:P Hello Everyone and thanks for this most awesome forum...
I've been checking out BKP's for a long time now since they were mentioned on my most visited forum, rig-talk.com - I'm Ventura over there too, so come on by and say hi...
I need some PRO or SEASONED advice here. My goal is quite simply, to get the tone IN MY HEAD, out to my PLAYING and EARS. I have a number of amps, all high gain monsters. I do have this brilliant lil' Peavey Classic 30 which has just undergone a serious facelift - Genalex Gold Lion EL84's, Tung Sol 12AX7's, and get this, a beauty new Celestion Alnico Gold 12". It's only a 1x12 combo right now, and may stay that way - but I may build a 2x12 extension, this isn't material to my question though. Although THIS is THE amp I'll be using to GET the tone I'm speaking of...
I have an older Hamer Archtop Studio, circa early 90's. Great guitar - solid mahogany back and neck, quilted maple top, decent poly lacquer finish, rosewood fretboard. It plays ultra easy and is one of my all time "go to" guitars. I am wanting to rid the guitar of its old/tired pups, and want BKP's in there. But here's the rub:
I'd like 2x humbuckers, both will be coil-tap able via the 2 volume controls on the guitar (2 vol, 1 tone)
The humbuckers in the single coil config need crisp, vintagy, sparkling cleans right down to dirty OD sounds (think Jimi/Clapton/Beck style tones)
The humbuckers in the dual coil (natural) config need that brown, vintage, dirty overdriven Zep sound right over to Zappa-esque tones (due to his numerous tones, lets just say his real articulate, overdriven, dirty stuff found on "Shut up n' Play".
The reason I mention the guitar wood and the amp its going through is because that's all part of the chemistry. A classic Alnico based cone with tube driven power stage is critical IMHO. I'd like to know, WHAT BKP's are the ones that I can most likely GET this style of set up? I've listened to SO many of the clips off this site, and although the Mules are up there, I own 3 LPC's that have Gibson's versions (again, IMHO) of Mules stock in them already. I was thinking the Black Dogs or Cold Sweats or a combo of the two, 1 neck (Cold Sweats) and 1 bridge (Black Dogs).
I'm staying away from the contemporary pups as I have an arsenal of hi-gain style guitars and amps. This lil' Alnico/Hamer/BKP project is to breathe life into a tone that's been dead for decades...and I want to be the guy who has it back on tap.
ANY INFO OR ADVICE FOR THIS NEWBIE WOULD BE SO GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!
V.
