Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: retrojet on June 18, 2011, 12:42:27 AM
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I recently got my hands on my first BKP, a Rebel Yell...absolutely love the sound and clarity of it and I'm sold on BKP's now. But the RY is a bit too bright for my Charvel Model 2...so I'm looking for a good alternative. I play in a 80's hard rock / hair metal cover band (Def Leppard, Scorpions, Ratt, Poison, VH, etc...). Would the Holydiver be a better fit with that guitar for that range of tones and gain? Or maybe something else?
Thanks!
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Welcome! I think the Diver is the pu for your style and guitar. Will certainly fatten up your Charvel and it sounds organic and huge, what I've heard from clips and read in topics.
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I happen to have a Nailbomb and two Irish Tours in my Charvel 475 HSS more than happy with the tone that is derived and should cover most bands mentioned.
I have a RY set in my PRS CU22,, very versatile and give a good coil split, especially with the outside coils on for chimey cleans.
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Holy Diver - or VH2 will work nicely too if you have lots of gain available on the amp and may be better for cleans too
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Another vote for the Holy Diver here - really thickens up a superstrat and with the extra output/compression it gives you an awesome sustain that trems normally kill right off.
The VHII is however not a bad idea either, I have a set in a bright alder/maple Kramer and the sound is wicked. The bridge position has an awesome "aunch" and harmonics pop out like crazy despite the moderate output.
If the Rebel Yell is only a bit too bright then definitely consider the VHII, but if you want to pull that top end back the Holy Diver is your best bet.
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The VHII is however not a bad idea either, I have a set in a bright alder/maple Kramer and the sound is wicked. The bridge position has an awesome "aunch" and harmonics pop out like crazy despite the moderate output.
Sorry for the sidestep, but how would the VHII do in an ash-superstrat with rosewood fretboard (Fender HSS American Series)?
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It would be pretty awesome if you want a punchy hard rock pickup. It's bright not abrasive or harsh. It's a great fun pickup to riff and shred on, the attack is juicy and definitely encourages you to dig in.
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It would be pretty awesome if you want a punchy hard rock pickup. It's bright not abrasive or harsh. It's a great fun pickup to riff and shred on, the attack is juicy and definitely encourages you to dig in.
Thx, I was thinking of replacing the standard-pu's in VHII and maybe Mother's Milk. I was a little afraid the VHII being too bright for ash, but a lot of people here have them in a strat, so must work. Your experience was the final push. It's gonna be a VHII. Now still have to decide on the sc's. Apologies for hijacking this thread.
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The VHII is however not a bad idea either, I have a set in a bright alder/maple Kramer and the sound is wicked. The bridge position has an awesome "aunch" and harmonics pop out like crazy despite the moderate output.
Sorry for the sidestep, but how would the VHII do in an ash-superstrat with rosewood fretboard (Fender HSS American Series)?
I would say that the ash bodied strat would be close to Van Halen's Frankenstrat (apart from him having a maple board) , so a VH2 would be a good choice if you want to go in that direction tonally
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I have VHIIs in two of my guitars, a HH and HSS with MMs, these are one of my favourite BK bridge pups, they have a very sweet top end in what are quite bright guitars.
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Thx guys, I'm not going to play Van Halen, but I'm looking for something different then the Crawler/IT's in my swampash customstrat. More vintage open tone, but still a bridge-hb that can rock out with harmonics jumping out.
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I think it's a great choice for you to check out Telerocker. I wouldn't describe the VHII as exactly vintage sounding, but then it's not modern either! It really has a character all of its own (in both bridge and neck positions), probably due to the very offset coils. An extremely cool pickup indeed though, you should definitely give it a shot.
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Yeah Nolly, I had settled for 99% on the VHII. And for the sc's the MM's, but if there are other suggestions, chime in.
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The MMs sit great with the VHII, the VHII splits very well too!
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The MMs sit great with the VHII, the VHII splits very well too!
I def. like the MM's. How is the sec. pos. (VHII splitted and middle MM)? Still Fenderish enough?
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AS good as it gets with a HSS!
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AS good as it gets with a HSS!
I thougt so, but I have only experience with the splitted Crawler/IT. The Crawler splitted has about the same dc-resistance as the IT, so the balance is fine. The VHII has considerate less output, so splitted the MM wil dominate, I guess.
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AS good as it gets with a HSS!
I thougt so, but I have only experience with the splitted Crawler/IT. The Crawler splitted has about the same dc-resistance as the IT, so the balance is fine. The VHII has considerate less output, so splitted the MM wil dominate, I guess.
I know this doesn't prove anything, but the "standard" HSS set with a VHII is VHII/IT/IT - so I reckon it'll hang OK with the lower-output MMs.
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AS good as it gets with a HSS!
I thougt so, but I have only experience with the splitted Crawler/IT. The Crawler splitted has about the same dc-resistance as the IT, so the balance is fine. The VHII has considerate less output, so splitted the MM wil dominate, I guess.
I know this doesn't prove anything, but the "standard" HSS set with a VHII is VHII/IT/IT - so I reckon it'll hang OK with the lower-output MMs.
Yes, I think so too. I looked at the HSS-sets. I know Tim selected them for optimum balance. Just want something different then IT's, although I like them much in my other strat.
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Another vote for the Holy Diver here - really thickens up a superstrat and with the extra output/compression it gives you an awesome sustain that trems normally kill right off.
The VHII is however not a bad idea either, I have a set in a bright alder/maple Kramer and the sound is wicked. The bridge position has an awesome "aunch" and harmonics pop out like crazy despite the moderate output.
If the Rebel Yell is only a bit too bright then definitely consider the VHII, but if you want to pull that top end back the Holy Diver is your best bet.
That's a pretty good call, I feel like it is only slightly too bright...sometimes I'm loving it and am second guessing wanting to swap it, others it's a little bright...maybe the VHII is where I should be looking. I have Kramer body I'm going to be working on, I can always get both and have a selection for each! :D
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That's not a bad idea. Both pu's are great and you can experiment a bit. The Diver has more beef, but Nolly and others convinced me the VHII provides wicked tones in bolt-on alder/ash-guitars.
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If you haven't tried it already experiment with the height of the RY. I found mine too bright at first. Take the pu as low as it will go and then move it back up making very small adjustments.
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So I picked up a HD and put it in the Charvel...and I don't really feel that it tamed the brightness much, and I have to say it even sounds a little harsh to my ears in comparison to the RY. Maybe I'm dealing with pu height issues? I'm not feeling this pu right now as it is and am a little puzzled as what to do next, these things ain't cheap!
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Well I just spent an hour messing with the height and I just could not get my ears to love this pickup in this guitar at all. I don't know, is this guitar just so ridiculously bright that anything that hot just doesn't sound good? I don't want a vintage sound on this guitar, I want 80's hair metal, and all I hear is severely overdriven vintage with this HD/Charvel pairing, at any height.
BTW, I'm playing through a Marshall JVM, all the gain from the amp, no pedals. My Hamer Standard (mahogany body, set neck) with a JB in the bridge hits the hair metal tones at the same settings.
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Nothing wrong with the wiring? Which pots/capacitors? Bec my Crawler in my swampashstrat does some serious hairmetal if needed. This one is about the same output as the HD.
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It's a Charvel Model 2 with only one pickup, one volume knob...no tone pot. It's a 500k Duncan Liberator vol pot, really not much to the wiring at all. I was expecting something a little smoother and a little warmer with the HD, not harsh and bright (only slightly, but still).
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Maybe you should contact the BKP-team.
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The model 2 is a basswood body if I remember correctly, so it should be a little darker than ash in theory. Are you changing the EQ settings on the amp when playing through the Hamer and the Charvel or are you changing the EQ for when you use the Charvel?
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I've checked and triple checked the wiring, but I'll be damned if it doesn't sound kind of like a single coil pup in there. It is a 4-wire, but it's wired for regular series, and wired the same as the RY that was in there before. I'm just really puzzled, I know it shouldn't sound that bright and single coil-ey. I've tried to EQ it out, but it's not an EQ issue, all my other guitars sound like I expect them to sound with my settings. Is there something I can check with a meter to make sure everything is the way it's supposed to be?
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Is there something I can check with a meter to make sure everything is the way it's supposed to be?
First of all - does it hum more that your other humbucker-equipped guitars? If yes, then there is something wrong in the wiring.
Is the volume of the guitar the same as your other guitars?
You can check the following with a digital multimeter (DMM):
1.) Unsolder all pickup wires from the guitar wiring. Measure the red wire to the two wires soldered together. You should get a reading of about 6 to 7k ohms (a bit more or less is OK, too).
2.) Measure the black wire to the two wires soldered together. You should get about the same reading as in step 1.
Please do all these steps and report. We can then discuss the next steps.
Cheers Stephan
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By the way - when you said you picked up a HD - did you buy from BKP or a dealer or used?
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I have the HD in a Carvin Bolt-T+ (Alder Body/Maple Neck/Ebony Fingerboard) and it is not bright at all. I have had a few other PUs in it including the junk Carvins and they always had this bright tone, but not with the HD. I was having problems getting the HD to sound bright, but once I got it figured out for the rhythm tones, it sounded really good!!! I still wish it was a little bit more open/a little less mids for rhythm, but it sounds amazing for leads!!! The best lead pickup I have every heard!!!
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Yea, I'm going to have to say there's something wrong with this pickup...it reads about 15.9k between red and black/ground, which is what it's supposed to read, but I spent some more time with it yesterday, comparing it with other guitars/pickups, and it just really sounds like a single coil pup...it's crazy. I'll try it in another guitar before I give up on it completely, but I'm just stumped right now.
P.S. - I bought it online from an authorized dealer on the east coast.
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Yea, I'm going to have to say there's something wrong with this pickup...it reads about 15.9k between red and black/ground,
Reading is OK.
You still have not answered my question on whether it does hum more than your other guitars.
and it just really sounds like a single coil pup...it's crazy. I'll try it in another guitar before I give up on it completely, but I'm just stumped right now.
P.S. - I bought it online from an authorized dealer on the east coast.
Well then your best bet is to return the pickup for an exchange or a refund.
Cheers Stephan