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Author Topic: Your first memory of BKPs  (Read 4239 times)

Ian Price

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Your first memory of BKPs
« on: August 03, 2008, 04:44:47 PM »
Mine was when I was selling my Gibson 335. The guy who bought it from me said that he was going to put some Stormy Mondays in it. I really had no idea what he was talking about and actually thought he was a sucker for taking the stock pick ups out. My opinion changed when I got home and looked up Stormy Mondays on the interweb. Although I only have apaches in my strat I have been hooked ever since - and it's not just the product itself, it is everything else (friendly people, good advice and a top quality forum) that comes with it!
« Last Edit: August 03, 2008, 06:31:53 PM by Ian Price »
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sgmypod

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2008, 04:47:24 PM »
Mine was a shop in Doncaster, mate was buying a bridge h/b they mentioned BKP's pickups we were like not heard of them..and he bought a Bill Laurence instead(yeah now replaced by a BKP)
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Crawler,nailbomb & Ltd Ed Emeralds, apache, now riff raff..EX- N/bomb, IT, Mquee

Scotty477

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2008, 05:21:07 PM »


My exposure  :o to BKP's was only fairly recently.

Last November I decided to change the stock pups on my LP Classic (Gibson 496R/500T) which were too much for the way my musical direction had changed towards more bluesy stuff.

I went to Sound Control in Glasgow and spoke to a guy called Jimmy Egypt who ran a tech/repair shop from within the store. I was set on getting a pair of Seymour Duncans of some kind but Jimmy suggested that I take a look at BKP as a better alternative for what I was after.

The change to BKP's has brought out a better player in me because I want to practise more with the my BKP equipped LP  :D

That's pretty much it really, except for the fact that it's 90% certain that I'm going for a set of BKP's in my latest guitar - a Yamaha SG2000.

I just can't decide which ones to go for yet and that issue will be the subject of a thread sometime soon I think.

Will

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2008, 05:48:54 PM »
The Miracle Man clip...
'nuff said

MrBump

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2008, 05:53:22 PM »
Decided to replace the stock PUPs in my Chavel.

Initially I was going to use Seymour Duncans (because everyone does, don't they?), but as the project moved on, I decided to cut my own scratch place, then humbuckers became an option.  I'd initially dismissed BKPs as I think that the image that I had in my head was for metal pickups, for whatever reason.  But I did some searching around, spoke to Tim, and ordered Nailbombs.

I doubt that I'll order any other make of pickups now.

Mark.
BKPs Past and Present - Nailbombs, Mules, Blackguard Flat 50's, VHII's & Trilogy Suite with Neck & Bridge Baseplates!

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2008, 06:16:57 PM »
I was on the metallica forum back in my emg 85/60 combo days and there was this one guy raving on about bkp miracle man and cold sweat pickups.

For ages i just thought he bought something that nobody knows about and he was bigging it up and it wasnt going to be too great.

However when my guitar got stolen and my friend sold me a rocket roll II really cheap i thought hey lets actually look up these bare knuckle pickups.

After listening a few clips and chatting with the people on this forum i had quickly ordered a burnt chrome miracle man bridge.

Which is the only pickup ive ever been happy with how it sounds in every guitar ive owned.

gwEm

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #6 on: August 03, 2008, 06:21:04 PM »
i don't know exactly, but somehow i was googling round for pickups. i was using dimarzio for hi-gain and i wanted something quite specific for a vintage pickup which wasn't in their range. somehow found myself on this forum. got some riff raffs after hanging out for a bit.

i just checked, and my first post was about the pickup name 'nailbomb'.
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38thBeatle

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2008, 06:35:12 PM »
I had joined a new band and as my Strat, fitted at the time with EMG pickups, had issues I decided that I wanted to nreplace them( I'd hated having a battery in the guitar too) I wanted a decent set of traditional Strat pickups (I'd also mislaid the original pickups at the time though I found them subsequently). I was traying out various makes that friends had bought and was going to go down the SD route when I googled and discovered BKP. I sought advice and took the plunge and became a convert. Many of my friends have too after hearing mine. I reckon I have sold quite a few sets through rattling on about them.
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BKP's: Apache, Country Boy, Slowhands.

Twinfan

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2008, 06:39:16 PM »
I joined an AC/DC band and bought an Epi SG.  I'd seen the advert in Guitarist for "Riff Raff" pickups and decided I'd try a pair out.

They're still in the SG and I've tried a bunch of other BKPs now too  :)

PhilKing

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2008, 07:07:08 PM »
I saw an add in Guitarist for the Crawlers, and being a fan of Geoff Whitehorn's playing, emailled Tim and then ended up calling and going over various options.  He was great to talk to, and that first call resulted in me getting an Emerald/Mule combination for my Les Paul and a Crawler with 2 P-90's for my PRS EG4.  Since then, as many of you know, I have helped out at the BK stand at LGS and Music Live, and I have most of the pickups that BK makes.  For me they are head an shoulders above the other pickups (I just had someone try an Apache set against a US boutique set, and they loved the BK's).  I also have to say that they are a great company to deal with, part of the reason I ended up with so many pickups is spending time talking with Tim and listing to his description of the pickups he was working on.  The other guys there are very nice too, everyone is committed to making great pickups and they all care about what they do.  It might be a strange thing to say, but I think this extra care comes across in the way the pickups sound.
So many pickups, so little time

WezV

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2008, 07:35:07 PM »
i have tried a lot of the other pickup makers and been pretty happy untill i decided to try a P-92 in a single pickup juniorish guitar. 

... i think i ordered a HSS set the next week

il˙ti

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2008, 07:59:56 PM »
Back when Tim joined Iced Earth, Jon Schaffer wrote some praising words on their website. Saying how melodic Tim's playing is and how great his pickups sound. That was the first I heard of BKP, but I didn't really care to check them out yet as I was still convinced I wanted dimarzios. Then a mate of mine got some Warpigs and was floored by the quality, so I went and read a bit on the forum, started gathering my pennies and harrassing Tim with emails. That's pretty much it.
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horsehead

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #12 on: August 03, 2008, 08:22:32 PM »
Saw the adverts in Guitarist & thought ' hmmm different" & so I came on here & started annoying people, got my Mothers Milk & fell in love..awwww
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_tom_

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2008, 08:30:29 PM »
I think I saw the ads and reviews in total guitar all the way back in 2005. I wasnt going to replace my pickups at all but my epiphone started to sound muddy when I got my fender amp so I was looking for replacements. Kept getting recommended the Pearly Gates for the sound I wanted so I looked up the price and it was close to bareknuckle so I checked them out again, emailed Tim a LOT, made loads of posts here and decided on a bridge Mule. Loved the clarity and more "3d sound" it had over the stock Epi pickups so saved for a neck one. Now I have 2 humbucker size p90s in my other guitar as well :)

I'd like to be happy with stock pickups but I find myself wanting more clarity and bottom end definition all the time..

Philly Q

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Re: Your first memory of BKPs
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2008, 08:54:35 PM »
No interesting story to tell I'm afraid, I think I just saw ads in the guitar mags.

I do remember the article in Guitar Buyer where Tim Slater went to see BKPs being built.  And a P-90 shoot-out in Guitar & Bass which was won by a BKP-91 in a cream dog-ear cover. :)
BKPs I've Got:  RR, BKP-91, ITs, VHII, CS set, Emeralds
BKPs I Had:  RY+Abraxas, Crawlers, BD+SM