VHII sounds like stock single coil :(

[_tom_]

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 :\

[geetardude]

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)

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!

[Philly Q]

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?

[geetardude]

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.

[Davey]

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?

[TwilightOdyssey]

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??

[ftwizard]

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

[Twinfan]

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.

[Bainzy]

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.

[TwilightOdyssey]

I call BS somewhere -

Me, too. Thread closed.