Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: oilpit on May 17, 2011, 06:55:25 PM

Title: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: oilpit on May 17, 2011, 06:55:25 PM
I've got a Warmoth superstrat that I built last year, it's got an ash body, quilt maple top, maple neck, RW fretboard, a Floyd Rose and I absolutely adore it.  It sounds great, plays like a dream, and the neck fits my hand better than any glove


Right now it has a Dimarzio Crunch Lab/Liquifire combo, and I like them a lot but lately I've really been wanting to put a HD/CS combo in it.  My only hesitation is that the pickups would cost almost half what the entire guitar did.

I'm torn...is it worth putting BKPs in a cheap guitar?
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Madsakre on May 17, 2011, 07:39:58 PM
ofc. those are nice woods, and the price tag does not say how good the guitar really is.

What music do you play?
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Brow on May 17, 2011, 07:44:44 PM
As long as you like the tone of the guitar unplugged then I'd say it's definitely worth it.

I have BKPs in a fair few 'less than expensive' guitars and they're fine so far!  :lol:
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Telerocker on May 17, 2011, 08:33:48 PM
The tonewoods look promising/ Warmoth is not exactly a cheapo brand. So upgrading is def. not a bad investment at all. I think the HD will do great in ash. I have the Crawler in swampash and this pu makes my superstrat very fatsounding. You will experience the same with the Diver.
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: BigB on May 17, 2011, 08:36:54 PM
As long as you like the tone of the guitar unplugged then I'd say it's definitely worth it.

Slowhands were an obvious (read: "night and day") improvement in my Vox Standard 25 (which is a pretty good guitar for the money but definitly not an expensive one).
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: gwEm on May 17, 2011, 08:52:56 PM
i wouldn't call that a cheap guitar!

and even if it were, i'd personally fit BKPs in anything that wasn't made of plywood.
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Madsakre on May 17, 2011, 09:03:45 PM
i wouldn't call that a cheap guitar!

and even if it were, i'd personally fit BKPs in anything that wasn't made of plywood.

Lol well i can report that a painkiller sounds KILLER in a Plywood Ironbird xD
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Philly Q on May 17, 2011, 09:45:32 PM
Nothing wrong with Warmoth parts, and definitely worthy of BKPs.

I'm just puzzling how you made this guitar so cheaply - did you use unfinished parts?  :?
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Bob Gnarly on May 17, 2011, 10:51:48 PM
I put £220 worth of Cold Sweats in a Ibanez Iceman I bought 2nd hand for £70.
It sounds great and is my main recording guitar.
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: oilpit on May 18, 2011, 12:11:49 AM
Nothing wrong with Warmoth parts, and definitely worthy of BKPs.

I'm just puzzling how you made this guitar so cheaply - did you use unfinished parts?  :?

I just bought parts in stock, nothing was custom built.
I don't remember how much each part was, but the whole guitar (minus hardware and the Dimarzios) was about 600 dollars...

As for the music I play, on this guitar anyway, I play a bunch of instrumental rock (Vai, Timmons, Petrucci) and some metal (Metallica, Dream Theater, 80's stuff)
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Philly Q on May 18, 2011, 12:26:59 AM
I just bought parts in stock, nothing was custom built.
I don't remember how much each part was, but the whole guitar (minus hardware and the Dimarzios) was about 600 dollars...

Ah, are you in the USA?  Warmoth stuff is much more expensive in the UK, due to the shipping charges, VAT and import duty.  Unfortunately!
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Ratrod on May 18, 2011, 11:51:07 AM
I've put a  Blackguard in a Squier.

Totally worth it.
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: metale on May 18, 2011, 12:44:45 PM
I've put a  Blackguard in a Squier.

Totally worth it.

Hey, is that the Esquire replica with the artwork I've seen online? It had a Blackguard BKP if I recall correctly.

Cheers.
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Mr. Air on May 18, 2011, 02:36:29 PM
i wouldn't call that a cheap guitar!

and even if it were, i'd personally fit BKPs in anything that wasn't made of plywood.

I totally agree with gwEm. I wouldn't call a Warmoth a cheap guitar and it is defenitely worthy of some BKPs. My BKPed guitars are all quite cheap, but they sound great  :D
Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: AndyR on May 18, 2011, 07:43:30 PM
Yep, I'd BKP any guitar that I was playing and enjoying.

If it had issues that were bugging me enough to be thinking about replacing the guitar, then I wouldn't bother. Otherwise, plywood, whatever, if I liked the guitar but felt the pickups were letting me down, BKP time :D

Title: Re: Worth putting BKPs in a cheapish guitar?
Post by: Ratrod on May 19, 2011, 11:36:35 AM
I've put a  Blackguard in a Squier.

Totally worth it.

Hey, is that the Esquire replica with the artwork I've seen online? It had a Blackguard BKP if I recall correctly.

Cheers.

Yep!

it's here too: http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=17525.0 (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=17525.0)