Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: littleredguitars2 on September 28, 2013, 10:11:50 PM

Title: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: littleredguitars2 on September 28, 2013, 10:11:50 PM
Do you think theres a type of guitar or mix of tone woods that would allow any BKP to sound good in it? seeing as some pickups are dark, some bright and everything in between what do you think? just something i've been wondering.  maybe something thats lighter like a strat but with a darker tone wood to balance it and the right neck to keep it balanced so that any pickup wouldnt sound too dark or too bright etc in it.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: Telerocker on September 29, 2013, 12:06:53 AM
Hmm, I don't think so. The point is that guitars with the same specs can sound way different. There are some pickups that usually do fine in either mahogany or alder/ash, like the VHII or the Abraxas by example. And there are guitars with a natural balanced tonespectrum that can handle a lot of pickups. A mahogany tele perhaps. But one guitar that scores tens with each BKP-pickup? Difficult, I guess.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: Dave Sloven on September 29, 2013, 12:18:38 AM
The Gibson SG is a notoriously finicky guitar when it comes to pickups.  But when you get it right it's an amazing guitar.  Nothing else plays or sounds like it.  Definitely a love-it-or-hate-it guitar but no-one's ever called it bland!  I'd be worried if there was a guitar that any pickup could go in all of them would sound equally bland.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: littleredguitars2 on September 29, 2013, 12:27:41 AM
Hmm, I don't think so. The point is that guitars with the same specs can sound way different. There are some pickups that usually do fine in either mahogany or alder/ash, like the VHII or the Abraxas by example. And there are guitars with a natural balanced tonespectrum that can handle a lot of pickups. A mahogany tele perhaps. But one guitar that scores tens with each BKP-pickup? Difficult, I guess.

well i didnt really mean a guitar where everything was a perfect fit but at least a good fit. know what i mean?
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: Kiichi on September 29, 2013, 01:30:16 AM
I would go for something in the superstrat world. Mahagony body, maple neck, rosewood board. That with the lighter body of a superstrat seems to me like it is the most versatile and forgiving wood combo. Oh and make it fender and not gibson scale. Important one that.

That is the 10 disciplin guy at the olympics, does it all, but none (or only one or two to be fair) well.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: Telerocker on September 29, 2013, 12:20:12 PM
Like Kiichi says, something like a mahogany based strat (or tele with hb's) could stretch from Mule to Miracle Man.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: littleredguitars2 on September 29, 2013, 01:57:37 PM
yeah i think thats sort of what i was thinking as well. it would be cool to have a guitar to use just for throwin new pickups in to change it up every once in a while.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: Alex on September 29, 2013, 04:13:34 PM
Like Kiichi says, I think a maple neck with Rosewood board would be the start for a quite universal guitar sound.

I always felt that maple is really the best wood for necks, not mahogany, as it brings out the highs and the attack more. I also always felt that the Les Paul maple cap on mahogany body doesn't do nearly as much a difference as a maple neck would.

Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: Telerocker on September 29, 2013, 10:41:11 PM
Like Kiichi says, I think a maple neck with Rosewood board would be the start for a quite universal guitar sound.

I always felt that maple is really the best wood for necks, not mahogany, as it brings out the highs and the attack more. I also always felt that the Les Paul maple cap on mahogany body doesn't do nearly as much a difference as a maple neck would.

I tend to agree that the necktimbers have a big influence on the tonespectrum. By example, my  swampash strat with maple neck and ebony fretboard has a more percussive attrack then my  ash strat with maple neck/rosewood fretboard.   
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: littleredguitars2 on September 29, 2013, 11:51:53 PM
the only guitar i've had that remember having an ebony board on was my old explorer and that thing was wonderful. its a shame i no longer have it.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: Telerocker on September 30, 2013, 12:09:24 AM
Sometimes we sell stuff that we - by hindsight - shouldn't. I still regret selling my eighties Yamaha SG700. That  was a really good guitar, heavy though. Being not a Gibson-addict at all, I like the Explorer, better than V's.
Especially in natural mahogany with a white guard they look classy.
Title: Re: This has been on my mind lately...
Post by: littleredguitars2 on September 30, 2013, 01:12:14 AM
yeah i've never played a V. never liked it much but the explorer was great. it was a standard. i had put EMG 81/85 in it. this was back in highschool. around 2007ish? it was a white one. but i always wanted another standard explorer in natural finish