what pickups should I go for ?

[roland_rat]

Hi,

Recently I picked up a Gordon Smith Graduate Slimline 60 2nd hand.  It came with Gordon Smith own pick ups in it.  The pickups are not bad but are shown up a little with how my other 2 main guitars  sound. They are a Gibson SG with seymour duncan P90 phat cats and a Epiphone with Miricle man pickups.  The Gordon Smith with the right pickups I think could be my best one  but at the moment it not geting played.  I have 2 Bare  Knuckle neck pickups that are spare at the moment and would like to use one  in guitar and purchase one other for the bridge or alternativly a complete set 2nd hand my budget would stretch to at a push. The pickups I have got are Riff Raff and Cold Sweat (both neck pickups).  Im  edgeing for puting the riff/raff in and going for a more vintage sound. I was thinking maybe a stormy monday in the bridge.  Giving me somthing diiferent from the miricle man and phat cats.   Give me your suggestion :D guys! please.  A bit more background  im a very average player  that only plays at home.  I play or try to a huge variety of music  so im looking for some pickups that will give me somthing I have not all ready got.



Cheers guys

[il˙ti]

Welcome here.

First off, why not give it a shot with the two you already have? I know they are both neck models but there's a chance the CS neck will sound good in bridge too and I think they'd pair well output-wise. If one of them is working well with your playing and your guitar but the other one isn't, just swap the one you don't like and keep the other. A little experimentation pays off.

[roland_rat]

Hi,

Cheers for the reply,

I did toy with that for a little while I think I was put off in that I have not the expertize kit or balls to install the pickups myself   im looking at paying a guitar tech to do it for me so really want to get it right first time.
That said I will certainly give it a bit more thought.

Thanks very much
 :shock: [/b]

[Fourth Feline]

Hi R.R.

I would advise against going Riff Raff Neck / Stormy Monday bridge, as the 'magic' combination is usually the other way round, - a nice biting Riff Raff at the bridge, contrasted by a sweet yet clear Stormy at the neck. I also found that an Alnico II Stormy could get a bit 'soft' or 'wooly' in the bass when in a largely mahoghany guitar. Even as a matched set, I eventually asked Tim to fit Alnico IV magnets, and whilst I lost a little sweetness - the E.Q. balanced out beautifully.

My two ( vintage ) choices for you would be :

1 ) get a matched pair of Alnico IV Mules.

2) Ask Tim to build you the bridge Riff Raff to complete the set.

I put the Mules at number 1 though, as you like to play a much wider range of music, and they certainly 'fit the bill' in doing that. The Mules have a slight mid - range 'hump' too - so if you have been used to the fatter sounds of a P90, the Mules would be more familiar than perhaps the 70s Rock excellence of the Riff Raffs, or the 80s majesty of the Cold Sweats.

Of course , if your tastes run into heavier and tighter territory too, having the Cold Sweat set completed would also be a permissible 3rd choice.  

The nice thing about B.K.P, is that there is no 'bad' choice, only differing degrees of 'appropriate' choices.

Perhaps consider deeper, ( or let us know ) - what artists and tastes you are most likely to be playing like / getting excited by ?

Welcome aboard !  :D

[roland_rat]

Hi, thanks for  the advice,

I had not realised about the riff/raff  and stormy monday combo, makes perfect sense though.  I think I can discount that one.   Musical tastes would range from pop, indie, rock and some metal.  The vast majority in standard tuning .  Picking a few examples  Beatles, Led Zepplin, Cream, Black Sabbath, Hendrix,  Queens of the Stone age, ,  a bit of Metallica and Megadeth though got to be said I struggel with that.


Would a mule bridge and riff/raff neck work ?  

Which ever pickups I  go for im thinking of the 4 conductor  ones,  both bridge and neck are currently  coil tapped and I like having the option.



Cheers for the advice both of you.

[Brow]

I have a Gordon Smith Graduate 60 with a Black Dog in the bridge and a Riff (old wind I think) in the neck.

It's a great sounding pickup combination that to my ears atleast, is able to cover alot of ground.

[Lord Blakers]

+1 on the Mules.
Great vintage sounding pickup, and arguably the most flexible BKP.

Just to confuse you some more, the A5 Warpig is also pretty flexible and will cover a lot of different sounds just by using the guitars volume control.

Incidentally, soldering kit is pretty cheap - takes a bit of practice, but once you've got it it saves a lot of time and money. I got bored this week, rewired my SG completely and installed my new Cold Sweat bridge - then swapped the Warpigs and Mules between two other guitars. It's a very convenient skill to have as a guitarist and there's plenty of people on the forum to give you advice.

[roland_rat]

Hi,

Thanks all of you for the advice.  Looking like mules if I got the money otherwise that blackdog at bridge riff raff neck could be the way I go.  It a good point that a few of you made about be learning to solder will give it a try with some cheap pickups on a cheap guitar .

Thanks

[kevincurtis]

Hi,

Thanks all of you for the advice.  Looking like mules if I got the money otherwise that blackdog at bridge riff raff neck could be the way I go.  It a good point that a few of you made about be learning to solder will give it a try with some cheap pickups on a cheap guitar .

Thanks

It's defintely good advice and you are unlikely to do any damage unless you do something daft. The easiest and most annoying mistake would be to unsolder stuff without noting where it came from and where it went. Always make sure you can get it back how it started :)

[AndyR]

Always make sure you can get it back how it started :)

+1 (or more) on that (and it's very sound advice for life in general!)

Also - protect your guitar from the horrors of hot iron and solder. I use old tea-towels, bits of cloth, wife's favourite blouse, whatever's to hand, and place it around the cavity I'm soldering into. A soldering iron goes through finishes and melts plastic like scratch-plates and knobs very quickly I've found! Also, hot solder can spit a bit - that also makes annoying holes in finishes.

And have some soothing cream ready for those painful burns on your guitar playing fingers! When I first started soldering, I found it very easy to forget the flippin thing was very hot...