Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Lesion on November 10, 2013, 06:34:29 PM
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Looking for my second bkp set.
The first bkp I bought was a hd bridge and vhii neck for a thin and bright sounding guitar.
Both these pups work perfectly in that gtr, the hd really thickens the gtr nicely and I love the openness and vintage spongyness of the vhii.
I am having problems picking a set for my second gtr. Its a neck thru with ebony board and Floydrrose. Its tone is more neutral and balanced. So far I have had in this gtr a sd dimebucker (lacks mid punch and mushy lows) and an emg 81 (a bit too bright).
I have been recommended an A-bomb but don't want to go too high output. Looking for a more dynamic natural sound that can still grind and pull off some shred/metal.
I think I want an alnico pup but needs to be quite tight on the low end because with the neck thru and Floyd rose the guitar can sometimes loose definition on the low strings.
Any ideas?
Thanks for any help
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The a bomb might work for you. But I found mine to be overly bright personally. And don't over look the vintage hot pickups
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Thanks for your response.
Yeah im trying to stay away from the a-bomb, don't know why. Just a feeling it might be too much for me now, looking for something a bit more subtle.
Definitely considering one of the vintage hot range. To be honest I have been going backwards and forwards between the emerald, abraxes, rebel yell and crawler? Haven't been able to settle on one yet, im not really sure how the different bkp compare?
Would like something that pairs well with the hd in my other guitar also.
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Black Dog has some characteristics of the HD, like extra centermids. It's a tight pickup too.
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If you are looking to give that Floyd Rose a bit of a workout I would recommend either the Rebel Yell or (even though the bridge is ceramic) the Cold Sweat sets.
The Cold Sweat is not your typical ceramic pickup. If you went for a Dimebucker I'm guessing you might like Dimebag's tone and the Cold Sweat is the BKP that gets you closest to that. For cleans I like it better than the A-Bomb I had in the same guitar.
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I assume your guitar is a maple neck-thru as that's most common with that design, in which case I'd certainly steer clear of the A-Bomb as that was awful in my maple neck-thru. I'd equally probably stay away from anything else that is either bright or has a lot of upper mids. The Emerald would certainly be too bright unless you like a really bright tone because I found it way too bright in a PRS SE Custom 24 which is mahogany so I imagine it would be even brighter in a maple neck-thru, especially with a Floyd. The Rebel Yell would be better but it still has a fair chunk of upper mids, though it's not quite as hairy as the A-Bomb. The Crawler would be a better bet as it has a strong bottom end with more lower mids so should sit well in a maple neck-thru. The same would apply to a Black Dog. Normally, the best suggestion for a maple neck-thru is the Miracle Man but as you're wanting a more vintage feel I'd say your best two options would be Crawler or Black Dog.
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Looking for my second bkp set.
The first bkp I bought was a hd bridge and vhii neck for a thin and bright sounding guitar.
Both these pups work perfectly in that gtr, the hd really thickens the gtr nicely and I love the openness and vintage spongyness of the vhii.
I am having problems picking a set for my second gtr. Its a neck thru with ebony board and Floydrrose. Its tone is more neutral and balanced. So far I have had in this gtr a sd dimebucker (lacks mid punch and mushy lows) and an emg 81 (a bit too bright).
I have been recommended an A-bomb but don't want to go too high output. Looking for a more dynamic natural sound that can still grind and pull off some shred/metal.
I think I want an alnico pup but needs to be quite tight on the low end because with the neck thru and Floyd rose the guitar can sometimes loose definition on the low strings.
Any ideas?
Thanks for any help
Im sure the nailbomb would be great and keep in mind it is lower in output than the holy diver. Seems some people have had to negative experiences with it but by my experiences and how its described/marketed BKP its very dynamic and natural sounding.
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what about holy divers or even warpigs?
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Already has a Holy Diver and wants to avoid the high-output pickups (see first post).
I tend to think that an A-Pig would work in this guitar, but I don't know if the OP would be happy with the neck pickup.
This does make me wonder though: has anyone had a neck Pig 90 made in a HSP-90 size, and did this sound much different from the Warpig neck humbucker?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSuvOVH0aSQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSuvOVH0aSQ)
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If you are looking to give that Floyd Rose a bit of a workout I would recommend either the Rebel Yell or (even though the bridge is ceramic) the Cold Sweat sets.
so correct me If I`m wrong, some BKPs work better with Floyd than the others (of course apart from some extreme examples like Stormy Mondays or other truly vintage pups)?
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If you are looking to give that Floyd Rose a bit of a workout I would recommend either the Rebel Yell or (even though the bridge is ceramic) the Cold Sweat sets.
so correct me If I`m wrong, some BKPs work better with Floyd than the others (of course apart from some extreme examples like Stormy Mondays or other truly vintage pups)?
No, I'm just suggesting that those pickups will hit those Dimebag style squeals real good :)
I'm sure others might work too, just that they don't have as much output. Of course the Miracle Man might be even more so, but the OP isn't looking to go that hot.
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Thanks for all the advice guys.
Im at work at the mo but I'll do my best to reply to all the suggestions. All very helpful, cheers.
Yup I used to love dimebags playing (still do) and if it was 5-10years ago I would have been all over the cold sweat or MM. Today its fair to say I've mellowed a bit but still enjoy the occasional squeal thrown in for good measure :-).
The guitar in question is indeed a maple neck thru but definitely isn't as bright as my other guitar with the hd.
It would seem my choice is between the Rebel yell vs crawler/black dog? This is good.
I like the smoothness of the hd in my other guitar but was thinking to offset that by adding the extra bite of the rebel yell? I think im leaning towards the rebel yell at the moment and the extra tightness in the bass could work.
I see the juggernaut is the new kid on the block and I have a 7 string thats waiting in the wings for that Bad boy :-)
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Well after much thought I think im going to get the rebel yell set with burnt chrome covers.
I'm sure I won't be disappointed.
Just wondering how the rebel yell neck compares to the vhii neck?
Also how well do rebel yells split?
Thanks
L
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Well after much thought I think im going to get the rebel yell set with burnt chrome covers.
I'm sure I won't be disappointed.
Just wondering how the rebel yell neck compares to the vhii neck?
Also how well do rebel yells split?
I've never read a bad review of a RY set. Apparently the RY neck is like the Cold Sweat neck (which I do own, and can recommend) but with some VHII character in there too, so I think you will be happy. Apparently you can get a really nice Randy Rhoads sound out of the RY, which appeals to me.
I seem to remember someone saying that the RY splits okay. Generally as you go up in output splitting becomes more viable, and the RY is definitely a fairly hot pickup, not as hot as a Nailbomb, Crawler, or Holy Diver but hotter than a Cold Sweat. I haven't tried splitting my Cold Sweat but I've read a lot of reviews about the other three splitting very well.
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Ok I only use my RY bridge splits combined with an IT middle as I have it wired autosplit on a 5 way with HSH PU combination. I like what I get and I think it works. Still, there is one thing I recommend cause half a HB is still no SC (the more powerful and dark the PU gets the less of an issue this is, which is why the crawler rules for splits). Just in terms of winds and such it does not add up. Yet there is one thing that can lessen the difference.
Do a PRS style split and put a resistor in series with the wire coil that you send to ground (turn off). That should be the green and white wire if I recall. That way when you split the coil does not completly shut off, just turned down a lot. Like using a volume knob in switch form for only one of the two coils. This results in getting the SC character from the main coil with the other, turned down one, contributing in adding back some output, lows and taking out a tad of hum. That makes for a sound which is much closer to a real SC I find and makes the jump not as extreme.
Super easy to do as you really just need to put a resistor between the end of the green and white wire and the point where they are supposed to go in the split wiring you are going to do. PRS recommends 1k Ohm for the neck and 2k for the bridge. Works, but I am gonna next try 2 and 3 as I have my PUs also turned around so the split coils are the outer ones making stuff even brighter. Anyhow, try 1 and 2.
I hear there also is a variation using a capacitor where you donīt turn down the volume but lower the resonance peak which I will also try (hopefully) soon. Might be even better for what I want.
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If you think the Floyd bridge is really affecting your tone, you might want to consider one of those Sustain Blocks from Floyd Upgrades. Might give you more options in terms of pickups.
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Thanks agent orange that sounds good, cheers.
Kiichi thats some pretty cool stuff you've suggested there,
Definitely going to try that.
Have you tried wiring the humbucker in parallel before? It's something I been looking at also, but as I say will definitely try out your suggestion above.
P4vl I do think the Floyd is affecting my tone somewhat. There's not enough stability when playing the low strings moderate to hard, low notes mushing together and the attack of the string/note is being lessened I think. Do you think the brass blocks will help with that?
Just been looking at their site and it does look promising, one of those big brass blocks may also fatten the sound of the guitar up complementing the rebel yells tone. Mmm
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Kiichi thats some pretty cool stuff you've suggested there,
Definitely going to try that.
Have you tried wiring the humbucker in parallel before? It's something I been looking at also, but as I say will definitely try out your suggestion above.
I tried parallel wiring on my Mule neck PU, as that lends itself a little less to splitting as it is low output. I kinda like it, works well, but I still prefer splits personally. Worth trying both though as both make for good SC like sounds.
Donīt expect a night and day difference from the resistor thing though. It is more among the lines of 2-3 turns of the height screw I feel.