Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Sothoth on July 21, 2014, 10:26:54 PM
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I love humbuckers (sort of like I love trying new scotch or meeting attractive women... each has their own unique and interesting personality/flavor that you can can spend years getting to know and appreciate) and for this reason I decided I need to try some new humbuckers so I'm building a new HH guitar from scratch to satisfy my need.
I have a HSS set (nailbomb/Irish tour) that I love. I want to delve more into the metal side of things.
I am quite fascinated by the Blackhawks and have listened to samples online, although clearly there is no substitute for listening in person, and love their sound for progressive metal. I have never liked actives... great clarity and power but not much range or versatility. The BH seems to improve upon that significantly.
That said, is it good for much else than metal? I want to play some blues rock and hard rock. I don't need to match the exact tone of AC/DC or anything, but don't want a one trick pony. While the guitar I'm making is mostly metal, and while I can play blues rock on my existing nailbomb, I wonder if anyone can chime in on the BHs and their suitability outside of metal.
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Unfortunately I only have experience with the bridge and im guessing with a set comes more versatility.
To me the bridge is a metal pickup...it could do a job with hard rock I guess depends on your taste as with any thing but id say it isnt ideal for blues at all.
Just my opinion though different gear works differently for different people and as I say cant comment on the set but I intend to get a set again one day
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I hope this will get a bump and a few reads.
I have had the BH set in my custom telecaster for a few months now. The body is southern ash, neck is q-sawn maple with an ebony board and SS frets. It's a fairly bright guitar.
The pickups are about as clear and responsive as i've ever played, as versatile as any pickup I've ever used. Blues and Jazz are NO PROBLEM. Not compressed sounding at all like an active. Instead, they're clear, bright, and articulate.
They do metal very well. They sound slightly thinner than some of the BKPs.. for example they aren't as throaty and growly as an Aftermath or Nailbomb. But with a little tweaking, you can get them there no problem. What you can do with these that I don't see with ANY other pickup I've ever used is have as clear and dynamic a response when heavily distorted. It's really a brilliant pickup. I am guessing it distorts so nicely because the base sound is so incredibly clean and tight. You can hear every note when playing complex chords or muting. I'm really blown away.
And to be clear, I am saying that although everyone has their own tastes, it's silly to think you can't do Blues or Jazz or really anything really well with these. Five Stars for sure.
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Nice report. Do you have an A5 or ceramic magnet in the bridge position?
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I have the Ceramic black hawks in my Parker which is all mahogany. It can do anything. Big open CLEAR...are the words to describe it. I am a stickler when it comes to clarity in pick ups. When I get a set they have to have clarity above everything else. The black hawks are the most clear out of my BKPs. Even more clear than the mules. I know BKPs are known for there clarity but the black hawk takes it to another level for me. Hope this helps. :evil:
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Mine are also ceramic but I'm sure the albino would also sound great in a bright guitar.