Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Slartibartfarst42 on September 19, 2013, 02:25:18 PM
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Now it has to be said that I'm a long way from being a guitar collector. I only own two guitars and frankly, it's all I appear to need because between them they cover all that I play so why waste money buying a third guitar?
A few days ago a friend showed me a Vintage V100 he'd picked up in a trade and surprisingly (to me at least) it was actually quite impressive. The pickups weren't great and could stand a proper setup but the finish was good and the neck was surprisingly thin for something that's a Les Paul copy. It was really nice to play and as you seem to be able to pick these things up for £100-150. This gives me just two key questions for anyone with any knowledge of these guitars:
1) Are these guitars actually as decent as my initial impression suggested?
2) Which models in the V100 range have these thin necks as I assume they're not all the same?
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some guys on the forum have mentioned the Peter Green Lemon Drop model and have been quite complimentary. Their 'Advance' range has been lauded in the press, however I don't have personal experience here
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I only hear good things about them for the money, and the ones i've played have been perfectly good wee guitars.. i remember when 100-150 quid would get you a plank of wood with wires nailed on to it, and a bad example of a plank of wood with wires nailed on it at that.
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I used to own a vintage guitar. It was really excellent to be fair and i still miss it to this day.
The LP type ones are rumoured to be the best along with the strats.
As for the neck i couldn't say maybe an email to JHS would give you the answers?
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Never played any of the range, but I've never seen a bad review or any negative comments about them.
Trev Wilkinson seems to be a guy who wouldn't want his name associated with anything substandard, even when it sells at a budget price.
As for the neck question, I would guess most of them have slim necks. That seems to be what most people prefer, and budget guitars are always aimed at the mass market!
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Well, I got one ! It's an Icon V100, and well it's cool. It sounds VERY bassy, and it's heavy, but it does the job. I tune mine to B standard.
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Well, I got one ! It's an Icon V100, and well it's cool. It sounds VERY bassy, and it's heavy, but it does the job. I tune mine to B standard.
Bassy? What wouldn't be bassy in B-standard?
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Well, I got one ! It's an Icon V100, and well it's cool. It sounds VERY bassy, and it's heavy, but it does the job. I tune mine to B standard.
Bassy? What wouldn't be bassy in B-standard?
I meant it was already bassy when it was tuned to E :?
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As for the neck question, I would guess most of them have slim necks. That seems to be what most people prefer, and budget guitars are always aimed at the mass market!
Good point, that makes sense. I assume that the Lemon Drop will have a thicker neck but for the rest of them, a thin neck would be more logical. I still don't really need one but a good basic guitar for £150 that might really benefit from a pickup upgrade seems like a good buy. Now I just don't know what I'd do for pickups. The Crawler and Holydiver cover all of my needs and I don't seem to be keen on pups that are too vintage. I'll need to think about this carefully as if I can come up with a pickup combination that I can make use of then I'll buy one and if not, I won't bother.
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I have heard only good things about the lemon drop.
Never played one, but know someone who has and he really liked it, in fact he tried to get me to buy it (and it wasn't even his, his mate was getting rid for peanuts... Shoulda bought it... :oops: )
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It seems that these Vintage guitars are as good as my first impressions suggested. I've been thinking about possible pickups for it and my first thought was a Cold Sweat set as they're nice and modern but more open sounding than my Holydivers. My other thought was an Abraxas bridge and ? neck as I've always fancied an Abraxas but never got around to buying one and I think it would work well in a Les Paul. My final thought so far was to try some sort of P90, just for something different but I have no idea which one.
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It seems that these Vintage guitars are as good as my first impressions suggested. I've been thinking about possible pickups for it and my first thought was a Cold Sweat set as they're nice and modern but more open sounding than my Holydivers. My other thought was an Abraxas bridge and ? neck as I've always fancied an Abraxas but never got around to buying one and I think it would work well in a Les Paul. My final thought so far was to try some sort of P90, just for something different but I have no idea which one.
I think when it comes to P90s you´d have the best chance with the MQ / Nantucket. Ballsy but still classic. If you want it a little softer the blue note, but I guess the manhattan / half note would be too little for you taste. On the other side the Supermassive might be an option, but it is distinctly modern in sound. Both the Stockholm and Pig90 would be overkill for you I believe. Even the fatter and more modern ones are true P90s in tone though.
So really the MQ / Nantucket as it is in the same vain as the Crawler. HD is close too but that is between the SM and MQ I recon. Blue note is softer yet you might want an axe for a little lower stuff like blues and rock.
I think you would dig P90s, they have that special somewhat coarse and warm midrange roar which I think you´d really appreciate. Combine that with SC esque attack and bottom string definition, but all the balls of a HB, heck even deeper in bass. Try to get one of these babys muddy...
They sit wonderfully in LP types as well as those tend to have a lot of midrange and P90s compared to HBs have more highs and lows.
Plus they handle fuzz like nothing else.
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Well, I got one ! It's an Icon V100, and well it's cool. It sounds VERY bassy, and it's heavy, but it does the job. I tune mine to B standard.
Bassy? What wouldn't be bassy in B-standard?
I meant it was already bassy when it was tuned to E :?
Ah sorry, so it's very Les Paulish. So I assume RiffRaffs would be perfect in a V100.
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I once picked up the Icon Lemon Drop. Felt good, but as Magn.Beard says, very heavy. A bit like the Yamaha SG700 I had once. I like the AV3, which is a twist on an ES335. Maybe I pick one up sooner or later. I like how the basscontour-knob can thin out the sound.
What I read is that there can be quite a quality-difference. Some have a really bad frettdress and the frets are not always set in properly. The Icon I had in my hands had a good neck and frets. Inspect thorougly I'd say.
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This might be your chance to try out those Rebel Yells! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on them relative to the Holy Divers and Cold Sweats. :)
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I've played a few and they've generally been good. I'm half tempted to get their LP Jr, looks awesome in white.
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This might be your chance to try out those Rebel Yells! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on them relative to the Holy Divers and Cold Sweats. :)
I'm afraid Rebel Yells aren't an option I'm thinking about. The Holydiver set pretty much covers the Metal side of things while the Crawler is more Blues Rock so if I get this one, I think I might make it a bit more Bluesy. I'm thinking that maybe an Abraxas in the bridge and some sort of P90 in the neck would be a good combination and make a handy addition to what I already have.
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some guys on the forum have mentioned the Peter Green Lemon Drop model and have been quite complimentary. Their 'Advance' range has been lauded in the press, however I don't have personal experience here
The advances I've tried have been pretty nice (though some were nicer than others- the strat-type one was particularly nice, I thought) if you can get them cheap enough (say around ~£200 new, which is normally gettable if you're willing to wait on a deal). I think they might have been discontinued, though, so might be harder to find a deal.
The (very few) non-advance vintages I've tried I wasn't that fussed on, but admittedly I tried them before Trev Wilkinson's association with them, and by most accounts they were supposed to improve after he joined.
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This might be your chance to try out those Rebel Yells! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on them relative to the Holy Divers and Cold Sweats. :)
I'm afraid Rebel Yells aren't an option I'm thinking about. The Holydiver set pretty much covers the Metal side of things while the Crawler is more Blues Rock so if I get this one, I think I might make it a bit more Bluesy. I'm thinking that maybe an Abraxas in the bridge and some sort of P90 in the neck would be a good combination and make a handy addition to what I already have.
If you want it bluesy get a Blue Note set. Done.
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But if I got Blue Notes I'd have to get a guitar designed just for P90 pickups and it seems more sensible to get one with standard humbuckers so that I have the choice.
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But if I got Blue Notes I'd have to get a guitar designed just for P90 pickups and it seems more sensible to get one with standard humbuckers so that I have the choice.
Or just convince BKP to make you HB sized Bluenotes. One of the few off menue things they will ususally do. Reason is, as Tim told us once, that it really is no design change, he just has to file one part down to make it fit.
So you should be able to get one if you are nice and state your case. I got a HB sized Supermassive as well, really was no big issue.
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But if I got Blue Notes I'd have to get a guitar designed just for P90 pickups and it seems more sensible to get one with standard humbuckers so that I have the choice.
Or just convince BKP to make you HB sized Bluenotes. One of the few off menue things they will ususally do. Reason is, as Tim told us once, that it really is no design change, he just has to file one part down to make it fit.
So you should be able to get one if you are nice and state your case. I got a HB sized Supermassive as well, really was no big issue.
I support that!
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Now that's very interesting :D
I would want to make the guitar more of a Blues guitar but my experience of the Crawler neck pickup suggests that I'm not too keen on vintage 42PE wire and that severely limits my options unless a P90 with 42PE wire has more cut than a humbucker with 42PE wire. The Stockholm would be too hot and dark and while the Mississippi Queen sounds perfect, the 42AWG wire worries me. The same issue surrounds the Blue Note but rather like the Stockholm, would the Supermassive simply be too hot for the application I'm after?
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Now that's very interesting :D
I would want to make the guitar more of a Blues guitar but my experience of the Crawler neck pickup suggests that I'm not too keen on vintage 42PE wire and that severely limits my options unless a P90 with 42PE wire has more cut than a humbucker with 42PE wire. The Stockholm would be too hot and dark and while the Mississippi Queen sounds perfect, the 42AWG wire worries me. The same issue surrounds the Blue Note but rather like the Stockholm, would the Supermassive simply be too hot for the application I'm after?
Since P90s are SCs in essense they do have more cut for sure. Now if that is the kind of cut you want I can not say, but the SC attack and definition sure makes a difference to me.
For a blues axe the SM would be too much already imho. Great modern rock PU and very versatile there. Can go up to metal and down to blues, but it lives for modern rock.
The MQ / Nantucket feel classick rock oriented, so they can easily go down to blues and do that very comfortable. Great for dirty blues rock. The alnico 5 is the main thing here. Can also go way heavier.
The Blue note should be very blues oriented, softer and sweeter in sound. Great classic rock sound also.
If you really wanne go bluesy I would say blue note all the way. If you want to go blues rock / rock with it the MQ might be a better shot.
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A set of Abraxas or MQs would be great in a V100. Or you could go Abraxas bridge MQ neck. I can only say: Take it away :D
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A set of Abraxas or MQs would be great in a V100. Or you could go Abraxas bridge MQ neck. I can only say: Take it away :D
The Abraxas MQ combo would work well no doubt, but I feel if you go p90 you might as well go full P90.
The necks get a lot of love for a good reason, but the bridges feel like the forgotten wonders to me. Heck I might like em more than the necks cause they got this brilliant definition for the low strings.
My Stockholm bridge just riffs metal (and rock) with a power clarity and definiton that it actually competes with the RY to be my fav bridge PU. Ok, RY is still in front, but the SH is a good second.
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The Abraxas bridge and Mississippi Queen neck is currently the combination I'm thinking about most. The choice of P90 for the neck may change but while I appreciate what Kiichi is saying about the bridge, I've been hankering after an Abraxas for so long now that I'm sure I'll have that in the bridge. As the P90 will have to have a cover, I'll get a cover on the Abraxas too, even though I prefer open poled pickups but on a cherry sunburst V100 I think burnt chrome covers will look pretty cool 8)
First things first; I need to find a good but cheap V100 before I can start the long save for new pickups.
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I would pick nickel covers on a cherry sunburst.
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Brushed nickel is the other finish I'm thinking about. The thing with burnt chrome that slightly concerns me is that on some pictures they look awesome and on others they look mere like being simply knackered, which was why I returned a black battleworn set I tried. Brushed nickel is a much safer bet.
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Brushed nickel is the other finish I'm thinking about. The thing with burnt chrome that slightly concerns me is that on some pictures they look awesome and on others they look mere like being simply knackered, which was why I returned a black battleworn set I tried. Brushed nickel is a much safer bet.
I like burnt chrome, but I think it looks best on a unicolored body.
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I'm going to be boring as usual and say I'd go with nickel if the hardware is nickel, chrome is the hardware is chrome.
I like the burnt chrome finish as a look - in its own right - but I don't think it actually goes with any combination of colours or hardware! If you could buy a complete set of burnt chrome hardware, I'd be all for it.
(It's rather like the exotic hardware finishes Schaller make, such as ruthenium and aged copper - looks brilliant, but would you ever be able to get a full set of guitar hardware in the same finish? Schaller stuff is hard enough to find at the best of times...)
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I would go for the brushed nickel as I'm no fan of the burnt chrome look.
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Well yesterday I found a nice honeyburst one that I think I've done a deal on and the burnt chrome doesn't appeal to me as much on that one so it looks like it will be brushed nickel. In the short term I'll load it with the PRS pickups I have lying around as it will take me a while to save up the funds I need for a full BKP upgrade.
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Congrats to the purchase (??). Sorry for my late reply here, been out travelling with work for a couple of weeks.
I have a Vintage V100 Lemondrop and I really like it. I use it in the studio quite a lot, especially for crunch sounds and some lead work. Just make sure you'll be able to use the coil taps on the neck, it's one of the most usable sounds on mine.
Mine is loaded with HDs and I feel they are perfect for it, although a lower output set of pups would suit it very well too as you said before. The Lemondrop (at least mine) has this nice vintage sounding tone, it doesn't have that high end bite that some Les Pauls have. I can't complain since my PRS does those sorts of sounds anyway, and the V100 complements that. The neck is thin on it too, I bet it's the same neck as the other V100s.
The only bad thing about it is that the frets seems to be a little soft. I'm quite hard on my frets, and after two years I see some wear. It's not really bad, but it might need a fret dress in a year or two. I plan on refretting it after some time with jumbo stainless frets.
The Lemondrop is a fantastic guitar, it covers my LP tones nicely. I have no plans on selling it replacing it with a Gibson, I just don't see the need for it.
Let us know how it will work with the BKPs you choose!
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As far as I can tell, the deal is done. It should be finalised and delivered on Wednesday. I'll get some zebra PRS pups fitted into it straight away as it will take quite a few months to save up what I'll need for the full BKP treatment.
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Congrats!! That is really pretty, and zebras are just right for that one 8)
What PRS pups are you putting in it? I'm betting a set of 245s would sound killer in it
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It's an HFS/VB set as that's what came out of my CU24 but the zebra finish will look good for now. I would have gone with zebras for the Bare Knuckles again as well as that's what I use on both of my PRS guitars but as the neck P90 will have to have a cover, I will reluctantly give the bridge humbucker a matching cover when the time comes.