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Author Topic: New to BK forum.  (Read 1501 times)

Johan Tel

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New to BK forum.
« on: December 04, 2011, 10:56:11 PM »
Hi All

I'm new to this forum. Just wanted to say hi and hit home with my first question. I'm not very electronically gifted, played guitar instead of studying...
Bought my yard birds about a week ago and saw that there are higher valued pods and capacitors available. What does this do? How does it influence the sound? Does it give you more gain?

Thanx

Johan

PhilKing

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2011, 12:14:02 AM »
Hi and welcome. 

Quick answer, higher value capacitors bleed more high end off your signal, higher value pots let more high end through.  The only way to get more gain is by boosting the signal or getting higher output pickups.
So many pickups, so little time

Telerocker

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2011, 01:33:41 PM »
Hi and welcome. 

Quick answer, higher value capacitors bleed more high end off your signal, higher value pots let more high end through.  The only way to get more gain is by boosting the signal or getting higher output pickups.

+1
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

Johan Tel

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2011, 03:32:55 PM »
Hi and welcome. 

Quick answer, higher value capacitors bleed more high end off your signal, higher value pots let more high end through.  The only way to get more gain is by boosting the signal or getting higher output pickups.

All tough I love Roy Buchanan; my wife refuses to listen to him in my car. His Tele sound has too many harsh high-end overtones. Will this be a similar effect with the higher value parts then?

darkbluemurder

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2011, 03:43:14 PM »
All tough I love Roy Buchanan; my wife refuses to listen to him in my car. His Tele sound has too many harsh high-end overtones. Will this be a similar effect with the higher value parts then?

I doubt that such effect will come purely from the pots but higher value pots could enhance it if it is already there. In general, going from say 250k to 280k or vice versa will be a rather subtle difference but sometimes it can make the difference between "not clear enough" and "just right" or "a bit too brittle" and "just right". Years ago I had one tele with a rosewood neck and no matter what pickups I put in (they weren't BKPs) it always had that nasty ice-picky high end which I could not get rid of - except with measures that killed other aspects of the tone which I wanted to preserve.

What pot value do you have right now and do you want more or less brightness?

Cheers Stephan

Telerocker

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2011, 03:54:33 PM »
The toneknob on a tele is the key to different sounds. Just roll off a bit of high end.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

Johan Tel

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2011, 03:49:23 PM »
HI Stephan

I'm building my own Tele, the body is out of Alder and I'm getting a Warmoth neck (Maple/Rosewood finger board) and Yard birds BKP's. I recently manage to have my headstock broken off, on my Heritage 535. I though this could be a project to keep me busy rather than murder my dog that broke my Heritage...  :shock:. I'm into blues, a total addict, love Joe Bonamassa. Basically I’m trying out a new avenue in sound. Curiosity leads me to ask my original question, I still have to buy the electronics...

darkbluemurder

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2011, 04:04:21 PM »
Hi Johan,

Sounds like a cool project. Alder body and maple neck/rosewood board is a tried and true combination. My favorite stage guitar has this wood combination, too.

If you buy from BKP I would go for the 280k pots, both volume and tone, and a 0.022uf Jensen BKP cap. However, 250k pots will work just as well - the difference in gain will be negligible - so will be the difference in highs. I used the BKP 550k pots for a humbucker guitar and they are just very, very good quality. 

As regards switching - the standard three way slider is cool enough for me because it is very easy to handle. The Fender four way switch adds a position that puts both pickups in series instead of parallel which gives you a sound similar to the "both pickups on" position but darker and hotter. I put this into a Tele but found I never used the series position. Craig Anderton has devised a very cool switching scheme using a standard five way switch instead of the three way switch, giving two more sounds to the three standard sounds. Tried it and found I did not use the two extra sounds either. And of course with a multipole switch you can come up with any pickup combinations conceivable - sometimes at the expense of practicality.

Hope that helps.

Cheers Stephan

Johan Tel

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2011, 09:43:35 AM »
Off topic

I'm a little concerned, the Warmoth neck that i Bought for this project has a 10-16" compound fingerboard radius. I'm a little concerned on how it would feel under my fingers. Has anyone bought a similar neck, I’m curious to hear some comments about it?

PhilKing

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2011, 06:07:35 PM »
Off topic

I'm a little concerned, the Warmoth neck that i Bought for this project has a 10-16" compound fingerboard radius. I'm a little concerned on how it would feel under my fingers. Has anyone bought a similar neck, I’m curious to hear some comments about it?

Which carve did you get for the back of the neck?  The standard carve is very comfortable, though I like the V-neck and Clapton carves too.  The compound radius makes the fingerboard very comfy for both chords and leads.
So many pickups, so little time

Philly Q

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2011, 11:47:14 PM »
Nothing to be concerned about, the compound radius feels good!

(I personally like the '59 Roundback)
BKPs I've Got:  RR, BKP-91, ITs, VHII, CS set, Emeralds
BKPs I Had:  RY+Abraxas, Crawlers, BD+SM

Johan Tel

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #11 on: December 12, 2011, 09:12:37 AM »
I Got the Broad neck profile. Love a full neck, for me it’s just a fast as anything else...

Johan Tel

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Re: New to BK forum.
« Reply #12 on: December 12, 2011, 09:44:13 AM »
@ Stephan

Got the pots and the cap, Thnx. Can't wait... Will post picks of the build as it goes along.