Please help to find BKP analogs to Duncans and Dimarzios

[Lew]

In the space of an hour this thread has gone:

Meet.
Argue.
Attack.
Make up.
Hug.

How the hell did that happen?

Well, it should never have gone through stages 2 and 3, then stages 4 and 5 would've been unnecessary.

Except for those who are into gratuitous hugging.  :|

What the man in the top hat said! This place can be fun to hang out in but jeez it's pseudo elitist too ;P

Hai mr new guy (Im new too!), I think your comparisons are pretty close!

[ilÿti]

[What the man in the top hat said! This place can be fun to hang out in but jeez it's pseudo elitist too ;P

This is probably one of the least elitist board I have ever been to. There's a couple of incidents when arrogant comments have annoyed me, but it's generally kept in a very respectful manner. I hope it continues this way, you can't ask for perfection.

[Philly Q]

[What the man in the top hat said! This place can be fun to hang out in but jeez it's pseudo elitist too ;P

This is probably one of the least elitist board I have ever been to. There's a couple of incidents when arrogant comments have annoyed me, but it's generally kept in a very respectful manner. I hope it continues this way, you can't ask for perfection.

Yeah, I agree - we have the odd misunderstanding and/or minor spat but there's a general air of mutual respect (or at least tolerance!   ).  Maybe there's a tendency to be "protective" of BKPs and over-critical of other brands, but it is the BKP forum.  Then again, I don't think BKPs need protecting, they can speak for themselves...


Going back to the original question, Duncan make a number of high-output Tele pickups but BKPs are mostly more vintagey, I doubt there's any very close equivalent of the Hot or Quarter Pound pickups.  I suppose the Piledriver must be the nearest.

For the Red Velvet, I'd guess the Irish Tour is probably closer, I believe the Slowhands have a warmer, more round tone.  So maybe an IT bridge with a nickel baseplate?

But I think the best way to learn more about the BKP range is to buy a few!  Once you have those reference points, people's comments about the other models start to make a lot more sense.

[Lew]

Yea my bad, I was trying to be playfull with it.  It is very cool here 8)

 :shock:

BKP seem to be the replacement now in most of the forums that I read.

Although there is an area that BKP have fallen short imo, they used to send you stickers to put on the fridge and guitar cases and your pets  

[ilÿti]

Although there is an area that BKP have fallen short imo, they used to send you stickers to put on the fridge and guitar cases and your pets  

They don't anymore?!?!! That's it, I'm going DiMarzio.

[Peter Krasov]

I see what you guys are saying but I disagree.  If all you've played is SD/Dimarzio then that's all you have to reference other pickups to.  He wants to try out BK and is just trying to figure out which BK is which.  He can find the right BK for him based on what he knows from his experience with SD/Dimarzio.  If others have the same experience and also have BK experience they can help him out.

Thank you for the welcome anyway!
First I would like to apologise for my not very fluent English, because it is not my mother language.
Second, I'm not looking for improved versions of Duncans and Dimarzios. Othervise I would contact their custom shop departments.
Third, I've listened to all the samples in the "Players" section. But the sound havily depends on the guitar, amplifier and the recording method. And it doesn't mean, that I will get the same sound. I'm just dwelling on the things I know.

So let me try to describe the tone I desire.

1) The first guitar is Fender American Deluxe Ash Tele.
In the bridge position i need a mixture of broadcaster sound, P90 and humbucker sound. In a simple way, classic tele sound, but more beefy and heavier. I need no real humbuckers, no real P90s. I think, an overwound tele single coil would suit me. Is it a Piledriver?
In the neck position I want glassy and clean sound but with slightly increased low-mids. Boss neck or Piledriver neck?

2) The second guitar is Fender Stratocaster 12 string
In the bridge position I need a really mild, sweet sounding humbucker. Clean highs, tight lows. No dirt. Stormy Monday?
In the middle I need a single coil to sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan, but more mild.
In the neck of my strat XII I use a tele neck pickup. Traditional country sound is required. Glassy and jangly.

Thanks.

[ailean]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I'm not going to try to reply to you as I just don't know, it seems to me that the best approach if you are not sure is to email Tim with as much information as you can, ideal tone, guitar, amp, styles you wish to play, particular songs etc, and then do what he says.

No disrespect to anyone here, but as ever with opinions, you always get lots, and then it's easy to get confused, especially if this is your first set.

I hope you enjoy your first set of BK's!

[kellar]

The first couple comments were a bit blown out of proportion. The guy is just trying to find a reference point and anyway, he is trying to GIVE Tim business. I understand the problem of liking the basic sound of one of those mass produced pickups but wanting a little bit more here or there. If he needs help with a comparison, than this forum should be here to help him out. That's why it's here right? Anyway, I don't really think that Tim would appreciate it if someone came here for advice on BKP pickups and we all turned him away. Come on!!
And who said that pickups have very little effect on your sound??? :roll:
I strongly disagree. Sorry, that's just wrong in my opinion.

[prozacbear]

Although there is an area that BKP have fallen short imo, they used to send you stickers to put on the fridge and guitar cases and your pets  

I still get stickers, I've had 2 new stickers in the last month  :D

[PhilKing]

1) The first guitar is Fender American Deluxe Ash Tele.
In the bridge position i need a mixture of broadcaster sound, P90 and humbucker sound. In a simple way, classic tele sound, but more beefy and heavier. I need no real humbuckers, no real P90s. I think, an overwound tele single coil would suit me. Is it a Piledriver?
In the neck position I want glassy and clean sound but with slightly increased low-mids. Boss neck or Piledriver neck?

2) The second guitar is Fender Stratocaster 12 string
In the bridge position I need a really mild, sweet sounding humbucker. Clean highs, tight lows. No dirt. Stormy Monday?
In the middle I need a single coil to sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan, but more mild.
In the neck of my strat XII I use a tele neck pickup. Traditional country sound is required. Glassy and jangly.

For the first guitar, I would look at the flatpole Blackguard Tele set.  The neck has a little more of the Strat sound and the bridge is Broadcaster.  Tim does have a new version of the bridge coming out which is early broadcaster, but I am not sure if it is available yet.  You could use the Piledriver here, but I think the blackguards might do it for you.

The second is interesting, I would go with the Stormy Monday/Slowhand/Country Boy.  I would ask Tim about the Alnico 4 version of the Stromy Monday, as I think this will suit the 12 string and also work well with the Slowhand.

[Lew]

Although there is an area that BKP have fallen short imo, they used to send you stickers to put on the fridge and guitar cases and your pets  

I still get stickers, I've had 2 new stickers in the last month  :D

!!! Maybe I have to break the 50 post count to qualify  :lol:

[Peter Krasov]

For the first guitar, I would look at the flatpole Blackguard Tele set.  The neck has a little more of the Strat sound and the bridge is Broadcaster.  Tim does have a new version of the bridge coming out which is early broadcaster, but I am not sure if it is available yet.  You could use the Piledriver here, but I think the blackguards might do it for you.

The second is interesting, I would go with the Stormy Monday/Slowhand/Country Boy.  I would ask Tim about the Alnico 4 version of the Stromy Monday, as I think this will suit the 12 string and also work well with the Slowhand.

oh thanks. that's just the thing I wanted to know!

[ailean]

!!! Maybe I have to break the 50 post count to qualify  :lol:

Tim might be giving them away at the LGS :)

[HoboBobo]

Well the main reason i think people being annoyed by his questions is stupid is because referencing a certain pickup and by extension the general tone it provides is exactly the same as saying im looking for a power metal sound or even saying im look for that SRV tone which is pretty much the way everyone asks about pickups on this site. Also should point out that all Bk's were designed to emulate certain pups and sounds as is illustrated by their names.

Oh and btw not sure who said it but saying the the pickup makes up a small part of the tone is one of the dumbest things I've heard. Sick of people saying this or that means so little. If that were the case people wouldn't be so anal about it. So if thats the case for you, might just mean your ear isn't as good as the TS.

[ailean]

Oh and btw not sure who said it but saying the the pickup makes up a small part of the tone is one of the dumbest things I've heard. Sick of people saying this or that means so little. If that were the case people wouldn't be so anal about it. So if thats the case for you, might just mean your ear isn't as good as the TS.

This has come up a few times on the boards, and I think here the intent has been mis-read, I don't think anyone buying BK's (and spending up to £200) believes that they are not important, I think the inention is to say that pups are not the major factor in determining a tone. The 2 major contributors are guitar type (LP, SG, Tele etc) and amp, after that I'd say comes the pups, the wood/build quality of the guitar and the speakers in the cab, the guitar quality and pups will swap priority depending on the combination. Warpigs will dominate anything, Mules will be more  influenced by the wood etc.