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Author Topic: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....  (Read 2975 times)

Holy Schnikes

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LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« on: February 06, 2012, 06:42:03 AM »
Hello gents! New to this forum and Bare Knuckle wares in general but I hear constant praise.

Currently have a 68 RI Les Paul Custom, came loaded with 57 Classics. While I don't completely hate these pickups, the highs are a bit too much, brittle sounding even, and the cleans (esp the neck position) sound muddy to say the least. The output is sufficient for the heavyz but I'd like a little more punch.

Looking for a higher output pickup perhaps though nothing insane. Also wanting warm, round, well balanced cleans. Finally, I'd really prefer a HB that's coil tapped (4 conductor) if the option is available. Any recommendations?

darkbluemurder

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2012, 08:38:14 AM »
Hi and welcome to the forum!

Easiest things first: all BKP humbuckers can be ordered with a 4 conductor wire to give you all wiring options.

For a LP Custom I would recommend the Rebel Yell set. The bridge will give you more punch than the 57 Classic, and the neck is very articulate and clear.

Cheers Stephan

ericsabbath

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2012, 11:45:25 AM »
black dogs
Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

Twinfan

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2012, 11:51:20 AM »
Exactly the thing I was looking for recently for my PRS Singlecut, and I went for Black Dogs.  I considered Rebel Yells, Emeralds and Cold Sweats too so you might want to look at the specs and listen to some clips to make your mind up  :)

Holy Schnikes

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2012, 03:51:24 PM »
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Gonna get busy watching clips.

As for coil tap, anyone using that feature with the Vintage Hot series? Do they pack enough output for single coil mode??



black dogs

The LP in your avatar is the exact model I'm inquiring about. Crazy as I never see other "Aged/Antiqued" Pelham Customs anywhere (until now that is)! Do you have Black Dogs loaded in that one?

« Last Edit: February 06, 2012, 03:55:14 PM by Holy Schnikes »

Twinfan

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2012, 03:58:45 PM »
The coil splits on my Holydiver set were really nice, I liked them a lot.

darkbluemurder

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2012, 04:38:48 PM »
As for coil tap, anyone using that feature with the Vintage Hot series? Do they pack enough output for single coil mode??

I use this with the Abraxas bridge in a super strat. Works really well.

Cheers Stephan

Telerocker

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2012, 06:03:53 PM »
My VHII does a good splitted sounds, so does my Crawler.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

ericsabbath

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2012, 10:39:32 PM »
black dogs

The LP in your avatar is the exact model I'm inquiring about. Crazy as I never see other "Aged/Antiqued" Pelham Customs anywhere (until now that is)! Do you have Black Dogs loaded in that one?

that's just a pic I found on internet and added the 'lol wut' pear meme mouth  :lol:

I actually own a '73 custom (solid pancake)
I remember the '68 is chambered, right?
I think the dense midrange of the black dog should work pretty well for a chambered les paul custom, maybe even better than in a solid one
Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

Holy Schnikes

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2012, 09:37:21 AM »
Yep, it's chambered indeed. Black Dogs look killer, same goes for the Abraxas. Think I'm leaning toward the higher output though. That Abraxas set sounds super mean but puts out some equally gorgeous cleans in a few clips I've watched. Pretty versatile pickup.

Anyone wire HBs for series/parallel switching as opposed to coil tap? Never tried it myself, any advantage beyond hum cancellation?

Gibson 1964

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #10 on: February 09, 2012, 11:20:35 AM »
I have done series/parallel instead of coil tap before on non BKP pickups. In fact, I have a JB equipped guitar that will soon be getting my abraxas installed in it with that setup.

Honestly, I prefer it to the coil split as I like having no noise and most humbuckers have such a volume drop when split or just sound anemic. However, I have found that it is not an earth shatteringly different tone once you add any substantial amount of gain.

For me, the coil split sound is unusable, but series and parallel both have uses. But once you crank the gain if you are into that the difference IMO with the JB is that it is fairly subtle at higher gain settings.

There is a voicing difference and a slight volume difference.
Miracle Man, Abraxas, A-Bomb, Riff Raff, Emerald, Aftermath, Holy Diver, Cold Sweat, Piledriver

Holy Schnikes

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Re: LP Custom Bare Knuckle advice....
« Reply #11 on: February 15, 2012, 09:11:03 AM »
^ thanks for the info, much appreciated.

I'm with you on on the low/no noise preference, esp on the cleans, but def agree it's negligible with coil tap + gain. I can get some killer sounds out of a coil tap but only by mixing pickups, rarely go with straight single coil for the reasons you noted. This time around, think I'll give the series/parallel setup a go, see how it works out....