Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: gwEm on January 03, 2007, 09:55:31 AM
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i went to boston on my job over christmas... this was a bit sucky, but i brought myself a little present.
just a gibson faded cherry flying v, like 100s of others - but it was really cheap buying it in the US of course.
it has good quality hardware, and its quite refreshing not to have to gut the guitar and change all the parts straightaway - enjoyable "out of the box" so to say.
its a resonant piece of mahogany too, and i quite like the faded cherry finish. this is my fourth flying v, and its defintely the one which sounds most like "typical flying v tone" - if you see what i mean.
there were quite a few negative points - the truss rod cover was hanging off (not screwed in properly). the neck pickup height was totally wrong... and no one at the gibson factory bothered to set the intonation... or it was a tone deaf monkey ;) and the controls were in the wrong place too!!
i didn't think too much about customisation so far.. i have a couple of ideas though. the 500T bridge is not-too-bad, but i dislike the neck pickup. i'll certinally change the knobs for fender or witch hat ones, and the pickups too (not sure what for though).
overall, considering the price (which was a little over 300UKP) i think it was a real bargain.
any customisation ideas - write here :lol:
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There's a faded brown one in my local guitar shop that I love the tone of. I'd have a V for gigging if I didn't have to use an SG!
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... or it was a tone deaf monkey ;)
Hey man, that's my cousin :lol:
Nice axe, I'll have myself one of those one day.
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Niiice, i would like a V some day.
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Cool, I am visting the USA in April- was thinking of possibly getting a plank whilst there.
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:-) i love V's, i ahve one of the Faded ones myself (soon to be Nailbombed me'thinks) i find it really nice to play. Looking to get a black or White/cream one soon.
Nice buy :-)
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any customisation ideas - write here :lol:
Cool, and a hell of a bargain!
You definitely have to replace those knobs with witch hats or SG-style bell knobs. And you need covered pickups!
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yah those Gibson V's are fricken awesome. I played a white one tuned to C up at guitar center into a Diezel Einstien and the sound was awesome. Action and overall build quality was ace too. Id say BKP it and then maybe get some locking tuners.
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And a pearloid scratchplate :D
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I would like to get a "V" most likely this year , I don't know which pu yet, maybe Painkiller on the neck, and the new Holy Diver on the bridge, Does anybody has the new HD on a mahogany guitar? for a reference or is it too mid inclined?. Then I can also change the nut for a bone nut, the stop tailbar, and the bridge for Tone Pros II, the electronics for the Rs Guitarworks custom shop, and that's it tone wise. Also on the pickups It could go down on the scale, towards Riff Raff(how do they compare to an SG? also mahogany), or Stormy Mondays(Albert King use to play Blues on a "V". Man, it is great to have multiple choices with these BKPs :)
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thanks all for sharing my happiness ;) its my favourite already.
the faded finish makes the neck feel really nice - i'm not 100% convinced about it on the rest of the body, although it does look very priest :twisted:
38thBeatle: You should defnately get a new guitar if you're going to the US :) This was no impulse buy - I planned the whole thing, and even brought my V flight case with me.
Philly Q: The witch hats are already on order from axesrus ;) I'm not sure about pickup covers yet, but as a Flying V fan your opinion carries alot of weight.
Tricalibur: the tuners seem fine so far, but i may change them indeed
gingataff: Pearliod scratchplate, not too sure about that :)
LULUSG: I have riff raffs in another V and they work very well. i might even be tempted to go Twilight Oddessy style - RR bridge and SM neck. i like the idea of an SM set on a '58 V...
Not sure what about the PUPs to be honest with you. I have some ideas:
Chrome Riff Raffs (the classic, although I have this already)
Chrome Painkillers (the stealth)
Pickup rings and open holy divers - cream bridge and black neck (the breaking the law)
Pickup rings and open painkillers - cream bridge and black neck (the you dont know what its like)
or some mixture: i like emotional neck pickups these days so maybe RR/SM or Painkiller/RR or Painkiller/CS
or cold sweat alround... (but again I have some original Dirty Fingers on another V)
decisions decisons ;) BKP doesn't make it easier with their selection... I need more flying Vs.
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Not sure what about the PUPs to be honest with you. I have some ideas:
Chrome Riff Raffs (the classic, although I have this already)
Chrome Painkillers (the stealth)
Pickup rings and open holy divers - cream bridge and black neck (the breaking the law)
Pickup rings and open painkillers - cream bridge and black neck (the you dont know what its like)
or some mixture: i like emotional neck pickups these days so maybe RR/SM or Painkiller/RR or Painkiller/CS
or cold sweat alround... (but again I have some original Dirty Fingers on another V)
I've got the impression the CS and HD might both have too much bass/lower mids to work in a mahogany guitar (if I'm totally wrong about that, it wouldn't be the first time...). I know the CS is built along the same lines as the Dirty Fingers - how does that sound in your other V?
The Riff Raffs are definitely going to work, so will the PKs (bit too high-gain for me though). What's the Riff Raff neck like? I have absolutely zero knowledge of that pickup, don't even know what magnet it has.
For my own V, I'm seriously considering a Black Dog bridge (for that little bit of extra power) plus AIV Stormy Monday or maybe Mule neck.
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Looks really nice, I want a V but I dont think I look rock'n'roll enough to pull it off without looking like a tit :lol:
Nickel or Raw Nickel covered pickups would look really nice on that in my opinion.
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I've got the impression the CS and HD might both have too much bass/lower mids to work in a mahogany guitar (if I'm totally wrong about that, it wouldn't be the first time...). I know the CS is built along the same lines as the Dirty Fingers - how does that sound in your other V?
The Riff Raffs are definitely going to work, so will the PKs (bit too high-gain for me though). What's the Riff Raff neck like? I have absolutely zero knowledge of that pickup, don't even know what magnet it has.
For my own V, I'm seriously considering a Black Dog bridge (for that little bit of extra power) plus AIV Stormy Monday or maybe Mule neck.
The Dirty Fingers sound balanced in the other V, but then that one has a Floyd... might be bass heavy. However I imagine Tim tweaked out the drawbacks of the Dirty Fingers in the Cold Sweat (never tried a CS to know for sure), I'd need to ask him I suppose.
Riff Raff neck sounds how you might expect, vintage but focused. Holds up under gain. I assume its A5 (sounds like it) - dont know for sure.
I was considering medium-output pickups, but some of the Tim posts seem to suggest mid-output is not a good idea in pointy guitars. Although the idea of Black Dogs (with their mid-boost) in a V is a pretty cool one.
_tom_ : You need to be less self-concious! i think you'd pull off a V for sure :)
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man this V thing is contagious! any one not got one?
as for the black dogs - the gibbo ones in the V are high output & playing the V next to my paul there is a noticible difference in output also there is a noticable lack of mid. also the highs are not very defined & the neck pickup is just awful! although i cant stop playing mine - and unfortunatly striking really bad rock poses whilst playing! :twisted: :P :lol:
edit: Les Paul has black dogs - Flying V has standard Gibson Pickups.
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I was considering medium-output pickups, but some of the Tim posts seem to suggest mid-output is not a good idea in pointy guitars. Although the idea of Black Dogs (with their mid-boost) in a V is a pretty cool one.
Yeah, I've read all Tim's comments about medium-output pickups in mahogany. Many times!
I know he's right, and it's so, so wrong... but still I want one... :wink:
Seriously, I've yet to hear a BKP that was anywhere near muddy. If Gibson 498Ts and 500Ts can sound, erm, not-terrible in a V or SG, I reckon I can get away with a Black Dog. At least in the bridge position.
If it doesn't work, I'll come clean and admit it.
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So it is narrowing to : Stormy Mondays, Riff Raff, Painkiller, MM, WP, and CWP, not the HD, right?. I kind of like CWP for the bridge and Painkiller on the neck. Even though the Painkiller seems to be on the midfield territory, and even slightly less than the HD. Maybe because it is Ceramic , I don't know for sure. It is rather entertaining this whole thing anyway. :)
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well, funny you should say that about the holy diver... i was thinking last night and remembered that michael schenker liked both the standard T-Tops and/or Jeff Beck's in his Vs. Which would roughly speaking map to Riff Raffs and Holy Divers.
i would guess that warpigs would be kind of brutal in a V, not really what i'd like in my baby - but maybe thats the kind of sound your looking for LULUSG. a few guys on this forum tried 'pigs in a V, might be worth searching and talking to them.
from my own side, i think my decision can only be resolved with an email to the bareknuckles guys. frankly i dont really know what i want, which makes it harder, i need to clear my brain and think.
Philly Q: i know what you mean about black dog temptation ;) you probably heard this old clip no doubt: http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=547
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Philly Q: i know what you mean about black dog temptation ;) you probably heard this old clip no doubt: http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=547
Yep, that one and all Hunter's BD clips! I just like the way the BD has that extra bit of tubbiness compared with the Riff Raff.
True about Schenker's Vs, but I've always had the impression he's not too fussy about gear - maybe they just dropped that JB in when a Gibson pickup died? I have a JB in my Edwards V (it's the stock pickup) and I'm not crazy about it. It's a bit muddy and just sounds... meh. Of course it's a new JB which is different from an old JB (much discussion of that elsewhere on the forum). And of course the HD is going to sound better than a current JB anyway.
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I do not have anything on the lower end(humbucker side), I am thinking Riff-Raff, or SM. I am suppose to be playing blues anyway, just took the long way home to enjoy the sightseeing. Cheers:)
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if interested, heres a pic.
gibson faded cherry V + following modifications:
t-cutted
allparts witchhat knobs
bkp riff raffs in chrome
orange drop capacitor
straplocks
edit: oh yeah, a set of pointer washers too
its pure 70s tone. i wish all my guitars were so straightforward to mod.
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looks SWEET - those faded Vee's look much better now they're using dot markers rather than those very odd crescent moon markers (urgh!!!)
:twisted:
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if interested, heres a pic.
gibson faded cherry V
Lookin' good!! :D
I did pretty similar mods on my Edwards, but went with the Black Dog and Stormy Monday.
How did the T-Cut treatment turn out? I polished just the face of the headstock on my SG (because it looked stupid matt), but it's a little uneven - seems they don't bother to get the matt finishes totally flat.
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the t-cut worked out really well actually, and it is even. i was a little overeager with the t-cut, so theres a bit of residue in the grain. i got most of it out though, and it looks 10x better now than the original faded finish. the deeper red that appeared seems almost believeably 70s cherry now so no regrets ;)
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I'm a HUGE Vee fan and I love this one.
You did a great job on it, looks really great. I really like the knobs and the covered pups Philly suggested is a MUST on Vees with the more "modern" scratchplate.
Rock on!
I also love this site for Vee porn: http://www.flying-v.ch/