I've been watching this forum for months now. I'd like to thank everyone on here for all the information they've posted during that time, it has been very helpful.
I received and installed my new pickups yesterday, and I'm so impressed that I decided to register on the forum so that I can sing BKP's praises in public...
This is quite long, apologies – but I found stories like this helpful when I was deciding whether to take the plunge and give Tim my money...
Before I start, I used to gig a lot 1980-1990 and then again 1996-2000. My amp most of that time was a 50W Laney. A single-channel, master-volume 1x12 valve combo (made a year or two before they brought out the AOR series), I've still got it but it's way too loud for the living room!! I'm a strictly living-room and home-recording guitarist now, I play through a Line6 POD XTLive and studio monitors. I was a Strat-player until the mid 90's when I moved through a Tele, an SG, and a Les Paul. All were in the attic until recently, because I ended up using Line6 Variax guitars for the last couple of years to save space and string money.
Anyway, my new BKPs...
The Irish Tours (unpotted, RWRP), with a new scratchplate from BKP, have gone into a Fender Japan ("non-export") 62 Reissue, alder body, that I bought new last summer. The old scratchplate and the Texas Specials it came with have now moved into a much gigged (and hacked) JV Squier I bought in 1982, where they work a lot better.
I'm still getting to know the Irish Tours, but they are doing pretty much what I expected them to do... and a bit more. It was always going to be ITs for me because I was such a Rory fan, but I was a bit concerned because I also play early Dire Straits, Hank Marvin, etc., etc. However, I needn't have worried (although I'm sure that the Apaches, Sultans, etc, do some of these other things better) the ITs seem to be more than versatile enough for me. I felt reasonably confident ordering ITs because I usually I want a slightly hotter Strat, I want a gritty edge that I can tame with the tone/volume, most of the time I'm playing blues-based stuff, and my favourite guitar sound ever is on an album called "Irish Tour 74", so it was no-brainer...
What have they done to the guitar? Overall, it's more lively and responsive and is far more pleasurable to play – it almost plays itself actually. It was already the best Strat I've ever played but now my vibrato sounds more expressive, variations in picking are more noticeable, the tone controls are more usable. Basically, everything everyone says about BKPs is true... Specifically, the bridge is a stunning difference – it's thicker but still with the edge I've come to know and love (or is it fear?) from the bridge on its own. If I was playing live, I could see me using the bridge as the main pickup – I've never been able to do that in the past. The neck is lovely too – a very Rory neck pickup. I'm not so sure about the middle yet, but it's less than 24 hours since I installed them (and I have had another guitar to play with, see below). I always used to use the middle as my stock rhythm crunch and basic lead sound, and it's not quite doing that for me now (the bridge does the job instead!). However, I think this might be because I haven't found exactly the right pickup height for the middle. I tend to like my pickups further from the strings than others seem to, and although I thought I had all three nice last night, I might experiment further in the next few weeks. The in-between positions do what you expect and have more air to them than the Texas Specials did in the same guitar.
Was it worth it? Yes indeed, but I have quite a bit of work to do to reacquaint myself with my favourite guitar and how it responds (and my wife, who originally bought it, deserves to be centre of attention sometime soon before the weekend finishes).
In the same package came my Riff Raffs (unpotted, Nickel Covers). Now these were a bit of an impulse buy. I was considering maybe getting Mules for an Epiphone Les Paul, but I wasn't too sure about buying two sets at once. However, I'd received AC/DC's "Plug Me In" DVD set for Christmas – so the Epiphone SG was also down from the attic.
I spent all last Saturday reading the SG posts on the forum, by the end of it I was somewhat confused and ended up going "sod it, my nickname has been Angus since I was at school, I love the Bon Scott era guitar sound, Riff Raffs in the SG it must be..." I'd already decided it was the Strat plus one humbucker guitar that I'd put new pickups in – the Variax can do the rest.
Having ordered Riff Raffs, I was worried that I'd made a mistake; perhaps I should have waited, spoken to Tim, etc, etc... My concern was the same as others have expressed here – "is the Riff Raff a one trick pony?" Should I have gone the Stormy Monday route? Maybe even MQs? (I originally bought the SG because of Pete Townsend's Tommy-era live sound, after all...)
But, now they're in the guitar... "NO WURRIES MATE..." The improvement to the SG is greater than the improvement to the Strat (the Strat is still No1 guitar, it's just the difference with the new pickups is more noticeable in the SG).
Obviously, it does a great Riff Raff now, and Gone Shooting, and Live Wire for that matter, and, and... etc, etc. But it does a wicked Great White Buffalo and Cat Scratch Fever (OK, Ted Nugent isn't that far off Angus). It also moves off into what I'd consider Les Paul territory – a passable Jimmy Page (the Ocean, Black Dog, and a lovely Since I've Been Loving You) and, more surprisingly, it does Paul Kossoff reasonably well. We were lying in bed listening to Free this morning, and I gave it a go later – I used the same amp model and settings as for the riff-raffery, but I backed off the volume and tone on the guitar. It's not quite as warm as you'd want, perhaps, but it's much closer than I was expecting (especially considering how the guitar sounds un-amplified).
I love the Riff Raffs in the SG. Usually with humbuckers it's a novelty thing for me – bash a few riffs/licks, then back to the Strat – I always seem to have more to say on a Strat. However, these Riff Raffs seem to have given the SG a character of its own. Now I'll probably have to break my promise to myself and get the Les Paul BKPed!
Anyway – VERY HAPPY. Yes, it was expensive, but good value for what they do. Both guitars feel "more reliable" – does that make sense? I'm not talking about physical reliability such as "will it work or stay in tune", I mean more along the lines of whatever you ask the guitar to do with your fingers, it'll support you and help you do it – what you put in comes out the speakers.
Nice one BKP – if (OK, when) I want any more pickups I'll be back.
