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Author Topic: Pickups for MM Luke  (Read 5581 times)

-M-

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Pickups for MM Luke
« on: May 03, 2012, 10:56:22 AM »
Since having put VHII's into my PRS, I'm now sold on BKPs  :P

Therefore, I have decided to swap out the pickups in my Luke for something else.
I've kind of decided on getting a set of a VHII and two Irish Tours, but I'm open to other suggestions.
I'm going to be using the guitar in a cover band, so I need it to be fairly flexible, playing anything from 70's funk through 80's and 90's rock and MUSE  :P

One question though: can BKP make the single coils without the "lip"? I'm not keen on taking a router to my guitar.
The gift of death metal does not smile upon the good looking.

Philly Q

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2012, 02:55:03 PM »
One question though: can BKP make the single coils without the "lip"? I'm not keen on taking a router to my guitar.

It certainly used to be possible to ask for an "EMG shape" single-coil.  It wasn't an option in the online shop, but they'd do it by special order.

May not be available any more though, BKP have been moving away from offering endless variations on the standard models.

Best thing would be to phone or email and ask direct.
BKPs I've Got:  RR, BKP-91, ITs, VHII, CS set, Emeralds
BKPs I Had:  RY+Abraxas, Crawlers, BD+SM

-M-

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2012, 10:49:34 AM »
Well, just got an email back from the guys at BKP and it turns out they can still make an EMG sized single coil  :D
So I guess I'll be putting an order in pretty soon.

What do you guys think about getting the VHII + IT set?
Or should I be looking at something else?

Also what pots should I get? I'm guessing 500K pots will make the singles a little too bright?
The gift of death metal does not smile upon the good looking.

Philly Q

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2012, 12:10:22 PM »
VHII and ITs sounds like a great versatile set to me, I don't think you'll go far wrong with that unless you have very specific requirements.

A lot of people do use 500k pots with HSS sets, I think it depends whether you want to "prioritise" the humbucker, the single-coils or find a compromise which works with both.  There are also ways of adding resistors to the circuit so the HB "sees" 500k and the SCs "see" 250k.

When I bought my Abraxas/Slow Hand HSS set, Tim suggested 300k pots so that's what I went with.  Haven't got it wired up yet though!  :lol:
BKPs I've Got:  RR, BKP-91, ITs, VHII, CS set, Emeralds
BKPs I Had:  RY+Abraxas, Crawlers, BD+SM

Telerocker

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2012, 12:21:27 PM »
VHII and ITs sounds like a great versatile set to me, I don't think you'll go far wrong with that unless you have very specific requirements.

A lot of people do use 500k pots with HSS sets, I think it depends whether you want to "prioritise" the humbucker, the single-coils or find a compromise which works with both.  There are also ways of adding resistors to the circuit so the HB "sees" 500k and the SCs "see" 250k.

When I bought my Abraxas/Slow Hand HSS set, Tim suggested 300k pots so that's what I went with.  Haven't got it wired up yet though!  :lol:


I went for 500K pots (VHII/MM's), but I'm thinking about replacing them with 300K's.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

-M-

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2012, 06:45:16 PM »
Just put in an order for the VHII - IT set today  :D
Went with a 300K pot and a push-push tone for splitting the bridge.

I was a bit torn on what covers to pick though. I was thinking a black cover on the bridge bucker would be quite classy.
In the end though I just thought sod it, and went with burnt chrome instead :P
It's not going to be as classy looking, but who cares right?

Now I'll just have to wait for the pickups arrive  :D
The gift of death metal does not smile upon the good looking.

TheyCallMeVolume

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2012, 06:58:40 PM »
Congrats!

darkbluemurder

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #7 on: May 08, 2012, 08:52:23 AM »
VHII and ITs sounds like a great versatile set to me, I don't think you'll go far wrong with that unless you have very specific requirements.

A lot of people do use 500k pots with HSS sets, I think it depends whether you want to "prioritise" the humbucker, the single-coils or find a compromise which works with both.  There are also ways of adding resistors to the circuit so the HB "sees" 500k and the SCs "see" 250k.

When I bought my Abraxas/Slow Hand HSS set, Tim suggested 300k pots so that's what I went with.  Haven't got it wired up yet though!  :lol:


I went for 500K pots (VHII/MM's), but I'm thinking about replacing them with 300K's.

There's no need to change the pots. You can wire a 470k resistor to the 5-way selector so that it is not in the signal path when the humbucker is selected, thereby having a 500k pot with the humbucker. In all other positions, the 470k is in parallel to the pot, making it approx. 230k - 240k. That is the set up I use with my Abraxas equipped HSS guitar (the singles aren't BKPs).

Cheers Stephan

-M-

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Re: Pickups for MM Luke
« Reply #8 on: May 08, 2012, 02:27:38 PM »
VHII and ITs sounds like a great versatile set to me, I don't think you'll go far wrong with that unless you have very specific requirements.

A lot of people do use 500k pots with HSS sets, I think it depends whether you want to "prioritise" the humbucker, the single-coils or find a compromise which works with both.  There are also ways of adding resistors to the circuit so the HB "sees" 500k and the SCs "see" 250k.

When I bought my Abraxas/Slow Hand HSS set, Tim suggested 300k pots so that's what I went with.  Haven't got it wired up yet though!  :lol:


I went for 500K pots (VHII/MM's), but I'm thinking about replacing them with 300K's.

There's no need to change the pots. You can wire a 470k resistor to the 5-way selector so that it is not in the signal path when the humbucker is selected, thereby having a 500k pot with the humbucker. In all other positions, the 470k is in parallel to the pot, making it approx. 230k - 240k. That is the set up I use with my Abraxas equipped HSS guitar (the singles aren't BKPs).

Cheers Stephan

This might be a dumb question, but how exactly would you wire something like that?
Do you have a schematic or something?

I'll probably try the 300K pots first though, but this seems like a really good solution.
The gift of death metal does not smile upon the good looking.