What EXACTLY means a calibrated set of pickups?

[hermetico]

Hi all,

I am wondering what in the heck really means a CALIBRATED set of pickups, in practic terms.

Does it means that, given the same height from poles to strings will I get the same output level or....?

[Antag]

No it just means the bridge model & its corresponding neck model in a box together :)

The BKP neck models are designed & wound specifically to compliment the bridge model, not necessarily give the same level of output (although they will "balance" well together).  The neck model is a different pickup to the bridge - they don't just turn the same pickup around & stick it in the neck, it is wound entirely differently.

i.e. Holy Diver bridge + Holy Diver neck = Holy Diver calibrated set
Holy Diver bridge + VHII neck is not a calibrated set, although they will work well together.

[AndyR]

That's interesting Antag - I'd always assumed that "calibrated" implied some sort of matching up of the two pickups as well.

I'm not sure how, never really thought about it... but I'd always thought that getting a Holy Diver bridge and neck at the same time would have the two pickups somehow checked for "final compatibility" before shipping. If you bought the bridge first and then the neck months later, you'd be fine, but it wouldn't have that extra magical "these two look like they go together", er, "calibration" by the boys at BKP :lol:

Eg, I have two sets of Blackguard Flat 50s, I can't put a finger on it, but they are slightly different in character, obviously they're in different guitars, and I can't be bothered to swap things around to confirm or not, but I've just got a feeling they're the same but slightly different - which is kinda what I'd expect from "handmade" items.

I don't think it means "given the same height from poles to strings will I get the same output " though, hermetico - it's not what happens with the way I use them :D

[hermetico]

The neck model is a different pickup to the bridge - they don't just turn the same pickup around & stick it in the neck, it is wound entirely differently.

Yup. I noticed that Nailbomb Neck seems to be differently voiced than Nailbomb Bridge. Different animals.
That's why I am asking this.

[AndyR]

Just went for a prowl round the FAQS on the main site and found this.

What does "calibrated set" mean? A calibrated set of humbuckers(or single coils for that matter) are pickups wound to optimise tone and output for their respective position, ie bridge and neck humbuckers are wound differently and often feature different magnets too. The strings move alot more over the neck pickup and generate more current so neck pickups are often wound to have a lower output in comparison to a bridge in order to achieve better clarity and balance between the pair. The best way to think of a calibrated set is as a matched pair.


I think the "matched pair" is what led me to reach my conclusion - but Antag's explanation would fit it just as well without any extra testing of a pair before shipping.

[Antag]

I've always understood that if I bought, say, a bridge Holy Diver, then a few months later got a neck Holy Diver & put it in the same guitar, I'd effectively have a calibrated set, even though I didn't actually buy them as such.

If the variation was so great that a neck pickup bought some time after the bridge (or vice versa) didn't match properly, then it would imply something was wrong with one or both of them.   Yes, hand wound pickups may vary slightly from one to the other, but BKP's quality control ought to be such that two pickups of the same model made months apart should sound pretty much the same, barring a deliberate spec-change in the meantime.

[Philly Q]

That's interesting Antag - I'd always assumed that "calibrated" implied some sort of matching up of the two pickups as well.

I think there's a degree of that, especially when pickups are being made to order rather than taken from stock.  

(e.g. Overwound neck/middle Trilogies to match with a Sinner bridge)

But what Antag said is right, I'm sure.  Every pair/set of pickups sold by BKP hasn't been through a process called "calibration" before it leaves the building (if it has, then hats off to 'em  :D ).  

I think basically, as Antag says, a Holy Diver bridge is a Holy Diver bridge and a Holy Diver neck is a Holy Diver neck, regardless of when you buy them.  Unless you've asked for something different.

[Fourth Feline]

I am probably using my matched sets  differently from AndyR   ( i.e. for 'blending ' Jazz/ Blues tones subtly - I tend to want no volume jump  when I select the bridge pickup , as distinct from neck and / or neck / bridge combinations).   In this respect, my B.K.P. seem to end up set at the same height from the strings as each other on bridge and neck - and at the treble and bass ends.

This is probably just my preference, as I am hardly likely to be going off into an exciting guitar solo  anytime soon . :lol:  

Of course, on my Manhattans. Mules and Stormy Mondays, this is of course acheived with the same magnets - but different windings ; whereas - the M.Qs are quite different across the magnet and windings within the matched set for the same effect.

I like this , as with my old Gibbo pickups ( for example ) - the bridge and neck pickups would not set this 'evenly' .

I also presume that Tim and his team ( on a box to box basis ) also pair a neck pickup that comes off the bobbin winder with a slightly higher or lower impedance - with a corresponding bridge that is just a bit higher or lower in impedance too.  (?)   :)

[hermetico]

I am probably using my matched sets  differently from AndyR   ( i.e. for 'blending ' Jazz/ Blues tones subtly - I tend to want no volume jump  when I select the bridge pickup , as distinct from neck and / or neck / bridge combinations).   In this respect, my B.K.P. seem to end up set at the same height from the strings as each other on bridge and neck - and at the treble and bass ends.

What you are describing here is what I was thinking about all this but, reading the comments above, I still don't get it.
Maybe Tim can chime a bit here.

[Fourth Feline]

What PhilKing says below ...  :D

[PhilKing]

When you get a calibrated pair, they are made at the same time.  After they are made, the resistance is measured and the card written with the details.  Because they are made at the same time, subtle tweaks can be incorporated (for example, compensating for one covered and one uncovered pickup).  This can't be done if you  buy them at different times.  

From speaking with Tim lots of times, this is done if you buy two different pickups as a set at the same time (in this case there may still be a difference between the pickup characteristics, but it is not as extreme as if you bought them separately).  Also, and this is the important bit, you will get a bridge and neck pickup.  In many sets these are totally different pickups (sometimes different magnets, sometimes different DC readings, sometimes even different wire).  Sometimes the difference will be very obvious (Tom used to have a Miracle Man bridge with a Stormy Monday neck in his Foster LP), however they will work together.  I have many mixed pickup sets which Tim set up for me (Emerald/Mule, Riff Raff/Stormy Monday, Nailbomb/Cold Sweat, Warpig/MQ, etc), all of them work together and in some cases, the neck pickups were wound specifically for the set.

[Philly Q]

^  I think that's your definitive answer, hermetico.

[hermetico]

^  I think that's your definitive answer, hermetico.

Seems like this

[ultrafoxus]

yes it's definitive answer ////

anyway have a nice day everyone !!!  :shock: