Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: foster on October 17, 2006, 08:05:38 PM
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Ok so i can kinda gather what the answer is gonna be, but i like surprises ;)
I recently bought myself a new guitar, a gibson flying v and to be honest it has to be the best guitar i've ever purchased :D It could do with a bit more growl to it, but playability wise its purrfect.
Now a friend of mine has mentioned whacking some bareknuckles in as he aint a fan of stock gibson pups, yet i'm kinda reluctant to after splashing out £730 on a new axe.
Now will swapping the pups for bareknuckles make this guitar better? it currently has a 496R in the neck and a 500T in the bridge, i've been told the black dog is great sounding for rock as is the mule for blues tones (pretty much what i play).
question is will it make much difference or would i be better off just twiddling with my amp?
oh and on a side note, would a '67 V look cool with a zebra pup in the neck and black open coils in the bridge? :P
Cheers for any responses - Foster
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yes to all, lol.
Flying V for blues, that's an OLD choice there bud :)
Gibson pups are ok, but think like this.
BKP's are personal, handmade and tonally superior.
Think of it like this.
You like a band on CD. Then ya see em play a great live performance. Why do they sound more 'alive' live? Thats the BKP difference, they are 'Alive' they are so much more organic.
IMO, a BKP is a Booteek amp to a Marshall MG mini.
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oh and on a side note, would a '67 V look cool with a zebra pup in the neck and black open coils in the bridge? :P
No.
Seriously though :wink:, I think the cream bobbin of a zebra pickup against a white pickguard looks pretty bad. What colour is the guitar?
Back to the main question, your guitar will sound better with BKPs. If you go for the Mule/Black Dog combo it'll also sound very different, because the 496R/500T are pretty powerful ceramic-magnet pickups.
But if you've only just bought the guitar, why rush into changing the Gibson pups if (as you said) you're reluctant to do so? Get used to the pickups, figure out what you like and don't like about them, and meanwhile have a listen to the soundclips and have a read of all the nonsense that gets written in the BKP forum.
Then buy the right set of BKPs when you're ready!
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The V is cherry red, looks very nice too :)
Reason i'm pondering zebra at the top and black at the bridge is i find having 2 black open coil humbuckers to look a bit bland...
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I'd go for chrome covers, but then I always say that.
Unless it has nickel hardware, in which case I'd go for nickel covers.
Actually - now I'm started - one thing I hate about 60's-style Vs is the way the pickups sit parallel to the scratchplate instead of parallel to the strings (same goes for SGs). Why don't they add a third mounting screw so you could tilt the pickup? :evil: I do like Vs in general though, wish Gibson would do a non-Custom Shop '58 reissue.
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wish Gibson would do a non-Custom Shop '58 reissue.
they do, it's called the Epiphone '58 Korina :wink:
honestly, is it two grand worse than a custom shop Gibson?
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as to the Gibson pickups, don't change them just because everyone tells you to. live with the guitar for a while and see how you like what's in it, and build an idea in your head of what you'd like to change about how it sounds.
the 500T is a fairly hot ceramic magnet pickup, and the 496R is what it's usually paired with, i think it's alnico but i'm not sure. i'd imagine the closest equivalent bkp sets would be either Miracle Man or Cold Sweat. so see how you like the Gibsons and take it from there
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they do, it's called the Epiphone '58 Korina :wink:
honestly, is it two grand worse than a custom shop Gibson?
No, I'm sure it's not! :lol: I wouldn't dream of paying £2K+ for a guitar - for example I think PRS guitars are far too expensive (not necessarily overpriced, just too much for me personally to justify the expense!). But I'll happily buy a PRS SE, as we discussed the other day.
But regular, non-CS Gibsons are really quite reasonably priced - so I still want that '58 V! I must check out the Epi version one day though. And there are alternatives like the Hamer Vector Korina (although again, they're twice as expensive as they used to be). And I live in hope that Tokai will one day reissue their Japanese '58 copy.
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I have found that VH2s are really great in a flying V - especially a Korina one
The cramic pickups that come with standard Vs 500T & 498R are pretty hot pickups but may sound a bit OTT for blues
Here is a piccy of my personal Korina V with VH2s
(http://felineguitars.com/news/images/korina-v1.jpg)
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^ that looks amazing, as do all your guitars
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Here is a piccy of my personal Korina V with VH2s
Nice! I love the look of Korina wood.
As I've already, er, hinted, I've always thought the '58 V was much more elegant than the later versions - the wood, the tailpiece, the control layout, the pointier headstock, the proper pickup surrounds(!). I also think the neck joint looks better, although I suppose it must be weaker as there's a smaller area of neck-to-body contact.
I see you went for a sort of 60s model with some 50s features, Jonathan. Just personal preference, or do you think there are advantages to the 60s style construction?
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oh and on a side note, would a '67 V look cool with a zebra pup in the neck and black open coils in the bridge? :P
No.
Seriously though :wink:, I think the cream bobbin of a zebra pickup against a white pickguard looks pretty bad. What colour is the guitar?
Back to the main question, your guitar will sound better with BKPs. If you go for the Mule/Black Dog combo it'll also sound very different, because the 496R/500T are pretty powerful ceramic-magnet pickups.
But if you've only just bought the guitar, why rush into changing the Gibson pups if (as you said) you're reluctant to do so? Get used to the pickups, figure out what you like and don't like about them, and meanwhile have a listen to the soundclips and have a read of all the nonsense that gets written in the BKP forum.
Then buy the right set of BKPs when you're ready!
seconded.
I don't like those Gibson pickups, but keep them for a while to discover what you don't like about them/wish they could do better, and then you can buy new BKP's to specifically counteract those problems.
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as to the Gibson pickups, don't change them just because everyone tells you to. live with the guitar for a while and see how you like what's in it, and build an idea in your head of what you'd like to change about how it sounds.
I'd agree with this. While there's no doubt in my mind that BKP makes markedly better pickups than Gibson, the Gibson pups aren't bad, and you might as well be pretty sure about what you want before springing for BKPs. It didn't take me long to decide I wanted to change the stock Gibson pups in my LP, but it took me a very long time to decide with what to replace them! :)
That said, I'd unhesitatingly recommend BKP Alnico pups for bluesy rock, probably with less DC resistance than the 500T. The Mules are generally good, the Black Dogs a bit hotter, and something like the Abraxases or Crawlers closer in output to the 500T, but with more vintage character which ought to suit blues-rock and classic-rock vibes.
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hmm, not quite the answer i expected, but damn good answers :D
Yes i shall be sticking with my current pups for the time being, i'm just used to the sound of my les paul which has a JB in the bridge and some random Gotoh humbucker in the neck. I dunno what it is about that neck humbucker but it just sounds great!
My v plays amazingly well and i still don't feel as comfotable playing my other guitars as i do the gibbo. Give it a few months and i'll see what i like and dislike and work something out from there :)
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hmm, not quite the answer i expected, but damn good answers :D
Did you expect everyone to say "Yeah, Buy BKPs NOW!!!!!"...We appear not to be that kind of fanboy forum - My opinion on this forum is that everyone's happy to help wherever possible, but they also know how to give constructive advice rather than "Product X is awesome, so much better than Product Y that you have now: Go and buy it today!"
Wow, I sound like Dave with my X's and Y's :lol:
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hmm, not quite the answer i expected, but damn good answers :D
Did you expect everyone to say "Yeah, Buy BKPs NOW!!!!!"...We appear not to be that kind of fanboy forum - My opinion on this forum is that everyone's happy to help wherever possible, but they also know how to give constructive advice rather than "Product X is awesome, so much better than Product Y that you have now: Go and buy it today!"
Wow, I sound like Dave with my X's and Y's :lol:
To be honest i was kinda expecting it :D Most forums dedicated to something (be it a magazine, guitar or even band) are really "holier than thou". But nice to see the general thought is "keep the gibbo pups in, you'll get sick of em after a while - then we'll help you". :)
Shall have to visit the BKP stall at music live and get my grubby mits on a guitar with my name on it ;)
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When you go to Music Live, try out some Mules definately. For blues and rock they are amazing, really versatile aswell as I can happily play metal on my Mule'd LP :D
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The only downside i can see when trying out guitars with BKPs in is that i will never know how they will sound in MY guitar untill i install them - the same with any pickup.
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i'm sure there will be a flying V at the show
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i'm sure there will be a flying V at the show
I didn't notcie one last year. Mind you last year i was very happy at the sight of a les paul with the word "Foster" on the headstock :P
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lol, well Tim has a Polka dot one i think, so that might make an appearance
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hmm, not quite the answer i expected, but damn good answers :D
Did you expect everyone to say "Yeah, Buy BKPs NOW!!!!!"...We appear not to be that kind of fanboy forum - My opinion on this forum is that everyone's happy to help wherever possible, but they also know how to give constructive advice rather than "Product X is awesome, so much better than Product Y that you have now: Go and buy it today!"
Wow, I sound like Dave with my X's and Y's :lol:
:shock:
:lol:
damn science education, i keep trying to shake it off...
:D
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Well i've had a fiddle with the amp today and i've found the best tone available :D Its kinda like clappers on sunshine of your love but with a bit more beef and a splash more gain.
Chances are i'll stick with the gibbo pups, but i'll still give the bareknuckles a try at musiclive - just in case.
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BKP make (unsurprisingly) better pups than Gibson, but you might as well keep trying it on with the Gibson onesa while to think about exactly how you would want to improve on them, which way you would want to take the sound. Then you'd know better what BKP you'd want to buy.
(After all, you hadn't heard the Gibson pups in that guitar before trying it either! :))
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Well what i plan on doing is sticking with the gibbos to really see how good they are for me and what i dislike about em. Then if i see fit i'll swap em for a set of BKPs 8)
Though once i get around to changing em no doubt i'll be stumped as to which pickups to get :(
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foster, getting some a Black Dog/Mule is a world of difference between the Gibson 500t/496R... absolutely no comparison. The Gibson 500t/496r set is ceramic, and fairly compressed and too harshly voiced to play with the gain down... closest BKP to it is the Miracle Man which is one of the few BKPs that is fairly limited to more or less one sound....
I had the same pickups in my Les Paul once. They do the whole Zakk Wylde thing, but if you want a classic Les Paul like tone, they will not deliver. Mules, Black Dogs, the combo you mentioned, or even Rebel Yells or the overwound but still Alnico V magnet Nailbomb set will do a lot better job. The difference is like night and day.
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got to admit i like the sound of the stormy monday, but i'll see how these pups fare and replace em judged on what i dislike.
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A Stormy Monday bridge pup will sound a lot different from a 500T. Much lower output, Alnico instead of ceramic magnet; overall, much softer and more mellow. The 500T is certainly never going to sound like an oldstyle PAF -- and it's not meant to! The closest current Gibson pup for that sorta thing is the Burstbucker.