What is the most versatile pickup from BKP?

[Shag101]

Hi All,

I've just recently heard about these BKP pups.  I guess I've been living in a box..lol..
Anyway, I was searching through the forum which has loads of helpful info, but felt I should post something up to say HI and give a list of what I got and what sound I want, so hopefully I could be pointed into a direction according to my specific needs.
I will start with what I got.
1. Gibson SG Standard "490R and 498T stock pups"
2. Fender Hot Rod Deluxe stock
3. MXR + Distortion pedal modded to make it much fuller, more responsive, and gets rid of as much fuzziness as possible, making it a richer distortion.
I do plane on buying an attenuator for my amp so I could get the full sound and performance from the HRD.  I cant pump the volume up right now to the sweet spot due to neighbors.  Not to mention I would go deaf if I could go up on the volume to the tube saturation point.  Its just too loud. Anyway

As for my playing style. I am a rhythm guitarist.
Right now I am in a band that plays hard punk music.  Basically I play a bunch of open or palm muted power chords like crazy with an occasional simple solo.  Barre chords are also a major part of some songs.
This is the music I love, but I do like to float around to other genres within the rock confinements.

What pedal could handle distortion nicely and knock you on your butt, but cleans up greatly for basic open chords.

Thanks in advice for any input.

[aisuru]

i had a similar problem trying to decide - i needed versatility. now i've got a 'Black Dog' bridge and a 'Mule' in the neck of my SG, and they're both really versatile. so i can reccomend them especially the Mule, it seems to do everything. sadly, that's the only two i've had direct experience of, but others will probably be able to advise you on the rest of the range.

welcome to the board, and i hope you get what you're looking for  :)

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

The pickup I would go for is the Nailbomb. It is perfect for the kind of music you play and can do most other things too. Check out some of the clips in the player’s room and let us know what you think!

Welcome to the forum!

[Shag101]

Thank for the welcome.

I've been listening to a lot of the sound clips today.  The ones RatRod posted with is Warpig sound great.  The nailbomb clips seem to have more of a metal sound to me on single notes, like a dimebag solo sound.
This is great and useful, but I tend to play more on the vibe of agnostic front, murphys law, cro-mags, ramones, gorilla biscuit and madball to name a few.  80's punk even though a lot of people say that music is dead and will never make a comeback...lol
the mule sounds like a good one that I will check more into, but should i mix and match or get a calibrated set?

[aisuru]

i 'mixed and matched' and it works out fine for me, although a Nailbomb or Warpig might not be as close a match for a Mule as the BlackDog was. but they may be able to do some kind of custom winding *cough* voodoo *cough* trick to even them out a bit?

[TwilightOdyssey]

Welcome Shag101! I would imagine you live pretty close to me.

I currently have 2 guitars with BKPs in 'em; you're welcome to try em out any time.

[Shag101]

Welcome Shag101! I would imagine you live pretty close to me.

I currently have 2 guitars with BKPs in 'em; you're welcome to try em out any time.

Wow!! thanks for the offer..
I might take you up on that offer in the future.  Right now I am all over the east coast work related, so time is definitly not on my side these days..
 

[Tim]

Welcome to the boards :D

The most versatile BKP?Well for me it has to be The Mule........I can do anything with that one but as with all things it's not gonna be right for everyone.
A good workhorse allrounder has to be the Crawler, it has plenty of power yet still cleans up for a great vintage vibe too.We sell alot of these to working players that need a versatile pickup.However for the tone you're describing I'll side with Steve and say Nailbomb.

[lulusg]

Hi Shag and welcome. What I seem to relate most to punk lately is P90's think Green day, SOAD, and an article on a British magazine were they named a Gibson LPjr with a single P90 as the ultimate punk guitar used a lot by the Sex Pistols Git. Besides it is a truly versatil pickup. That is just a thought. :)

[carlaz]

The Mule seems to be the pup that covers the most ground while keeping close to the vintage vibe thang.  Tim and HJM have demo'd some slinky bluesy soudns from it, and Tim takes it out with Ozzmosis (whom I am so gonna see if they come up Cambridge way :)) so it'll sure do everything from  jazzy blues to screaming Zakkified metal.

The Nailbomb seems to be a popular "high-gain all rounder", and certainly seems to do a lot of stuff.  I worry that the NB wouldn't be tight enough for what I'm looking for, since it seems very open and one of my primary complaints with my stock Gibsons is that I wish they had better a bit better definition at high gain.  On the other hand, I really want a pickup that cleans up well (I like pummeling power chords and then jumping to a clean tone that goes shiiiiiinnnngggg! :)) and though it seems the ceramics are surely tighter at high gain, the Alnicos seems to clean up better ....

Considering what a beast the Warpig is, it actually seems surprisingly versatile too, though I worry that it's output might be too much (blasphemy, I know ;)) ....  But I'm really interested to hear more of the new models coming out.  Don't suppose that the manufacturer would like to leak any hints about the Abraxas?  :D

[crispsandwich]

I have a Nailbomb in the bridge of my Strat copy. It does high gain stuff (tight thunky rhythms and soraing leads) very, very well and it cleans up brilliantly. The clean tone is huge and clear. I also have a coil splitter on mine (I play bluesey and chimey stuff too sometimes) and it has by far the best 'fake 'single coil tone I've ever heard.

-Danny  :D

[Ratrod]

I'd go with the experts on this one. Go for the nailbomb. The Mule is great and would do the old skool punk really well but for the more modern and harder punk styles the Nailbomb is better. If you just want the Agnostic Front sound, a Warpig would be awesome, it's an EMG-81 killer.

[Shag101]

Thanks all,

It seems the nailbomb pup will be a wise choice for me given the posts. If I use this pup for the neck, should I also get one for the bridge or do you have a pup that compliments it while giving me a wider range of sounds.

Like would a nailbomb/warpig combo be effective.  NB in neck, WP in bridge or visa versa?
I saw someone on here has a NB and RiffRaff and loves it.

[Ratrod]

I would go with a calibrated set. I believe the Nailbomb neck and the Warpig neck are actually quite similar. Or was that the Miracle Man neck?

[Shag101]

i figured the calibrated set was better.  

I know the music I play is not the cleanest, but i do play through a fender hot rod deluxe which is known for its superb cleans.  I just want to make sure that if i wanted to i could use the nailbomb for cleans.  it dont have to be great, but acceptable.

RatRod,

I noticed you have a HRD, how are the cleans with the warpig you got?  

Does anyone have a HRD and a nailbomb?

Also, from what i gathered, a P90 is not so simple to install into an sg standard.  
Do the nailbomb pups go in good without modification.  

I really don't want to mod the body of this guitar at all.  thanks