Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: machineguntim on December 15, 2015, 07:11:51 PM
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Hey Everyone, Greetings from British Columbia, Canada!(first time here)
I am looking to build a custom guitar, and I need an HSH set that can get me those PAF flavors, but still be able to pull off Strat sounds in positions 2 and 4 on the 5-way, and doesn't sound muddy or over-saturated in a clean setting. I messaged the guys at Bare Knuckle, and they suggested an Abraxas set, since it has the output needed for decent coil-splitting in the bridge, but there aren't any recordings of the coil-split sound, and while I can hear the bigger differences in the samples, the subtle things like dynamics get lost in the mix. It's like they try to make all of their pickups sound the same, instead of highlighting the differences. I was thinking of using a Mother's Milk for the middle pickup, but I was also thinking one of the Irish tour middles, since I want to have it still somewhat balanced with the Humbuckers. The guitar that I am building is going to be a Mahogany body with a Maple top, a Roasted Maple neck with an Ebony fretboard and stainless steel frets, with a Super-Vee double locking vibrato, going through a Blackstar HT-40(marshall-esque/twin reverbish) with a Celestion Greenback 12" (waaaayyyy too much money being spent here). I play mostly a combination of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Duane Allman blues, as well as classic rock and old school metal, but I am getting into Alice in Chains Grunge metal and I love Guthrie Govan's style of fusion. I put all this information here so that I can get the best possible response, but ultimately I know that there is only so much that people can tell me through a forum.
TL;DR I need PAF tone but with enough power to have decent Strat tones when split. Any suggestions?
BTW, I am open to suggestions for other pickup makers, particularly Suhr or Fralin.
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I forgot to mention that the body is a chambered Warmoth
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Abraxas is a good shout as it will go into a more modern area while maintaining a distinctly vintage flavour. If you wanted to tip the balance to a more modern flavour but still with PAF characteristics you might consider Black Dogs. For the middle position, either Irish Tours or Slowhands would work fine.
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^Yep
Knowing what I know now, I'd do the Abraxas set with either a 59 or 63 middle single coil. Can't lose!
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Abraxas is a fine set, plus I would go for an Irish Tour in the middle.
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Abraxas or VHII set with an Irish Tour in the middle. The VHII's split sounds are extraordinary, if that is very important to you I would strongly consider that set.
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How is the VHII in the neck position? I need it to retain that smoothness of a PAF on moderate gain
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Hmm, I'm not really fond of the VHII-splitted tone. Talking bridge here, in an ash/rosewod board Fender.
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I have a lot of experience with the neck VHII and how it splits, not so much with the bridge but I used to have it in a guitar together with the VHII neck. The VHII neck is really smooth, sounds quite vintage with a modern edge kind of. In my opinion it is the ultimate neck pickup. It sounds really nice and fluid with all levels of gain, and great cleans especially with the split. I would at least go with the VHII in the neck, and maybe something like an Abraxas or something in the bridge. :smiley:
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Which of those, the Abraxas or VHII, would likely be better for a good blues rock tone a la Page/Gibbons/ Early Clapton, or is the output too high to get those kinds of sounds?
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Which of those, the Abraxas or VHII, would likely be better for a good blues rock tone a la Page/Gibbons/ Early Clapton, or is the output too high to get those kinds of sounds?
Mule-neck!
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Yeah after thinking about it for awhile, that type of sound is best left for a les paul style guitar. I'm probably going to go with the Abraxas Bridge with an Irish tour in the middle, and probably a VHII in the neck. Hard rock and Old School Metal for this guitar, Blues and the like for another guitar. Just in case I need to return one of them, do the pickups come with tinned leads or do I have to cut and tin it myself?
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From memory the leads aren't tinned, but they don't need to be cut.
If you cut them then they are non-returnable.
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Hmm, I'm not really fond of the VHII-splitted tone. Talking bridge here, in an ash/rosewod board Fender.
Just to give you an option - I have 2 VHIIs in a Charvel strat - it has a maple neck/ebony board. And I split them my by making positions 2 and 4 on the 5 way switch a parallel position. I've not tried them fully split, but the parallel tone is really, really great, in my humble opinion.
I've had a few BKPs in that guitar... Nailbombs, Trilogy etc. Plus some from Bulldog and Mojo. I don't have the words to describe how much better the VHIIs are in it compared to everything else. Best guitar I've ever heard.
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The VHII split tone is the finest I've heard - not an "approximation of X" fine, but a damn great tone in its own rite.
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The VHII split tone is the finest I've heard - not an "approximation of X" fine, but a damn great tone in its own rite.
This makes me ask a question though and I wonder if anyone can give somewhat of an answer:
Crawler vs. VHII
Cause for me, and many other people it seems the Crawler has the ultimate split. Are there people who have tried both and can thus compare? I find this very interesting.
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Here's how I'd rank the splits on the 4 BKS HB's I've owned. Best to worst -
VHII
Abraxas
Crawler
HD
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I find that interesting because I have heard of the marvels of the VHII and the Crawler. The AB did appear often as being above average, yet not quite there. HD, yes a little under.
What I thought I heard is that the VHII is more strat and the Crawler more Tele. Any thoughts on that comparison?
I am just hunting down things I heard through the years here, getting some impressions.
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Yah, brotha - we all hear things in a different way. When I made that list, it was ranking the spit tones that (to me ear) are most authentically Fenderish.
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Yah, brotha - we all hear things in a different way. When I made that list, it was ranking the spit tones that (to me ear) are most authentically Fenderish.
No mate, I get that. Was not trying to attack or anything. Never would. I am just honestly curious. Only got the Crawler and HD myself.
Mainly I was asking on the VHII vs Crawler thing, the former, I heard being more Strat, the later more tele. Both fender as you note.
If I wrote something that sounded agressive please pardon me, I did not mean it. It was an honest question towards which fender character they shine at.
Hope that clears it up mate. =)
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Oh I never too offense! Haha never saw it as anything but u looking for knowledge bro! Cheers!
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Yes, we all hear things different and don't forget the same pickups we own are in different guitars which go in to (probably) different amps. And taste plays a role too. Like myself I never could bond as much with the VHII in my ash Fender as with the Crawler in my swampash MXG Custom.