Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: froglord on March 21, 2007, 09:35:09 PM
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Just suppose for a moment that you have an HSS Strat with an alder body, maple neck/fingerboard, stainless steel frets, and a lovely pair of Apaches.
No, I don't have one either. :wink:
What humbucker would you put in there to get good rock tones, but also to split well with the middle Apache in position 2?
I've already got a pair of Mules, so I'm after something different. WarrenTrucks' Stormy Monday demo in the Players section sounds excellent, but I'm wondering if this is hot enough. Problem is, the VHII sounds a bit sizzly for my tastes, the Riff Raff seems quite mid-focused, and the Black Dog ... well, I never did like Page's tone on "Black Dog".
Any hotter and I'm worried about losing compatibility with the Apaches, so anyone who says "Warpig" will have to face the "rolling eyes" smiley!
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For my HSS rosewood neck strat, I went with Rebel Yell and 2 Mothers Milks. This was Tim's reccomendation, so I went with it. For a maple neck, the RY might be a bit bright, but I bet a Crawler will work great.
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That's a tough one... with an Abraxas or Crawler position 1 will be louder than the other positions but position 2 will be really nice when the HB is split. On the other hand with a Stormy Monday the balance will be perfect but position 2 might sound rather weak. :?
What about a Mississipi Queen with Alnico III? :)
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You could get a Stormy Monday bridge and 2 underwound Apaches. :wink:
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Warpig!
:lol:
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Warpig!
:lol:
Right, you asked for it:
:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
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Holy Diver
Yes, it's a hot pickup, but it sounds fantastic in alder & despite being capable of murderously heavy riffage also has a wonderful clean sound.
I have the HD/Irish Tour set, never tried Apaches, but are the ITs really that much lower output?
FWIW, my other strat has a Miracle Man with 2 Sultans' - yes there's a very big jump in volume when switching to the bridge :lol: & if I bought it again I'd get the MM/Trilogy set, or perhaps Slowhands (actually, I wonder if Slowhands might go really well with an HD), but it's not unusable...
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Thanks for the suggestions, guys. To be honest, I'm dithering over whether I want a maple or rosewood fretboard (I'm thinking about a custom build). To get the traditional Strat sound it seems Apaches are best for maple, while Mother's Milks are great for rosewood.
The MMs seem to offer more compatibility with humbuckers (I know that the MM/MM/Crawler combination is a favourite of Tim's), but I'm tempted by maple because I find rosewood a bit rough as a playing surface. Unless, of course, I can get it built with a really smooth slab of rosewood.
Hmm ... Decisions, decisions!
Phil, the Rebel Yell sounds interesting. Do you know what its DC resistance is?
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The MMs seem to offer more compatibility with humbuckers (I know that the MM/MM/Crawler combination is a favourite of Tim's), but I'm tempted by maple because I find rosewood a bit rough as a playing surface. Unless, of course, I can get it built with a really smooth slab of rosewood.
Hmm ... Decisions, decisions!
If you are going custom you could always consider Ebony (just to complicate matters) ;)
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Phil, the Rebel Yell sounds interesting. Do you know what its DC resistance is?
The bridge is 14.7K (I think - mine were early sets, but I am pretty certain that they were the final version).
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If you are going custom you could always consider Ebony (just to complicate matters) ;)
Sadist!
I think ebony is too bright for a traditional strat sound, although now you've got me wondering if Pau Ferro would be a good idea...
Curse you!
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Sadist!
I think ebony is too bright for a traditional strat sound, although now you've got me wondering if Pau Ferro would be a good idea...
Curse you!
Yeah I was born evil,
I never could quite like rosewood for some reason, possibly as most rosewood guitars I owned where from the cheaper end of the market :(
Though personally I prefer the feel of a lacquered fingerboard which usually means Maple, which includes my SG (yes SG) & my sons wolfgang, though I have lacquered rosewood on my Ric, which feels real good.
The Eggle I have is Ebony and it's very bright indeed, but it still has the Kent Armstrongs in it which are notoriously bright !
I'm gonna have to speak to Tim for reccomendations once I get some enthusiasm and cash together.
It would be nice to see a guitar with something other than maple or rosewood fingerboards (sounds like a fashion statement)
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The Eggle I have is Ebony and it's very bright indeed, but it still has the Kent Armstrongs in it which are notoriously bright !
I had Kent Armstrongs in my Eggle (Berlin) and yes, I agree, it was a very bright guitar. The Alnico IV Mules have transformed it. Take the plunge! Stick in some BKPs!
On the Pau Ferro front, it seems like it's slightly brighter than maple, but much less than ebony, while retaining ebony's smoothness. Sounds interesting. The fact that Suhr guitars particularly recommend it with an alder body makes me sit up and take notice.
I've been listening to some Rebel Yell clips - sounds to me like one of the most balanced BKPs. Not too much sizzle, no mid-hump, lots of grunt for rock tones, but a sweet clean tone too. Tempting!
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On the Pau Ferro front, it seems like it's slightly brighter than maple, but much less than ebony, while retaining ebony's smoothness. Sounds interesting. The fact that Suhr guitars particularly recommend it with an alder body makes me sit up and take notice.
I've been listening to some Rebel Yell clips - sounds to me like one of the most balanced BKPs. Not too much sizzle, no mid-hump, lots of grunt for rock tones, but a sweet clean tone too. Tempting!
Heh I just posted about pickup options, as I was worried that the Mules may still be too bright
The Pau Ferro sounds like a nice combination (do companys other than Ric offer lacquered rosewood which really does feel the business). Hmmm alder (alder / ash, ash / alder I just can't decide).
I have totally fallen in love with the RYs with the Steve Stevens and Hunters clips. Though I think those may suit my sons Wolfgang more than the eggle (Grrrrr damn you Eggle). Though I do know where there is a nice all mahogany Berlin for sale (damn you again eggle)
Rob...
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If you have a strat I don't think that you can have anything except a rosewood neck for a humbucker at the bridge, everything else just sounds too treble-ly. The stormy monday would be my bet....but then again I'm new here, so what do I know :lol:
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I don't play Strats much, but I do have an HH Strat (alder body, rosewood board) and I find the current pickups - Duncan Pearly Gates Plus and '59 - uncomfortably bright, even harsh.
I suspect any "vintage" style humbucker might sound a little thin, but of course it's a matter of personal taste.
I'd be tempted to go for something with plenty of warmth in the bass - VHII, Crawler, maybe even HD.
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Neck woods all depend what you are going for, I have several HSS strats and also have put together several more for TO with humbuckers in the bridge with maple and ebony fingerboards.
I have a SSS strat with an Angare/Pau Ferro neck and a HSH on an Ibanez body with a Satine/Ebony neck. I am just putting together a Warmoth Mockingbird with an Aframosa neck.
I will be buildind 2 other guitars with 'Exotic' necks this year. One will be a Tele with Bubunga/Zircote and the other will be a 'CBS' strat with Goncalo Alves with hopefully a Wenge fingerboard.
In my swamp ash with maple/ebony I have a Holy Diver with 2 Trilogy's, I have the one on order with Rebel Yell and 2 Mothers Milk's (rosewood fingerboard), I have one with an MQ and Slowhands with walnut/ebony, and the Ibanez has Nailbomb/Irish Tour/Cold Sweat.
TO has VHII and Cold Sweat bridge humbuckers, with IT and Trilogy neck single coils (with maple and maple/ebony necks).
All of them have great but distinctive sounds, and pretty much in all cases I was able to bring the neck in line with the bridge.
I personally like unlacquered fingerboards, even my 57 Strat has lost all the lacquer! With that in mind, the pau ferro is inbetween rosewood and ebony.
Satine is a hard wood, but has a great colour and works well with basswood in the body. bubinga and goncalo alves are more mahogany'ish and angare is between mahogany and maple.
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Thanks, Phil. As always, you are a fount of knowledge!
What would be your personal choice for an HSS alder/maple Strat for clean/blues/rock? Or an alder/maple/pau ferro Strat if you've got one (which you probably do - you seem to have one of everything!).
Philly - yes, I agree: the VHII and Crawler are still very much on the cards. I'll have to take the Tim test soon and see what he comes up with.
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I think for alder/maple I would go with either a VHII or Stormy Monday, with Apache's. The VHII would give you a lot more push than the Stormy, but for a classic old blues humbucker tone the AII SM can't be beat. Alder/maple/pau ferro would probably suit the Rebel Yell/Mother's Milk combination really well.
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just thread hi-jacking, I'm going to be either getting Jonathan to build a guitar for me or doing it myself don't know yet, but anyway I'm going for an alder body with an indian rosewood fretboard & flamed maple neck. I'm gonna go for neck & middle of irish tours, but would the best humbucker at bridge be a rebel yell?
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Depends on what you want to play. A Crawler might work better, but the Rebel Yell is a great pickup. It has a lot of mids, the Crawler is more even.
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looking to do the classic mid-'70's & southern rock thing as well as bon jovi stlye rock. Is that any help?