Thoughts / suggestions on BKP pickups for playing blues on an SG

[tolm]

Firstly, Hello!  I thought I used to be registered on here already but apparently not so this is my first post and it's a standard newbie question, I guess.

I have some experience with Bare Knuckle Pickups, having had them in various guitars over the years.  I'm currently running a BKP Piledriver for Tele bridge pickup in my home-built Telecaster and I also have a BKP Nantucket P90 in my Epiphone SG Junior. Both are fantastic sounding pickups and will not be going anywhere!

So, on to the topic at hand.  I have a 2001 Gibson SG Special - one piece mahogany body and a big fat mahogany neck - which I've also fitted a Bigsby B7 to.  It plays great and I had been using it in my rock covers band,  However, I've just picked up a very nice PRS for that purpose.  I traded my much under-used Les Paul for that, which used to be my 'blues guitar', so now I'm looking to install some lovely new pickups into my SG in order to mellow it out for some blues, blues rock and maybe classic rock tones.  I'm thinking non-Fender Clapton, Trucks, Moore and Bonamassa would be the sort of range I'm looking for.

Stormy Mondays seem to sound very good from the clips and I like the PG Blues too.  Most clips seem to be in LPs, though, so I'm not sure how those pickups would work in an SG?  I need to lose some of the aggressive edge of the guitar but equally there's no maple cap to brighten the tone.  There's also The Mules, of course, although I've read one report of them not 'working' in an SG.  Finally, I do love P90s so the Mississippi Queens could be an option or maybe a custom 'humbucker sized Nantucket set' as that pickup is awesome.  Kinda feel like an SG should have humbuckers, though ...

Would welcome thoughts, experiences and spurious rumours in equal measure!

[Twinfan]

Welcome!  :)

I would say:

1)  If you want the out-of-phase middle position, get the PG Blues set
2)  If not, go for Alnico II Stormy Mondays.  Classic warm PAF tone for the sounds you're after.

[tolm]

Thanks for the reply. That's pretty much the conclusion I was coming to - the SM and PGs seem to be a little warmer than the others which should mellow the SG nicely. So, the only question is whether I want the OOP middle position ...

I'll be playing this guitar in a pretty basic setup: Guitar -> Drive Pedal -> Amp so having lots of different tones available from the guitar controls would be very useful. The OOP tone sounds great on the demos - and the volume difference could be useful for switching to either neck of bridge pickup alone when you want to cut through. My only concern is whether the OOP tone would sound too thin on an SG?

[Twinfan]

I think it'll sound fine, if that's your thing?

[FELINEGUITARS]

mule in bridge & mississippi queen in neck is a nice combo

[Philly Q]

I'll be playing this guitar in a pretty basic setup: Guitar -> Drive Pedal -> Amp so having lots of different tones available from the guitar controls would be very useful. The OOP tone sounds great on the demos - and the volume difference could be useful for switching to either neck of bridge pickup alone when you want to cut through. My only concern is whether the OOP tone would sound too thin on an SG?

Although the PG Blues is designed to be permanently out of phase, you could always get a set with four-conductor wiring and add a push/pull phase switch to keep your options open.

Or get the AII Stormy Mondays, also with a phase switch, for a very similar end result.

[tolm]

Thanks to all for the replies.  I think I'm decided on a set of Stormy Mondays, with nickel covers most likely. They sound the warmest on the demos and i think will mellow out the agressive mid-range of the SG a bit - although the bridge position should still be able to give a little snarl with my HT-Drive kicked in.  The PG Blues OOP thing is cool - and distinctive - but I don't think I'd use it that much and I'd rather have the flexibility to blend the standard neck/bridge pickup tones together.

Just need to double-check the pole spacing on my SG bridge pickup now. I have a feeling it's 52mm, in which case the F-spacing would probably work better?!

[Philly Q]

If the existing pickup is a Gibson 490T, the polepiece spacing is indeed 52-53mm.

But you could get away with either 50mm or 53mm spacing on a Gibson, the actual E-to-E string spacing over the bridge pickup is somewhere in-between the two.

[tolm]

It's the stock Gibson pickup, which I'm pretty sure is a 490T.  I believe it's actually 52.4mm spacing based on when I installed the roller bridge to go with the Bigsby which, as you say, is in between!  However, I reckon the 53mm spacing will line up a lot better than the 50mm (actually 49.2mm, according to the FAQs) would.

I put a standard spaced bridge pickup in my LP which didn't line up and, whilst it sounded fine, it bugged the hell out of me! :)

[Philly Q]

I've got a 53mm Riff Raff in my SG-X and it works fine, spacing-wise - go for it!  :D

[tolm]

Spot on - cheers!

Okay, I've enough info to make my decision now ...

One set of raw nickel covered Stormy Mondays with a 53mm bridge spacing ordered!  Short leg to make sure they fit in the SG and unpotted for a vintage response.

Come on Tim ... get winding!!

:)

[Twinfan]

Err, if you have an SG Special you'll need long leg pickups I think as they stick out from the scratchplate a lot!

[Philly Q]

Err, if you have an SG Special you'll need long leg pickups I think as they stick out from the scratchplate a lot!

Oh yes, good point!  I was forgetting the batwing scratchplate.  :o

I had a big-scratchplate Flying V with a short-leg JB in the bridge - it was OK, but they used short springs because the long ones wouldn't compress enough.

[tolm]

Yikes!  Hadn't thought about that - was figuring I'd need the short legs as the SG is a lot thinner than a Lester. I've put details of the guitar in the order Comments but I might drop 'em a mail just in case!

[Twinfan]

I would!