Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 06:52:53 PM

Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 06:52:53 PM
right which pickup is the best for a heavy tone, im after a pantera\ zakk wylde tone from a bridge pickup, i heard ceramic warpig would be perfect for some good heavy metal rock sounds?
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 06:56:12 PM
im playing a hamer  Sunburst Archtop Quilt

http://www.hamerguitars.com/?fa=detail&mid=901&sid=185

 at the mo with some duncan designed pick ups, it just doesnt seem like like they are very high output, i can get a good blues sound sound and a classic rock sound from the guitar, but im after something mental lol.

ps as u may know i know nothing about guitar pickups.....


cheers 8)
Title: Pantera
Post by: Ratrod on June 30, 2005, 07:05:47 PM
Welcome to the forum. :drink:

For a Zakk Wylde tone I'd go for a Miracle Man. This would also be good for Pantera stuff.

A ceramic Warpig is a about as mental as you can get. Steve is trying to get us some soundclips of that. I'm very curious to hear them in action.
Title: Pantera
Post by: Bird on June 30, 2005, 07:27:35 PM
I'll have to second the Miracle Man, but the Warpig is worth a look as well. :twisted:
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 07:36:53 PM
so the warpig is a good metal pickup, and a good all rounder?, vut the miracle man has a better metal sound but aint got such a good clean sound?

il be running it through a Randall RG200G2 G2 200w amplifier, so if u know that amp u know what kinda sound im after, but either the warpig or miracle man would be better than my stock seymor duncan designed pickups right?
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 07:37:56 PM
is my hamer worth upgrading the pickups on? i mean as far as i know it aint a bad guitar at all
Title: Pantera
Post by: Bird on June 30, 2005, 07:58:42 PM
This is a review from Total Guitar, I'd say either pickup will do the job. Check out the clips in the Player's section.

Bare Knuckle is a new company based in  Barnstaple, Devon, who manufacture high  quality electric guitar pickups. All its units  are made by hand and the brand produces  an extensive range of noisemakers for  every taste. Although the Warpig  humbucker is most defi nitely  the Daddy. The sick minds that  unleashed this monster  describe the Warpig as ‘a  true beast, heavy as hell  itself’. We certainly wouldn’t  disagree with that. The  Warpig is designed to replicate  the awesome tone of Zakk Wylde, but in a  passive pickup form – Mr Wylde famously  uses active EMG85 and 81 units (see last  month’s Quick Tests, TG119). In action, this pickup is frankly amazing.  The bass response is staggering, and  there’s plenty of bite too. Harmonics  jump off the fingerboard, and sustain is  just wonderful; this bad boy loves to be  driven hard through a good overdrive. But  even with all this brute power, the Warpig  surprised us with a very sweet clean tone.  It’s a real all-rounder. It has the looks to  match the performance too. The nickel  cover is hand distressed, taking on the  appearance of medieval armour. Also, the  pole pieces are actually Allen bolts, making  them very easy to adjust and adding to the  heavy vibe. The Bare Knuckle Warpig just  left us gagging for more. If you  want an awesome rock tone, then look  no  further. Highly recommended. (EM) FOR: Outrageous power; sizzling tones;  individual looks; easy adjustment AGAINST: If we ever fi nd anything,  we’ll be sure to let you know  TG RATING:  *****
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 08:23:25 PM
cheers, im not sure i can really decide from player clips? i mean the amp makes an awfull lot of difference to a sound, head a heap of them and all the pickups pretty much sound kick ass
Title: Pantera
Post by: Ratrod on June 30, 2005, 08:39:00 PM
The Warpig has a big bottom end, the Miracle Man has a tight low end. The Miracle Man is a great pickup for shredding and soloing, the Warpig is better suited for rythm work (as a general guide line, both pickups perform very well in both roles). A ceramic Warpig would be a mix of both. The Warpig will surprise you with some awesome clean tones, the MM is better with mild overdrive than the Warpig.

You might wanna check out the Nailbomb as well, killer pickup.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 08:41:19 PM
noooooooo, i cant decide im definitly getting one but i just cant make up my mind, they all sound so gr8!.........
Title: Pantera
Post by: Ratrod on June 30, 2005, 08:47:01 PM
I can feel your pain. :lol:

It might help if you can describe exactly what tone you're after. Big, tight, open, saturated, compressed, gain from the amp, gain from the pickup? Or maybe a specific song?

We're here to help. :wink:
Title: Pantera
Post by: Bird on June 30, 2005, 08:47:14 PM
Welcome to the club. I'd say the Miracle Man would probably be better suited to what you're looking for. If you start looking at other pickups you're just going to make the decision that much tougher  :D
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 08:51:37 PM
right specific song, um  say floods by pantera or no more tears by ozzy

hope i aint being a pain in the buttox everyone, just on the neverending quest for "The Tone".....
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on June 30, 2005, 08:58:25 PM
all these player clips make me sound like a total shitety guitarist lol
Title: Pantera
Post by: Ratrod on June 30, 2005, 09:11:50 PM
Right, I'm thinking Miracle Man. A calibrated set would give you the sound for those awesome bluesy solo's. Floods and No More Tears are great songs!
Title: Pantera
Post by: jt on July 01, 2005, 02:32:52 AM
:D Hi guybergman welcome to the forum !! Ratrod & Bird are right you sound like you want a high gain P/U with lots of power. You`ve got 1 of 3 choices. either Miracle Man, Nailbomb, Warpig. By the sound of the songs & bands you`ve mentioned i would go for a Miracle Man. Lots of power but with a tight bottom end. The guy who runs BK [Tim] plays in a Ozzy tribute band & he swears by the MM good enough ? :D  8)
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 01, 2005, 08:21:44 AM
yeah im pretty much decided on the miracle man, but im still after a good rhythm sound for chugging power chord heavy metal, the mm can deliver right?
Title: Pantera
Post by: Tim on July 01, 2005, 09:22:46 AM
Hi, and a belated welcome to the boards.........there's been a serious amount of orders coming through so I haven't been able to get on as much as I'd like.

The Miracle Man will definately give you that Pantera tone with bags of grind and tight rhythm tone too.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 01, 2005, 10:00:23 AM
ordering in a miracle man in next few days

do i need  4 or braided 2 conductor? and 50mm spacig for my hamer?
anyoe suggest from the guitar what cover might look sweet?
Title: Pantera
Post by: bucketshred on July 01, 2005, 10:30:12 AM
I'm getting my Miracle Men soon too, I cannae wait to get them, I just need another £200 :( but, they WILL be ordered soon!

Andy!
Title: Pantera
Post by: Ratrod on July 01, 2005, 11:15:56 AM
Looks like your Hamer is a 50mm. I'm pretty shure. You can check by measuring the distance between the outer polepieces. 52mm is usually Fender and guitars with Floyd's.

The 2 con is the easy way. I think your stock pickups are 2 con as well. Take the 4 con if you want to add a coil tap or phase switch n' stuff.
Title: Pantera
Post by: PhilKing on July 01, 2005, 11:42:51 AM
One problem I had with a Hamer Sunburst - the Miracle Man with covers didn't fit the pickup cavity  :wallbash:

Mine is a very old one (79), with Dimarzio's and strat style bridge, and because of this I didn't want to open the cavity at all.  If you are not set on covers, I would get an uncovered set so you don't have a problem.

I love the sound of the calibrated set, and you can turn down and they clean up great.  If ever you do want an old classic rock tone, the neck pickup with the alnico V will give you it.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 01, 2005, 04:57:00 PM
any idea roughly what a guitar shop would charge for fitting 1 humbucker?
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 01, 2005, 05:27:50 PM
god damn i started looking at other tuff on the forum and some people say the warpig is best for metal and some say the miracle man is? tg gave warpig 5 and miracle man 4.........hmmmmmmmmm
Title: Pantera
Post by: PhilKing on July 01, 2005, 06:08:17 PM
The Miracle Man is a tighter sound than the Warpig.  Think early Sabbath for the Warpig sound.  The harmonics shine on the Miracle Man too.  I am not a metal player at all, but when I plugged in the Miracle Man I had to play some Iron Maiden and Judas Priest!

btw.  I think the pickups will go straight in if they don't have covers. I think it is really just a soldering iron job.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 01, 2005, 06:12:49 PM
afraid i dont have a decent soldering iron
Title: Pantera
Post by: Steve-Mr Pig 2U on July 01, 2005, 11:55:39 PM
Im listening to Pantera at the moment, I think the Miracle man would be your best bet. The only reason total guitar gave the MM 4 was because it didn’t have such a good clean tone.
The Warpig is an awesome metal pickup, but for the Zakk/Dimebag tone defiantly go for the Miracle man.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 02, 2005, 12:03:57 AM
yeah i figured as much, i have decided and will not change my mind again.....

cheers for all your help folks
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 02, 2005, 11:13:41 AM
so the soldering is a pretty straight forward job? like 2 joints?
Title: Pantera
Post by: Ratrod on July 02, 2005, 11:45:51 AM
Just two joints. A wiring diagram is supplied with the pickups. The hardes part is getting some of braid off.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 02, 2005, 11:48:26 AM
uh oh, braid? im scared now.......
Title: Pantera
Post by: PhilKing on July 03, 2005, 12:29:59 PM
It really is not too bad at all - even if you get the 4 wire.  But with Bare Knuckles you can ask Tim to make it with just 2 wire.  You have a ground and a hot.  The ground is the braid, the hot is the centre.  The braid pushes back so it is easy to get out of the way.  If you don't feel confident, see if you have a friend who has done any soldering or electrical stuff, this should be a piece of p**s for them.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 03, 2005, 03:35:45 PM
is there any way for me to confirm that my hamer will be able to fit in a covered pickup, it has covered ones at the moment, but someone else on the forum had a problem with ftting a covered bucker in to a hamer sunburst- a 1979 one, mines a 2004 model so  there will be allot of changes
Title: Pantera
Post by: PhilKing on July 03, 2005, 04:01:12 PM
If it already has covered then I think you will be OK.  Mine is really old and has open coils.  

You can take out one pickup (undo the 4 screws in the pickup ring), and measure the size of the bottom of the pickup, where the cover is over the baseplate.  Take the outside measurement so that you have the maximum size.  The other thing you can do is measure the size of the cavities to see.  On my Hamer, the corners of the cavities had big quarter circle pieces where the surround screws in.  These are what stopped the covered picups fitting.  I could have changed it, but because it is a 26 year old guitar, I decided to leave it.  I might fit some open h/b's later, but for now I have a couple more guitars that I am changing the pickups on anyway, so I am not in a rush.

If you let Tim know that sizes, he can tell you if they will fit.

Good luck.
Title: Pantera
Post by: guybergman on July 03, 2005, 04:50:35 PM
right had a peek inside my guitar, the covers on the humbuckers have two soldered joints so i cant get them off, how would i get the wire out to wire in a new pickup? model no is a seymor duncan HB103N,

there apears to be no way of getting the cover off without a soldering iron?

i know little about these things
Title: Pantera
Post by: Steve-Mr Pig 2U on July 03, 2005, 04:56:55 PM
If you buy a new Pickup, it would probably be best to take it to a local guitar shop/tech to do the work for you.
If your pickups are already covered you shouldn’t have a problem fitting new covered ones in.
Title: Pantera
Post by: jt on July 03, 2005, 05:24:14 PM
:D Yep have to agree with Steve take your guitar & MM to a guitar tech let them do it all you can get your guitar set up as well while your there the whole thing should cost you between £30- £50
Title: Pantera
Post by: PhilKing on July 03, 2005, 07:17:24 PM
You don't need to take the cover off.  The wire goes down to the control cavity and will connect to one of the volume controls (depends on which pickup).  This is where the soldering is done.  

However, if you never did this before and you have no one to help you, then it might be better to get a local shop to do it.  It is less than 1 hour to change pickups and set up the guitar (assuming that you are keeping the same string gauges and that it was set up OK in the first place).

Depending on who is doing it, they will probably have no problem telling you what they did.  However, most people don't like you to watch!

There are also some great books and videos on how to do this yourself.  Hideo Kamimoto and Dan Earlewine both have good books.  THe Stewart MacDonald web site (www.stewmac.com) has a lot of these.
Title: Pantera
Post by: Ratrod on July 04, 2005, 11:13:35 AM
It can be done quite fast. Putting a set of EMG's in a LP took me less than an hour. Strings off, electronics out, new electronics in, pickups in, soldering and restring.

Changing just one pickup can be done in 20 minutes. When I pigged my Mockingbird I only took 3 strings off and loosened the rest. The pickup in the mounting ring simply slides into place.