"Pick a Wood 'n stock pickups"

[Dr. Vic]

Some pickups sit well in some woods, while other don't....

I thought it would be great to talk about the BKP's/wood combinations that matches without hesitation, and the one you think it is better to avoid (without considering some particular guitar construction or specific design).

So here is a list of the most common wood I have found around (with short definitions to complete and to correct) to pair with some BKP's do and/or don't !

Mahogany : « balanced – warm, rounded and dark tone. Good sustain »
BKP do :
BKP don't :   

Maple : « bright, clear, powerfull hard sound. Lot of free vibrations »
BKP do :
BKP don't :

Basswood : « Extra low end with powerfull response. »
BKP do :
BKP don't :   

Alder : « well-rounded tone with good sustain »
BKP do :
BKP don't :   

Ash : « hardwood, midrangy and cutting response »
BKP do :
BKP don't :   

Poplar :  « particular resonant tone  »
BKP do :
BKP don't :   


And so on with the experience you have with other ones : Koa, Korina, etc...

Fell free to correct / complete, the more the better !!

[Davey]

this is what i currently have and i think it works very well

Mahogany : « balanced – warm, rounded and dark tone. Good sustain »
BKP do : Miracle man bridge (i think a Painkiller would work great too) VH II neck
BKP don't :   

Maple : « bright, clear, powerfull hard sound. Lot of free vibrations »
BKP do :
BKP don't :

Basswood : « Extra low end with powerfull response. »
BKP do :  Warpig bridge, Trilogy suite neck
BKP don't :   

Alder : « well-rounded tone with good sustain »
BKP do : Ceramic Warpig
BKP don't :   

Ash : « hardwood, midrangy and cutting response »
BKP do :
BKP don't :   

Poplar :  « particular resonant tone  »
BKP do :
BKP don't :   

[the prince of shred]

id be interested to see what others think on this one... i dont know as im a lowly college student with only 1 guitar :(
but yh mm's in mahogany....

[Adam.M]

I don't think categorizing it into just wood groups is really going to work, there are far too many other variables that can affect it such as construction and guitar type, what works in a Les Paul might not work in an SG or a Mahogany Strat. Chambered, solid, semi-hollow or hollow... list could go on forever.

I think it would be best to have people submit their good and bad experiences, detailing what did and did work with the specifications of the guitar and if possible, amp/gear used and what their goal was tone wise.

Now that, collected into one forum post, would be interesting!

[the prince of shred]

+1

(thats a much better idea.... a what works well together post........)

shall we start one? or edit this one to be it?

[dave_mc]

i agree with adam, something along the lines of what each pickup works well for, in which styles of guitars, would be awesome.

and/or for the "classic" styles of guitar (strat, les paul, tele, 335 etc.), which pickups suit best, and for which woods (e.g. some strats are alder, some ash, and then some have maple fretboards and some rosewood)...

[the prince of shred]

ok then so whos gunna step up and make this post then??  :lol:

[Will]

:lol: nice idea, but would it work? People are going to still see the cool names like Nailbomb and Warpig especially.

[Jonny]

Well I don't have the experience, but I could piece it together. And post it altogether once we get everything. Since I did do the pickup sample clips sticky.

But again, I'd need other people to send their stuff in, or something..

Yeah.

[dave_mc]

i'm only suggesting it, i've only tried the MM bridge and CS neck, so i'd be no help... :lol:

[ericsabbath]

I wouldn't call basswood powerful and it doesn't have any extra "bass" than most woods
very neutral sounding and not really resonant wood
I wouldn't even call it a "tonewood", since it hardly influences the final tone
usually a good wood for trying pickups and amps, cause it's very neutral, imo

and ash is far from midrangy

never tried poplar, though


I love the usual mahogany body + set neck and maple top
it's hard to find a pickup that doesn't work well on mahogany (at least for something)
a maple neck can be great on mhg body too
I actually hate thin sounding bodies
I can live with korina, brazilian cedar, nato, andiroba (also known as crabwood or "bas tard mahogany") and other similar middy/warm sounding woods
but I hate scooped/thin/spikey/fender sounding woods
I had several alder guitars and I can't stand them for over a few months :(
it is definitely a "well-rounded", very loud and good sustaining tonewood, but not really balanced or evenly voiced
it always comes with that damn "fender" signature sound that I hate  :x
it sounds way more powerful and more alive than basswood and less spikey than ash, but it needs way more mids to please my ears

[Dr. Vic]

OK guys thanks for helping building and starting this difficult topic. I was unsure about how to introduce it (suspected fillin the blank with the BKP Do and Don't wouldn't be enough without further details because what can be a good combination for someone might not work for another guitarist)....My purpose was to talk about what particular combination(s) worked – or not – for you !

Anyway, you exactely get the idea :

i agree with adam, something along the lines of what each pickup works well for, in which styles of guitars, would be awesome.

  8)



So, to start with :

1/ I heard that Nailbomb sit well in bright wood, but that the result would be more uncertain in darker sounding wood like Mahogany or basswood.

2/ it seems that the Painkiller is at his best in big dark sounding bodies, rather that in an all maple guitar....

3/ then The Miracle Man seems to sit well in quite all wood,

Any comments, thoughts or experiences regarding those first 3 ones in your guitars ?

[Dr. Vic]

Humm...You should be right Eric, basswood isn't powerfull, (I never played a basswood guitar), but I saw some controvertial informations about this one... 

As for the Ash, the description was at least a comparison with alder, as you guess, as they are both the ones used for your beloved fender stratocaster... :lol:

And as for me the ash version of the strat has always sounded more agressive, percussive, dense always more biting, more in the mids mids, to my hears...

[dave_mc]

i'm only going by what i heard, but i always thought that the nailbomb was the recommended choice for basswood Ibanez RGs? I could be way off, and if I am I apologise, just going by what I (think!) I've read in the forums. :)

[ericsabbath]

The Miracle Man seems to sit well in quite all wood

I wouldn't it put on alder or ash
too much high end to be "raised to the exponent" by the MM

Humm...You should be right Eric, basswood isn't powerfull, (I never played a basswood guitar), but I saw some controvertial informations about this one... 

As for the Ash, the description was at least a comparison with alder, as you guess, as they are both the ones used for your beloved fender stratocaster... :lol:

And as for me the ash version of the strat has always sounded more agressive, percussive, dense always more biting, more in the mids mids, to my hears...

ash definitely has a strong character, maybe even more than alder, and it is very aggressive, dense and percusssive as you said, but not middy, imo
it carries the fender (tele) curse that I hate  :lol:
I wouldn't go ceramic on ash