Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: ericsabbath on February 02, 2012, 01:15:24 PM
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has anyone tried this?
I have a spare cold sweat neck in a broken gibson SG and I have a greco les paul (1978 EG900) coming from japan
it has stock 70's dimarzio PAFs and I intend to order VHII's for her, but I won't have the cash right now and well... I can't live without BKPs anymore :(
does anyone know how the neck cold sweat would differ from the other bridge PAF models?
it reads about the same DC as my bridge riff raff (my riff raff has a custom larger magnet, though, so it's louder and punchier than usual)
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Can't really say since I haven't had any of the other models, but I accidently had a Cold Sweat neck in the bridge and a Nailbomb bridge in the neck in my Tanglewood for a while. Too long ago to remember specifics, but it sounded good enough that it took me ages to notice the mistake and has me interested in lower outputs now, so it could be worth a shot.
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I have not tried it - right now I still need the CS neck in the set until I find something different for the neck spot. It certainly can't hurt - either you like it or you don't - and then you can still order the VHIIs.
Cheers Stephan
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Can't really say since I haven't had any of the other models, but I accidently had a Cold Sweat neck in the bridge and a Nailbomb bridge in the neck in my Tanglewood for a while. Too long ago to remember specifics, but it sounded good enough that it took me ages to notice the mistake and has me interested in lower outputs now, so it could be worth a shot.
I remember you posted a thread about it (I answered it too)
I think FELINE mentioned something about it being similar to an underwound black dog (which would be perfect, since it should be brighter and less mid heavy)
but the black dog is polysol and I know the bridge cold sweat is enamel
not sure about the neck model
I just e-mailed Tim with all these questions
I still want a VHII for that Les Paul, specially after watching all hunter's videos, but I think a mid term between the riff raff and black dog could deviate me from my plans
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"Hi Eric
yes the CS neck works well in the bridge position - coils are symmetrical and we use a short AV bar magnet v- SPN 42.5 AWG wire. Tonally it's a modern voiced PAF so not as organic or earthy in tone as a TM , RR or VHII - mids are much fuller than the VHII which sounds smoother by comparison.
These coils in the pic are pretty heavily aged - I'm sure we could come up with something similar so long as we work to the picture.
kindest regards
Tim"
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"Hi Eric
yes the CS neck works well in the bridge position - coils are symmetrical and we use a short AV bar magnet v- SPN 42.5 AWG wire. Tonally it's a modern voiced PAF so not as organic or earthy in tone as a TM , RR or VHII - mids are much fuller than the VHII which sounds smoother by comparison.
These coils in the pic are pretty heavily aged - I'm sure we could come up with something similar so long as we work to the picture.
kindest regards
Tim"
Tim has confirmed what I was going to contribute by guesswork! :lol:
I was going to say that the CS neck sounds to me like there's little or no offset between the coils.
I thought mine was about 10k and therefore presumably a thinner wire, but looking at the specs again just now I see it's only 8.3k..... I think that 42.5 AWG is indeed the same as the Black Dog, isn't it?
Anyway, I'll be interested to hear what you think if you put it in the bridge position.
Let's see pics of yor Greco, by the way - I'm always watching eBay for MIJ LPs and the like! :D
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"Hi Eric
yes the CS neck works well in the bridge position - coils are symmetrical and we use a short AV bar magnet v- SPN 42.5 AWG wire. Tonally it's a modern voiced PAF so not as organic or earthy in tone as a TM , RR or VHII - mids are much fuller than the VHII which sounds smoother by comparison.
These coils in the pic are pretty heavily aged - I'm sure we could come up with something similar so long as we work to the picture.
kindest regards
Tim"
Tim has confirmed what I was going to contribute by guesswork! :lol:
I was going to say that the CS neck sounds to me like there's little or no offset between the coils.
I thought mine was about 10k and therefore presumably a thinner wire, but looking at the specs again just now I see it's only 8.3k..... I think that 42.5 AWG is indeed the same as the Black Dog, isn't it?
Anyway, I'll be interested to hear what you think if you put it in the bridge position.
Let's see pics of yor Greco, by the way - I'm always watching eBay for MIJ LPs and the like! :D
yeah, same wire and insulation of the black dog
the black dog has slightly offset coils, though
same resistance and apparently same short magnet of the riff raff (not sure if the black dog has a short one, but I'd guess it does)
in the neck of my les paul custom, compared to the mule, the cold sweat was tighter, slightly middier and a lot hotter
I had to roll the volume down to 6 to get a clean tone under gain (I have a '73 single channel modded JMP that is quite high gain), while the mule cleans up on 8-9
I'm still waiting for the Greco
it's a EG900 (1958 les paul standard copy?) that I scored from that chingo guy on ebay
I'm trying to figure out if it has maple or mahogany neck
the body is probably pancake construction, like my '73 Gibson
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320826051106
http://imageevent.com/chingo123/january2012/grecoeg900lpstsb1005
(http://photos.imageevent.com/chingo123/january2012/grecoeg900lpstsb1005/websize/Greco%20EG-900%20LPS%20TSB%201005%20.JPG)
(http://photos.imageevent.com/chingo123/january2012/grecoeg900lpstsb1005/websize/IMG_5729.JPG)
(http://photos.imageevent.com/chingo123/january2012/grecoeg900lpstsb1005/websize/IMG_5747.JPG)
I'm still waiting for the greco
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Looks good! :D
Chingo has a lot of good MIJ stuff, as do a number of eBay sellers. I think I've bought from most of them! :lol:
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I wasn't even planning to buy one, but the GAS ruled over my reason when I saw the pics and price :D
another answer from Tim about the magnets:
"Hi Eric
yes the standard RR has a short AV magnet as does the BD while the VHII uses the longer vintage cut magnet.
The custom RR I made you has a taller, 4mm, magnet."
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Hi Eric,
Thanks for posting this information. I believe I have a candidate for my CS neck in the bridge spot. Just need to find something for the neck spot of the other guitar.
Cheers Stephan
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greco is here :D
finish looks almost flawless, so I'm not sure it's really a nitro finish
neck is maple
removed the pickguard, so it looks "slashy" right now
the G string tuning peg is really annoying me... veeeery loose and gets out of tune all the time
is there something I could do besides tightening the peg screw or swapping tuners?
the neck dimarzio paf is LOUD AS @#%$ and way too bassy
for some reason that is not only due to string vibration and position, the bridge pickup soundes very trebly and no near as loud (even by poking poles with a screwdriver)
the neck pickup reads exactly 7.5k and I can't get any reading from the bridge pickup (at least while it's still wired)
I gotta figure out what's wrong before I install the cold sweat
any ideas?
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... the bridge pickup soundes very trebly and no near as loud (even by poking poles with a screwdriver)
the neck pickup reads exactly 7.5k and I can't get any reading from the bridge pickup (at least while it's still wired) ...
Sounds (no pun intended) to me like the bridge pickup is terminally ill. Time to fit the Cold Sweat neck I am afraid.
Cheers Stephan
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dropped a bit of glue on tuners and they are a bit more stable now
the stock paf doesn't show any reading even after removing it (??)
maybe it's short circuited by so much (cold?) sweat :lol:
so... got the neck cold sweat out of my broken sg
added a naturally aged raw nickel BKP logo cover (that I removed from the black dog that I had to sell this week :( )
just installed it in the bridge position and it sounds freakin' amazing! :D :D :D
hard to compare directly to other models, since it's a different guitar
only been testing for 15 minutes
this les paul has a very thick maple cap and a maple neck with brazilian rosewood board
compared to the black dog I had in my '73 les paul custom, this guitar sounds definitely brighter, tighter and more articulated than the black dog
compared to the custom riff raff (4mm magnet), it feels about as bright, but that may be the guitar's fault (the neck dimarzio paf sounds quite bright too, although it's very bassy)
the cold sweat neck has a lot of bite in the bridge, and somehow feels hotter than the black dog, despite of having a "cooler" winding
seems a bit less bassy than both, which is expected, since the thick magnet of the riff raff adds bass and my les paul custom is bassy as $%&#, but it's still thick enough
it also feels a bit middier than the riff raff, but not all mid centered as the black dog
I'll try it with the band tomorrow :D
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Sounds good! :D
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Glad you like it.
Now someone who can say more than "it was good" has done it, maybe we'll see some more weird combos in the future...
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Sounds good! :D
yes it does :D :D :D
after a few string and pickup height adjustments, it sounds even better
if I could actually play, I'd be shredding the shite out of it all night long
it sounds really articulate and not compressed, like a riff raff, but still "finger friendly" for faster stuff
bright and singing, nice bite and just the right amount of mids without getting too pokey
I don't think I'll be ordering a VHII for this one anymore (maybe for the neck?) 8)
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Eric,
That sounds very encouraging indeed. I have a PRS-style swamp ash guitar which tends to compress the bass frequencies. Your description of the CS neck in the bridge sounds exactly what that guitar needs. Currently it has a set of WCR GWs in it. Even though I liked the Abraxas better as far as midrange and high end are concerned, the bass was just too much. The WCRs are the only pickup which does not overwhelm this guitar with bass response so far.
I will probably take out the Abraxas neck of the LP, pair it with the CS bridge in the other guitar and move the CS neck to the swamp ash.
Any idea what to use in the neck? Do you intend to keep the DiMarzio PAF?
Cheers Stephan
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I think that 42.5 AWG is indeed the same as the Black Dog, isn't it?
and, I believe, the Slowhand
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Eric,
That sounds very encouraging indeed. I have a PRS-style swamp ash guitar which tends to compress the bass frequencies. Your description of the CS neck in the bridge sounds exactly what that guitar needs. Currently it has a set of WCR GWs in it. Even though I liked the Abraxas better as far as midrange and high end are concerned, the bass was just too much. The WCRs are the only pickup which does not overwhelm this guitar with bass response so far.
I will probably take out the Abraxas neck of the LP, pair it with the CS bridge in the other guitar and move the CS neck to the swamp ash.
Any idea what to use in the neck? Do you intend to keep the DiMarzio PAF?
Cheers Stephan
I intended to buy a used godwood for my '73 custom a couple years back, but when I played the custom riff raff, I completely gave up on the idea
I'll keep the dimarzio for now, since I'm out of cash, but I intend to replace it with a proper low output BKP
the dimarzio feels way too hot compared to the mule, for example
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I have a PRS-style swamp ash guitar which tends to compress the bass frequencies. Your description of the CS neck in the bridge sounds exactly what that guitar needs. Currently it has a set of WCR GWs in it.
It took me a while but now I did it. At first I was shocked by the clarity of the CS neck in the bridge position. I then adjusted the polepieces down and brought the pickup up which fattened up the tone nicely. I then reversed the adjustment a bit on the bass strings as they became a bit nasal sounding on some notes but a few turns fixed that.
I really like the clarity this pickup has to offer in the bridge position - works great for chords and leads in the lower registers. Definitely no mud on the bass here. Single notes have great articulation. The only downside is that I am missing a bit cream when going in the higher registers or when playing double stops. I am keeping this for now but I may have a look at the Black Dogs in the future - same wire, same magnet but some more winds should bring the cream without losing the clarity.
Cheers Stephan
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Talking about mixing pickups. Ive got a mate who bought a calibrated set and hes using them back to front as he got them mixed up. So he's got a 16dc in neck and 7dc in bridge. Is it me or would this be mega weird? He likes it though
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Talking about mixing pickups. Ive got a mate who bought a calibrated set and hes using them back to front as he got them mixed up. So he's got a 16dc in neck and 7dc in bridge. Is it me or would this be mega weird? He likes it though
holy divers?
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Talking about mixing pickups. Ive got a mate who bought a calibrated set and hes using them back to front as he got them mixed up. So he's got a 16dc in neck and 7dc in bridge. Is it me or would this be mega weird? He likes it though
I have heard of people using a DiMarzio PAF in the bridge for rhythm tones and a Super Distortion in the neck - strictly for soloing in the upper registers. I probably would find such arrangement to be too limited but if your mate likes it, it's all good.
Cheers Stephan
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Well the more I play it the more I like it :) ... and that burnt chrome cover looks awesome against the emerald green finish of the guitar.
Now it's definitely screaming for a new neck pickup with a burnt chrome cover. I want a bright, clear and absolutely mudfree tone for it. I am thinking Riff Raff or PG Blues. What do you think?
Cheers Stephan
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I am thinking Riff Raff or PG Blues.
Tim recommended the Holydiver neck as a good match for the Cold Sweat neck/bridge.
Cheers Stephan
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Good thread: so neckpickups can work nice in the bridge too. Btw, I like that classic Tobacco Sunburst finish.
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The Holydiver neck is on its way. I will post a review in a separate thread once it arrives and I get around to put it in the guitar. Looking forward to it.
Cheers Stephan