Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Skaven on April 21, 2015, 02:34:48 PM
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Hi guys,
I've decided to change one of my Strat's configuraition from SC-SC-SC to HB-SC-SC and i need some help, this guitar has an Ash Body with a mapple neck and luckly it has already routing for HB on the bridge.
I Have the Irish Tour Pickups on another Strat and I like them a lot but I would like to have a different (but close) set on this one, something that would allow me to play from clean to slight overdriven on the neck and middle (maybe Slow Hand?) and for the HB position since my ideia is to play Hard-Rock to Metal I thought about the Rebel Yell altough I don't know how well they will match in terms of volume and tone etc... .
I want this guitar to be versatile, so the main idea is to have something like the Irish Tour on Middle and Neck and something powerful on the bridge, powerful not talking about Thrash Metal, but something that would allow me to play from WhiteSnake to Van Halen to Mettalica to Satriani and Steve Vai, mostly for Lead Guitar.
Sorry for my English and ty very much for the kind help.
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The Slowhands were mentioned here today even though i have never tried them.
For the bridge, i thought of the Holydiver or Abraxas before you listed band names. I still think they would do a job for you, but the Miracle Man get suggested for Vai tones.
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Won't the Holydiver and Miracle Man be too much for the Slow Hands in terms of Output?
Can the Abraxas handle high-gain?
I know it's not possible to have everything but something that would do ok in terms of output with the Slow Hand that still allows me to go high-gain is what I'm looking for.
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Crawler perhaps. Tight enoug for me, but not the tightest of the BKP-range. Nevertheless huge sounding.
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So Crawler and Slow Hand will match better than Rebel Yell and Slow Hand on a Strat?
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So Crawler and Slow Hand will match better than Rebel Yell and Slow Hand on a Strat?
Rebel Yell: moderate bass, emphasis on uppermids, rockpickup that does metal too, a crossover between vintage and modern.
Crawler: über-PAF, quite some bass (more than the Diver), thick, creamy, round but not dull topend, enough cut there, more vintage than modern, but capable of hardrock/some metal. Splits good too.
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Well, Crawler seems to do the job better indeed.
Last one: (please)
Holydiver and Slow Hand?
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HD is another good option. A little less bass than the Crawler, more modern sounding and with a lot of mids and creamy topend. It's got the eighties metal vibe going.
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ty Telerocker!
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I think this depends where you want your focus to be. For a lot of the bands you mentioned, the Holydiver is the ideal bridge pickup and that would certainly be my first choice. It's perfect for that 80s Metal tone and is a superb lead pickup but for the neck and middle, you'd be better off pairing it with Trilogy Suites. They're more modern sounding but not excessively so in my opinion and have that distinctive single coil sound. It's a superb set. Conversely, if you're set on Slowhands for the neck and middle, I'd be inclined to look at either the Crawler or Abraxas for the bridge.
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HD might be too much to match with Slow Hand I guess?
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HD might be too much to match with Slow Hand I guess?
Nope, I think that would balance quite nice actually. The HD is not superhot and the Slowhands have bold tone and more ouput than true vintage single coils like say the Mother's Milk.
Slarti has a point when it comes to determine the character of your HSS-set. The HD can be mixed with Slowhands, but if you want to go modern, the HD pairs good with Trilogies. Mind you that the Trilogies provide nearly a P90-tone. A Crawler/Slowhands-combo has more of the vintagevibe going. Personally I prefer more vintage oriënted single coils, bec of the sparkle/chime, but maybe's that not something you're looking for.
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I don't want to to go modern on the neck and middle, just the bidge, the idea is to make this guitar versatile... .
I use the neck and middle for my blues (slightly overdriven sounds) and the bridge for Rock/Metal but I don't want a disparity in output between the SCs and the HB, that's the main issue for me.
One of the suggested HSS sets in the website is the HD+Irish Tour witch would be ideal for me but since I already have ITs on another Strat I would like to try different Single-Cols but ones that sound as close to IT's as possible, the Trilogy are totally out of the question it's too much power for my Blues, would you advice IT's+HD instead of SH+HD ? Would it be a better match?
I thought about SH because they seem very similiar to the IT's but with only with a slight boost on the midds, as a reference (might help) I like the Lollar Blackface a lot, which Single COils from BK will get me closer to them?
ty very much.
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Slowhands: a tad extra mids and a little less hollow, compared to Irish Tours.
Mother's Milk, underwound version of the IT's, woodier and glassier, less bass than the IT.
The Pat Pend Series are quite close to the Mother's Milk.
That leaves the Irish Tour and the Slowhand if you need something vintagehot. Just get the Slowhands. They do fine for blues.
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That's what I thought (ty) and in terms of output, won't the HD be a lot louder than the Slow Hand?
If I ask Tim to calibrate the pick-ups to match the output (volume) as much as possible won't it somehow de-characterize the Slow Hands and make them a lot more powerful?
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When I had my Holydiver/Trilogy Suite set I very nearly used Slowhands instead but didn't because a regular forum member on here (can't recall his name as he's not been around in a while) tried Slowhands with his Holydiver and said they didn't match well. It has to be said that I never tried that combo myself so I'm going purely on his word. The addition of baseplates would help. The thing is, a lot of the bands referenced aren't exactly obviously 'vintage' and the Holydiver is an excellent choice for the bands mentioned. I never found the Trilogy Suites particularly modern in their tone, at least not with the neck and middle as I tend to prefer more vintage tones there and I liked the Trilogy Suites. However, if you want a more vintage vibe overall, either the Crawler or Abraxas would be good choices with Slowhands. I found the Crawler beautifully fat, rich and growly. It's my favourite Bare Knuckle pickup and is extremely versatile. The Holydiver nails the 80's Metal tone better and will stretch to more modern styles, while the Crawler is happier with Blues Rock, Classic Rock and Hard Rock. It will do 80s Metal too but is less at home there. I feel a Holydiver/Trilogy Suite set will be better for your stated bands but the Crawler/Slowhand set will be far more versatile and give you a more vintage feel.
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I understand your opinion, for better matching purposes it would be better to use hotter SCs with the Holy Diver or softer HBs with the Slow Hand.
Well... I guess I'll go with the Crawler/Slow Hands than but... just out of curiosity (please):
Let's think on Steve Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck and Hendrix will the Trilogy do the job without sounding too harsh or too powerful (not sounding almost like a P90 too) ?
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I understand your opinion, for better matching purposes it would be better to use hotter SCs with the Holy Diver or softer HBs with the Slow Hand.
Well... I guess I'll go with the Crawler/Slow Hands than but... just out of curiosity (please):
Let's think on Steve Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck and Hendrix will the Trilogy do the job without sounding too harsh or too powerful (not sounding almost like a P90 too) ?
Stevie Ray/Hendrix = Pat Pend/Mother's Milk/Irish Tours. Trilogies are not the best choice for those sounds.
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Well, I can't have everything and for matching purposes I guess the Crawler+Slow Hand will have to do... .
ty very much for your kind help!
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I think you'll be fine with the Crawler & SlowHands. I've got them in a G&L Legacy Swamp Ash strat with maple board & they are superb. The Crawler is very versatile & surprised me with how easy it is to get into metal territory when needed (& I like a hot bridge pickup!) The Slow Hands are great for phat blues sounds, work well with a maple board & match up really well with the Crawler.
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ty FRockStar!
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Just to know: Crawler is not that hot, mediumoutput I would say, just a tad hotter than a VHII.
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Yes I understood it completely, it won't be possible to have high-gain (for Metal/Leads) on the bridge and still make the single coils (neck and middle) match the HB without compromising them for my Blues.
So, the Crawler won't be as powerful as I would like the HB to be but at least they will allow me to have a better matching instrument in terms os pickups and probably even more versatile.
Seems obvious to me that the best choice would always be the Trilogy with a higher output HB but that will compromise my slightly overdriven sounds on the neck and middle and that is an absolutely NOT!
So... the Crawler and Slow Hand will have to do.
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Yes I understood it completely, it won't be possible to have high-gain (for Metal/Leads) on the bridge and still make the single coils (neck and middle) match the HB without compromising them for my Blues.
So, the Crawler won't be as powerful as I would like the HB to be but at least they will allow me to have a better matching instrument in terms os pickups and probably even more versatile.
Seems obvious to me that the best choice would always be the Trilogy with a higher output HB but that will compromise my slightly overdriven sounds on the neck and middle and that is an absolutely NOT!
So... the Crawler and Slow Hand will have to do.
Actually I don't have volumetroubles when I switch from Crawler to Irish Tour-neck. I think you worry a little too much about that. The Crawler has power enough, but the Slowhands have decent output too. A good match I think. Anyway, lower to mediumoutput pickups sound to my ears better on highgainamps, and you can control the gain easier with the volumeknob.
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Ok I got you and "just for the sake of curiosity", even though I already have the IT's, in your opinion which ones wil match the Crawler the better, SH or IT? And which ones will work better with Overdrive?
Anyway, lower to mediumoutput pickups sound to my ears better on highgainamps, and you can control the gain easier with the volumeknob.
True but... the definition with High-Gain of a higher output HB is "normally" a lot better than something softer (say a PAF for example).
This is actually another problem (that I guess I will have to live with) you take for example Gibson Pickups and they do the "Rock Thing" wonderfully well but if you fire on them "Petrucci style Metal" the neck will get muddy and the bridge won't be articulate and will lack definition so to a certain extent (IMHO) if you fire your gain too high you better have powerful pickups and I don't know how well the Crawler will do the job but... .
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Crawler I'd take over most Gibson-pickups. It's fat but still articulate with good noteseperation.
Crawler pairs well with both IT and SH. Choice is a matter of preference. Want mids, go Slowhands. Want a little more hollowness go IT.
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ok, ty very much for your help Telerocker !