questions about irish tours

[stratdave]

im looking at a set of irish tours, but have a few questions. firstly, is having a RW/RP middle pickup recommended? is the white prewired pickguard the three ply white/black/white one? would apaches drive my amp hard enough for a nice fat distorted tone? and lastly staggered or flat polepieces?
thanks

[Jonesy]

Well the RW/RP reduces humming in possitions 2 and 4. However, it also results in less mids with a slightly hollow tone...depends what your after.

The flat or stagger profile depends on the radius of your fingerboard. What guitar are you using?...Theres been a few threads on it in the near past.

As for the irish tours ability to drive your amp into a good, fat distortion tone. To an extent. I dont own a pair, but they seem to be aimed at specialising in that raunchy blues tone (think Rory Gallagher or SRV). However, they dont have too much output, so a 'fat' distorted tone may need an extra overdrive/ distortion pedal or something.

 Hope this helps...

[stratdave]

im using a strat which as far as i know has a fingerboard radius of 9.5 inches. does that mean i should go for the staggered polepieces? i quite like the interesting sounds i can get out of the strat with the noise cancelling positions, especially when one tone is up full and one is down to 1, it gives a cool, almost phased, sound.
thanks for the help.
does anyone know about the pickguards?

[Jonesy]

Ye, go for the modern stagger (as opposed to the vintage one).

I'd guess the pickguard would be three ply white/ black/ white. Thats standard and the site doesent say nay different.

Good luck 8)

[stratdave]

theyre not available in a modern stagger. :(

[deg0ey]

Threadstarter: Sorry in advance for the hijack

I've noticed when bending on my strat (especially on the neck pickup) that the notes become undefined and quieter when the string leaves the safety of the area directly above the poles - are there any options i could suggest when upgrading to BK's that stop this from happening or is it just part of having single coils?

[38thBeatle]

Hi Welcome to the forum. I cannot help with any advice about the IT's other than by saying that BK's care passionately about tone and you can therefore be sure that they will produce it in abundance. I can only comment on my own experience with Apaches and Slowhands and it it fair to say that the Apaches are relatively low output and therefore do not drive the amp to any great extent ( you asked about this in your original post). What they do is produce that beautiful classic Strat tone that we all love and that forms the basis of your sound. You can then use the amp to colour what comes out of the speaker. Crank things up and it sounds wonderful- I have used them live cranked up many a time. With BK's you do the old trick of backing off the volume to clean things up.  RW/RP cleans up the position 2 & 4 -not sure about the radius of your guitar and also cannot answer about the 3 ply pick guard

[Elliot]

Irish Tours are available in modern stagger - you just request it on the order form or telephone BKP and ask them to make them for you that way.

[Chris1974]

I have a set of irish tours on my strat and they sound great, I can't compare them to any other stock Bare knuckle pickup as I haven't heard any.  With mine I can get a real gritty, meaty, raw sound out of them when cranked either with an overdrive pedal or distortion channel on amp they really do drive your amp ahrd if you want them to, just means not having to turn the gain up as much as you would with other pups.

Like everyone says - all the classic Gallagher, SRV, Hendrix tones are there to be dialled in , but they also clean up really well so don't worry about them being a one trick pony.  You can still get the Little wing / under the bridge tones convincingly.

As well as playing quite heavy rocky/bluesy style music I also have a more sensitive side to my playing and like to play knopfler-esque clean sounding gentle type tunes, again i have no problem getting the sparkly clean strat sounds that i hear in my head.

If you desire a pickup with a hard edged, rockier sound but still dynamic enough to play the other end of the tonal spectrum then they are a good choice.

Good luck !!!

[TwilightOdyssey]

Welcome, stratdave!

im looking at a set of irish tours, but have a few questions. firstly, is having a RW/RP middle pickup recommended?

If you want positions 2 & 4 to be hum cancelling, then yes, go with a RW/RP middle pup. On its own, it's not going to sound so great (IN MY OPINION) but if you like the tone of #2 and #4, then go for it.

is the white prewired pickguard the three ply white/black/white one?

No clue.

would apaches drive my amp hard enough for a nice fat distorted tone?

No; Apaches are very low output and are not meant to drive an amp hard. Neither are the Irish Tours, actually, though they are hotter and have a treble peak that will cause amp breakup.

If you want a smoth pickup that will distort nicely, you should look at the Trilogy Suite. Great pickup!

and lastly staggered or flat polepieces?
thanks

I have both. I prefer the LOOK of staggered. I've never really noticed anything different in my tone using either/or. There are some that will claim there's a difference, and I'm not saying there isn't one, just that I've never heard one, and I'm a very picky listener.

Hope this helps.

[jordan]

would apaches drive my amp hard enough for a nice fat distorted tone?

No; Apaches are very low output and are not meant to drive an amp hard. ...

I hate to confuse things, and I sympathise with you cos I was in your position a few weeks back, but don't be fooled by the apparent lack of output of the Apaches.

For a long time I didn't consider them because I was worried they'd not handle being driven hard, but I have them in my 50s strat (see sig link) and through my Rivera (admittedly, a fairly high-gain amp) they can really cut the mustard. Of course their clean tones are fantastic, but the driven tones are wonderful too. I don't (read: won't?) use them for metal, but they easily handle Whitesnake/Bon Jovi/Satriani/Eric Johnson tones.

Again, sorry, you might not have been looking for this answer.....but I nearly didn't get the Apaches cos I was worried about lack of output, and I'm very happy I went with them now. Through any decent valve amp you'll not fail to get great tones from them.

Cheers,
Jordan

[TwilightOdyssey]

Jordan, I agree.

I think that the Apaches WILL do distortion, but they will NOT do what the thread's originator asked, "a nice fat distorted tone". Of course, that's MY opinion, and my idea of a fat distorted tone is probably gainier than some and not as gainy as others.

I hate to get into semantics on this one. Hopefully that will clear up my perspective a bit!!

[PhilKing]

You can get any pickguard I think.  I got a single ply for my aged Apaches, and at LGS the aged Irish Tours were in a W/B/Mint aged scratchplate.

[Elliot]

I own an Apache bridge pickup - it sits in my Mexican 50s Fender - I love its tone, and it does great strat distorted tones in a blues style of tone:  -

For a fat distorted tone I would say I agree with Twiglet Odyssey and state the Apache is not the ticket - I reckon ITs would hit that spot much more easily.

[Joe Dorcia]

Hey Stratdave

I have both ITs and Apaches (both in Ash strats IT maple FB, Apaches Rosewood FB) and they are bloody fantastic. I love a big fat and driving distortion but love my cleans, cannae be bothered with humbuckers though :) . The ITs will drive your amp more and with more bass and will definately give you a fat distrtion. In fact go to http://www.myspace.com/fortyseconds nd listen to the player thae stage. I am the lead guitarist playing the clean and distortion with delay and the complicated rhythm part in the middle B and lead party at the end. That is all done with my IT strat, the distortion is mainly in position 4 but the lead and the complicated rhythm is bridge only. There's no EQ or compression either, the tones recorded were so damn good :) (the other guitar is a tele with a yardbird neck and the singing, my bro, sings through his piledrier bridge)

The Apaches are noticably thinner than the ITs will lead bass but much more bite and that great 50' sound, and by adding a bit more bass to your amp EQ can easily make a huge distorion (i use a DSL 50 head btw).

Finally, staggered, hmmm.... my apaches are staggered but my ITs are not. not too sure on the difference it would make. As for the bending and loss of volume, i dont get it, even before running my keeley compressor before at the strat of my effects. Maybe deg0ey, your notes are choking on dodgy fret work, action is too low or the wood doesnt have the same sustain levels as other blocks of wood.

Hope my essay helpoed :)

Joe