Is UOA5 only used in Nolly sig?

[yellow eyez]

Just wanted to know, since he said that he wanted something different brought to the table , not just for BKP but for pickups in general , that he used UOA5

Are Nolly sigs the only UOA5 in BKP lineup?

I’d love to know more about them in terms of compared to alnico 8, especially for top end and clarity, as well as brightness without being shrill

Does Alnico 8 get used ever by BKP?

Are there any other besides the ThroBak that used UOA5? It seems only BKP and ThroBak used it and I wondered why …

[timmy_b]

Unoriented / isotropic Alnico v is used in the Polymath, PolyPaf, Peacemaker, Unity (neck) and Halcyon (neck). The power is WAY less than Alnico 8, which we don't use at all, mostly because we don't like the dynamic feel which can be quite sterile and we find drifts into territory that is way better served by ceramics.

[yellow eyez]

Unoriented / isotropic Alnico v is used in the Polymath, PolyPaf, Peacemaker, Unity (neck) and Halcyon (neck). The power is WAY less than Alnico 8, which we don't use at all, mostly because we don't like the dynamic feel which can be quite sterile and we find drifts into territory that is way better served by ceramics.

Ok I see; I should’ve clarified : I meant for the bridge

So it’s just the peacemaker then besides the poly twins in the bridge ;However the Polypaf and peacemaker are vintage hot and suited for classic rock PAF whereas the polymath is hotter (non PAF pickup?) ,and suited to metal in that respect???

I’ve read in order to work in a hi gain setting you’d want to put the pickup poles as high and close to the strings as you can(???)

So I suppose in that regard, it is unique to be a contemporary and modern metal UOA5 bridge pickup, as it doesn’t seem to exist elsewhere ; certainly not the way these can pickup sound  for a nice metal tone anyway but what do I know ? Ha


Thanks tim

[timmy_b]

I think that what you need to bear in mind is that there are no absolutes in terms of what pickup will or won't work for a particular genre - it really depends on what suits you and your playing style. Personally, i would have absolutely no issue in using a low powered PAF style humbucker to build a crushing modern metal tone, but I pick pretty hard, so I don't need a super hot pickup all the time. Not everybody is the same, so, certainly, some players want a more traditionally "metal" recipe in order to get them into that zone.

With the Polymath in particular, it's a medium output pickup with a really broad voicing, so it gives it a lot of appeal to a lot of different players, all the way from those who like a ballsier-than-vintage pickup for low gain playing to those who like a dynamic, controllable pickup for high gain and everyone in between. Certainly, running the pickup closer to the strings delivers a crisper attack, so I know that Nolly really likes how that works out for his playing style.