Hi everybody,
I just want to make a little report on my experience with getting some Bare Knuckles, for whatever it's worth. The last two paragraphs are probably the interesting ones.
I got myself an Ibanez Universe, it's a UV777P, I think 2003, and I found the factory Vai pickups to be absolutely dreadful. TBH it was the first time I've really thought much about pickups on a guitar, other than singles vs humbuckers. I'm also not primarily a guitarist, I should note. After some deliberation I found that BKP would likely be the best choice and went on to research what pickup would suit me and my guitar best. My music being heavy/power/progressive metal and the guitar of course being a basswood body seven string. I use regular gauge, standard tuning.
I learned that wood quality and type would have a significant impact on what choice pickup would fit, and this made my choice a bit harder. But many accounts from this forum pointed to Holy Divers, Nailbombs, Aftermaths being top choices that would work, and also suit my tastes as I really like that fat middy tone. I mostly like to use the neck position for leads and solos though, and seeing as I love the old neo-classical sound the Cold Sweat seemed like a splendid choice for that, and accounts from this forum supported the for basswood too. I also decided to get a PAT Pend 63 for mid position as I found its sound clips on the site most appealing; very sparkly and nice.
Ultimately I went for a Aftermath in bridge position, Cold Sweat in neck and by recommendation of BKP Sales, a Trilogy Suite in mid, in order to better match the output level of the humbuckers. I also changed out the pots, caps, the switch and the jack, as the metal parts on the guitar were a bit worn, and using better electronics could perhaps benefit my tone. BKP were also kind enough to supply me with some nice push back cloth wires for the job, free of charge. See the full order spec at the end of the post.
I had a bit of trouble fitting it all into the snug cavities of the guitar, partly because of the size of the pots and cap from BKP, but mostly because I lacked a wire stripper to properly customize the length of the wiring. I also had to widen the middle pickup hole in the guard a bit. After some bad joints (my first guitar job) I got it up to working order, as per
this spec.
First impressions: wow. The Aftermath, both for seven string stuff and in general sounds like all I could ever have dreamt. Present, clear, aggressive, beautiful. From the top of the highs all the way to the bottom. Basswood and Aftermath is thus a golden combination in my book.
Unfortunately the Cold Sweat in neck doesn't woo me. Although it sounds very good, it does sound just a little bit dull. This may be to its lack of mids, which was the main problem with the factory Blazes too, although what's missing here isn't quite the same, so I'm not sure. This could very well be remedied with the right amp, though, something which I have not yet delved deeper into.
I'm also very satisfied with the mid Trilogy Suite, which paired up nicely with the other two. I was afraid it wouldn't be as useful as a real sparkly vintage pickup, but this is actually much more fitting. Positions two and four do exactly what they should, and although the three is a bit noisy, it does sound very nice as well.
All in all I'm very satisfied with my purchase, and especially with the customer service I got prior to making my purchase. The mid SC of course had to be custom made, which to me seems more like made-to-order than custom; I barely had to ask, and the lead time wasn't bad either. Some very helpful clarifications were made and tips given, and I find it hard to imagine myself going to anyone else for pickups in the future. BKP did everything I asked and more, from start to finish, and after a few months I'm still thrilled by the sound of this thing, which went from bland to beastly.
End of essay : )
