Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: sulistef on April 30, 2013, 08:05:55 PM
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I just got my PRS SE Custom 24 - 7 strings and I like the guitar, comfortable to play, the sound is OK on my Dual Rectifier ... until I hit the low B string ! The sound then is messy and undetailed.
I'm looking then for BKN pickups and I'm hesitating between the Aftermath and the Warpig.
Could you give me some advise regarding my rig, as sayed PRS SE 24- 7 strings to Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier 3 chans ?
I play most of the time heavy metal style as you could imagine :-)
Link to the guitar specs : http://www.prsguitars.com/secustom7string/specs.php (http://www.prsguitars.com/secustom7string/specs.php)
Thank you in advance.
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Under normal circumstances I'd naturally gravitate towards the Warpig but as your amp is already quite thick and dark sounding, I'd be tempted more with the Aftermath, though I'd also be taking a serious look at the Black Hawk.
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Paul Waggoner from Between The Buried and Me uses Black Hawks in his PRS to great avail.
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Thank you for your answers.
My taste goes more for the aftermath then I think, I like when the sound have good basses for strong palm-mutes, but I want it to keep it clear and defined.
I looked lot of videos on youtube :-) i.e.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFjMGHuNpOg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFjMGHuNpOg)
In this video I really like the Warpig and the Aftermath.
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The trouble with such a comparison as far as you're concerned is that it ignores the effect of your amp and of course, your amp has the biggest influence on your tone. Your amp is the only reason I suggested something other than the Warpig and is also the reason why I wouldn't so readily dismiss something like the Black Hawk. Your amp is big and dark so the EQ on the Warpig looks all wrong to me whereas the Aftermath's looks better. The Black Hawk shares a similar EQ and gives you both ceramic and alnico options, both of which should work well. The Warpig also always sounds quite big, warm and organic to me in comparison to the Aftermath, which is very tight and dry. I thought about the Black Hawk because it always sounds that bit bigger and more organic than the Aftermath so you get your nod towards the Warpig while retaining all of the clarity etc. you get from the Aftermath. The Black Hawk always sounds a lot more versatile to me too but I hasten to add that this is based only on things I've heard and comments on here as neither suits my own personal tastes - that would only take me to the Warpig but looking at it objectively, I just don't see it suiting your rig as well.
Ultimately of course, it's your money and your choice and I'm sure both will perform extremely well.
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I can just say that our dear Slartibartfarst42 raises a lot of valuable points here and that I agree with him whole heartedly. He really seems to be on a helpful rampage around here...
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Thank you very much for the explanation :-)
I understand what you mean and I will have a closer look to the Black Hawk, seems to be a good "mix" of the Warpig and Aftermath that could fit my whishes :-)
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The trouble with such a comparison as far as you're concerned is that it ignores the effect of your amp and of course, your amp has the biggest influence on your tone.
Uh ... I forgot to mention : on the video the sound is recorded via a Kemper amp based on a Dual Recto bossted with a Tube Screamer. OK it's modeling or simulation but I hoped it was closed from the real result :-)
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I can just say that our dear Slartibartfarst42 raises a lot of valuable points here and that I agree with him whole heartedly. He really seems to be on a helpful rampage around here...
LOL, thank you so much for your support. After an awful day at work, that really put a smile on my face :D
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Ok guys ... Thanks a lot for your advices .... I juste Ordered the BlackHawks 7 for my PRS ;-)
I've been convinced by the versatility and sound tests I found on youtube and soundcloud.
To be honest without your advices I wouldn't have had a look to the Black Hawks pickups so thank you again :)
Now I'm verrrrryyyyyyyyyy impatient :D Do you have any idea how long it takes to be delivered ? approx ?
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They're usually pretty quick. I have had them within a few days before and never longer than a week, even when I've been ordering something a little bit different. Hope you enjoy them. I'll feel a huge weight of responsibility now you've gone for the Black Hawks but clearly you've researched them and found that you like what you hear :D
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Ok guys ... Thanks a lot for your advices .... I juste Ordered the BlackHawks 7 for my PRS ;-)
I've been convinced by the versatility and sound tests I found on youtube and soundcloud.
To be honest without your advices I wouldn't have had a look to the Black Hawks pickups so thank you again :)
Now I'm verrrrryyyyyyyyyy impatient :D Do you have any idea how long it takes to be delivered ? approx ?
Not long at all, and I'm in the US!
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I'll feel a huge weight of responsibility now you've gone for the Black Hawks but clearly you've researched them and found that you like what you hear :D
No don't worry :-) Your advice took me to consider the Black Hawk but after all I've watched and read about the pickups the choice has been mine ;-)
And thanks again to everyone.
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Just make sure you tell us how you like em once they arrive. We are always eager to hear such things!
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So ... here there are :-)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/8744704982_af6fc58d06.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sulistef/8744704982/)
And I really am impressed how it changes "everything" :-) The sound is really sharp and I can really hear clearly what I play on the low B string.
You were very right in your advices, the response with my rig is really balanced : the bass response of the recto is still here and the dynamic from the medium and treble from the pickups is a very good mix !
So again thank you for your advices, I really love them :-)
Slartibartfarst42 ... you can breathe ;-) :twisted:
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Nice! In most axes I still have somewhat of an issue with the blackhawks looks, but in that baby they work!
Now the regular BKP advice is play with your pickup height a bit, they usually are pretty sensitive to that. If you love them now, chances are good they can be even better.
Also I (I suspect I am not alone on this one) would be interrested in any and all additional thoughts on tone, qualities and weaknesses from either early impressions or further down the road.
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Yes, it's a great looking guitar and it does seem to suit the Black Hawks. Glad (and relieved) you like them. I'd also like a really detailed review of what they're like. My reviews are usually epic so you don't need to go that far but good quality reviews help us all to learn more. :D
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So, some more days with the pickups, and I if they are really sharp, I have quite a lot of difficulties to find "my sound".
The "organic" side of the pickup is very present when I get on my modern canal on the recto and it sounds like I have "gain over the gain". It's hard to describe and I will try to get some samples (tomorrow because I can not play my recto at 23:38 :-D ). Of course I can get the gain down, but then the sound loses all the power during palm-mutes.
On the other side, the clean sound is sweet and warm ... and for my ears, close from perfect !
I will anyway get an EQ pedal (MXR M 108) and I know it will reduce the "bee effect" from the Hi gain recto chanel, but will it help with my gain on the gain ?
Perhaps is the height of my pickups not good tuned, can it influence these tonality ?
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And here are the samples :
the "gain over the gain effect" : https://soundcloud.com/sulistef/gain-over-the-gain
Modern mode : https://soundcloud.com/sulistef/red-modern
Vintage mode : https://soundcloud.com/sulistef/red-modern
My favourite here is the Vintage sound but it sounds already very "grainy" (french translation, I'm not sure it's the correct word :) )
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Sounds like you have the pickup a bit to close to bridge, that can happen easily especially with Ceramic ones, my Painkiller likes to breathe a bit farther away from the strings than my Holydiver. I would mess with pickup height again, should solve the problem :)
Cheers
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Thanks !! Operation screwdriver !! :-)
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So I "played" with the pickups height, I have some variations of course but the sound is always approximately the same. I think it's part of the pickup character, or the couple Black Hawk / Dual Recto.
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Well, BKPs are usually very sensitive to height, so if the sound doesn't change fundamentally it in deed is the character of the Blackhawk.
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Yes I think so too. So I contacted BKP for an exchange for Aftermath pickups, these are more conventional but I think it will fit my sound better.
But the blackhawks are really good pickups and I was very impressed by the sound change compared to my stock pickups. And the clean sound was absolutely gorgeous. I think the fizz I have in my sound is due to the high response in the treble band that push the rectifier sound a little bit too much for me. They would be better for my style on an other amp or in lower gain.
I just want to add to the people who adviced me these pickups that I don't regret my first decision because I had the chance to test it on my rig. Unfortunately it was only this "fizz" in the sound that I didn't like but I repeat these are excellent pickups.
I'll keep you informed when I get the Aftermath (black battleworn covered :) )
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I don't think aftermaths will fix whatever is causing that :?