Just got a Bare Knuckle Painkiller... need some advice...

[mo]

I just got a Bare Knuckle Painkiller and the difference in my Ibanez SZ320 was amazing... I had a Schecter Omen (that was stolen) with a BK Cold Sweat installed on the bridge position that had great low end but lacked in the mids and highs. The Painkiller (Tim's recommendation) in my very first band practice sounded freaking amazing with the clarity that I've never heard before from any of my guitars. I love the mids and highs on the Painkiller, but the lows could stand to be a little bit louder. What would you guys recommend that would have the highs/mids of the Painkiller but the lows of the Cold Sweat?

Thanks!

[MDV]

In my experience (which includes having them both in the same guitar) the PK is bassier than the CS.

The difference you hear in the lows is likely between guitars.

You can try flipping the pickup round 180 degrees (assuming you have it in right to begin with) that should increase the low end quite a bit.

[mo]

Thanks for chiming in so fast MDV... I know nothing about installing pickups so I had mine installed and I have to guess that it was installed properly... in your guitar, how would you describe each of the pickups?

[MDV]

The PK has a big but tight low end, grinding mid and a really prominent, kinda 'clicky' high mid spike.

The CS was less bassy, brighter, but overall a bit less middy, tighter, more organic, smoother.

In the sense I referred to, correct is with the screw poles nearest the bridge. Having them nearer the neck will increase bass. Try playing with the height first though.

[mo]

Thanks a lot for the info MDV... I will check my guitar to see the position of the pole pieces... Also, I'm guessing the higher the pickup the "brighter" it will be and the lower the "bassier"?

How would you say the PK compares to either the WarPig and/or the Nailbomb? Because as it stands, I'm loving the highs and mids on the PK... at least in my Ibanez SZ320

[MDV]

All things being equal, yeah. Higher is also hotter. You shouldnt really, in my experience, go less than about 3mm with the PK; its got 3 big magnets in it and the effect on the acoustic resonance of the guitar is noticable.

The highs and mids of the PK are quite dissimilar to both the NB and WP. Its sharper, less compressed, grainier, those two dont have the clicky high mid. If you wanted as similar as possible but with more bass then you its basically a ceramic warpig. Quite a lot less mids though. 

[Dr. Vic]

That's one nice topic, very informative !

I was wondering if the C-NB couldn't be an option, if the PK settings don't give any results ?

[MDV]

C-Bomb is much smoother with considerably more suppressed mids than the PK (quite balanced to the PKs overabundance). They only resemble each other in the low end.

[mo]

Great info MDV... originally (when I was looking at a new pickup and Tim recommended I get the Cold Sweat) I was itching for the C-WarPig... But you mention that the C-WarPig has less mids... So my solution may be just to either adjust my pickup or (my original plan) to just turn up the bass on my rig.

In your opinion... which do you prefer between the C-WarPig or the PainKiller (is it Ceramic?)?

[ericsabbath]

the pk doesn't have any more bass than the cold sweat, just a lot more midrange, including low mids
but I just can't imagine a cold sweat sounding too bassy and lacking high end in any guitar

[mo]

Hey there Eric,

Keep in mind the guitar that the CS was in was a Schecter Omen that had a basswood body... It was pretty good for distorted tones but for clean tones it was very bassy with very little mids or highs... The PK in the Ibanez SZ320 with mahogany body sounded almost (still needing a bit more bass) close to what my "ideal" tone that I've wanted out of a bridge pickup... which for me is somewhere a bit below the attack, low/mid with biting highs, and blissful growl that I get from most neck pickups I've ever tried... in other words, I wanted the feel of a neck pickup in the bridge position. The PK comes very close (at least in my live rig)!!!!

[ericsabbath]

maybe you can ask for a holy diver with ceramic magnet or a more bass heavy painkiller

[Roobubba]

Or, as you already mentioned, turn the bass up on your rig ;)

[Zaned]

I have a feeling that Mo is asking for that low mid kick. The kind you feel in your chest when you attack the strings. That however, is often not as easy as turning the bass up in the amp :)

Try turning the pickup around. If that does not work, consider asking Tim what could be done. I know it's a bit of a pain-in-the-ass procedure sending the pickup back, but in the end it's nice when things just work.

-Zaned

[slayest]

Seems like I just asked a similar question on Painkiller in another thread.
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21093.0

I feel the bass could be a little more when I first got the pup. But after adjusting the height (now it's about 1.8mm from the 6th string when fretting the last fret) and played with the presence on the amp (BTW I use Engl Blackmore whose presence is more sensitive and useful than most other tube amps I tried), now the amount of bass is enough for me. It's just still not aggressive enough. I guess what you ask may be similar. So if you finally have any solution, please don't forget to post it here!  :drink: