Pickup option selection when purchasing BKP's question

[O731]

Hey guys so I'm getting close to buying my new BKP pups (A bombs for my 1980 Les paul custom, and C-bombs for my SG standard) and just have a question on the options I have to select from when purchasing. I'm used to simply buying pickups from a trusted retailer and using it straight out of the box, but I see that I have several options to customize my order with BKP..

Can somebody give me the lowdown on my options here, as in which ones I should select? by the options I mean stuff like leg length, conducter, bridge spacing, etc. I have no idea what these things mean and need somebody to help dumb these terms down for me.  8)

Thanks!

[bandmaster188]

Leg length should be long leg on gibbo's, although saying that I have an 89 Lp custom and the stock pickups were short leg in that. Long legs will fit though. Not sure on sg's though.
Get 4 conductor as this gives you the option for coil splitting or 2 conductor if you want it vintage correct.
Spacing should be 50mm for gibsons. This is the string spacing at the bridge. Fenders are 53mm.
Hope this helps!

[Kiichi]

Leg length should be long leg on gibbo's, although saying that I have an 89 Lp custom and the stock pickups were short leg in that. Long legs will fit though. Not sure on sg's though.
Get 4 conductor as this gives you the option for coil splitting or 2 conductor if you want it vintage correct.
Spacing should be 50mm for gibsons. This is the string spacing at the bridge. Fenders are 53mm.
Hope this helps!

+1 on the legs
+1 on the conductor, I would not say no to the extra options. If you donīt wanne use them just leave everything as they come, which is white and green wire taped together. Things like splits and series / parralel are nice to have imho.
+1 on the spacing too. 53 is also used with tremolos like floyd rose. Even if you got the wrong spacing you would not notice a difference most of the if I recall

There also is the cover / no cover option. Mostly this is just a visual thing, but there is a bit of a sound difference, although BKPs have adjusted winds when a cover is fitted to keep the difference small. Generally open coils have a tad more high end and therefore sound more open, which covers are a tad more rounded.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D756154qUdo

[Dave Sloven]

I am happy with my Nailbomb in my SG, which had the following options.

4 conductor (default)
Long legs (essential for bridge pickup!!)
50mm spacing
Chrome covers

If you order this exact set-up your pickups will look *exactly* like the Gibson ones from the outside, especially if you reuse the Gibson philips head mounting screws (BKPs come with straight slot screws).  If you choose open with the black bobbins it should look very much like what you get with the various SG Specials, including the Faded.  If you are lucky enough to have an SG Menace I guess there might be some kind of custom bobbin colour option you could ask for.  On your Les Paul you might want a zebra option, just make sure you get the screw/slug colours around the right way.  Les Pauls also use the same leg, wiring, and spacing (unless you have a Floyd Rose).

Otherwise you have other cover and bobbin options that you can choose to make it look different.

Definitely get the 4 conductor wiring.  You might want it one day.  If not it just sits there doing nothing and causes no harm, and if you want to sell them the resale will be higher.

On the Nailbombs I don't remember having a choice of pole screws.  Mine are the default ones and they look very close to the Gibson screws.

Remember that if you have a newer Gibson with the PCB a whole new wiring harness with a new bridge ground wire is likely to be the best bet.

I would also paint the cavity with shielding (copper-based) paint if I took my harness out again.  I only found out about that since.

[O731]

Thanks for the help guys really appreciate it

[Dave Sloven]

No worries.  You will absolutely need the long legs in the bridge position of the SG.  That's the main thing to be aware of. You will have noticed that the bridge pup sits up high due to the neck tilt

[ericsabbath]

if you're replacing a 498t on the sg, get a 53mm bridge pickup
gibson notches the bridges accordingly with stock pickups
all 3 "T" bridge pickup models are f-spaced for some reason
asian bridges and most of the germans are usually 52mm

[Dave Sloven]

Yeah actually I was looking at mine the other day after posting that above and wondering if the measurement I took was incorrect.

It originally had a 498T and I did measure it but it might have been slightly wider than the neck pickup originally.  I also ordered the Warpigs in the same 50mm spacing :-/ I can't see the 3mm difference though, and I'm sure it measured 50mm from E to E ...

I don't think it's affected the sound but a 53mm spacing would have been better in terms of swapping it around to other guitars ...