a Ford Mustang and the others are Dodge Chargers :D One looks more compact, a lil ripper, but I think I'd like a nice sizable powerhouse. Thanks for your feedback Mr. Air!
@ Toe-Knee: OH! So that switch thingy can be replaced with a knob? Ok, sounds easy enough haha. Because that is one mint looking guitar... The only thing is I don't know what to do with the active pickups after I replace them with passive BKPs...
Also how hard is it to change an active guitar's Pups to a passive set? Would the wiring be way more complicated? :/
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Just buy what you like. If you dig the Sensei, go for it.
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.. nobody makes bad guitars anymore.
I wish that were true!
That's like saying nobody makes bad pickups or amps any more!
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.. nobody makes bad guitars anymore.
I wish that were true!
That's like saying nobody makes bad pickups or amps any more!
Ok, relatively speaking, compared with 30 (or more) years ago nothing's genuinely bad anymore, except maybe at true "entry level". You don't find guitars with weird pickups which look like humbuckers but aren't really humbuckers, or tuners which aren't actually capable of keeping a guitar in tune.
I think it's partly due to more efficient manufacturing, but also because things have become much more standardised. You can pick up a cheap copy and the body/neck materials may be cr@p but you could rip out the pickups, or tuners, or bridge and upgrade them - and the upgraded parts would fit. That wasn't the case years ago, everyone had their own weird misshapen versions of other people's stuff. It's a shame in a way, because there's less individuality, but reasonable-quality parts can be made in bulk and it's cheap for multiple manufacturers to buy them.
I'm not saying all new guitars are good. Just not bad. :wink:
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Which do you guys like the most out of:
Reverend Warhawk 2 HB
http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/guitars/set_neck_series/warhawk_2_hb.html
Fender Special Custom HH Tele FM
http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products/search.php?partno=0262000520
Ibanez RGA42FM
http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-RGA42FM
Schecter C-1 Custom
http://www.schecterguitars.com/International/Products/Guitar/C-1-Custom.aspx
This ESP LTD
http://www.espguitars.com/guitars/ltd-standard-deluxe/mh-1000nt.html
Judge by versatility, quality, playability, and looks. Venereal statements are good enough... These are what I'm considering. If only the Warhawk had binding or the Jetstream was Set Neck >_<
Which do you like the most, and which do you think I'd like?
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It's hard to tell what you would like :wink:
I defenitely like the warhawk and the tele the most out of the four guitars you've linked to.
Not sure which one I would go for, but I suggest trying out a Reverend. The world needs some more Reverend love :D
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Yeah I guess those are faves too, although I'm not sure how I'd get my hands on a Reverend to try, let alone buy.
I guess superstrats aren't for me, they're too metal minded (apart from that Schecter C-1 Custom which is quite nice) and the shape is quite standard looking on most. Luckily I have a Special Custom Tele in my local music shop so I might be able to try it :D
Any other opinions?
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It's basically a slimline Les Paul in Tele shape. And nothing wrong with that! :wink:
yeah pretty much
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It's basically a slimline Les Paul in Tele shape. And nothing wrong with that! :wink:
yeah pretty much
You reckon Roo would approve? -_^
So it seems that most of you agree with the Tele decision, so I'll probably go with that. I've always loved that shape and now I'll be able to have two! :D
So I'll probably be switching the standard Seymour Duncans for BKPs and putting the SDs into the Ibbie. So what are the characteristics of the '59(n) and Pearly Gates(b)? Are they hot? Because I need to get some BKPs that would suit well with those and Tele Flat 52s. So yeah, thanks heaps!
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The red Sensei looks amazing!
You might want to take a look at the Hagstrom range too - a little weird, but pretty cool, and get good reviews.
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So what are the characteristics of the '59(n) and Pearly Gates(b)? Are they hot?
They're vintage, low-output, PAF-style pickups, so again it's a Les Paul disguised as a Tele! The'59 has an Alnico V magnet and the Pearly Gates is Alnico II, if I remember right. AII bridge and AV neck seems a slightly odd combination.
I'm a bit surprised it's a regular Pearly Gates, on quite a lot of models Fender used a pickup called the "Pearly Gates Plus" which had an AV magnet.
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Throw in Emeralds and there is balance.
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Argh shyet.... It would be so weird to put low output pickups in my RG370DX. I want to get BKPs for my new Tele but it seems like the standard ones are good... What should I do :/ It's guaranteed that I'll be upgrading my single coil Tele and my budget allows for another set of pickup swapping/buying. I want my two workhorses (HB Tele + Single Coil Tele) do be the ones that can do everything between them...
Maybe... Maybe I should put the Seymour Duncans in my RG anyway :/
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Maybe... Maybe I should put the Seymour Duncans in my RG anyway :/
Can't do any harm to try! Lots of "rock" guitars have a lower-output neck pickup anyway, and as for the Pearly Gates, it's good enough for Billy Gibbons.....
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"Dooood play me sum hardcore metal raar!"
"...Howabout ZZ Top?" :D
Well yeah, couldn't hurt to try. Do you guys know a set of Humbuckers that would complement the Pearly Gates and 59? You guys said they sound quite soft and vintage, so I was thinking maybe I should get something for nice liquid solos in the neck (Think Santana) and a powerful and brash humbucker tone in the bridge (But with good mids so I was thinking Abraxas) I still want tone and an organic feel though.
Would you say that the Pearly Gates and 59 are good quality pickups? Or are they just mid-high end?
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They're Seymour Duncans, hundreds of thousands of people use them, they're fine.
(But BKPs are better! :P )
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They're Seymour Duncans, hundreds of thousands of people use them, they're fine.
(But BKPs are better! :P )
+1 :)
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They're Seymour Duncans, hundreds of thousands of people use them, they're fine.
(But BKPs are better! :P )
Lawl ok :D , I think it would be interesting to have an A2 Bridge humbucker...
So what pickups would complement the toneful but soft Humbuckers and the Single coil Tele? It needs to have nice liquid and Santana-like tones in the neck and a ballsy bridge pickup (I'm thinking Abraxas). Thanks
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Get a calibrated Abraxas-set.
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Is the neck tone fluid and smooth?
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Is the neck tone fluid and smooth?
Hasn't this already been discussed elsewhere?
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Is the neck tone fluid and smooth?
Hasn't this already been discussed elsewhere?
Yeah well that was for the neck HolyDivers or something. But I didn't get an answer because he only had the bridge pickup so he didn't know
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Fluid enough, depending on your amp and settings.
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Are you talking about the HolyDivers? If so, does it clean up nicely?
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Was talking about the Abraxas. You could even consider a Mule-neck.
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Hmm, could be an idea... Would the Mule be too similar to the SD 59?
By the way, if I could only replace one pickup it would be the neck. I want great cleans from it but with a different voice to the SD 59
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The Mule is closest to the original 59 PAF-tone. It will sound more open and dynamic then the SD for sure.
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The Mule is closest to the original 59 PAF-tone. It will sound more open and dynamic then the SD for sure.
So does the SD 59 have any Pro's compared to the BKP? Because I don't feel like throwing them out seeing as they appear to be inferior in all ways
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BKP's are just better: clearer, better stringseparation, more musical, depth etc.
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So should I just try to sell em seeing as there's nothing good about them?
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No offence, ztikmaen, but too many questions! :wink: :P
Why not wait until you get the guitar, see what you think of the Duncans, then decide if you want to replace them, sell them on or move them to another guitar. You might even decide they don't need changing.
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I think Philly has a point. Duncans are not cr@p, BKP's are just a step up. You will notice the difference when you compare them. BKP's never mush up the sound, but if you like the Duncans in that guitar, play it for a while and then see if an upgrade is necessary.
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Lol yes I know I know! I cringe when I ask because I know it sounds really annoying
I might just replace the Tele Pickups first (although I like the current tone people say that the 52 will be way better) and I'll probably buy a set of Humbuckers and worst case scenario (If I dont get the money to get the guitar) I'll chuck the BKPs into the Ibbie and be better off anyway. It's a while away so I guess I'll stop asking.
Thanks so much guys, I needed to release some GAS xD