BK Humbucker Bridge Pickup Tone Chart

[IntenseJim]

Maybe we could make our own BK pup tone chart? I think it might be helpful. Maybe something like this:

In Les Pauls to my ears:

                    bass ..... mids...... treble.....   adjective

Rebel Yell        4          8              7              exciting, percussive and punchy
Crawler           6          8              5              thick n sweet, attenuated high end
Cold Sweat     7          5              8              cutting
Black Dog        6          6              6              articulate

[kartar]

Maybe we could make our own BK pup tone chart? I think it might be helpful. Maybe something like this:

In Les Pauls to my ears:

                    bass ..... mids...... treble.....   adjective

Rebel Yell        4          8              7              exciting
Crawler           6          8              5              thick n sweet
Cold Sweat     7          5              8              cutting
Black Dog        6          6              6              articulate

In Les Paul Custom:

                       B           M              T              
Holy Diver       6            6              6             Chunky, pretty fat
Painkiller         5            8              8             Tight, aggressive
Cold sweat     4            4              8             Bright and tight
Rebel Yell        5            8              7             Middy rock tone
Miracle Man     7            4              6             Interesting...

Something like that to my ears...

Edits: HD's bass from 7 to 6 and MM added

[JMP2203]

it would be nice if you can separate mids into hi-mid and lo-mid



               bass ..... lo-mid......hi-mid.... treble.....         adjective

C-Pig           8            7             5            6             Saturated and thick
C-Bomb      5.5         5.5           6            6           Crunchy and versatile
MM              7            6            4.5         6.5            Tight and Sharp
            

[LP_LOVER]

In Les Paul Custom:

                       B           M              T             
Holy Diver       6            6              6             Chunky, pretty fat
Painkiller         5            8              8             Tight, aggressive
Cold sweat     4            4              8             Bright and tight
Rebel Yell        5            8              7             Middy rock tone
Miracle Man     7            4              6             Interesting...

Something like that to my ears...

Great stuff.

[BigB]

it would be nice if you can separate mids into hi-mid and lo-mid

Ok but then perhaps with bass / lo-mid / hi-mid / treble ordering instead

                bass ..... hi-mid......lo-mid.... treble.....         adjective

[JMP2203]

it would be nice if you can separate mids into hi-mid and lo-mid

Ok but then perhaps with bass / lo-mid / hi-mid / treble ordering instead

                bass ..... hi-mid......lo-mid.... treble.....         adjective

good point, i just edited mine

[IntenseJim]

I like to keep things simple and I thought of splitting the mids but I'm not really sure if we'll agree and understand lo mids vs hi mids. But  that split and any chart could be really really helpful.  Thanks for chiming in folks!

[kartar]

Hi-mids and lo-mids added:

                       B        Lo-Mids   Hi-mids      T              
Holy Diver       6              7            5           6             Chunky, pretty fat
Painkiller         5              6            9           8             Tight, aggressive
Cold sweat     4              4            6           8             Bright and tight
Rebel Yell        5              6            8           7             Middy rock tone
Miracle Man     7              4            4           6             Interesting...

Something like that to my ears... 

I had C-pig in RG550 and C-Bomb in Dinky and that JMP2203's chart is OK, except MM which I found much more scooped.


[/quote]

[ericsabbath]

Bridge
                    Bass      Lo-Mids   Hi-Mids    Treble    Output        
Holy Diver         6            7            6           6         M/H         fluid, chunky, warm top, very balanced voicing
Painkiller           4            6            9           8           H          tight, very middy, bright top, loud, clean, articulated
Cold Sweat       5            4            6           8         M/H         crunchy midrange, sparkly top, sharp sounding
Alnico Warpig    7            8            6           7           H           massive, grainy and full midrange, NOT dark at all
Miracle Man      8            6            4           9           H           focused, very punchy, grainy low mids, cutting treble
Nailbomb          6            5            5           8           H           focused, punchy, loud, controlled mids, bright top



Neck
                       Bass    Lo-Mids    Hi-Mids   Treble    Output                
Cold sweat (n)     5           5            5          6          L/M         articulated, balanced, fluid, never muds up
Warpig (n)           6           8            5          5           H           fat, fluid, cleaner and darker voiced than the bridge model
Miracle Man (n)    6           7            5          5          M/H         very similar to the warpig neck
Nailbomb (n)        6           5            3          8           M           loud, sparkly top, aggressive 50's PAF on steroids tone

[xSweep]

Bridge
                    Bass      Lo-Mids   Hi-Mids    Treble    Output        
Holy Diver         6            7            6           6         M/H         fluid, chunky, warm top, very balanced voicing
Painkiller           4            6            9           8           H          tight, very middy, bright top, loud, clean, articulated
Cold Sweat       5            4            6           8         M/H         crunchy midrange, sparkly top, sharp sounding
Alnico Warpig    7            8            6           7           H           massive, grainy and full midrange, NOT dark at all
Miracle Man      8            6            4           9           H           focused, very punchy, grainy low mids, cutting treble
Nailbomb          6            5            5           8           H           focused, punchy, loud, controlled mids, bright top



Neck
                       Bass    Lo-Mids    Hi-Mids   Treble    Output                
Cold sweat (n)     5           5            5          6          L/M         articulated, balanced, fluid, never muds up
Warpig (n)           6           8            5          5           H           fat, fluid, cleaner and darker voiced than the bridge model
Miracle Man (n)    6           7            5          5          M/H         very similar to the warpig neck
Nailbomb (n)        6           5            3          8           M           loud, sparkly top, aggressive 50's PAF on steroids tone

I really like this chart set up.


The whole idea of a user created chart is also great. I hope to see this concept  evolve and incorporate many more pickups as well.

[Dr. Vic]

Yeah this chart is a good idea, many companies use it to decribe their pickups, like Duncan... (In fact that was the first thing I was looking at when I discovered BKP....  :lol:)

But for BKP, scoring pickups like this is not an objective method to help on how they would sound on your guitar...

Anyway, Eric, considering you compare the PK and the MM in the same guitar, I was expecting that :
1- the MM would have more low mids than bass
2- the PK would have more bass than low mids

Am I mistaken ? :crazy2:

[Philly Q]

But for BKP, scoring pickups like this is not an objective method to help on how they would sound on your guitar...

No, but it is a useful way of seeing how they compare with each other.  So if you already have a Rebel Yell (say) and find it a little bright or lacking bass, the table could help you decide what else to try.

I think there was an intention to provide this kind of info on the BKP site, the "website update" became a bit of a running joke because it was taking so long (sorry BKP! :P ).  I don't know if those plans have been abandoned now.

[ericsabbath]

Anyway, Eric, considering you compare the PK and the MM in the same guitar, I was expecting that :
1- the MM would have more low mids than bass
2- the PK would have more bass than low mids

the MM was definitely the most bass heavy BKP model I've tried (didn't try the ceramic warpig or the c-bomb)
it has a fair amount of grinding low mids, but not as much low mids as the holy diver, for example
definitely more bass than low mids
the painkiller had a fatter overall midrange than the MM, but less bass than both


the guitar was a brazilian mahogany (same species as the honduran) lp standard copy with brazilian imbuya top and brazilian rosewood
the craftsmanship was kinda cheap, but it was a huge sounding guitar, the most resonant and punchy guitar I had, but with a dark and smooth top (imbuya sounds the opposite of maple)
for that particular guitar, the miracle man was the best
I thought the holy diver wouldn't work, due to the guitar almost excessive thickness and darkness, but it sounded really really good, and better than the painkiller

[xSweep]

Although I think with some careful research and knowledge of wood tonal quality it should be easy to figure out based on this chart...

I think it might be worth while to have an additional column with a "Sits well in/Well suited to:" body wood types.

Could be a cool way to add depth to the chart.

[ericsabbath]

bump