Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: opprobrium_9 on September 05, 2007, 04:43:02 PM
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BKP has an assortment of pickups that rival even comprehension of what tones one would have thought to come out of any guitar. However, BKP has a few Ceramics in their repertoire that seem to hold their own against even some of the best BKPs. I am very interested to learn more about these pickups, and get opinions on them from those users that own them. I would like to get the views about their individual strengths and weaknesses and their tonal spectrum (other than this website's description).
If anyone cares to, after their personal experiences are announced, i would love to get some recommendations. I already own a VHII (neck) + Nailbomb (bridge) set. I am not wholy unhappy with them, they both have their own attitude, and a lot of it. However, i am searching for those creamy ethereal mids, high-mids, and screaming creamy highs. A nice bright treble tone that does not sacrifice the character of the actual sound. And I am sure any one of these can give me some degree of what i am looking for, though, i would like to hear from the user. I have been recommended the Cold Sweat, would any of the others give me what i am looking for better than that pickup? I was recommended ceramics because, as i was told, they would give me that creamy tone 10 fold compared to some of the other BKPs. Is this true?
Thanks.
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Not so sure about 'creamy'. I would go for A2 or 3 for creamy. Ask Tim, though.
Ceramic is sharp, tight and punchy
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From your description I'd have said the Nailbomb was exactly what you're looking for.
What equipment are you using? (other than the BKs)
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Reference this thread for what i am talking about, i was more clear there, and it gives some of the dialog with the other members here. Specifically the comment Feline made.
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9434
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you, know, if this topic dies, i am gonna keep reposting.... cuz i really want to know how to get that sound. Again, reference the thread i linked above.
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you, know, if this topic dies, i am gonna keep reposting.... cuz i really want to know how to get that sound. Again, reference the thread i linked above.
With reference to that other thread, are you still thinking the Chinese PRS copy you tried sounded better than your BKP-loaded guitar?
Maybe the Nailbomb/VHII combo just doesn't suit your guitar. It's a self-built mahogany/maple V with a Floyd, isn't it, if I remember right? Very unusual guitar, so perhaps it's quite hard for us to suggest what pickups are going to give you the sound you want (I don't mean to put words in other forum members' mouths, I'm just guessing :? ).
I think the best solution might be a phone conversation with Tim himself to figure out exactly how to get the tones you're after.
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:?....
Maybe you just want a compressed, defined and nasal scooped bright sound but you can't describe it accordingly.
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:?....
Maybe you just want a compressed, defined and nasal scooped bright sound but you can't describe it accordingly.
Miracle man.
But its not 'creamy'.
It would really help if you could give some examples of the tone you want. Wnat bands? What players?
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:?....
Maybe you just want a compressed, defined and nasal scooped bright sound but you can't describe it accordingly.
Miracle man.
But its not 'creamy'.
It would really help if you could give some examples of the tone you want. Wnat bands? What players?
+1
In A les paul its pretty creamy and maay prove so in his V
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The last word I'd use to describle a MM would be 'creamy' - I had one in my Les Paul and it was very precise sounding.
The Nailbomb in my Explorer sounds very fat on the treble strings while having plenty and attack, clarity and chunk on the bass strings. I think the key to this pickup's phat tone is the pronounced midrange that works so well with lots of gain.
:twisted:
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I suppose "creamy," as any word, is a subjective term - and unfortunate to my explanations, did not very accurately describe my ideal sound. I mean i don't really know how to describe it other than i already have. I may just not have the same descriptive vocabulary in reference to sound as you all do. It could be as simple as that. I can give you bands, for sure. And again, there is no guarantee that they are going to really replicate what i heard in that shop. Obviously that comes through trying out a lot of different equipment, $%&#in around with tons of settings, until one achieves that ideal sound. However, all i am after at this point is replicating that general tone, and sound quality. Without further ado i will show you some of the bands i that may reach that level of sound, if only in a comparatively truncated way.
Listen for the richness in the dissonance and harmonics used and the richness in the clean and more lightly distorted passages (some of these tones i hope to achieve, but better) - those really thick tones. Also remember these are only vague interpretations of my ideal sound:
http://www.myspace.com/tidesrites ***
http://www.niroth.da.ru/ (Click on logo and when you are in the sight page, click on audio, then click on the two extract tracks - fifteen + seventeen)
http://www.myspace.com/caspiantheband (listen to first and fourth song)
http://www.myspace.com/secretsofthemoon **
http://www.myspace.com/intronaut
http://www.myspace.com/czral **
http://www.myspace.com/yndihalda **
http://www.myspace.com/mouthofthearchitect
http://www.myspace.com/vedbuensende
And for reference, i am thinking about getting a "better" neck pickup. More one to suit this, because i do in fact love my Nailbomb, it does its job, and does its job superbly. If you can, listen to a bit of all of these, because i am hoping that through and excess of examples i will cull a definitive sound for you all to recommend me something with confidence. I understand that there is a broad spectrum here, but if you only listen to the beginning of most songs you won't find the undistorted parts (if there are any).
Thank you.
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Why replicate and not just buy that sound? If they're not so expensive pieces of equipment....Just a thought. :wink:
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Well what i would suggest is get a pup like Mule and let the pedals and amps shape the kind of tone that you want.
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Well what i would suggest is get a pup like Mule and let the pedals and amps shape the kind of tone that you want.
+1
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Why let pedals do the work, when the pup can really embody the true tonal properties (we are talking in relative terms, of course) that i want it to? Undoubtedly, lots of pedals, and even a few, can be quite an expense... and an expense i do not have the money for either. Eventually i would like to get some pedals, but one must first try this, try that, at extensive lengths to find something that works to the effect that one wants it to. Why get a substandard, or even better than substandard - possibly superb - pup (yet still not presenting the tone i want), and let it sit stagnant while artificial means colour that sound? It seems rather ludicrous and in terms of the bounds of human reasoning, falls far short. There undoubtedly has to be a pup in the BKP line that emulates, even to some degree, the tone i want.
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did you get close to the tone you want with another pickups in the same guitar, in your equipment?
cause if you don't, how could you blame any pickups?
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did you get close to the tone you want with another pickups in the same guitar, in your equipment?
cause if you don't, how could you blame any pickups?
Wow, you certainly haven't picked up the point here. It has absolutely nothing to do with an issue of blame, it has to do with wanting a tone. My BKPs do their job fine, but for my tastes i am sure there is one in this line that will fulfill my needs and wants, in terms of tone, far better than the VHII.
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Since the Chinese pickups you liked were (I presume) high-output ceramics, I would guess the BKPs which come closest would be Painkillers.
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Err not wishing to sound silly, but I am very lazy, I also prefer to spend the least amount of effort (and money) possible.
For what it's worth, you could try this :
Buy a set of the cleap pickups and install them in your favoured guitar.
Use them for a couple of weeks, and decide their good (or not so good) points
Once you have done this, pull them out of the guitar and ship them to Tim with relevant info
Guitar construction, favoured music style, bands etc
What you do like about them (example the smooth tone of the neck pickup, complex tone of bridge pickup, upper mids etc)
What you don't like about them (boomy low end, too much top end, etc)
From there you have a damn good good chance of getting exactly what you want.
It's gotta be considerably cheaper than possibly buying the wrong thing based on 3rd party advice (us lot), and it will also be a hell of a lot less stressful too
However it may also be possible that after living with those cheap pickups for a couple of weeks it will become one of those "I liked it at the time" experiences or it sounds great at low volume but once cranked .......
At worst you will be out the price of some 'cheap' pickups and at best you have a real winner
Who knows it may even become a new BKP model ;)
Rob...
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Err not wishing to sound silly, but I am very lazy, I also prefer to spend the least amount of effort (and money) possible.
For what it's worth, you could try this :
Buy a set of the cleap pickups and install them in your favoured guitar.
Use them for a couple of weeks, and decide their good (or not so good) points
Once you have done this, pull them out of the guitar and ship them to Tim with relevant info
Guitar construction, favoured music style, bands etc
What you do like about them (example the smooth tone of the neck pickup, complex tone of bridge pickup, upper mids etc)
What you don't like about them (boomy low end, too much top end, etc)
From there you have a damn good good chance of getting exactly what you want.
It's gotta be considerably cheaper than possibly buying the wrong thing based on 3rd party advice (us lot), and it will also be a hell of a lot less stressful too
However it may also be possible that after living with those cheap pickups for a couple of weeks it will become one of those "I liked it at the time" experiences or it sounds great at low volume but once cranked .......
At worst you will be out the price of some 'cheap' pickups and at best you have a real winner
Who knows it may even become a new BKP model ;)
Rob...
Thank you for that Kilby, i really never thought of that. A little extra hassle to reach perfection is really no hassle at all. Very comprehensive advice, i appreciate it. I will have to find time to do such a thing, but it can wait. Good stuff.
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did you get close to the tone you want with another pickups in the same guitar, in your equipment?
cause if you don't, how could you blame any pickups?
Wow, you certainly haven't picked up the point here. It has absolutely nothing to do with an issue of blame, it has to do with wanting a tone. My BKPs do their job fine, but for my tastes i am sure there is one in this line that will fulfill my needs and wants, in terms of tone, far better than the VHII.
i know you didn't mean that the pickups aren't good enough, but if you never had anything close to what you're looking for, maybe your problem is not in the pickups
the right amp, speakers, settings and experimentation will help more than any pickup in the world could do, and no pickup will make it for you by itself
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A little extra hassle to reach perfection is really no hassle at all.
Just glad my lazyness came in useful to somebody as it never seems to work for me
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no pickup will make it for you by itself
O i know that quite well, the combinations do matter. However, if a pickup can attain the tone i want right off the bat on a shitety little amp through a wet signal, then there is something to be said for that... it could only be magnified in greatness from there.
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no pickup will make it for you by itself
O i know that quite well, the combinations do matter. However, if a pickup can attain the tone i want right off the bat on a shitety little amp through a wet signal, then there is something to be said for that... it could only be magnified in greatness from there.
if its through a shitety little amp than that doesn't really mean anything. the majority of the tone comes from the amp, not the pickup.
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but the shitety amp and the cheap guitar weren't yours
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dude, take your guitar down there, run it through the shitety amp and do a comparison, also ask for the wood type of the other guitar that has these pickups, that way you'll probs have somthing far more solid to go on!
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or even better take your amp down there and check if the tone from the other cheaper guitar still generates the tones you like in your amp.
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dude, take your guitar down there, run it through the shitety amp and do a comparison
Done, that. Been, there.
That is what this whole issue is about, man.
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Well why is suggest a mule is because it is a low output pups that is very versatile. It can scream shout spit or growl and it can also clean up very well. Let the pedals do all the mean stuff for you. As a low output pups reveals a "truer" tone of your guitar and you hear your wood in action more. Dynamics can never be challenged from a low output pups.
And one thing that is for certain the amp is the final say. Use a cr@ppy ass guitar on a Good amp you would still get good. But Shove a PRS or Don Grosh or Suhr with BKP into a shitety amp can never sound as good.
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Well why is suggest a mule is because it is a low output pups that is very versatile. It can scream shout spit or growl and it can also clean up very well. Let the pedals do all the mean stuff for you. As a low output pups reveals a "truer" tone of your guitar and you hear your wood in action more. Dynamics can never be challenged from a low output pups.
And one thing that is for certain the amp is the final say. Use a cr@ppy ass guitar on a Good amp you would still get good. But Shove a PRS or Don Grosh or Suhr with BKP into a shitety amp can never sound as good.
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Well why is suggest a mule is because it is a low output pups that is very versatile. It can scream shout spit or growl and it can also clean up very well. Let the pedals do all the mean stuff for you. As a low output pups reveals a "truer" tone of your guitar and you hear your wood in action more. Dynamics can never be challenged from a low output pups.
And one thing that is for certain the amp is the final say. Use a cr@ppy ass guitar on a Good amp you would still get good. But Shove a PRS or Don Grosh or Suhr with BKP into a shitety amp can never sound as good.
Interesting. I realize the amp is the final say, but as i said before, i am still a bit mesmerized at the tone i got. Maybe in this rare case shite + shite = tone heaven? Whatever, i have gotten good advice from some people, which is what i wanted to generate about this alleged dilemma i've been having. My next task is to talk to Tim, i should think.
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Tim is the best person to ans you plus i think you can get a 14 Days trial if you do not like it he can rewind for you. Gd luck buddy :D