Pat Pend. '59 Slab Board - maple 'board

[gavquinn]

Hi all,

New poster here, long time BKP user and reader of posts here.

I wanted to share my experience with BKP Strat pickups and address some recurring talk I see here.

At this stage now I've used the Apache, '63 Veneer Board, Slowhand and '59 Slab Board sets and I read a lot of talk posted on here directing people's questions regarding pickup advice regarding some of these pickups.

One such thing that I see posted often is when someone asks for advice on a set for say, a maple board, alder bodied strat. I saw one thread where someone asked about the Mother's Milk set. The OP asked if anyone had tried these pickups with this wood setup.

Nobody seemed to have tried this set, as nobody replied confirming that they had. Instead, the OP was directed to another set. The advice that was left was in a roundabout way of telling him;

'Mother's Milk are for rosewood, you want the Apache set, that's more suited to maple, that's what you want, you won't be disappointed,'

Now, not to be pedantic, but these kind of replies aren't answering the person's question, they're telling them what to do based on words they read somewhere.

I see a lot of comments from people stating that this doesn't suit that, etc and I'd like people to stop giving out such advice.

My first set was an Apache set purchased for my maple strat and I was pissed off frankly as they were far too rounded and fat for what I wanted. My strat didn't need softened treble or anything like it. My strat is very warm anyway and doesn't require that. They were too dark and the nice bright attack was totally dulled for my taste.

My strat is now fitted with a Slowhand (B), '63 Veneer (M) and '59 Slab Board (N)

My issue with the above mentioned comments I've seen is that people insinuate that certain pickups are not a good choice or I dare say an incorrect choice. This isn't the case, it's just not true.
Advising people based on what the description says is something that anyone can read. Advising people based on actual experience is another thing altogether.

I have the Pat Pend pickups in the neck and middle of a maple strat and they're brilliant. They ARE NOT unsuited or too bright, they are superb. The '59 slab board in this maple strat is probably my favourite neck pickup tone ever.

Do try them, trust what you want, be advised that the EQ differences aren't extreme. If you like bright, go Alnico V, (as a rough guideline rule of thumb). If you want to darken some treble, consider Apache. It's not a case of; 'these woods = this pickup', so I think it'd be good if people wouldn't give advice or try to tell people what to get based on this.

I was actually very disappointed with the Apache in the neck position, despite reading assurances that I wouldn't be...   

[PhilKing]

I have many BK's and they are usually not in the guitars you would expect to put them in.   My first "sets" were totally different pickups, Emerald/Mule for a 58 Les Paul replica and Crawler/P-91/P-91 for a PRS EG.  That said, I do have many in the guitars they were recommended for.  I have Apache's in my 57 Strat, Mother's milks in an HSS set (with a VHII bridge), Sultan's in a basswood body Strat with an ebony board (a great combo btw) and so on.

Tim told me to put 63 Veneer boards in my 57 hardtail strat, which work great, with the maple neck.  I have IT's & Slowhands scattered around - my Squier Duo Sonic has Slowhands in it (it's kept in Nashville tuning for rhythm work).

I think the sound of the guitar acoustically is what should determine which pickups you go for (along with the sound that you are trying to get, of course).  The other thing that will make a huge difference is the strings that you use.   All my guitars have pure nickel strings, which I think are mellower than steel and nickel plated strings, though I think they have better harmonics.  Bare Knuckle will steer you in the right direction, but they can only go by what you tell them.  I've had great fun with matching guitars and pickups, but have had a lot to go at.

My advice is to listen to the some things with the sound you are looking for, see what sort of sound your guitar has now, and then look at what will be best for it, without looking at what the recommendation is for.  After all the recommendations are based on average guitars and not your specific one.

[Telerocker]

BKP and forummembers provide general guidelines and usually reply the best they can. They're are no absolute rules or something. I'm with PhilKing on this one.

[Dave Sloven]

Absolutely.

The thing is that many people just come here and ask a question expecting a definitive answer, without taking the time to search through previous discussions on the topic that already exist.  There is generally a diversity of opinion on here, deriving from diverse experiences and expectations.  There are some points of consensus.  For example, most would agree that the Emerald bridge pickup is bright and best suited to a darker guitar that naturally has a lot of bottom end.  But some of the more obscure options might not have anyone here with recent experience of them, and at best they are responding based on what they read here years ago.

Chances of someone having used a selection of BKPs (including the ones you are interested in) in the type of guitar you have and understanding the style and sound you want are limited at best, and that's not taking into consideration differences between examples of a type.

If you want expert advice, ask the manufacturer directly.  BKP are good at responding to emails.  If you don't like what they send you, then you can send it back. If you'd like a broader range of opinions, come here and maybe we can help.

I have to just put this out there though:  the stupidest thing I see on here is people discussing pickups strictly on the basis of the EQ charts that BKP provides.  First, they only provide bass, mids, treble, and we all know that there are more specific frequency bands that cause issues.  Those EQ charts are at best a very rough guide.  Second, discussion of neck pickups on the basis of those EQ charts is especially stupid, as all of the charts are for bridge pickups.  No charts exist for the neck and middle pickups, and they are often quite different in terms of their characteristics.  This is pretty much a beginner's mistake here and I get bored with people saying stuff like 'I like the clips I've heard of the Cold Sweat neck pickup that I've heard but looking at the EQ chart I fear it will be too bright'.  This issue regarding the charts has been repeated ad nauseum here and every time I see this kind of question I know that the person asking it hasn't read much on here before asking the question.

[Saito]

as all of the charts are for bridge pickups

Therein lies the problem. Or at least part of it.
If you want a bright bridge pickup you know roughly where to start looking, thanks to the rough EQ charts.
If you want a bright neck pickup you have no idea where to start looking.

Other manufactures provide rough EQ charts for the bridge & neck models. Why can't BKP?
It would save a lot of stupid question (yes there will always be stupid questions, but ideally there would be less of them) and help point people in the right direction.

Also if the EQ chart doesn't specify that it is the bridge only model, then people misinterpreting the information is bound to happen.

[Telerocker]

That is a returning question here. It would be helpfull when BKP provide EQ-charts en proper descriptions for all the neckpickups too. Plus not only dc-resistance, but also the output. I mean, a VHII is nearly as hot as a Crawler, but we can't read it anywhere.

[Dave Sloven]

If nothing else it would prevent a lot of confusion and we wouldn't have to field questions about the 'bright' Emerald neck pickup any more! (it's not bright at all)