Advice and experiences needed to help me choose some pickups!

[chrisola]

Hello

Long time member but not really touched my guitar or followed gear stuff for about 7-8 years, and totally out of the loop on BKP developments! Getting back into playing in a big way now, caught the itch again.

I'm reading reviews etc but thought i'd ask for peoples views! I already have a custom super-strat with a Nailbomb bridge and Sinner neck, so already in the BKP family!

I'm looking to put some BKPs in my other guitars, as follows:

ESP LTD Viper Baritone (tuned to C) - going for a bridge Warpig (and putting the EMG from my EC1001 into the bridge). I had a Warpig when they first came out and it was awesome...but i can't remember if it was a Ceramic magnet or not.

What would people suggest?

ESP LTD EC1001-FR - Replacing the EMGs with a Miracle Man for the bridge..i'm set on that. However for the neck i'm not sure. I'm not a really a lead player, but for the odd noodle and harmonies I'd like something relatively thick, that sings, but isn't overly treblely (if such a thing exists) I was thinking The Mule, Holy Diver or VHII.

What do you think? Would they be too low output compared to the MM bridge?

I'll be playing everything metal (classic - thrash - death - black  - doom) on my EC1001 so need a good all rounder for the neck.

My setup is still being put together but I have:

Marshall DSL5C
Boss SD-1 Waza Drive
Boss DM-2 Waza Craft
Joyo Gates of Khan noise gate

And on the way:

ENGL Fireball 60w
1x Orange PC-112 (v30)
Audiostorm 125 Pro Attenuator
KARTAKOU Warmer (modded TS808 clone)
Hovercraft Amps Laguna Sunride od \ fuzz \ distortion
Rowin Noise (ISP Decimator clone)
Keeley 30MS ADT

(yes i had a MASSIVE GAS attack with several years coming out in the past week - literally been researching everything and grabbing what i like!)

Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions and experiences.

[Dave Sloven]

I have the Cold Sweat neck in an SG with the Miracle Man.  When I replaced the CS bridge with the MM bridge I had to move the neck pickup closer to the strings to balance the pickups.  Other than maybe the HD I wouldn't recommend those neck pickups with the MM.

What you say about the Viper is confusing.  I'm assuming you mean an EMG in the neck slot.  I wouldn't recommend mixing passive and active pickups.  The Warpig should be good in the bridge.  For what you are playing the ceramic might be okay.  Alnico is possibly the safer option for classic and doom but might not give you the tightness for thrash and death.  I have a Warpig (A5) set in an SG and if I was to buy them now I would probably go for a ceramic WP in the bridge and an Aftermath neck.

[chrisola]

I have the Cold Sweat neck in an SG with the Miracle Man.  When I replaced the CS bridge with the MM bridge I had to move the neck pickup closer to the strings to balance the pickups.  Other than maybe the HD I wouldn't recommend those neck pickups with the MM.

What you say about the Viper is confusing.  I'm assuming you mean an EMG in the neck slot.  I wouldn't recommend mixing passive and active pickups.  The Warpig should be good in the bridge.  For what you are playing the ceramic might be okay.  Alnico is possibly the safer option for classic and doom but might not give you the tightness for thrash and death.  I have a Warpig (A5) set in an SG and if I was to buy them now I would probably go for a ceramic WP in the bridge and an Aftermath neck.

Thanks. i thought the Mule and CS might be a bit low output.

So for the EC1001...MM bridge and them I'm looking at...the Ragnarok? The output looks alright and the tone chart with the high mids and lowish treble might suit my setup.  Need to do some listening to clips and look up some reviews.

For the Viper i was going to use the EMG 85 from the neck of my EC1001 - but yeah, maybe mixing active and passive is not a good idea - i should probably sell both the EMGs!  I'd have to save some money before i could get a neck pickup for the Viper, but i think a Warpig bridge and Aftermath Neck could be good.

[darkandrew]

I have the Cold Sweat neck in an SG with the Miracle Man.  When I replaced the CS bridge with the MM bridge I had to move the neck pickup closer to the strings to balance the pickups.  Other than maybe the HD I wouldn't recommend those neck pickups with the MM.

What you say about the Viper is confusing.  I'm assuming you mean an EMG in the neck slot.  I wouldn't recommend mixing passive and active pickups.  The Warpig should be good in the bridge.  For what you are playing the ceramic might be okay.  Alnico is possibly the safer option for classic and doom but might not give you the tightness for thrash and death.  I have a Warpig (A5) set in an SG and if I was to buy them now I would probably go for a ceramic WP in the bridge and an Aftermath neck.

Thanks. i thought the Mule and CS might be a bit low output.

So for the EC1001...MM bridge and them I'm looking at...the Ragnarok? The output looks alright and the tone chart with the high mids and lowish treble might suit my setup.  Need to do some listening to clips and look up some reviews.

For the Viper i was going to use the EMG 85 from the neck of my EC1001 - but yeah, maybe mixing active and passive is not a good idea - i should probably sell both the EMGs!  I'd have to save some money before i could get a neck pickup for the Viper, but i think a Warpig bridge and Aftermath Neck could be good.

What's your plan for the pots (don't forget that they will need to be changed if you're going from active to passive)? I did a similar EMG to BKP swap in my Eclipse and rather than ream the holes to fit standard pots with a wider diameter collar, I used an EMG Hz passive wiring loom.

[chrisola]

I have the Cold Sweat neck in an SG with the Miracle Man.  When I replaced the CS bridge with the MM bridge I had to move the neck pickup closer to the strings to balance the pickups.  Other than maybe the HD I wouldn't recommend those neck pickups with the MM.

What you say about the Viper is confusing.  I'm assuming you mean an EMG in the neck slot.  I wouldn't recommend mixing passive and active pickups.  The Warpig should be good in the bridge.  For what you are playing the ceramic might be okay.  Alnico is possibly the safer option for classic and doom but might not give you the tightness for thrash and death.  I have a Warpig (A5) set in an SG and if I was to buy them now I would probably go for a ceramic WP in the bridge and an Aftermath neck.

Thanks. i thought the Mule and CS might be a bit low output.

So for the EC1001...MM bridge and them I'm looking at...the Ragnarok? The output looks alright and the tone chart with the high mids and lowish treble might suit my setup.  Need to do some listening to clips and look up some reviews.

For the Viper i was going to use the EMG 85 from the neck of my EC1001 - but yeah, maybe mixing active and passive is not a good idea - i should probably sell both the EMGs!  I'd have to save some money before i could get a neck pickup for the Viper, but i think a Warpig bridge and Aftermath Neck could be good.

What's your plan for the pots (don't forget that they will need to be changed if you're going from active to passive)? I did a similar EMG to BKP swap in my Eclipse and rather than ream the holes to fit standard pots with a wider diameter collar, I used an EMG Hz passive wiring loom.

argh hadn't thought about that! I'll have to have a look. What type would i need? The 550k ones (for example from the BKP shop)?. I might have a couple from when i had my Warpig from years ago.

Was the HZ kit a straight forward swap?

[Dave Sloven]

If you mean just going from the regular metric size shaft to the CTS shaft it's not too bad.  I just used a hand reamer.  If the pots themselves are the mini type you might find a lack of room underneath

[ericsabbath]

ESP LTD Viper Baritone (tuned to C) - going for a bridge Warpig (and putting the EMG from my EC1001 into the bridge). I had a Warpig when they first came out and it was awesome...but i can't remember if it was a Ceramic magnet or not.

What would people suggest?

ESP LTD EC1001-FR - Replacing the EMGs with a Miracle Man for the bridge..i'm set on that. However for the neck i'm not sure. I'm not a really a lead player, but for the odd noodle and harmonies I'd like something relatively thick, that sings, but isn't overly treblely (if such a thing exists) I was thinking The Mule, Holy Diver or VHII.

What do you think? Would they be too low output compared to the MM bridge?

I'll be playing everything metal (classic - thrash - death - black  - doom) on my EC1001 so need a good all rounder for the neck.

I'd pick the c-pig over the a-pig
It sounds a lot more alive, with nicer crunch, in my experience
The a-pig is softer in a way that it sounds more like a medium gain pickup

A neck pickup that's thick, sings and isn't trebly sounds pretty much like the miracle man neck, unless you're really looking for lower output
I think the neck cold sweat matches the miracle man pretty well, but it's brighter and treblier in comparison with the neck miracle man

[Dave Sloven]

Yes the Cold Sweat is a good match, it just needs to be raised slightly to match the MM.

My point was more that you wouldn't want to go for a lower output neck pickup than the CS neck, e.g. the Mule.