Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: tim_miles on January 20, 2006, 07:26:02 PM
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heya guys,
I have looked at both of these pickups and don't know what to chose between!
i have a left handed MIM Telecaster and play through a Vox ad50vt and i want to change the pickups. I do alot of Country Music, mainly Keith Urban and Brad Paisly but some stuff like Jeff Carson comes in aswell.
Basically what i want is a pickup with lowest amount of noise possible and the one that would give my guitar the best sound. from that clean country to the Rock country sound. (noise isn't amazingly important as my guitars being sheilded)
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ZT-countryboy.html
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=12238
i can't decide between the two because i have heard good reviews on both.
basically i'd like to achieve this guitar sound:
http://music.download.com/jonmiller...ing_song_artist
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cf...iendID=31489997
if you listen to the lead guitar part in the song called "Consumed" on the first link thats the sound i'm wanting to achieve. On the second link i want to achieve the sound in the song called "Days Go By" and "Where the blacktop". I also prefer lighter gauge strings so i don't know which pickups work best with these.
thanks!
any help would be awsome!
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Hello and welcome to the forum. I have a set of Country Boys in my Mex Tele. I don't consider myself to be a Tele expert ( I play Strats) and nor am I a big country fan but I have great respect for some of the best guitarists on the planet who play country. With that said, I can only comment on the CB's I am afraid. They are very traditional Tele pups, at least to my ears. I played them head to head with a mate's very old stock Tele and mine was very very close. I couldn't tell much difference- my mate, a sound engineer says he could but that is another story. I am hoping to post a clip if my fingers are ok this weekend or early next week ( I suffered a stupid minor burn a few days ago and they are a bit tender at the moment)- it'll probably be a bit bluesy though I like clean tones so hopefully it'll be of use to you. I should think that Tim will pitch in at some point- he is "The Guru" and will give you an unbiased opinion. I have only used Texas Special Strat pups. I prefer my Apache Strat pups- maybe not as hot but much much "warmer".
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thanks very much for the reply!
it helped!
im looking forward to hearing your clip. but let your fingers heal first! :D
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The Fender Texas Specials are wuite a bit hotter than the Country Boy Tele set............the CBs are made with Alnico III and wound relatively lightly in Tele terms for a bell like twang(no ice pick!)whereas the TS are wound with Alnico V and quite a bit hotter.A better comp would be the Brown Sugar and Texas Specials.
Expect a very vintage tone from the CBs, plenty of cut and plenty of clarity and they're sweet too care of the Alnico III.
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heya, tim (the miles one!), welcome to the forum!
Go with what tim (BKP guru) says, he makes them!
Man, I should start to get commission for all the guys i bring to the BKP forums from UG...
:twisted:
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heya dave, you should get commision! lol
when Tim says a comp between the brown sugar and the texas what does he mean?
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Comparision............they're more comparible basically.
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he means that you aren't really comparing like with like.
If you want the texas specials type of hotter sound, but you want to go bareknuckle, you should go with the brown sugar set, not the country boys.
EDIT: beat me to it, tim!
i suppose the next question would be, tim (BKP tim!), would he go with country boys or brown sugars for the tones he's after?
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ahh ok i understand sorry!
i have one more problem....I looked at the Brown sugar pickups and am vry interested!
i how ever don't under stand the options it says
Options: covered neck pickup, nickel silver or brass bridge grounding plate, reverse wind/ reverse polarity. Also available singly
I'd have the nickel covered neck pickup (i assume this is the silver one) what is nickel engraved? what would be engraved on it?
and the other options i don't understand is reverse wind and reverse polarity? do these options come with it when you buy it or upon purchase do you have to choose what you want?
also what is brass bridge grounding
apologies for all the questions!
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i don't know about all the brass baseplate stuff (it'll change the tone slightly, but i'm not sure how), but RWRP means that in the middle position on your tele (both pickups on), they'll be hum-cancelling, or noiseless.
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ahh ok thanks!
so does this come standard with the pickups? the hum cancelling on the middle swtich?
or do you have to choose it as one of the options and pay more?
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Both coils in a Tele set are single coils, if both have the same magnetic polarity and wind direction they are said to be 'stock', if one or other(usually the neck)is reverse wound reverse polarity they're said to be RWRP.
Stock coils have a touch more volume across both coils and when on together have more quack but don't cancel hum.RWRP coils are humcancelling when on together and have a slightly scooped mid and a touch less volume when on together too.
Our baseplates are now all copper plated mild steel except for the Piledriver which is soon going to be offered with a slightly thicker vintage correct zinc plated grounding plate.
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No, they're no cost options. 8)
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thanks Tim!
so do your pickups "brown sugar" ones come stand with the reverse polarity thing or is that an option that i'd have to choose upon purchase?
also is the nickel cover the silver one?
and what is a bass plate?
very sorry im new to changing pickups and am learning!
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Nickel covers are a silver colour.
You can choose between RWRP and stock....................at the moment most players are going stock on Teles.
Baseplate/grounding plate.......it's the metal plate that goes under the bridge coil to give it a touch more beef!
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thanks!
does the base plate come with it? when bought or do i have to say if want the base plate? and would i need more beef as im doing country?
also. would the stock pickups be better for that country rock sound than reverse polarity.
thanks again:)
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Tim ( Miles) - I had a 4 way switch fitted when I had the CB's installed- adds a series option- very worthwhile. Fattens the tone- a nice extra bit of push.
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Wow, those Tele pickups really seem to fly all over sudden.
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just a few questions, i hope i'm not bothering you all
does the base plate come with the pickups when they are bought? or does it cost more money on top to get the bass plate.
would i need the base plate for my country music or would it be better without it?
Why are most tele players choosing the standard Stock sound rather then the RWRP sound when with the RWRP sound you can reduce hum?
do the pickups work well with lighter gauge strings because the texas prefer heavier gauge?
could i get the typical country twang, aswel as country rock from the brown sugars?
thanks very much for all of your help
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I dont work for BKP but ...
The bass plate comes with the Pup - you dont have to pay extra
Country music needs a base plate in my opinion to get that tele twang
As to RW RP = most single coil players come to realise that 60 cycle hum is an integral part of good sounding Fender style pups and learn to ignore it. However, if you play middle position stuff and want the guitar to be silent the difference between stock and rw rp is not that great.
I dunno about strings - but twang guitar is all about heavy gauge isn't it? BKPs work easily with 9s, does anyone go lower than that?
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thanks for the help
at the moment i don't have enough money for the Brown sugar pickups but should do very soon. are they in stock?
and i have never installed pickups myself before so was going to get a guitar shop to install them as well as sheild my guitar and check the wiring. Do you have any idea of how much it would cost on average for a shop to do this?
i'd be buying all the equipment they'd just do the job.
i probably wouldnt buy sheilding equipment though. do shops sell it?
thanks:)
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Changing pups on Fenders is easy peasey - you just unsolder the pickup and then solder the new one in - it really can be done in minutes during a string change. All you need is a table, a soldering iron and some solder.
Shielding can be got from Maplins.
I think paying someone to fit pups to Fenders in a stock manner (i.e. not fitiing clever things like new switches) is a bit of a waste as you spend £50 for something very routine (other makes of guitar are a bit different).
There are lots of guides online or you can always ask for a write up - I think you can even phone BKP and ask them to take you through it - that's how good they are!
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thanks for a reply!
i agree it is a waste, im just not very confident and really don't want to mess up the ciuit as i have never done it before and am afraid i'll mess the guitar up.
i would rather the shop do it first and allow me to watch them do it so i can do it myself next time, or prehaps practice changing pickups on a cheaper guitar. so if something did go wrong i wouldnt have to worry
thanks for the advice though:)