Schecter C-1 Classic - Black Hawks

[Jeengy]

I am planning on buying some black hawks for the guitar I absolutely love, but I have never bought pickups before. I am looking for suggestions on what configuration as far as alnico and ceramic.

My biggest influence is Between the Buried and Me, which has very heavies as well as some cutting highs. I read that you have to kinda match your pickups with what type of guitar you have (bright or warm) but I don't really know. I believe the guitarist uses alnico for neck and ceramic for bridge, and the fanboy that I am, I am leaning towards that.

Any thoughts?

[Kiichi]

Hi and welcome.

I am just gonna assume you are already set on the BH, which is a great PU, but should you have any doubts please tell, weŽd gladly help out (and probably confuse the heck outa you xD).

Firstly, the alnico ceramic choice is never there for the neck. Infact all necks but one (the painkiller) are alnico.

As for the bridge think about this: Alnico is warmer, more organic, little more growl in the mids
ceramic is tighter, smoother in the mids, more cutting in the highs

For all out metal ceramic tends to be the better option, but alnico delivers more versatility and you should never think that it is not tight enough or such.

Oh, and of course: http://youtu.be/2qacdnnbe2k

Lastly, when you get the BH set be sure to install a splitting posibility, well worth it with that PU.

[Jeengy]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it. I prefer versatility rather than straight metal and it seems like alnico is the way to go. I re-read over his setup and it says that he chose to opt for the alnico bridge; I remembered incorrectly when I created the post I suppose.
As far as how "tight" they may compare to the ceramic, I feel I should read up a little more.

As far as slapping these pick ups into my specific guitar, is there anybody who has a similar set up or can provide input? My guitar is a 2006 C-1 Classic. The cleans are beautiful and with gain sounds surprisingly good as well, but I would like more umph. Hopefully I will not lose versatility as I enjoy playing BTBAM and Dethklok stuff in the low c tunings with big ol strings, as well as jazzy cleans and what not.

Any input is appreciated!

[Kiichi]

Well the alnico one should have all the tighness you need. Every BKP is pretty tight (Crawler least so, but still capable of classic metal and has other qualitys) and this is one of the more modern / metal models so no fear.

I do not really know how well the BH neck really holds itself for jazzy cleans. It is supposed to do that well with that modern feel (bit like an active after all), but I do not know how much people agree with that. Certainly a split wiring always helps improve cleans. CanŽt expect something like a Stormy Monday or Manhattan in sound of course, but I think as far as modern neck PUs go this should be one of the best for jazzy stuff.

Hard for me concidering to recommend another neck, not only for the optical missmatch, but also for the sound / power difference which I cannot really make a good guess about.

[Slartibartfarst42]

It's tricky to do anything with a Black Hawk other than fit a calibrated set because no other pickup really matches it. You could always look at an alnico Nailbomb instead, which is insanely tight and aggressive for an alnico pickup. I found it to be both tighter and more aggressive than even a Miracle Man or Cold Sweat, which are both ceramic. If you had an A-Bomb in the bridge you could put any humbucker you like in the neck and it would be visually fine. Just a thought. Try asking Tim.

[JimmyMoorby]

I did a review of the black hawk once and really should edit it to the following
'Sounds like an EMG but without batteries'.
Just my opinion.

[itamar101]

I did a review of the black hawk once and really should edit it to the following
'Sounds like an EMG but without batteries'.
Just my opinion.

I disagree. It is far juicier sounding than EMGs and a lot more dynamic.
It has all the good qualities of EMGs, though. VERY fast (and loud) bass response and attack and excellent clarity.
The Blackhawks do jazz extremely well, too. They are very hifi and modern sounding but it leads to beautiful, shimmering cleans. It's one of those pickups that excels in the both ends of the musical spectrum (Jazz & Metal) but isn't as suitable for the styles in between (blues, rock, etc.)

[JimmyMoorby]

I've just done a review of the blackhawks  and youre free to disagree of course but theyre my findings and im sure theyre fine for jazz after all emg's were initially aimed at jazz musicians.
I dont find it dynamic at all but maybe in the hands of someone else it could be.

[Jeengy]

Pharmacy school has been kicking my ass. I have done a little more research and found that the alnico would probably be a better choice for my guitar since it is fairly bright. I was almost ready to pull the trigger before I thought "it probably isn't as easy as dropping them in and soldering."

I have never done any kind of pickup work and am hoping no other parts are needed to slap these in my c-1 classic. I don't mind taking it to a tech to do the work, but I am wondering if anything else has to be replaced in replacing the SD JB/Jazz combo to the new black hawks.

[Dave Sloven]

Pharmacy school has been kicking my ass. I have done a little more research and found that the alnico would probably be a better choice for my guitar since it is fairly bright. I was almost ready to pull the trigger before I thought "it probably isn't as easy as dropping them in and soldering."

I have never done any kind of pickup work and am hoping no other parts are needed to slap these in my c-1 classic. I don't mind taking it to a tech to do the work, but I am wondering if anything else has to be replaced in replacing the SD JB/Jazz combo to the new black hawks.

If you have a JB/Jazz combo and the harness is wire rather than a printed circuit board (open the back up to verify this) then it really is just a case of unsoldering the old pickups and soldering in the new ones.  You can of course change pots and caps but if you have found the existing ones to be fine with the JB/Jazz setup then it's worth trying a simple pickup swap.

It's when you have active pickups and switch to passive that things get complicated.

[Kiichi]

Yep, as Agent Orange said. Only thing you have to watch out for is that the wires of BKPs follow a different color code, so have a look at those (FAQ section of the website) and do those minor mental adjustments. If you can handle a soldering iron though and the rest of the electronics is not bad it should be pretty darn easy as far as wiring jobs go. Exchanging the pots and caps for high quality ones like the BKPs would not hurt, but is in a lot of cases not nececary.
So if you have no complaints with the electronics so far, just look up the color code and drop em in. Choosing a PU is much harder than installing them =)

[Dave Sloven]

I doubt that SD pickups would be connected to a PCB, but if that's the case get back to us.  You need to either install a custom harness or solder the same sort of connectors that you have on your existing pickups to the ends of the correct wires on the BKP if that's the case.

I think they are mainly in Gibsons and Epiphones at this point.

[Jeengy]

Thanks all for the responses, I really appreciate it. I am ready to pull the trigger and was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on where to order from (I am in the US). I found an order form from axepalace.com and wanted to get you guys' input as well, also there were two options that concerned me.

String Spacing:
"50MM -- ideal for most fixed bridge guitars" what I chose
"53MM -- Ideal for most tremolo guitars, but works in anything"

If I end up getting another guitar will the second option work for both guitars or not really?

Leg Length:
"Short Leg -- reccommended in 99% of guitars" Seemed like a safe bet to me
"Long Leg -- recommended in guitars with deep cavities (Ie: Les Paul)"

So, any experience with ordering from axepalace?

Thanks!!

[Jeengy]

I just realized there is a Buy Online button on the main BKP website, is that the way to go?

[Dave Sloven]

I just realized there is a Buy Online button on the main BKP website, is that the way to go?

That's how I do it here in Australia.  The 20% VAT comes off the price but you may have an import duty to pay, depending on US policy.

On the leg length, spacing etc the best way is to remove the pickups and have a look.  You don't have to disconnect the wires, just lift them up enough to look at the legs.  Otherwise someone here might have this guitar and can tell you what they had. 53mm is Fender spacing and is common on super strats and anything with a floating FR type tremolo system.  You can measure this.