Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Yamhammer on August 30, 2007, 09:43:55 PM
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Hi there,
Which BKPs for LP Studio?
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calibrated set of Nailbombs or Holydiver for "heavy" organic tones
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How would the Miracle Man set be?
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How would the Miracle Man set be?
i would guess probably HUGE.
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all BKPs will sound huge :lol:
each model shines in it's purpose
you didn't say what styles do you play and what do you like in a pickup
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Without more information on your styles I'd say Miracle Man if you want a very metallic sound and Cold Sweat if you want a little more of that traditional Gibson warmth to the tone.
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I play especially rock/hardrock
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The Miracle Man is the usual way to go for a Heavy Metal sound and certainly a ceramic pup will cut through the mahogany best. You may find that the MM will sound a bit too thin and artificial to you as it did to me. You can check out Tim's soundclip of a MM as that was recorded using a Les Paul. Alternatively, look at the Cold Sweat bridge as that's what Time advised me to get for my mahogany guitar. It has plenty bite and handles loads of distortion with good pinched harmonics but it is alot warmer and more organic sounding than the MM. Whatever you choose for the bridge I'd seriously consider the Cold Sweat for the neck position as it's exactly what you need. Best of all, e-mail Time and ask for his opinion. He's a great guy and you can trust what he says totally as long as you've given him an accurate description of your rig and what sort of sounds you want.
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Man i don't usually give advice on pickup selection cause i only got one bkp set, but what you describe sounds just like what i wanted for my lp: thick, fat but still bity, and the crawler bridge i installed in my all mahogany lp is just about all those things, really. The sound's just got huge balls and loads of agressivity now... it's awesome...and not too dark as i could have read it sometimes...but i advise you to switch your pots to 500k, it's not that pricey
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I've emailed Tim about it, but I don't get any response.
Weird...
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i advise you to switch your pots to 500k, it's not that pricey
+1
you won't get a full treble response from a humbucker with 300k pots
the holy diver (with 500k) will sound great if you like alnico pickups
nailbomb sounds great in a les paul too (it was the forum's favorite, but no one talks about it anymore :?)
miracle man doesn't sound thin
the bass is big and tight, the lower mids are very organic and nice sounding, but the mids are too compressed and the highs may sound too shrill
the highs and harmonics are very spikey and present, but i wouldn't call it "sweet" :lol:
great metal pickup
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i advise you to switch your pots to 500k, it's not that pricey
+1
you won't get a full treble response from a humbucker with 300k pots
the holy diver (with 500k) will sound great if you like alnico pickups
nailbomb sounds great in a les paul too (it was the forum's favorite, but no one talks about it anymore :?)
Yeah, but I like 300K (volume) for the bridge pickup.
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I recommend an uncovered BlackDog in the bridge, a covered Mule in the neck and change those pots to CTS 500K.
It will sound killer and give you exactly the tone you're looking for.
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Why do the new Gibsons always have 300K for volume and 500K for tone? It should be good, they know what they're doing.
I have been a lifelong Gibson fan but I wouldn't like to stand up in court and swear to the accuaracy of that statement :lol:
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i take lots of gibsons apart , i have never seen a 300k pot
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i take lots of gibsons apart , i have never seen a 300k pot
Well they used them all through the 90s... 300k volume pots and sometimes 100k tone pots.
My own 1990 std had 300k pots in both positions and a '96 classic plus I used to own had the 300k/100k combo.
I even went into a local guitar shop to get some pots for a mate's LP once and the tech only had a used set he'd taken out of a Les Paul - Gibson branded, measured 300k with DMM.
:twisted:
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Now I don't get it...
Do the newer Gibsons (2006 Studio Premium Plus) come with 2x 300K pots for volume or not?
I thought that, but I don't know for sure anymore.
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someone pointed out in another thread (can't remember who which or where - sorry!) that they were generally 500k with a 200k +/- variation
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someone pointed out in another thread (can't remember who which or where - sorry!) that they were generally 500k with a 200k +/- variation
Ok, thanks man. I'll find that out properly.
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probably HeavierthanHell that said that just if you're searching
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If it's too trebley even with the tone pot wound all the way back to maximum treble cut , then you should try a different value capacitor on the tone pot and maybe even a push/pull switch on the tone pot to switch between different value capacitors for a wider tone pallette.
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Yeah I know
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I'd expect the Black Dog to work well with the 490R, but it's a lower-output pickup than the 498T so you may still have the problem of the 490R being louder.
I'm surprised you find the 490R louder than the 498T to be honest, maybe it'd be worth experimenting with the pickup heights?
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I'd expect the Black Dog to work well with the 490R, but it's a lower-output pickup than the 498T so you may still have the problem of the 490R being louder.
I'm surprised you find the 490R louder than the 498T to be honest, maybe it'd be worth experimenting with the pickup heights?
Yeah, the 490R is definately louder than the 498T in my Les Paul.
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I had a SG with those 490/498 pickups, loved the neck but the bridge was weedy in comparison. Really not well matched for me either.
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I've had 3 or 4 guitars with the 490R/498T combination - I agree that the 490R sounds better than the 498T (the neck position is a lot more forgiving than the bridge), but never had a problem with a volume mismatch.
It's a better match than the 490R/490T combo you get in SG Specials, IMO.
Anyway, I still think in theory the BD should be OK with the 490R.
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I've had 3 or 4 guitars with the 490R/498T combination - I agree that the 490R sounds better than the 498T (the neck position is a lot more forgiving than the bridge), but never had a problem with a volume mismatch.
It's a better match than the 490R/490T combo you get in SG Specials, IMO.
Anyway, I still think in theory the BD should be OK with the 490R.
When I buyed the LP Studio, all the polepieces were adjusted from the bridge pickup. I think they've done that because of the volume problem.
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You said the Black Dog bridge pickup would be OK with the 490R neck pickup, but the 490R is lower output than a Black Dog neck, so it should be more than only OK.
Black Dog neck=8,0K bridge=9,75K
490R neck=7,5K bridge (BD) = 9,75K
So if you look at this little schematic, you would say the 490R/BD combination should work better volume-wise than the BD/BD combo.
I agree, when I said "OK" I didn't mean "only OK", I meant "fine". :wink:
In my V I have a Black Dog with a Stormy Monday neck pickup, which has similar specs to the 490R (it's 7.5K, Alnico II). The BD and SM sound just about the same volume-wise, although I have the SM a bit further away from the strings.
But bear in mind, DC resistance isn't an absolute measure of output or volume. You've seen for yourself that your 7K 490R is louder than your 13K 498T.
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You said the Black Dog bridge pickup would be OK with the 490R neck pickup, but the 490R is lower output than a Black Dog neck, so it should be more than only OK.
Black Dog neck=8,0K bridge=9,75K
490R neck=7,5K bridge (BD) = 9,75K
So if you look at this little schematic, you would say the 490R/BD combination should work better volume-wise than the BD/BD combo.
I agree, when I said "OK" I didn't mean "only OK", I meant "fine". :wink:
In my V I have a Black Dog with a Stormy Monday neck pickup, which has similar specs to the 490R (it's 7.5K, Alnico II). The BD and SM sound just about the same volume-wise, although I have the SM a bit further away from the strings.
But bear in mind, DC resistance isn't an absolute measure of output or volume. You've seen for yourself that your 7K 490R is louder than your 13K 498T.
It's good to hear the Stormy Monday works properly with the Black Dog.
I
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Couldn't it be something with the electronics? When I look into the cavity it seems fine, both pickups are wired the same way.
It could be the Gibson thing of using 300K/100K pots, as already mentioned - if your guitar does have low-value pots, then maybe it would "strangle" the higher-output 498T more than the lower-output 490R? I'm just guessing.
Anyway, it sounds like the problem is definitely with the bridge pickup, not the neck pickup. Hopefully all will be fine when you get the Black Dog! :D
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i take lots of gibsons apart , i have never seen a 300k pot
I assume there must be some variance on that, as my Gibson 1976 S.G and 1997 Les Paul Standard both had the dreaded 300k pots fitted as stock.
F.F.
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Couldn't it be something with the electronics? When I look into the cavity it seems fine, both pickups are wired the same way.
It could be the Gibson thing of using 300K/100K pots, as already mentioned - if your guitar does have low-value pots, then maybe it would "strangle" the higher-output 498T more than the lower-output 490R? I'm just guessing.
Anyway, it sounds like the problem is definitely with the bridge pickup, not the neck pickup. Hopefully all will be fine when you get the Black Dog! :D
Maybe you're right about the pots
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Man i don't usually give advice on pickup selection cause i only got one bkp set, but what you describe sounds just like what i wanted for my lp: thick, fat but still bity, and the crawler bridge i installed in my all mahogany lp is just about all those things, really. The sound's just got huge balls and loads of agressivity now... it's awesome...and not too dark as i could have read it sometimes...but i advise you to switch your pots to 500k, it's not that pricey
They should already be 500k.
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Man i don't usually give advice on pickup selection cause i only got one bkp set, but what you describe sounds just like what i wanted for my lp: thick, fat but still bity, and the crawler bridge i installed in my all mahogany lp is just about all those things, really. The sound's just got huge balls and loads of agressivity now... it's awesome...and not too dark as i could have read it sometimes...but i advise you to switch your pots to 500k, it's not that pricey
They should already be 500k.
Yes, it definately should be.
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YES!!
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Veeery nice! :D I like the look of the LP without binding.
Glad the Black Dog worked out.
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Veeery nice! :D I like the look of the LP without binding.
Glad the Black Dog worked out.
Thanks!
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The Black Dog is quite dark, full and thick in this guitar, but with still enough highs coming through. Really a ballsy pickup.
It's funny, everyone says that, but in my V it sounds quite bright and crunchy. Still good, but not at all dark.
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The Black Dog is quite dark, full and thick in this guitar, but with still enough highs coming through. Really a ballsy pickup.
It's funny, everyone says that, but in my V it sounds quite bright and crunchy. Still good, but not at all dark.
Maybe that's because it's a Flying V with different body/specs than a Les Paul.
With 'dark' I mean low middy instead of high middy.
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Maybe that's because it's a Flying V with different body/specs than a Les Paul.
With 'dark' I mean low middy instead of high middy.
True, of course - and it's a very lightweight V as well, which probably plays a part.
And I was thinking about the low mids too - that's what I've always read about the BD, but it doesn't seem to come through much in the V. I might try the BD in another guitar some time and get a Riff Raff for the V (which is brighter again of course, but I think it'd suit the V and go well with the SM neck).
That's just given me an idea...
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Maybe that's because it's a Flying V with different body/specs than a Les Paul.
With 'dark' I mean low middy instead of high middy.
True, of course - and it's a very lightweight V as well, which probably plays a part.
And I was thinking about the low mids too - that's what I've always read about the BD, but it doesn't seem to come through much in the V. I might try the BD in another guitar some time and get a Riff Raff for the V (which is brighter again of course, but I think it'd suit the V and go well with the SM neck).
That's just given me an idea...
Haha, lol!
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Yes, it definately should be.
After some good testing I came to the conclusion the volume pots in my Les Paul are probably 500K, not 300K.
I think they're 500K because of the way the neck pickups sounds...it's alnico 2 and a pretty dark pickup, but isn't too bassy or boomy at all. With 300K it should be muddy and overly bassy from past experience with my other Les Pauls, especially with an alnico 2 neck pickup.
Yeah, I think sometimes people replace the stocks with 300ks to try to make a modern pickup sound like a PAF... which is downright stupid if you ask me.
Also there was a time in the 70s or early 80s where Gibson was using 300k pots too... but for the past 20 plus years Gibson pots have been 500k.
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Yeah, I think sometimes people replace the stocks with 300ks to try to make a modern pickup sound like a PAF... which is downright stupid if you ask me.
Also there was a time in the 70s or early 80s where Gibson was using 300k pots too... but for the past 20 plus years Gibson pots have been 500k.
Yes, the best way is to go with 500K for volume instead of 300K in Les Pauls.
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Yeah, I think sometimes people replace the stocks with 300ks to try to make a modern pickup sound like a PAF... which is downright stupid if you ask me.
Also there was a time in the 70s or early 80s where Gibson was using 300k pots too... but for the past 20 plus years Gibson pots have been 500k.
Yes, the best way is to go with 500K for volume instead of 300K in Les Pauls.
In the past I had a calibrated set of Mules and the neck pickup sounded very bassy and wooly because of the 300K pots. The bridge pickup sounded very painful for my ears in the upper mids, all this because of the 300K volume pots. I changed them for 500K and it sounded exactly how it should sound.
My new Les Paul Studio Premium Plus sounded amazing right out of the box (besides the weaker 498T pickup which I've replaced with the Black Dog).
It's definately not overly bassy at all; that's the reason why I think it's 500K instead of 300K.
Like I said if it's a Gibson in the past 20 plus years and the pots are stock its 500k ;)
I don't know why any manufacturer would offer anything else stock. Maybe if they have a custom shop, but it certainly shouldn't be a standard option.
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The Black Dogs are nice
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for the past 20 plus years Gibson pots have been 500k.
just to add some balance to that statement, my '90 std came with 300k pots as did my '96 Classic Plus and my mate's '91 Custom.
congrats on the pickups btw, those zebras look great and I bet the 'Dogs sound pretty fat.
:twisted: