Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: ToneDeadForever on April 20, 2007, 01:47:07 AM
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Firstly, aloha. I've been curious about these here bare knuckle pickups for a while now. But being actually serious about replacing the JB I've got in my guitar I figured I'd finally ask around about these here pups.
As I said, I'm looking to replace the duncan JB in my guitar. It's an LTD EC400AT (all mahogany, very les paul-ish). But I'm having no luck really figuring out which pup I want to throw in it.
I'm looking for abridge pup with a very vintage vibe on the go. Something that's very raw, way open wide, balanced and ultra smooth. I guess I'd like something with a bit of emphasis on it's mids/low mids and fairly present as well. Also, without too much output, but with enough output that it'll muck up when playing rather fast metal riffs with high gain settings but still feeling pretty loose. I don't like a pickup to be too tight. That said, I'd also like that very smooth relaxed lead tone that I've only ever heard out of vintage style pups (gibson 57 classic +, dimarzio Virtual PAF, duncan 59 for example). And I guess I'll also say that I really dislike really bright pickups, ones with too much highs, anything that's kind of thin/brittle/not smooth on the higher strings.
Anywho, I play a whole lot of everything really. Lots of blues and jazz and hard rock, but mostly metal. A lot of Iced Earth/lamb of god type stuff. But I'm not too much of a fan of high output pickups(the JB is a good bit more than I want), I really like to use a clean boost to overdrive my amp or even just to use a whole hell of a lot of gain on the amp as opposed to using higher output pups to do so.
Anywho, I'm just asking for some advice. Many thanks for anything ye folk could throw my way.
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I think that the Abraxas or Riff Raff will do what you are looking for.
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i'd think anything on the vintage end would work. first thing that came to mind though was riff raffs.
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hmmm, I cannot judge RiffRaffs or Abraxas, but from my own portfolio (VHII, BlackDog, MiracleMan, BKP92, Rebel Yell) I'd chose a RebelYell.
If I'd want to sell it to you I'd say:
Great allrounder with some awesome harmonic qualities, beautiful clean tones, too ... neither too lose nor tight, quite open and a real screamer if you dig in - palm-mute a Les Paul and you'll get a real punch in your stomach ...no gloves, just bare knuckles :D
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Great allrounder with some awesome harmonic qualities, beautiful clean tones, too ... neither too lose nor tight, quite open and a real screamer if you dig in - palm-mute a Les Paul and you'll get a real punch in your stomach ...no gloves, just bare knuckles
AWESOME :D
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A Crawler could be a contender here. If you like the emphasis on lower mids/mids, this pickup is the king. It's not as open as a Riff Raff but it is really smooth. It can get quite agressive with plenty of overdrive.
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+1 on the Crawler - I've got one in my LP and it does have a vintage type of voicing (imo) but with more output.
It will handle everything from Zep & AC/DC upto Metallica & Slayer.
:twisted:
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I'd say Black Dog. Darker, smoother and a bit heavier than a Mule in the lower frequencies. The other suggestions (Rebel Yell, Crawlers etc) will have a bit more highs than you seem to want.
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FWIW, I was thinking Crawler, Abraxas, BD or good ole Mule (I believe Lamb Of God use Duncan '59s, surprisingly).
I'd say the RY and RR would both be a little bright for the smooth/dark tones you described.
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Many thanks for the advice!
I've been listening to a whole bunch of clips for the past few days, and it sounds to me like the Black Dog is the pickup to go with. I'm really diggin' the abraxas as well. Though it does sound still a bit bright, but there's just something I've liked about it.
Now to just wait and see if I have enough payola at the beginning of next month. haha, hopefully everything will work out.
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+1 on the Crawler - I've got one in my LP and it does have a vintage type of voicing (imo) but with more output.
It will handle everything from Zep & AC/DC upto Metallica & Slayer.
:twisted:
Word
Remarkable pickup. Will do nearly anything you want of it. Starts at the blues and stops just short of industrial and death metal.