Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Twinfan on July 24, 2006, 11:13:13 AM
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I'm going to be getting some Mules for my Gibson Les Paul in the near future, and after reading some of the topics on the board recently I think I may have my Mules unpotted. I'm after a classic Les Paul rock tone - think Free, ZZ Top, Led Zep, Kiss, Slash, Lenny Kravitz etc. I was thinking of going for zebras too (as I like the look) but wondered if you could have unpotted, uncovered Mules? Would they feedback like mad? Thought they might sound awesome, open and airy?
My Les Paul looks like this one, so do you think Zebras or Chrome covers?
(http://www.brentkeener.com/guitars/Images/Les%20Paul%20Cherry%20Standard.jpg)
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zebras for a 70's look.. chrome for a more vintage look... me personally I'd go with the covered ones.
:roll:
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Covered
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I love my chrome - so that gets my vote, never been a zebra fan...but your guitar is so classic looking that it could prolly pull off the vintage. Hmmm good luck deciding :drink:
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i'd get aged nickel pups, like the Mules in the Gallery
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Another vote for covered from me.
Nickel if your bridge and saddles are nickel, but chrome if they are chrome. (sorry if that sounds obvious).
I got nickel covers on mine, as the Gibson site said the fittings on mine were nickel.
WRONG !
I was therefore to discover that the rest of the guitar's hardware was in fact chrome. The slight yellow/blue clash of nickel/chrome hues looks a bit 'out' but is not the end of the world.
I cannot comment on unpotted though, for whilst I wish I had have ordered mine un-potted, I too was unsure of the possibility of 'pickup 'squeal' at the time so went ahead with potted.
Regards,
Derek.
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Twinfan I have zebras in my les Paul and I think they look great but each to his own so they say you can see them at the link below.
cheers
keith
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Zebra in the neck, black in the bridge - would look great against the cream surrounds and the sunburst finish.
If the hardware was nickel I might go for covers, but chrome covers on a sunburst can look a bit "LP copy", I think. Having said that, I'm going to get chrome covers when I buy pickups for my "The Paul", but it's quite a dull-looking guitar so the chrome will brighten it up a bit.
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Chrome definately.
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I think it would look cool with chrome rings and the zebras. See you can have both. Everybody wins! :D
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Don;t worry about microphonics-if you buy unpotted humbuckers from BKP they won't squeal.I've worked long and hard at looking at the problem of microphony and have found a way of stopping squealing even under extreme gain. I use 2 x 100w Marshall stacks in stereo and I play unpotteds in quite a few of my LPS-no problem!!
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^ [rhetorical question since it's presumably a closely guarded secret] good god, how the hell do you do that, tim? :o [/rhetorical question]
that'd be awesome. so in other words, if you were after a more vintage tone, you'd go unpotted, and still get no squealing? and it'd still sound like the old un-potted ones?
Shouldn't you be advertising this a bit more? :o
:drink:
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Shouldn't you be advertising this a bit more? :o
Buuut, don't all the other pickup manufacturers make their pickups unpotted anyway, purely because they're too lazy to pot them...So people wouldn't necessarily believe him over all the other people that it works without microphonics (unlike everyone else that makes stuff)
However, now I'm just rambling :P
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Cheers for the info Tim, but you have unpotted covered Mules don't you? What about unpotted AND uncovered?????
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I've used unpotted 'buckers and they do sound great if you're playing the sort of stuff you mentioned (ZZ Top, Free, Cream). The last unpotted 'buckers I used were SD Seth Lovers and Timbuckers (wound by a guy off the LPF). You can get away with more gain than you'd think with unpotted pickups, it's when they go microphonic when they become unuseable with any decent amount of gain/volume.
I'd go with unpotted zebra Mules.
:twisted:
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I'm getting unpotted Stormy Monday's for my 335. With a semi accoustic there are feedback problems with too much gain anyway, so when Tim mentioned the unpotted pickups were available, it seemed perfect for the 335.
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Microphony in unpotted coils is often caused by air trapped under the cover, poorly wound coils and loose magnet-pay attention to these areas and you can enjoy the lively/on the edge tone of unpotteds.It's not for everyone and higain applications definately sound better potted.Also most manufacturers pot these days-there are exceptions like some Gibson burstbuckers, SD Seth Lovers etc but generally most are potted.
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Shouldn't you be advertising this a bit more? :o
Buuut, don't all the other pickup manufacturers make their pickups unpotted anyway, purely because they're too lazy to pot them...So people wouldn't necessarily believe him over all the other people that it works without microphonics (unlike everyone else that makes stuff)
However, now I'm just rambling :P
I think most guys pot their pickups...
Microphony in unpotted coils is often caused by air trapped under the cover, poorly wound coils and loose magnet-pay attention to these areas and you can enjoy the lively/on the edge tone of unpotteds.It's not for everyone and higain applications definately sound better potted.Also most manufacturers pot these days-there are exceptions like some Gibson burstbuckers, SD Seth Lovers etc but generally most are potted.
thanks tim. So what's the difference in sound in a quick sentence between potted and unpotted, to a philistine like me who's only tried more modern potted pickups?
:drink:
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Unpotted are very lively-brighter to put it crudely but there's more to it than that.There's more presence and definately increased dynamic control.They lireally feel alive-almost as if they're about to feedback.....but don't.Like I said, not for everyone but if you're into '50's - 60's rock and r'n'r then it's definately where it's at.
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^ ok, cool, thanks tim. I mostly play modern stuff (EDIT: by modern I mean 80's/early 90's, lol), but I pretty much like a little of everything... I figure when I get enough guitars (!) I could maybe start to consider unpotted pickups in one of them.
:drink:
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im guessing unpotted mules would be simply gorgeous for clean work, I'd love one in a 335 that would be heavenly for jazz and the likes im sure!!
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^ ok, cool, thanks tim. I mostly play modern stuff (EDIT: by modern I mean 80's/early 90's, lol), but I pretty much like a little of everything... I figure when I get enough guitars (!) I could maybe start to consider unpotted pickups in one of them.
:drink:
Take it slowly dave - any BK's will do for now, you just need a set :P
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^ aye. I have too much patience, lol.
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unpotted 'buckers give you that gorgeous harmonic bloom (double note) on sustained notes. if you play 60s rock or blues then they are most certainly the way to go.
:twisted:
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my hollow body les paul whispers to me at night... "unpotted stormy mondays..."
i'll give in soon , i need some sleep...
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I wish I knew about these unpotted pickups before I got mine covered and (I presume) they have been potted.. Is it really that much of a difference?
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I think, Tom, you have to bear in mind the application. A lot of people these days use high gain settings but the more traditional among us don't. Unpotted pups are perhaps not a good idea in high gain situations.It is not inevitable that you will get squeel but extremely likely.
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I think, Tom, you have to bear in mind the application. A lot of people these days use high gain settings but the more traditional among us don't. Unpotted pups are perhaps not a good idea in high gain situations.It is not inevitable that you will get squeel but extremely likely.
you mean the old fogeys? :lol:
Just kidding, man, I like my vintage tones too... :drink:
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Yeah I mean the old fogeys. I am definately one of those Dave.
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Oh, its not like I use loads of uber-extreme-wfd-style distortion but I guess you're right, unpotted in a way would make them less versatile aswell if you think about it..
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Yeah I mean the old fogeys. I am definately one of those Dave.
:lol: just kidding, man.
Oh, its not like I use loads of uber-extreme-wfd-style distortion but I guess you're right, unpotted in a way would make them less versatile aswell if you think about it..
I'm guessing it's like most guitar-related things. The more styles something will do, the less well it'll do each of those styles.. and if you get something that'll do one style really well, it's awesome, but will do other styles poorly.
Or something. anyway, that's my justification for wanting about 50 different guitars and amps. :wink: