Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Doomcrotch on August 16, 2007, 08:00:20 AM
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Hopefully I will have photos and soundclips up soon, but until then suffice to say that the calibrated Warpig set has exceeded all of my expectations (and squashed some of my concerns). Frankly, I am astounded that they are not recommended more often and heartily around here.
The guitar in which they are the larynx is a Warmoth-cut copy of a Charvel Star. If you are not familiar with these Charvel Stars, they are basically a mix between a Gibson Explorer and a Gibson Flying V, though Warmoth's take on the original Charvel (itself inspired by Van Halen's mangling of an old Ibanez Destroyer) is in fact a good bit smaller than the "real" Charvel design. I did not find this out until the paint shop informed me that my guitar would not fit the old stock Charvel Star hardshell cases they had available, and I was disappointed that Warmoth wouldn't be more upfront about this sort of information. For what it's worth, the body wood is mahogany and the bolt-on neck is wenge with a brazilian rosewood fingerboard.
I've noticed that people often ask which BKP is "the most versatile," and I'm surprised that more people don't answer "THE WARPIG." I wonder if a lot of people aren't scared away by the nearly startling DC resistance; perhaps it's the hefty price tag that keeps many potential buyers at bay. Whatever the cause, it's a shame that the Alnico Warpigs aren't praised more openly here. "Brutal" is too simplistic a word for the dirty tones produced by the Warpig. Calling them "brutal" and leaving it at that is like calling an exquisite, complex ale "tasty." With a distortion signal engaged, the Warpigs have shown themselves capable of gorgeously wailing lead tones and hammerstriking chord voicing, with lengthy and singing sustain even from my bolt-on neck guitar, which itself is light on actual wood mass. With a simple scale-back on the volume knob, I have found myself in solid late 70's/early 80's True Heavy Metal territory, evoking shades of Schenker and early Vivian Campbell, but with more harmonic character than those guys or most of their contemporaries were ever able to acheive back in the day.
On a clean channel, with the pickup selector switch right in the middle and both volumes at about 8 o'clock, I have found some fine, very organic clean tones, like a deep bell being chimed softly in a canyon.
I am not really interested in modern death metal tones, and my choice of amplifier reflects that. The hot-rodded Fender Bassman 100 that I call girlfriend is very sensitive to the individuality of every guitar plugged into it, and my new Warpig-equipped Star copy has outshined anything I've heard through it yet (everything from a vintage Charvel San Dimas with EMG's to a $2,000 PRS) for sheer tonal range and harmonic character.
Obviously, there is a fallacy in attributing the quality of a guitar's tone solely to one element of it's intricate design. However, when it comes to rock and roll and heavy metal, I can't imagine anything I couldn't pull off with this guitar, and I believe the Warpigs are a huge part of that (relative) versatility.
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Welcome. Great post!
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well if you do, could you post a something along the lines of just some chord arpegios neck-clean demo with a wee bit of gain and a good chunk of delay? that would really help, thanks
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great first post! and i couldn't agree more, the Warpig is much more versatile than it's generally given credit for. i love mine!
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Great post-I enjoyed reading your thoughts-welcome to the forum.
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Welcome.
You're right, Warpigs can do more than people think. But you know pigs,..........they're the most happy in dirt and sludge.
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'Doomcrotch'?
Thanks for giving me my first good laugh of the day!
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'Doomcrotch'?
That does invoke a weird mental image. :?
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Welcome.
You're right, Warpigs can do more than people think. But you know pigs,..........they're the most happy in dirt and sludge.
Have to agree. I've played everything from megadeth to Andy Williams with mine. Just great tone, clean or filthy.
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Excellent first post-many thanks!
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I can't imagine anything I couldn't pull off
And thanks for my second laugh of the day!
But seriously, good first post. For those of us too strapped for cash for multiple guitars and multiple BKPs, it's good to hear what others have found with their set up!
Roo
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You, sir, have nailed the warpig
....now theres an image I hope doesnt last :oops:
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Over six years, a few different guitars, and travel among most of the contiguous 48 states and Europe, I still love my Warpigs but the pole pieces are rusted all to hell from copious acidic sweat and not a little blood. This was such a long and gradual process, however, that I can't tell if the tone has been affected. Should I be concerned/attempt to clear the rust? Cosmetically it doesn't bother me but I want to make sure I'm still getting the best out of my investment!
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I've always really fancied and Alnico Warpig set and asked about them a couple of times but so far I've always been directed towards other models on the grounds that the Warpig is a bit too extreme. I have no problems with the pickups I eventually bought and wouldn't change them but it's still nice to know that the A-Pig is another model in the range that would suit me.
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Over six years, a few different guitars, and travel among most of the contiguous 48 states and Europe, I still love my Warpigs but the pole pieces are rusted all to hell from copious acidic sweat and not a little blood. This was such a long and gradual process, however, that I can't tell if the tone has been affected. Should I be concerned/attempt to clear the rust? Cosmetically it doesn't bother me but I want to make sure I'm still getting the best out of my investment!
Did you notice a change in sound? I'm betting that you probably haven't. If so they should be fine, you've just created some 'roadworn' Warpigs. As long as you can still adjust them if needed I doubt there is an issue. If they are frozen it might be okay to spray a small (and well-directed) bit of CRC on them to free them up.
I have the same set (black uncovered with black hex bolts) but I haven't played them anywhere near as much as you have. I think they could be a very versatile pickup, but they can have problems playing clean if your amp is a high gain model like my Peavey 6534+ ... I will be interested to try them through the clean channel of the Peavey Classic 30 I have coming this week; I suspect they will sound much cleaner.
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Well, like I said, this process happened gradually enough (over the course of a couple years) that I can't confidently say where the tone has been affected or not. If there's no reason it should have been then that's cool, that's what I came here to learn about.
Of course my initial newb enthusiasm from the years-old original post has tempered somewhat, but I still like the pickups quite a bit! Maybe not quite as versatile as I'd led myself to believe but still surprisingly so for the specs in my experience.