Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: wnembangsubba on January 18, 2016, 04:55:56 PM
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Hey guys,
I am new to this forum thing, so please help me out. Genres - blues/fusion/rock/indie/sometimes jazz and metal.
I am buying a new Chapman ML-1 to replace my PRS SE Custom 24. As you might know the ML-1 is a HSS mahogany body with maple cap, bolt-on maple neck, ebony fretboard and a 25.5" scale length. I was using a 25" scale length on the PRS, with set maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and pretty much the same body. I used to have a Seymour Duncan Jazz neck and 59/Custom Hybrid bridge on my PRS, which I like very much. But now I am looking to move on to Bare Knuckle pickups, since BKP seems to have more definition and clarity from what I have heard on videos.
I am looking at the Crawler trembuckers at the moment (open to suggestions) to replace my 59/Hybrid bridge, since it seems to have a similar EQ with little bit less treble (am assuming extra scale length and ebony fretboard would give me extra chime/brightness). But am not sure which neck and middle pickups to go with. I would like to go with SD rails so that I can get the single coil as well as a humbucker sound with coil split. But since BKP doesn't have rails and since the Crawler is a Alnico 5 it doesn't seem like a good pair. Also I have heard that ceramic neck pickups don't go well with Alnico V pickups. Is that true? If that is true I am moving towards BKP alnico single coils.
Neck + Middle
I am aiming towards a vintage sounding + hot single coil pickup in the neck like the Seymour Duncan STK-S7 pickup. But I hate the hum/noise in single coils. I know the STK-S7 has a stacked hum cancelling thing going on. I would like to know which would be a BKP that would give me a nice singing, warm neck pickup sound with very good definition and something that doesn't get muddy, while having no hum at the same time. Not sure if BKP does this. Feel free to make any suggestions. I would like to be certain before making the purchase. Thanx a lot guys. :grin: :grin: :grin:
Wabun
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Crawler is great in guitars that have snap (maple neck/ebony board) and/or tend to be tonally on the brighter side. I would pair them with Slowhands. They have extra mids and not a piercing topend. They deliver classic singlecoil tones, but with balls.
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I agree with Telerocker except I would go with a Trilogy Suite in the neck (Crawler/Slowhand/Trilogy Suite) since you were inclined to something hotter. It will make it feel just a bit more HSH.
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The 59/Custom hybrid is a very bright pickup. The Crawler bridge will be warmer and darker and also a bit more compressed - still not overly so. Abraxas bridge would be closer in EQ to the 59/Custom hybrid.
Cheers Stephan
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I agree with Telerocker except I would go with a Trilogy Suite in the neck (Crawler/Slowhand/Trilogy Suite) since you were inclined to something hotter. It will make it feel just a bit more HSH.
That's an option too, though the Trilogies have more of a P90-vibe. With this combo you loose the nice combination on the second position. But it's an option if you don't need the second postion.
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True.
I'll be able to give further insight on the TS in a few weeks, as I'm having one installed on a strat.
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The 59/Custom hybrid is a very bright pickup. The Crawler bridge will be warmer and darker and also a bit more compressed - still not overly so. Abraxas bridge would be closer in EQ to the 59/Custom hybrid.
Cheers Stephan
If the 59/ Custom hybrid is, indeed, very bright, why not replace it with a Rebel Yell? The Rebel Yell growls with openness and exceptional clarity which sounds like what the OP is talking about.
Crawler, by comparison, sounds like Marbled Angus Beef!!! LOL.
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They deliver classic singlecoil tones, but with balls.
Alright. Thanx
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True.
I'll be able to give further insight on the TS in a few weeks, as I'm having one installed on a strat.
That would be helpful man. Will wait for your response. I am also trying out an STK-S7 Vintage Hot Stack on the ML-1 just to get an idea oh how the longer scale and ebony fret would change the EQ shape and tone. Then I will try to put in the TS for sure.
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The 59/Custom hybrid is a very bright pickup. The Crawler bridge will be warmer and darker and also a bit more compressed - still not overly so. Abraxas bridge would be closer in EQ to the 59/Custom hybrid.
Cheers Stephan
If the 59/ Custom hybrid is, indeed, very bright, why not replace it with a Rebel Yell? The Rebel Yell growls with openness and exceptional clarity which sounds like what the OP is talking about.
Crawler, by comparison, sounds like Marbled Angus Beef!!! LOL.
Hey Stephan. Actually Rebel Yell was my first choice. The EQ and output is almost exactly similar to the 59/Custom Hybrid, but I thot since the extra scale length and ebony frets of the ML-1 would add some brightness, I want to go with a pickup that has less top end.
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Hey Stephan. Actually Rebel Yell was my first choice. The EQ and output is almost exactly similar to the 59/Custom Hybrid, but I thot since the extra scale length and ebony frets of the ML-1 would add some brightness, I want to go with a pickup that has less top end.
HAHA, that's the first time I've ever been called Stephan!
Well, the EQ graphs on the BKP site only tell part of the story. The Crawler is apparently a dark and very beefy pickup with loads of center mids.
The Rebel Yell is an interesting pickup. I wouldn't say it is lots of treble so much as it has high mids and very extensive harmonics. There really isn't a defined CUT at any one frequency but rather, it has a harmonic evenness which is very balanced and nice. The lack of low mids and the tight lows definitely make for a brighter overall tonality though.
The A-Bomb, by comparison, has more treble but the hotter wind adds low end which warms up the sound making it darker and phatter. But, definitely way more of a cut in the treble than the Rebel Yell anyhow. If you are wanting to go darker, I can't help but think something like an Abraxas, VHII, or Holy Diver? I only can speak definitively on pickups I have owned and used but I would not be surprised of others mentioned these options as they are fairly common around here.
This being said, you'll have to try the guitar out first but I suspect the construction likely will yield a result that is wide but lacking in the mids so something with mids will probably be your best bet. Holy Diver? Rebel Yell? It's a question of how open you want. Crawler may work as well, depending on the balance between highs and lows. But, with the mahogany I doubt you're going to have an instrument with top end only like an Ibanez or Jackson style super strat.
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And another endorsement for the Rebel Yell. Just to reiterate what has already been said about it, the RY is not as bright as its reputation would have you believe. It has a really nice upper mid bite but then comes back down a bit with regard to the highest frequencies. It's a great pickup that has just enough low end weight to stop it sounding thin and just enough cut to get you heard. I've got mine paired with a VHII neck in a basswood Fender Showmaster super strat and am very happy with the combination.
I've also got a Crawler set in another guitar and although there are some similarities, they are quite different sounding pickups; the Crawler is very thick in the mids but tails off at the higher frequencies, it also has a fairly compressed sound. It's a great pickup for adding body to a light sounding guitar but lacks the bite of the RY and whilst I love it for 80s new wave stuff (I also remember reading that one of the guitarists with the Sisters of Mercy uses Crawlers) I've never been convinced of its credentials for heavier stuff.
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That would be helpful man. Will wait for your response. I am also trying out an STK-S7 Vintage Hot Stack on the ML-1 just to get an idea oh how the longer scale and ebony fret would change the EQ shape and tone. Then I will try to put in the TS for sure.
Definitly P90-ish, but while still being strat-like. Not a world apart from the SSL5 I used to have, for example. I think it would suite (pun) you in the neck position.
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Thanx a lot guys, for thorough analysis of these pickups. I swapped the stock with a 59/Custom Hybrid and am loving it. An SD Vintage/Hot Stack (STK-S7) is on its way and am looking for second hand Rebel Yell and Crawler trembucker on the market. I currently have an BKP Irish on the neck and I think its great. Looking forward to more BKP in the future.
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Funny. I replaced that exact same SD set with a set of Rebel Yells. I have since replaced the bridge pickup with a Nailbomb, and I am going to replace the neck with a VHII. My search is ongoing.
- Alec
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Also I have heard that ceramic neck pickups don't go well with Alnico V pickups. Is that true?
Probably the more usual way to do it is ceramic in the bridge and alnico in the neck (if you're mixing them), but that's not to say it's totally disallowed to do it the other way, either. The old MIJ Charvel Pro Mods had a tone zone (alnico 5) in the bridge and an evo (ceramic) in the neck and they actually sound just fine together. Granted, the evo neck probably isn't your usual ceramic-style pickup, being fairly low output despite the fact it's ceramic. But it does show that it can be done.
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Keep in mind that the magnet is only one part of the pickup even though an important one. Wire type, number of turns, materials and construction all play their role in the final picture.
Cheers Stephan