anyone a/bd the BKs?

[Ochaye]

swap 'em over and try 'em out. at £220 you are bound to like 'em...not trolling folks ,just curious...anyone a/b their gibson HBs with the MULES for example?

when you swap them over it is a little dificult to directly compare methinks

[Twinfan]

No point - you know how it sounded as stock, and it sucked, so you bought BKPs...

[HTH AMPS]

No point - you know how it sounded as stock, and it sucked, so you bought BKPs...

^

quote of 2012 right here, lmao  :lol:

[Miracle Man]

I replaced the stock 57 classics in my Gibson with Mules. Twinfans post above pretty much sums it up. I mean, there are obvious EQ, output and feel differences, but the bottom line is that the stock Gibsons just didn't inspire me the way BKPs do.

[Telerocker]

No point - you know how it sounded as stock, and it sucked, so you bought BKPs...

Stock Gibson- and Fender-pickups are decent, but miss the mojo of BKP's. I have BKP's in all my guitars. Didn't look back.

[WhiteRam]

Stock Gibson- and Fender-pickups are decent, but miss the mojo of BKP's. I have BKP's in all my guitars. Didn't look back.

+1

Not difficult for me to hear the difference with days between an A/B.  F*nder and G*bson are 1 dimensional, BKP are multi-dimensional...and more open, and transfer the heart, mind and soul to the amp/speakers transparently.

There's a place for all good pickups no doubt, but hearing the difference is not difficult and has nothing to do with money.

edit: sentence structure.

[38thBeatle]

I have arrived at a point where I am now thinking of changing the pickups in my Gibson 339. It is my first ever h/b equipped guitar and I wanted to get used to it. All my Fenders are BKP equipped after I had become curious to see if they could be improved by a change and they most certainly did.

[Alex]

I replaced the stock 57 classics in my Gibson with Mules. Twinfans post above pretty much sums it up. I mean, there are obvious EQ, output and feel differences, but the bottom line is that the stock Gibsons just didn't inspire me the way BKPs do.

"Inspire" is a great way to put it.

[darkbluemurder]

I did a lot of pickup swapping in my 30+ years of guitar playing. Even though it takes between 15 and 30 minutes to swap pickups I do not find it too difficult to notice the differences. Sometimes they are subtle and sometimes they are dramatic. Sometimes when I put in pickups which I had replaced before I come to different conclusions but more often than not initial conclusions are confirmed. 

What makes this all difficult is that the pickups are only one element in the signal chain, starting with the player and ending with the loudspeaker. They are an important element because they are quite early in the chain and they are the first element converting the string signal into an electric signal. Pickups sound differently in different guitars, and change the amp or speaker and your initial conclusions may no longer apply.

Whatever anybody on this or other forum says - the only true way to find out whether you will like a specific pickup in your guitar is to try it in that guitar with your set up. What you can do to minimise the chance of disappointment is to become very clear about what you want to achieve with the guitar and what you are not hearing in your present set up.

Cheers Stephan

[gordiji]

It's a fair question Ochaye.There's a great vid on you tube comparing Gibson 57's (i think) with mules, the one where theguy uses a park amp.There's not much in it if you listen, although youtube may corrupt the sound, but this would penalise both pups wouldn't it ?
I've not really changed like for like on my guitars so its easy for me to prefer the bkp's, eg. my Tokai lp had quite powerful pups that i didn't like and having swapped them for VH 11/ stormy 11 it sounds miles better but very different.
If i bought an R8 or something v.high end i'd be pretty pissed if i had to change the pups to improve it.(but i wouldn't buy anything v.high end so it's acedemic).

[WhiteRam]

I did a lot of pickup swapping in my 30+ years of guitar playing. Even though it takes between 15 and 30 minutes to swap pickups I do not find it too difficult to notice the differences. Sometimes they are subtle and sometimes they are dramatic. Sometimes when I put in pickups which I had replaced before I come to different conclusions but more often than not initial conclusions are confirmed. 

What makes this all difficult is that the pickups are only one element in the signal chain, starting with the player and ending with the loudspeaker. They are an important element because they are quite early in the chain and they are the first element converting the string signal into an electric signal. Pickups sound differently in different guitars, and change the amp or speaker and your initial conclusions may no longer apply.

Whatever anybody on this or other forum says - the only true way to find out whether you will like a specific pickup in your guitar is to try it in that guitar with your set up. What you can do to minimise the chance of disappointment is to become very clear about what you want to achieve with the guitar and what you are not hearing in your present set up.

Cheers Stephan

+ 1 !!!

Younger and amature players would be very wise to print out Stephan's post above, hang it on the wall in your personal practice room, and read it until you understand it all. Verbatim.

[Dusty]

It's a fair question Ochaye.There's a great vid on you tube comparing Gibson 57's (i think) with mules, the one where theguy uses a park amp.There's not much in it if you listen, although youtube may corrupt the sound, but this would penalise both pups wouldn't it ?

The most crucial problem in recording guitars is mic placement, and 99% of gear test videos on youtube are very poorly recorded.
Place the mic half an inch to the left and a 59' Les Paul plugged into an old Vox AC30 sounds like one of those Ibanez' with the friggin monkey grip played through a Line 6. I'm currently recording some new tracks with my band, and we've been struggling with mic placement in the new recording room for a week. It can just drive you crazy.
My Engl E650 sounds like utter shitee in every single youtube video I found, and it sounds like an absolute killer in reality.
Everytime I'm interested in a new piece of gear, I go on youtube and watch every video with it, only to realize I need to go to the store and just try for myself :)