Black Dogs...too dark in my custom built LP ???

[Dan Salter]

Hiya...im a new guitar builder and recently built a les paul set neck, classic standard design ...the only difference being i have opted for a more unusual and beautiful looking wenge cap rather than maple ( rest is normal mahogony body and neck and i have ebony fingerboard)

Without hearing any bare knuckles but impressed with the hype  i opted for a set of calibrated open black dogs as im a massive zep fan /player...and guessed these were based on jimmy....
But ...they seem very dark in my guitar ( obviously the cap will be a little darker than maple)...and as i have them both coil tapped i tend to play with them both in single coil mode just to eeek a bit more treble from them....
Is there a more treble based model than the black dogs without going into modern zakk territory?....What sound do the geoff whitehorn ( a local friend of mine of old) crawlers have?
hope this post isnt too dumb....?

[big steve]

afaik, the crawlers have a bit more bite to them. i haven't played them so i can't really help much, sorry

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

Hi there,
    Wenge is quite a mid oriented wood, My Warwick bass neck and finger boards are made from it. So with the added midrange of the Black dogs I would imagine it is a bit too much.
     The Crawler is quite high output and is wound with vintage wire so It doesn't have the mid growl of the BD's.It is Bright and very clear... PAF on steroids. The other way to go would be the Riff Raff which is brighter again and amazingly clear and lower out put.

Welcome to the forum!

Id love to see a picture of your axe... I love wenge!

[Dan Salter]

Yeah....that would have been a simpler way to describe it...its way way too much mid range.....and it seems daft building a classic set up twin humbucker les paul like my original gibbo to find myself playing with the coils tapped all the time ...haha

Ill look into the crawlers i think as im happy about a slighter hotter higher output than standard vintage but not too much.

ill try and get a pic posted as soon as i work out how.,....and thanks for the welcome its nice to be here. ;-)

Wenge is yummy...its quiet hard to work though but im pretty sure and happy i have the first les paul with a wenge cap ha ha. ( that i have seen anyway)

Next to be sorted is my early jap 50's reissue tele which has the usual screaching weedy bridge pick up....i see BKP do some single coil sets for teles? any recomendations ...dont want to lose too much of that vintage vibe though just some of the feedback. ?

[PhilKing]

Hi - I have 3 LP's with BK pickups.  I have the Riff Raff paired with a Stormy Monday - this gives the classic older Les Paul tone (Kossoff/Green), but can be driven beautifully and cad really rock out too.  Then I have an Emerald/Mule set - a bit more rocky than blues, think early 70's Thin Lizzy and more Green Manalishi Mac, and the other has the Abraxas IV set - as the name implies, early Santana.  I am thinking that perhaps the Riff Raff or the VHII would work for you.  The Crawler is a great pickup too, a bit more drive to it than the Riff Raff and VHII.  I have VHII's in a PRS Artist, and they sound great.  I never really heard a wenge topped guitar, I have always seen it in Alembic's or bases (though my custom bass is purple heart and maple).  I bet it looks great though.

I really am leaning towards the Riff Raff for what I think you want.

BTW, go for Yardbirds or Boss in the Tele. I think the difference is 50's vs early 60's sound.  If you like Zep, then the Boss would make sense, but they are quite bright.  Another wicked Tele pickup is the Piledriver!  I have one of those and they rock!

[Dan Salter]

Firstly i just wanted to say wow...and thanks to all of you...i only joined a few hours back and have had several helpful friendly replies....why cant all forums be this nice?

Ill take on board all of what you all say.....for the wenge capped les paul ill look at the riff raff / emarald/ crawler options and i cant wait now to start checking out the telecaster options you mention.
It has to be said bare knuckle have the coolest pick up names/ set names in guitardom !!....and the best pick up cover finishes if you go this route ! (My gibbo les paul has covers so i may get some aged nickel or similar)

Im off to bed soon....its nearly 2am here but ill check back in tomorrow and start to look at the options all you guys have offered...
And philking.....your guitar collection is making me jealous ! haha ;-)

[Ratrod]

Personally, I think the Riff Raffs would be better for that guitar. Crawlers are great but they do have alot of midrange. However, Crawlers are not dark sounding.

[Dan Salter]

Hmmmm....riff raffs are edging ahead in the recomendation stakes it would seem. ?

[PhilKing]

There is one other pickup that I really am enjoying, but I have it in mahogany and it has a lot of mid range, but it sounds great (feeds back really well too).  That is the new Rebel Yell, I picked up my claibrated set of double creams at music live and have them in my PRS Standard.  They sound fantastic, really good drive but just a beautiful clean tone.  I know Steve Stevens has them in a Les Paul, so i was wondering if they would work in the wenge too.

I am waiting to get a Black Dog set, so I can't tell you how the sound compares.  I am actually moving my Riff Raff/Stormy Monday into my 335 and putting the Black Dogs into the LP that had them in.  But it will be a bit before they arrive I think, because I have tons of other things with Tim too!

[TwilightOdyssey]

And philking.....your guitar collection is making me jealous ! haha ;-)

Phil's collection would make Jimmy Page jealous!! :)

[Dan Salter]

Phill.....im sure in a regular maple capped les paul the black dogs will sound great !...as we said before i think the thick wenge cap is already very middy so the black dogs just get too muddy .

[Ratrod]

And philking.....your guitar collection is making me jealous ! haha ;-)

Phil's collection would make Jimmy Page jealous!! :)

Only the Edge has a bigger collection. I believe he has 800 or so.

[Dan Salter]

wrong...
Im pretty sure BILLY GIBBONS and JOE PERRY can both top that amount but i could be wrong....Aerosmith have a whole warehouse full of there gear going back years and most of it is joes guitars and amps....

[Johnny Mac]

I saw a photo of Eddie Van Halen sitting in the basement of his house and it was full of Marshall plexis! He said everytime he saw one he bought it cos it might just have that tone he likes!

Once you get this Bare Knuckle addiction it never stops! I've got 3 guitars in planning at the moment after getting some earlier this year. I have splashed out on a holiday though before it gets too much!

Welcome to the forum by the way! It's always friendly and helpfull here  :D

[tewboss]

I should be getting Billy's book for Christmas he he.

James Bradfield from the Manic Street Preachers has quite a collection if I remember right. He's got a special storage room just for his guitars.