Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: geetardude on May 17, 2007, 05:11:54 PM
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My new MIM Strat came equipped with 3 single coils (250k pot). Once my new pickguard arrived I took the bridge single coil pup out and dropped in a BKP VHII humbucker.
Other than having slightly more volume than the stock single coil, there is no noticable difference in sound between the stock single coil and the VHII humbucker.
The bridge single coil pup was the only change that I made. After I unsoldered the single coil, I soldered the VHII's red lead to the selector switch and the black and braided to ground (following the included directions). I played with height setting and got it to where it sounds best.
There is no wiring error. There is no hum, pops or noise. In fact the guitar is just as smooth and quiet as it was stock. The problem is that the VHII sounds nothing at all like a humbucker, but amost identical to the original stock single coil.
A friend came over to check my work, he said the wiring and workmanship was perfect. He also said that the VHII was working correctly, but that some guitars do not change that much in sound by a simple pup replacement. He suggested puting the single coil back in and ask for my money back, or save it for my next guitar someday.
Did I blow all that money for nothing? Please Help!
:cry:
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wire like this
VHII -> 500k volume pot -> selector switch
neck and middle -> 250k volume-> selector switch
then wire for master tone (if you want to keep it, i prefer no tone controls)
you'll have two volume controls and a master tone and i assure you, there will be a difference.
humbuckers are 'designed' to work with 500k pots. if you wire 500k pots to single coils, it'll be bright as $%&#
try this first
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Hey thanks for the suggestion.
I know there is a difference between 250k and 500k pots. But if there is no difference between the VHII and the stock single coil using 250k, why would there be a difference between the VHII and the stock single coil using 500k?
If there does turn out to be a little bit of difference I'm wondering if it will even be worth it considering the huge dollars for the BKP? Especially when I could have bought a SD or other humbucker at a realistic price?
I am sorry I sound so negative but you don't know how excited I was after I saved up enough money and placed my order for the VHII. Now after all that work it doesn't live up to its reputation. It also proved to me that Fender really does make good stuff, even the stock single coils.
Please let me know before I spend more money on a wiring kit and have to rip this whole thing apart again.
:cry:
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Tricky. You say there's no hum so it sounds like both coils are working, try tapping (gently) on both with a wrench or screwdriver to check. I take it from what you said that you have the braided wire rather than the 4 conductor? So that rules out parallel and coil splitting to thin your sound.
Do you play clean or with overdrive? What is the rest of your set up?
The VHII has a heavily offset winding so I believe it does have more of a singlecoil character than other humbuckers, but I shouldn't think you'd mistake it for one.
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the VHII is asymetrically wound, thus giving it single coil like tones..
it's got all the overtones that single coils have.. with the beef of a humbucker.
it sounds absolutely huge but with a great dynamic range, it shouldn't sound thin or too much like a single coil..
I'd rewire everything every single solder point, just incase i've found this solves a lot of problems, also check you've wired it up right.
www.seymourduncan.com has wiring diagrams just follow the diagrams on there..
BKP if i remember rightly is Red Live, Bare and Black to Earth, and Green and White solderd together for standard series opperation, which is what u'll want in most cases.
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There is no wiring error
I beg to differ ;)
It sounds like you've got four conductor wiring as you mention red and black leads.
What have you done with the green and white leads? I would imagine you'd want to split the humbucker for position two of your 5 way selector so you'd need to attach the green and white leads to the selector switch too. See the following diagram, but BKP colour codes are different so you'll need:
* Black and bare - ground on rear of volume pot
* Green and white - both go to selector switch together (red and white below)
* Red - end of selector switch (black below)
(http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/schematicsjpg/1h_2s_1v_1t_5w_as.jpg)
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Mmmm,Something must be wrong as both my VHII's sound massive. They have characteristics of single coils as they have a big open tone but
they shouldnt sound gutless. Check out the clips in the player's room.
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also, what amp do you have
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Mmmm,Something must be wrong as both my VHII's sound massive. They have characteristics of single coils as they have a big open tone but
they shouldnt sound gutless. Check out the clips in the player's room.
++1 Mine sounds massive in an ash strat with just the right amount of upper mids sizzle!
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Mine also sounds amazing :twisted: Sounds like a wiring issue.
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If the white and green leads are soldered together - the two coils are in series -, the VHII should have serious punch.
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sorry if this has been mentioned but i only had time to scan it.
what is your guitar??
it could be that you havea cr@ppy guitar thats made out of agathis or plywood. therefore anything will sound lifeless.
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sorry if this has been mentioned but i only had time to scan it.
what is your guitar??
it could be that you havea cr@ppy guitar thats made out of agathis or plywood. therefore anything will sound lifeless.
he said MIM fender
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sorry if this has been mentioned but i only had time to scan it.
what is your guitar??
it could be that you havea cr@ppy guitar thats made out of agathis or plywood. therefore anything will sound lifeless.
he said MIM fender
ah well sorry.
then again personally i think fenders sound liek shite but thats all personal preference.
but yeah it definitely sounds like a wiring issue
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well theres ya answer.. get a big slab of mahogany and get rid of that mim shitee..
but still on a serious note, resolder everything if u think u've done it right. it could be a solder joint u can't see that not conducting propperly i've had loads do that coz my solderings not exactly amazing.
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I doubt its the the body wood thats the problem, my mates got a MIM and it sounds really good since he put some Dimarzios in it. It must be the wiring, I cant think of any other reason it would sound like a singlecoil, when I tried out the PRS with VHII in it at music live it sounded like a humbucker guitar, not singlecoil :\
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There is no wiring error
I beg to differ ;)
It sounds like you've got four conductor wiring as you mention red and black leads.
What have you done with the green and white leads? I would imagine you'd want to split the humbucker for position two of your 5 way selector so you'd need to attach the green and white leads to the selector switch too. See the following diagram, but BKP colour codes are different so you'll need:
* Black and bare - ground on rear of volume pot
* Green and white - both go to selector switch together (red and white below)
* Red - end of selector switch (black below)
(http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/schematicsjpg/1h_2s_1v_1t_5w_as.jpg)
Hey thanks everyone.
The diagram is exactly the way I wired it! That's what was included in the directions.
I soldered the black and bare (I said braided but it is actually bare) to the back of the pot (ground) and red to the 5-way switch where the original single coil (white wire) was. The white and green were tied together from the factory and the directions stated to leave them together for my H/S/S configuration.
Yeah, a friend who has been doing this for years looked at it and said that everything was perfect as far as wiring, workmanship and solder connections. He also checked out the VHII and said that there was nothing wrong with it and that it works perfectly.
The MIM Strat is 2006 and mint condition (I bought it new). It's alder with a maple neck and bullet strings. The guitar sounds really fantastic but I wanted that VHII humbucker sound in the bridge.
There is a very slight noticable difference in sound but honestly the stock single coil in comparison held its own.
If there are no more suggestions I'm just going to put the single coil back in and try to get my hard earned money back...the improvement in sound is nowhere worth more than $10 US. I can't justify spending more time and money for a 500k pot or wiring kit on top of this expense.
But if anyone can spot something that I can do without spending more money to see if there's an improvement I'm all for it!
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It sounds like the pickup just isn't doing what you expected, simple as that. It's surprising, but it happens, I suppose. Changing to 500K pots or whatever isn't going to make that much of a difference.
Just out of interest, what amps/equipment are you playing through?
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I'm playing through my Marshall Plexi and 4 x 12 cab.
Yeah it's just not there. To be honest I never heard BKP before and went on what I read in this forum. The hotrails and SD pickups sound fantastic so I might see if I can borrow to see how they do in my Strat.
The VHII sounded like everything that I ever wanted here in the forum (clips), but who honestly knows when people doctor or play through overdrive or other equipment. You know the old saying, it's too good to be true. I would like to find another forum where unbiased and independant reviews are done. Not just for BKP but for ALL pups. To me the VHII would be an ok replacement (if not so outragously priced!!!!!) if a pup breaks, but it's really nothing to brag about. I guess if it was you'd hear more people playing them like they do with SD.
Thanks anyway everyone.
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well, i never experienced that with any of my bk's and the VH2 i got in the neck of my jackson sounds fantastic.
the price though, is what you pay for a handmade product. a custom shop duncan will cost around the same, depending on the options.
i still say there is something wrong with the whole thing (check the pickups resistance, if it checks out .. maybe it's damaged) because i just cant believe, there would be no improvement over the MIM stock pickups. sorry, but i'm not buying that.
on which clips did you base your opinion?
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I read through this thread a couple of times with interest as this is one of the strangest problems I've read ...
I have no doubt that you are experiencing something strange. If your VHII is a 4-conductor model, you are probably aware that BK's colour scheme is NOT the same as Duncan, correct?
If you purchased this pickup brand new from BK or from a dealer, I don't think that there is any question it will get swapped out if the pup operates fine but isn't to your liking. In the unlikely event that it's defective straight from BK, it will get swapped no questions asked.
I am very familiar with the VHII having used it in 3 different guitars, with different body woods, and many different amps. It has always retained the same basic character, and never sounded like a single coil pup to me!!
Have you tried contacting BK with your problem??
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A BKP Humbucker that sounds no better than a made in Mexico single coil.........that's fighting talk, ain't it? :gib:
:D :D :D :D
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How far from the strings do you have the pickup? You should have it around 2-3mm from the strings when fretted at the last fret.
If you have it miles away it will sound very quiet and thin.
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I'm playing through my Marshall Plexi and 4 x 12 cab.
Yeah it's just not there. To be honest I never heard BKP before and went on what I read in this forum. The hotrails and SD pickups sound fantastic so I might see if I can borrow to see how they do in my Strat.
The VHII sounded like everything that I ever wanted here in the forum (clips), but who honestly knows when people doctor or play through overdrive or other equipment. You know the old saying, it's too good to be true. I would like to find another forum where unbiased and independant reviews are done. Not just for BKP but for ALL pups. To me the VHII would be an ok replacement (if not so outragously priced!!!!!) if a pup breaks, but it's really nothing to brag about. I guess if it was you'd hear more people playing them like they do with SD.
Thanks anyway everyone.
I call BS somewhere - even Hellen Keller could hear the difference between my bridge VHII humbucker and a stock MIM Fender single coil through my Plexi. If you can't hear the difference, there is something wrong with your amp, your wiring, or you're not being honest. I can tell you now that my clips are not doctored in the slightest, they are my VHII bridge pickup in my strat parts-o-caster, going into only my Marshall Plexi cranked to 10 and a 4x12 with G12M Greenbacks, recorded with a Shure SM57. That pickup through your supposed amp should sound like this:
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/download.php?id=783
It's not too good to be true, and the pickups are not outrageously overpriced - good luck finding a handwound pickup with the same quality of materials in the UK for anything less than £90. Your country's sluggish economy and thus the exchange rate is to blame, not Bareknuckle Pickups.
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I call BS somewhere -
Me, too. Thread closed.