BKP Pickup Review and Question on Model Identification

[darkbluemurder]

Hi,

I scored to BKP pickups on German ebay. They were described as Cold Sweat (CS) Neck and Holy Diver (HD) Bridge. Yesterday I installed them in my PRS Custom (mahogany body and neck, maple top, rosewood fretboard, PRS vibrato, 5-way switch). This guitar is unusually thick sounding for a PRS and has incredible sustain in the high registers. Actually I liked the stock HFS that came with it for its aggressive and fat midrange but the bass was a bit too floppy and the overall character a bit too nasal. I hated the stock Vintage Bass - a real mudbucker.

CS Neck: measured 8.4k on my meter. I had to replace the single braided wire because it had a short (well I wanted to replace that for a 4-conductor anyway). My first impression is that this pickup is very clear, very articulate yet never harsh. Very nice!

HD Bridge: I doubt that this pickup really is a HD. The HD is spec'd with 16.2k as average whereas my pickup only measures 14.4k. Second, the HD seems to come standard with a 4-conductor wire whereas my pickup has a single braided wire. And finally the sound: the pickup sounds very clear and open and not as thick as I expected from the descriptions on the HD I read. It has a very punchy bass, good strong output, clear highs and presence which can be nicely controlled by the amp but is slightly midscooped. On the other hand it is not nasal in the least which is definitely a plus.

I suspect my pickup is a CS Bridge.

Now my questions:

1. Do you agree to my conclusion that I have a CS bridge rather than a HD?

2. If I wanted more midrange in my tone which pickup should I choose? I am thinking HD, MM, PK or NB.

The amps I play are a Fender Deluxe Reverb II where I converted the lead channel to Carvin Legacy specs and a Marshall converted to Splawn Quickrod specs. With this guitar I want to play hard rock, British blues rock and 80s metal.

Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks and kind regards
Stephan

[Antag]

It doesn't mean anything that the pickup came with braided 2-conductor wire - all BKP models are available with that.  However:

1. Yes, it sounds like you got a CS calibrated set there.  14.4 too low for an HD (lowest I've ever got was 15.8k IIRC) & too high for the old-spec HD (which was ~13k IIRC).  Tonally, you've pretty much described a CS :)

2. I would remove MM from that list.

[Antag]

Just for interest's sake - how would you compare the CS (assuming it is one) to the HFS?  I was considering making that change in my PRS.... :)

[dheim]

i'm not sure... besides the reading (after all i've got a 20k warpig - and it sounds like my 22k WP) the tone description can apply to a HD too... at least to my ears the lack of hi-mids makes it sound a bit scooped, much more than the CS, even if it could depend on the completely different acoustic tones of the two guitars i have got them into.

i could understand why someone would sell a CS for a signature model, but why pretending it's an HD?

[Philly Q]

It doesn't mean anything that the pickup came with braided 2-conductor wire - all BKP models are available with that.  However:

1. Yes, it sounds like you got a CS calibrated set there.  14.4 too low for an HD (lowest I've ever got was 15.8k IIRC) & too high for the old-spec HD (which was ~13k IIRC).  Tonally, you've pretty much described a CS :)

+1 to all that.   I haven't tried the HD but your description does sound like the CS.  Mine is 14.1k but I don't think 14.4k would be unusual.

To your list of more midrangey pickups you could add the Crawler (very middy) and RY (more high-middy).

[darkbluemurder]

Just for interest's sake - how would you compare the CS (assuming it is one) to the HFS?  I was considering making that change in my PRS.... :)

Both pickups have about the same power, maybe the CS is a bit less powerful. The CS has a lot more punchy yet tight bass, sounds a lot more open and less nasal. Through the Marshall it is an almost perfect rhythm tone. A bit of a downside is that I could obtain harmonic feedback on leads easier with the HFS. 

BTW: my pickup has standard string spacing but this is no problem even though the PRS has a vibrato.

Cheers Stephan

[Antag]

A bit of a downside is that I could obtain harmonic feedback on leads easier with the HFS.

Then there's NO WAY it's a Holy Diver - it's miles easier to do this on the HD than the HFS (or pretty much anything else FWIW :))

BTW: my pickup has standard string spacing but this is no problem even though the PRS has a vibrato.

AFAIK all PRS pickups have standard spacing - all the PRS' I've seen (including the 2 I own) certainly did.  It's actually not a problem - as long as the string passes over some part of the pole piece then the effect on tone is negligible...

[Will]

Antag, my old HD was 15.1 or 15.3 - can't quite remember

[ericsabbath]

you better ask Tim
I'm almost sure that there was a transition Holy Diver spec between the first ceramic 13k one and the alnico 16k one around 2005, right before he launched the Rebel Yell and the new Diver

you can also check the height and the side color of the magnet to know if it's a bridge cold sweat
ceramic will be dark grey, while alnico has a metallic appearance
also, the ceramic magnet bars used by Tim are thicker than the alnico bars, so you'll notice that it will be taller than the neck pickup

[darkbluemurder]

Thank you all very much for your input so far. Eric, I will definitely check the magnet color.
And, if it is really easier to get harmonic feedback on the HD compared to the HFS then I know what's next ...

Thanks, Stephan

[HairyChris]

Just for interest's sake - how would you compare the CS (assuming it is one) to the HFS?  I was considering making that change in my PRS.... :)

The CS set is the closest replacement set for the VB/HFS. I made the switch with my rosewood necked Cu24 trem and love it, especially in the bridge position. I found that the HFS was high output but really messy, although the VB was OK.

You just have to remember to specify if the guitar uses the PRS 5 way on ordering.

[darkbluemurder]

Actually the more I play the guitar the more the sound starts growing on me :)
Whatever bridge pickup it is it sounds good in the guitar so I am not really in a hurry to replace it.

Thanks again to everyone for sharing your knowledge.

Cheers Stephan

[PhilKing]

I have the transition Holy Divers, but they are now called Rebel Yells, and 14.4k is spot on for them.  I find it hard to believe you can't get harmonic feedback from them though!  I have them in a PRS Standard 24 and they want to feedback all the time.  Rebel Yells have a big push in the upper mid range and fits your description reasonably well.

[dheim]

are the RYs close to the HDs?? i expected something absolutely different!

[PhilKing]

are the RYs close to the HDs?? i expected something absolutely different!

The short answer is they are similar.  longer answer is that when the RY's were in developent with Steve Stevens he had both the HD and RY prototypes and was making a decision on which he wanted his name on.  When I got my pickups I wanted a replacement for an original SD JB, and Tim sent me the 'new HD', but then Steve decided he liked this the best and so it became the RY and the other prototype became the HD.