General BKP questions

[Keven]

Not wanting to really bump up that old thread, after a week of toying with my BKP's i've been pondering several things, and i wanted to ask you guys a few question

i've got a Black dog7 bridge and mule7 neck, and i'm amazed at how they sound, first question is a recurring one, but if i think, the low strings could use just a touch more high end and pick attack, should i put the pickup closer or further?

second, i've noticed that the BKP high end on the bridge is very sweet, it's full, it's not just a peak in the upper mids, it's like a broad smooth curve that plays all over the lower and upper mids. the lows roar with a soft voice, even with high gain. higher gain just tends to add more treble to the tone and that's it. are all BKP's this sweet or are there models with a sharper high end? not that i'm unhappy, just curious about the general range of their tones.

i think so far my general sentiment is sweet, not harsh.

also, my drummer (and really obnoxious sound tech) complained last saturday that the guitars suddenly got louder, when we didn't touch any of our settings. (neither me nor my partner in arms raised any volume since our last jam, which was also a sound tweak jam).. should i blame the BKP's? i've checked with a VU meter to compare the output of my BKP's with a dimarzio D-sonic and the d-sonic was definitely louder on the meter.. should i attribute this to a picky drummer ;) or is the BKP indeed louder without being louder?

last but not least, what should i got for the next swap? Mahogany 24 3/4 with maple neck and fretboard. currently has PAF Bridge from dimarzio, and now i've found them very harsh all of a sudden. i'm thinking VHII calibrated set, or emerald maybe? i haven't seen much emerald love here and this guitar is dark forest green, so it would be funnily conceptual (but if it sounds like cr@p forget it ;) ) forgot to mention, i want these covered

and it's HSH with auto taps at 2 and 4 on the 5 pos switch.. which single? IT?

phew, thanks for your time :D

[Jonny]

Well I'll assume if you put a microphone closer to a speaker, you'll hear more of it. This is refering to your polepiece question.

I think PKs are packed with mids? So no, to that question.

Dave (Twinfan) has a PRSs with VHIIs I think.. or HDs.. and Cold Sweats work but that's for Les Pauls. So around that area I suppose.

That's my attempt at helping you. With my 'expertise' @ 05:58am and I haven't slept yet.

[Zaned]

Are you sure you replied to the right thread, Jonny? :lol:

To the original question, some BKP are naturally brighter and have more bite than others. None of them are meant to be harsh, although you can achieve that with some carefully planned disaster.

-Zaned

[dheim]

Are you sure you replied to the right thread, Jonny? :lol:

To the original question, some BKP are naturally brighter and have more bite than others. None of them are meant to be harsh, although you can achieve that with some carefully planned disaster.

-Zaned

perceived volume has much to do with frequencies and much less with output... my mules are the lowest output BKPs i own, and their volum seems sometimes higher than warpigs' and painkillers', to name hust a couple of hi-gain war machines...
maybe what your drummer perceives like a liouder sound means just that your guitar is now cutting better through the mix, or has got "new" frequencies that are heard better than others...

[Twinfan]

last but not least, what should i got for the next swap? Mahogany 24 3/4 with maple neck and fretboard. currently has PAF Bridge from dimarzio, and now i've found them very harsh all of a sudden. i'm thinking VHII calibrated set, or emerald maybe? i haven't seen much emerald love here and this guitar is dark forest green, so it would be funnily conceptual (but if it sounds like cr@p forget it ;) ) forgot to mention, i want these covered

The VHII will be brighter and more cutting and may not be what you're after.  I'd go for Emeralds in your case.  "sgmypod" has a set of Emeralds in a Guild Les Paul type so you could PM him if you need any more info on them.

[Keven]

so for a maple necked mahogany the VHII will still be too bright? i've also noticed that my perception that the dimarzio and the duncans' being gainer than my BKP lies in that high end. you can really hear the pick click on the string, alot of that scratchiness is gone now (even though i mostly play parallel to the string, only angle when i want it to scratch (Iced earth riffs, muted low string scale runs) but now i can really exaggerate!)

and i've found that turning up the gain is starting to turn into something i like doing. i always disliked this maneuver as it was turning already compressed pickups into really brittle pickups. but now, i can do this, and keep all my dynamics as well. that's the fun thing about these pickups, the gain is where it matters, in the mids. :D

[Twinfan]

so for a maple necked mahogany the VHII will still be too bright?

I can only give you my experience.  They were in a PRS McCarty rosewood - mahogany body, maple cap, solid rosewood neck, very resonant guitar.  It made it sound like a Telecaster - yes, that bright.  This was into vintage-Marshall-style amps at both low and pub gig volumes.

If your guitar is a bit dull sounding it will work well, but I find lower output BKPs can be very bright in naturally brighter sounding guitars.

[AndyR]

i've got a Black dog7 bridge and mule7 neck, and i'm amazed at how they sound, first question is a recurring one, but if i think, the low strings could use just a touch more high end and pick attack, should i put the pickup closer or further?

I can answer this one! :D

Pickup closer to the strings = more output, warmer/fatter sound
Pickup further from the strings = less output, thinner/clearer sound

So, for your example, lower the pickups slightly on the bass side only.

[Keven]

Yeah, i've done just that while recording and the boominess on the low strings is gone and they sound sweet and creamy :D