Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: JCN1218 on April 07, 2013, 04:24:45 AM
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I recently acquired a really nice Jackson Dinky XL Pro through a trade. I love the look and the feel of the guitar, but I'd love to replace the pickups with some BKPs. It's an HSS guitar with jackson stock neck and middle and a dimarzio X2N in the bridge. The only problem is that the single coils are a bit unusual; the baseis the same size and shape as the covers (if that description makes any sense). I tried putting in a picture of a similar guitar, hopefully it shows up, because I'm not sure how to describe it any better. I took the pickups out to check them and they don't have that larger plate on the bottom that most single coils seem to have. So what I'm wondering is, would BKP be able to make me single coils to fit in this guitar? I really hope so, because I've completely fallen in love with these pickups! On a related note, how would sinners pair with a black hawk in the bridge? :D Sorry for the essay, I'd really appreciate it if anyone knows anything about this.
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If you like them so much why do you want to change them?
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The guitar feels great to play, but the pickups aren't what I'm after. Not to say that they're bad, but I know they could be better.
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If you want recommendations as to which PUs you should get if you really wanne change them you should supply us with more info.
Which styles do you play and what do you look for in your tone?
Also, what do you dislike about your current PUs specifically cause as PartyAnimal223 said, you donīt sound like you donīt like em.
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I do like the pickups in it, they get the job done, the problem is that my other guitars do those jobs, and they do them much better. The bridge and middle sound like my strat, only not as good, so why not just use my strat? The bridge sounds similar to my kramer, but my kramer wipes the floor with it, so I'd just use my kramer. They're decent pickups, I just want the guitar to have its own unique voice, right now it's just sounding a bit too familiar. I'm looking for pickups that can do Iron Maiden to shred to anything beyond. However, my main concern is if BKP makes single coils that will even fit in the guitar.
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I can't see the picture properly to tell you the answer to that but I have a Jackson SL3 Soloist which is also HSS and the single coils from BKP fit in perfectly. When I got mine I asked Tim for single coils that would be good for solos and could give me that Dave Murray style lead tone. He suggested Trilogy Suites and in fairness, they do exactly what I asked of them at the time. If they're of any use, I currently have them for sale in the seconds out section as my requirements have changed so you could save yourself a bit of cash. That may sound a bit self-serving but in all seriousness, they will do what you want and certainly fit my SL3 no problem.
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I appreciate the offer, I just want to make absolutely sure first. I've been looking around the internet and found that the sustaniac pickup is basically the same shape as the current single coils I have in the Jackson currently. See how the standard base plate is more 'trapezoid-y'? If it has that kind of base plate then it won't fit :(
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Have you tried taking one out first to make sure what the shape is. I know that sounds stupid but years ago I had a guitar that I thought used the single coil shape you describe but once I started to dismantle it, it turned out that they were standard shape after all. Looking at the DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan and BKP websites, they all seem to be the standard shape so it makes no sense that Jackson would fit pickups that don't conform to this industry standard.
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I did, one of the first things I did actually was to take them out just because I was curious to see how they fit in there. Then I saw that they were just a different shape than single coils usually were, I really don't know why they would do it like that.
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New one on me that's for sure. Perhaps the next thing to do would be to show your guitar to a guitar tech and see what would have to be done to install standard single coils. Perhaps it's not as bad as it sounds.
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Congratulations on the Jackson! Those 90ies Japan series guitars are amazing! (gonna get my next one soon)
As for the Singlecoils, I can't help, sorry...
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Thanks, Guitariv! I'm really loving so far except, of course, for the pickups :wink: It's a fantastic player, one of the best trades I've ever made, hands down. And as far as the pickups go, I emailed BKP and they got back to me saying yes, they do make single coils in the style that would fit my guitar! You just have to make a note in the comments section saying "EMG-SHAPE STRAT COILS." Which was a huge relief to me, because I was really hoping to load it up with BKPs, and now I can.
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Glad the BKP team could help you out, they can do pretty much everything, I asked for black hex screws on my PK + CS and they told me the same, just request it in the box when ordering online :)
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As it happens I was talking to BKP this morning about an order I just placed and we talked about your problem. From what Ben said, I take it you have your answer now and it's not a problem :D
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Yeah, you gotta love the guys at BKP, they'll pretty much do anything for their customers. I was asking Ben about the Black Hawk and the Trilogy suites, and he recommended that if I go with the Black Hawk bridge to get slowhands, and if I go with the trilogy suite to get a Holy Diver bridge. I love the sound of the black hawk with the slowhands to be honest, it sounds like it would be a really unique and incredibly versatile combo. Plus, I have another guitar in my collection that I was thinking of putting HDs in. So at this point I'm really leaning toward the BH + SH combo. Any thoughts on it?
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Never tried a Black Hawk and although they seem surprisingly versatile, I suspect they're too surgically tight for my tastes. I have, however, used both a Holydiver and Miracle Man in a Jackson and I wouldn't be without either of them. Both are incredibly warm and smooth; very organic. The Holydiver is more versatile of the two while the Miracle Man is a bit more obviously 'Metal'. I currently have the Holydiver in the bridge of my PRS and there's honestly not much that pickup can't do. The Miracle Man is in the Jackson as it's the more obviously 'Metal' guitar. Trilogy Suites pair well with both and are also surprisingly versatile. Great for shredding and despite being hot, retain a distinctly single coil flavour and can be very versatile. The only reason I sold mine was because I wanted something hotter and with a more 'humbucker' feel.
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I have a Miracle Man in my B.C. Rich JRV 7 right now and I love it! Excellent for the style I'm going for and performs fantastically on the low B string. I've been hearing so many great things about the Holy Diver as well, but for some reason my gut is telling me to go with the Black Hawk. Decisions, decisions.
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Never tried a Black Hawk and although they seem surprisingly versatile, I suspect they're too surgically tight for my tastes. I have, however, used both a Holydiver and Miracle Man in a Jackson and I wouldn't be without either of them. Both are incredibly warm and smooth; very organic. The Holydiver is more versatile of the two while the Miracle Man is a bit more obviously 'Metal'. I currently have the Holydiver in the bridge of my PRS and there's honestly not much that pickup can't do. The Miracle Man is in the Jackson as it's the more obviously 'Metal' guitar. Trilogy Suites pair well with both and are also surprisingly versatile. Great for shredding and despite being hot, retain a distinctly single coil flavour and can be very versatile. The only reason I sold mine was because I wanted something hotter and with a more 'humbucker' feel.
I have a black hawk in a jackson sl2h and it's not any tighter than the miracle man in my les paul custom 68 reissue. I also would not describe the miracle man as being warm or smooth. The MM has sharp, present highs, huge, growly low mids, good, very punchy bass, a little scooped center mids, and scooped upper mids, which makes it have a dark sound even though it has more highs than the aftermath, painkiller, and blackhawk. The black hawk is a lot smoother and more polished sounding than the miracle man. The black hawk has a pretty even, neutral voicing (I guess it can be a little bright), and has a full, not harsh sound where ever you play, but I find it a bit too refined for my tastes (for a metal tone I often want some harshness, but not fizziness of course). The Miracle Man sounds more raw, organic, aggressive/harsh, and to me more ballsy. The miracle man is awesome, it's not smooth or warm (very much the opposite), and I wouldn't want it to be. That's what a neck pickup is for IMO. When I play a power chord with the black hawk it sounds full, very clear and pure, but I always feel like there's no grain or grit, and then I switch over to the miracle man or aftermath and it's all there and a lot more ballsy and aggressive.
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Perhaps it depends on the wood but that's how it sounds to me and I don't think I'm unique in that view. When I was looking for an alternative to the Holydiver I contacted Bare Knuckle and said I wanted something that was essentially similar to a Holydiver in being smooth, warm and organic but was a little tighter, a touch more aggressive, more screaming highs and a bit more balls in the bottom end; a bit like a Holydiver +. They came straight back to me and said I'd described a Miracle Man perfectly and in my guitar at least, that's just the way it is. I can only conclude that it behaves very differently in your guitar but I guess sometimes that's the way it is. Before I got the Nailbomb I heard loads of positive things about it that just weren't true in my experience of it. Where it was described as versatile I found it to be anything but that. Where it was described as warm and organic, I found it to be harsh, aggressive and hairy. I wouldn't say that's because other people were wrong, just that it works better in guitars that aren't maple neck-thru. BKP seem to be more sensitive than other pickups to the wood they're in, just as they're very sensitive to height adjustment. All I can say is that I've tried the Holydiver and Miracle Man in the same guitar and while the MM is certainly tighter and more aggressive, it's also very obviously from the same family as the HD because in that guitar at least, it's also quite warm, smooth and organic. Not as much as the HD for sure but it's in the same ballpark. That suits me because both pickups fit in with what I play. The HD covers everything from Blues to 80's Metal and the Miracle Man will run from Classic Rock to more modern Metal while not sounding fundamentally different. Put it this way, in a Rock covers band I could happily play our entire set with either pickup if need be.