Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: ming.uk on April 21, 2022, 08:34:34 PM
-
Hi everyone.
I've just received what is supposed to be a (used) VHII bridge pickup, but the resistance deviates from official spec of 8.9k by about 10%. North coil = 5.04k, south = 5.05k, series = 10.10k. Is this within acceptable tolerance, or is it possible that it's another model such as the Black Dog?
Am I correct in assuming that as the VHII is asymmetrical in design, that there should be a significant, measurable difference in resistance between the two coils?
I sold the VHII that I already had once this came up for sale (I'm changing for cosmetic reasons to match guitar, and 4 cond. vs 2), so I'm a little concerned about the chance of it not being a VHII.
Thanks in advance,
Ming.
-
First, most of the Bare Knuckles that I've had have measured a good amount off of the listed DC resistance, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. However, I'm about 99% certain that you don't have a VHII, because the North and South coils are supposed to be unbalanced with different numbers of windings. When I had a VHII neck and measured it, the coils were quite a bit unbalanced, something like 4.4k and 3.6k. Don't quote me on exact numbers now since it's been a while, but they were really measurably different. Someone else might correct me and I've never owned a VHII bridge.
I really wish that BKP identified their pickups in some way, like an engraving on the baseplate or at least a sticker.
-
First, most of the Bare Knuckles that I've had have measured a good amount off of the listed DC resistance, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. However, I'm about 99% certain that you don't have a VHII, because the North and South coils are supposed to be unbalanced with different numbers of windings. When I had a VHII neck and measured it, the coils were quite a bit unbalanced, something like 4.4k and 3.6k. Don't quote me on exact numbers now since it's been a while, but they were really measurably different. Someone else might correct me and I've never owned a VHII bridge.
I really wish that BKP identified their pickups in some way, like an engraving on the baseplate or at least a sticker.
Thank you for your reply, it's very much appreciated.
I suspected as much. Although I thought the DCR might be within tolerance, the fact that the separate coils had pretty much identical readings didn't seem logical for what is supposed to be an asymmetrical humbucker.
I agree, some kind of ID mark like a sticker at least would be very helpful.
Thanks again for your help.
-
I've never received a wrong pup directly from bkp, but I've bought at least 3 used or new from other sources that were actually other models:
- an used ceramic nailbomb that the seller mistaken for a bridge emerald
- a new neck old guard from a US store that I bought as a bridge old guard
- just yesterday I received an used bridge brute force that was sold as a bridge true grit
10k seems a bit too high for a VHII, as a 42awg PE model
does it still have the bridge/neck sticker on the wire?