Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: MDV on April 09, 2007, 03:56:38 PM
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Hey guys.
I've got a miracle man in the bridge of an epi explorer at the moment, and I'm thinking of swapping it for something less powerfull. I'm in at least three minds about it though.
1. the miracle man sounds great. Not entirely my bag though, it doesnt have as much power as I usually like, but its tonally great for thrashy metal, which I do like to play.
2. But I have some really fantastic metal guitars, and its not really doing anything that they dont already do, and not as well.
3. I very much like blues and jazz, but I dont have a guitar well geared up for it. The MM absolutely does not do these sounds well. Not well at all.
So I'm thinking either:
Leave it, it does sound good.
Or
Replace the bridge pickup with something that can do both blues, jazz and hot up if I want it to (so much what what defines those styles is how you play anyway). This leaves me with perhaps Mule through to HD as my options.
Or
Stormy monday, and mellow the guitar out as much as possble.
What do you guys think?
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Swap it for a Mule - the Great Allrounder :D
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Riff-Raff as recommended by Tim, for a vintage tone. Good hunt :)
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The Explorer has a LOT of mass; I'm not sure how a vintage pup would get along in that guitar. Is the guitar mahogany?
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Oh, shite, did I say explorer? I do have an epi explorer, but this is an epi LP :lol:
Its mahogany and alder. Les Paul. Not explorer! Sorry bout that.
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Oh, shitee, did I say explorer? I do have an epi explorer, but this is an epi LP :lol:
Well, you get 10 lashes with a wet noodle. :roll:
That changes things!
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mellowing out? you? what next, TO deciding super-strats are over-rated?
:lol:
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Indeed it does, TO.
Yeah, dave, it looks a little odd! The tones I've felt the complusion to get sorted are metal ones with some mollowness capability. Now my guitars have that covered admirably, I'm thinking about indulging my other musical vices. I've got an opportunity with this Epi LP gold top to make a better blues guitar than a metal one, given that its scale isnt up my street for metal (25.5 is where its at!) and the vibe of the guitar from playing it just makes me want to slow down and bend some strings in pentatonic and blues shapes!
Also on the backburner: I'm keeping my eye out for a mex strat to put some slowhands or apaches in. I love that 2nd position quack with RPRW pickups, and none of my flamethrower guitars can do it!
Lulsug and twinfan, thanks for the suggestions. Mule was pretty close to the top of my list. I'm also thinking nailbomb, just in case I want to push an amp harder, but have it in parralel. I dunno, though.
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Yeah, dave, it looks a little odd! The tones I've felt the complusion to get sorted are metal ones with some mollowness capability. Now my guitars have that covered admirably, I'm thinking about indulging my other musical vices. I've got an opportunity with this Epi LP gold top to make a better blues guitar than a metal one, given that its scale isnt up my street for metal (25.5 is where its at!) and the vibe of the guitar from playing it just makes me want to slow down and bend some strings in pentatonic and blues shapes!
yeah, it's always nice to branch out... I'm kinda screwed in that I like a little of everything... i have a slight bent for 80's stuff and shred, but give me a guitar aimed at more vintage tones (and/or amp), and I'll only be playing those vintage tones too... which is annoying/expensive.
:lol:
anyway, don't want to divert your thread any more, man! Good luck!
:thu:
oh yeah, on the pickup front, I really dug TO's riff-raff/Stormy Monday clips, maybe he has the link handy. though, if I remember right, his agile is mahogany/maple, not mahogany/alder. But my guess is his suggestions are better than clips are, lol.
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In the range of pups you're considering moving to:
They will all get you where you want to go, but you have to push em if you want to get em to scream like the Miracle Man.
If you like what the MM does to the tone but are looking to do that with a more vintage-style pup, you can look into the VHII or Riff Raff.
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Yeah, Dave, it could easily never end! And for many, some round here, it hasnt, and look at TO, philing and others, the amount of guitars and amps they have! Everyone round here either thinks I'm nuts or looks in awe at my 3 amps and 8 guitars :lol:
Cheers TO. I hear, by word and sound clip, that they're quite bright rock n' roll pickups. True? Bull? See, if there was are any sound that can be made with a guitar that I want to AVOID its rock 'n roll.....and indie. My how I hate indie. And punk. I never heard a punk tone I liked.
I'd like something smooth, wide and rich sounding, at the warmer end of the BK spectrum. Clear and articulate, though, obviously.
I may hold off for that strat, though. Most of the blues sounds I really like come from strats.
On the humbucker side of things I'm thinking Peter Green, Paul Kossoff, gary moore. But not as bright as any of them (though green had a great high end in his sound!) Warmer and jazzier. Joe pass, wes montgomery, pat methany, lenny breau, but I dont like semi-accoustics :lol: .
I dont want to immitate a sound, though, those are just a few refference points. Were I to pick one main one it would be.........gah!.......kossoff, heartbreaker tone. But not quite, cos it'll be mine, damnit!! :lol:
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Yeah, Dave, it could easily never end! And for many, some round here, it hasnt, and look at TO, philing and others, the amount of guitars and amps they have! Everyone round here either thinks I'm nuts or looks in awe at my 3 amps and 8 guitars :lol:
hehe, i know what you mean!
I like a neck humbucker for blues, sounds excellent, in my opinion, it needs to be pretty vintage-voiced, though. if you want jazzy tone, though, you might get away with it, they slightly overlap (or at least, the kind of neck humbucker bluesy tone I like is a bit jazzy too, might be a better way to describe it).
I like strats too, of course. and teles. and... cr@p.
:lol:
EDIT: semi-acoustics are awesome. that's blasphemy. :lol: oh and +1 on not liking indie or punk. i quite like rock n roll, though.
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On the humbucker side of things I'm thinking Peter Green, Paul Kossoff, gary moore. But not as bright as any of them (though green had a great high end in his sound!) Warmer and jazzier. Joe pass, wes montgomery, pat methany, lenny breau, but I dont like semi-accoustics :lol: .
Crawlers, perhaps? Bluesy, warm vintage vibe but still powerful enough that you won't think your amp's broken. :wink:
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check your pm MDV...
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If you want Kossoff, get the new PG set (which or course will do the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac days and Gary Moore), or for more drive, but in the same vein, get an Emerald/AIV Mule combination. This was my frist BK set, and I told Tim I wanted the sound from Kossoff, Peter Green and the sound from Thin Lizzy's Still in Love with You. The combination of the AV and AIV magnet gives the Peter Green tone when both pickups are on.
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Philly and philking, great suggestions, thanks guys. I was thinking about the PG set. I had completely forgotten crawlers existed, they just fell off the radar somehow, but now you mention it: good call!
I'm also thinking of using one or both slots as P90s now.
So I have as my options:
Leave it
Mules (what mag? AIV both?)
Emerald/A4 mule
PG set
Crawlers
Riff raffs
Some sort of P90s
Thats a lot of pickups! I'm currently leaning toward the PG set. As whole-heartedly bluesy as my others are metal. You cant compromise on your mellowness :twisted:
I think from reputation and clips I'm not really going for the VHII: too much of a rock vibe.
Callmenasty: Replied.
Dave, The neck buckers a bit rubbish. I liked the bridge bucker, but it was microphonic. I played it, and it was all chilled and smooth (bear in mind I havent used a bridge pickup less powerfull than a miracle man in about 7 years) and I thought *Fast show jazz dude voice* "Great". Then I stopped playing and it squeeled like a pig in a thresher.
I suppose I'll replace both though. Doesnt add up to have just ONE bk in a guitar :lol:
Edit: I've spoken to Tim and I'm sold on Crawlers.
Cooooool 8)
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Dave, The neck buckers a bit rubbish. I liked the bridge bucker, but it was microphonic. I played it, and it was all chilled and smooth (bear in mind I havent used a bridge pickup less powerfull than a miracle man in about 7 years) and I thought *Fast show jazz dude voice* "Great". Then I stopped playing and it squeeled like a pig in a thresher.
I suppose I'll replace both though. Doesnt add up to have just ONE bk in a guitar :lol:
Edit: I've spoken to Tim and I'm sold on Crawlers.
Cooooool 8)
ah, glad you're sorted! microphonic pickups are annoying...
:drink:
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They are indeed.
Getting quite excited about these crawlers. New territory, and yet....not! I'm very interested to see what they're capable of!
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I've spoken to Tim and I'm sold on Crawlers.
Cool! I'm definitely planning on a set of Crawlers for my own LP. Although I haven't actually got the guitar yet, so no rush.
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Thanks for the heads up on that, philly. You and Tim agreed: I described what I wanted and he said "crawlers", the tone as he described it seems to be just what I want, and I could still drive an amp pretty hard if I wanted too.
Awesome.
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When I spoke with Tim about PAF pups he recommended Mule for True PAF and the Crawlers for Hot PAF.
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Yeah, he says its his hottest PAF, but he recommended based on the fact that I want it for blues and a little jazz, but that I will, as any heavier player would, want to let it loose sometimes, and it can do that too.
And hes right, theres no way in hell I'll play any guitar cleany or with slight overdrive all the time, even if thats what it does most of the time.
Tim, it seems, knows me all too well :lol:
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hey, if you aren't careful you'll have me wanting crawlers!
luckily, I hear semi-hollow + hot(ish) pickups = no-no. but still.
:lol:
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Yeah, feedbacks a bitch!
I'll let you know how I get on with them! I'll order them tomorrow, actually. I was gonna wait, but I'm far from a patient man :twisted:
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Inevitable question :roll: - what colours/covers are you going for?
I'm thinking zebras or plain ol' nickel for a goldtop.
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I really want to stick with the Mules for my Standard but the Crawler and Rebel Yell are really tempting.
My next set will be nickel with Bare Kuckle engraved on the neck pup.
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Inevitable question :roll: - what colours/covers are you going for?
I'm thinking zebras or plain ol' nickel for a goldtop.
Zebras!
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I prefer reverse Zebra's (with the screw coils black). I just think they look more original.
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crawlers are nice...had mine in an sg though never tried them in a LP(still have neck one in sg and love it)
Have emeralds in my Bluesbird(basically an LP) and they are great sounding
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I prefer reverse Zebra's (with the screw coils black). I just think they look more original.
I don't mind either way, but I'm thinking of getting one reverse, one zebra - so instead of same-colour coils facing each other, it'll be black/cream/black/cream. Or I might just stick with nickel.
Blimey, how anoraky am I ....? :oops:
.
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^ :lol:
i think about stuff like that too.
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Lets face it, this forum is Guitar Geeks Anonamous.
*Stands up*
"Hi, my names MDV and I've been playing guitar for 8 years, but I've been a guitar geek for about 7 years now. I keep trying to lay off the pickups, bridges, tuners, nuts and custom shops and just play, y'know? But it gets so hard at times, and then, just like that, the addiction takes over and I'm buying a guitar because I want to try out a new Bare knuckle!"
Seriously, its great. I dont get guitarists that dont think about things like that.
"What pickups you got?"
"Dunno, just stock"
".............dear god, man, WHY?"
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Lets face it, this forum is Guitar Geeks Anonamous.
Guilty as charged.
Seriously, its great. I dont get guitarists that dont think about things like that.
Yeah, you know when you read the occasional interview (usually with some indie type) who says he's not interested in gear? "It's black, I think it's some kind of Fender, you'd have to ask my tech."
It puts me into a sort of mild panic, I have difficulty accepting what I've read... "What? He's a guitarist and he doesn't know what he plays? Cannot compute..." :non: :non: :non:
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+1 to the last 2 posts.
We know more about gear than alot of world famous guitarists do.
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yup way to many guitar geeks..but have learnt a lot in a short time...and spent a lot on parts
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+1 to the last 2 posts.
We know more about gear than alot of world famous guitarists do.
yp, definitely. especially filthy phil :lol:
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You lot have certainly opened my mind to a few things since I joined up to the church of BKP ... so I now not only have new 'pups but also new electrics, I have discovered my guitar has such a thing as a truss rod _and_ I have tweaked it, and I am seriously considering building my own distorion pedal :shock:
All in all, been a good year so far really :)
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+1 to the last 2 posts.
We know more about gear than alot of world famous guitarists do.
shame we can't play or write music like 'em...
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+1 to the last 2 posts.
We know more about gear than alot of world famous guitarists do.
shame we can't play or write music like 'em...
Amen to that. I'm about 99% gearhead and 1% player.
Well maybe 98%, to be fair...
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+1 to the last 2 posts.
We know more about gear than alot of world famous guitarists do.
shame we can't play or write music like 'em...
Amen to that. I'm about 99% gearhead and 1% player.
Well maybe 98%, to be fair...
:lol:
i've written 6 new songs since i joined here, and i had only written 1 before. i have tried to balance out the gear and the musicianship 8)
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i've written 6 new songs since i joined here, and i had only written 1 before. i have tried to balance out the gear and the musicianship 8)
Ah, if only I had the energy of youth. :(
Seriously though, you've got the right idea. Keep it up!
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aye... i'm just glad i had a few years of playing under my belt before i discovered forums, lol. i mean, i still practice/play every day... but the internet wastes a lot of time, lol.
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I find that forums get in the way of guitar playing.
I mean, how can they not??
But I find that the improvents in my sound and adapting my gear well to what I want to do with it makes playing much more enjoyable and rewarding. And anyway, I'd rather know about my gear than not, and I'd rather have good gear than not!
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I find that forums get in the way of guitar playing.
I mean, how can they not??
But I find that the improvents in my sound and adapting my gear well to what I want to do with it makes playing much more enjoyable and rewarding. And anyway, I'd rather know about my gear than not, and I'd rather have good gear than not!
dude, that's the exact reason i upgrade gear!
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Dude, its the ONLY reason to!
(now I stop to think about it - why the hell else would you?)
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Dude, its the ONLY reason to!
(now I stop to think about it - why the hell else would you?)
because your an egomaniac who loves to show off about how expensive your gear is and try to get laid?
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Dude, its the ONLY reason to!
(now I stop to think about it - why the hell else would you?)
Not just so you sound better - but so it's easier to play - Cheap guitars are hard to play imo :<
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Well, I'm gonna go ahead adn lump ego satisfaction, sex and playabilty in with "Rewarding" 8) :P :lol:
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Dude, its the ONLY reason to!
(now I stop to think about it - why the hell else would you?)
Not just so you sound better - but so it's easier to play - Cheap guitars are hard to play imo :<
lol why?
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Dude, its the ONLY reason to!
(now I stop to think about it - why the hell else would you?)
Not just so you sound better - but so it's easier to play - Cheap guitars are hard to play imo :<
lol why?
tone, dude!
unless they have godly tonewoods/stock pickups, but they're quite hard to find.
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I meant why are they easier to play
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I meant why are they easier to play
why are what easier to play?
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I meant why are they easier to play
Smoother necks, better fret work, better neck joints, and all in all more reliable.
With guitars that is...
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Dude, its the ONLY reason to!
(now I stop to think about it - why the hell else would you?)
because fallout boy use it.