Need some help, first timer BKP user!

[pwnzar]

Hey there fretw**kers!

I've recently discovered BKP and I was wondering....

I'll be getting a custom made guitar for myself, in the next couple of months, with a H-S-H config.

My question is:

Being a metal and blues player (i love both, and don't want to compromise the tone), I would like to know what would be the best pickup selection for my guitar?

I've read some reviews, and read that apparently the Warpig is THE bridge pickup to have for a harsh style like metal?

I'd like a bluesy kinda pup in the neck position, which a good response for fast finger tapping/shredding, and ofc blues.

Any suggestions ? Please let me know -why- your suggesting that model and what not.

Cheers,
P.

[FernandoDuarte]

1st Welcome to the forum! :drink:

But think we need more information, "metal", "blues", "rock", etc, these names link to MANY different tones...
To people here help you better, you should suggest bands/players that have the kind of tone you're after :D

[pwnzar]

Thanks for the reply. The band/players in which I like the tone are:

1. Wintersun - melodic death metal, very technical, very clean sweeps and so on. The main guitarists used an Ibanez JEM7V to record all his stuff, and that means evolution pickups. But no, I don't want Dimarzios.

2. Any other metal band with tight riffs, heavy but quality sounding distortion, and of course, shredding (dragonforce - not a big fan, but plenty of shredding).

3. Albert Collins - the master of the telecaster - awesome tone, awesome skills
4. BB King - need I say more?

Those 2 are my 2 favorite blues players.

Thanks ! :)

[pwnzar]

Just trying to clarify it a bit: I don't want a bridge pickup to sound like a telecaster neck pickup when distorted, and I don't want a neck pickup to sound like cr*p when playing clean or lag behind when tapping really really fast and such :P

My apologies if my explaining is a big failure, I'm not English nor American, I do my best at transposing my ideas into English, though.

Thanks again :)

[FernandoDuarte]

Don't know these bands, so no idea...

About the blues tone, you have to choose which one you want most and even there you won't have it perfectly...
The "no compromise" thing is just impossible, want the all these tones perfect? Buy a tele, a 335 and your custom HSH guitar, them you'll have no compromise... beside it, you enter in the fame making compromises ;)

What is the specs of this guitar you'll have??

[Fourth Feline]

Welcome !  :)

I can only really relate to your Albert Collins / B.B. King requirements - and add to that an assumption that you will end up with a Warpig in the bridge ( which takes me back to my earlier Black Sabbath / Zakk Wylde listening habits ).

So I am going to suggest a plain 'Mississipi Queen' ( as opposed to a Pig 90 ) in the neck, as I have used one ( as part of a matched pair ) - and can confirm that it can give you lovely clean and yet assertive neck pickup sounds. I am only concerned if it would be dominant enough to balance your intented bridge pickup .

 I do not know what to put in the middle position single coil , but Perhaps a Tele (bridge ) pickup in the middle - or one of the meatier strat offerings of course.   It is going to have to be a real balancing act to achieve both tonal extremes convincingly - without leaps in volume though ; so I will read with interest the input from other H/S/H owners.

By the way, your English is great, it's only the stark contrasts in your tonal requirements that may take some thinking out .  :)

[pwnzar]

a) NECK = european maple, will follow your advice!

 

Neck Scale: 638mm

Neck thru construction with a 5 pieces laminated:
1.shaft maple
2.hard wood = wenge (my personal preference)
3.maple
4.hard wood = wenge
5.maple

b) Fingerboard: Rosewood. pearl inlays

c) Wings - african mohogany

d) TOP - flame maple top (6mm), with matte-satin finish

e) HARDWARE
1) Schaller Floyd (medium recess) with groover tuning machines - black.
2) 5 way Schaller megaswitch
3) 1 vol 1 tone control plus black metal dome Knob

                  
f) No. of Frets: 24 jumbo Frets, last 6 scalloped

g) Body Shape:  Classic, with extended lower horn

h) 2way truss rod


hope i didnt forget anything

[Doadman]

This is a difficult one given the tonal range you're after.

The Warpig is certainly an extreme pickup but I'm not convinced it's the right choice for two basic reasons:

1) When I got my pickups and was talking to Tim, no matter how much I pushed my desire for really high gain he would never suggest a Warpig. When I asked him about this he said it was because of the mahogany body and it might over power it.

2) For a Blues tone you'll need a very different neck pickup and there will be too much of a power differential between the two.

For the Bridge pickup I'd go no more powerful than a Miracle Man, which is a bit like an active EMG. I suspect you may find that a touch too metallic and crisp, in which case I'd maybe look at a Painkiller. The final option may be to try a Cold Seat, which is the least powerful here but is still a very hot pickup with a big tone and works really well with mahogany guitars.

As for the neck pickup, I'd maybe consider the PG Blue.

The best bet would be to simply ask Tim but I'm pretty sure there is going to have to be some degree of compromise.

[FernandoDuarte]

Listened to a clipe of the band on youtube, I *think* that you would want something like Painkiller or Cold Sweat on bridge, as Doadman said...

Neck I'm not sure, you could go with calibrated set, if I'm not wrong it's Alnico V, so would be easier to get the blues tone than a ceramic, but probably the best would be Alnico IV or II, but keep in mind you need to match it with the bridge...

[Nolly]

I agree that a Painkiller in the bridge would do you well. A pickup as powerful as the ceramic Warpig has to compromise on clarity and open-ness, and will make it harder to find a bluesy neck pickup to match.
My suggestion would be to go with a Painkiller neck pickup to match. It's powerful and very fluid for your metal lead work, but at the same time has an almost strat-like woody, "hollow" sound to it to it that makes it very versatile.
It's not the perfect blues pickup choice, but I think that something more vintage-y won't give you the performance you want.

[FernandoDuarte]

Oh! Listen to Nolly, he knows the things :D

[ericsabbath]

Oh! Listen to Nolly, he knows the things :D

and he's great

[Davey]

Painkiller bridge (will give you all the clarity you need for wintersun, while still being very very tight for riffing)
Irish Tour mid (havent got experience with this, so i'm just throwing the idea out there :P)
VHII neck (hot bluesy pup, very fluid and will be good for anything you throw at it. be it high gain legato licks or low gain blues licks) i got it paired with a MM in the bridge and it matches very well

[Nolly]

Oh! Listen to Nolly, he knows the things :D

and he's great

Why thank you  :D

[pwnzar]

Hey guys, I sent my specs over to Tim, and this is what he replied :)

Painkiller bridge, Trilogy suite mid coil and Cold Sweat neck.

What do you guys think of this?