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Author Topic: gushing praise of the riff raff  (Read 2379 times)

gwEm

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gushing praise of the riff raff
« on: October 11, 2007, 10:18:24 AM »
had riff raffs for ages in one guitar or another, but i'm suddenly moved to write about them.

i've had to move back to my folks place temporarily, and thought my guitar playing was over for a few weeks. but i was getting withdrawal symptoms, so i set up my JMP50 Master Volume with a G12H100 1x12. Wasn't sure which guitar to use, but I picked up my Gibson Faded V with Riff Raffs and plugged it straight into the amp (pres=9, bass=2, mid=7, treble=2, master=1(i know...), preamp=7). the only mods done to the amp have been to remove the preamp control bright capacitor, and a JCM800 spec power transformer.

even at this volume, the tone was heavenly... something straight out of the 1970s. nothing original about it, just a really classy hard rock tone. riff raffs have a bit of brightness in hand, so the tone control of the guitar was useful. the sound had that extra life and shimmer to it that make scatterwound pickups so desirable.

without touching the amp at all, i was able to get quality blues tones on the neck pickup, with wonderful clarity, even if the volume on the guitar was set to 3. riff raff neck might be slighty too biting to be 100% ideal for jazz (i can see why some people pick a stormy monday neck with a riff raff bridge) but it pulls it off with great ablomb in any case.

the middle position clean was wonderful clear and complex, perfect for sentimental minor key stuff, sounded very late sixties.

winding up the volume of the bridge to push the amp into medium overdrive was wonderful. by digging in i could nail early judas priest sad wings of destiny type of tones. it would surely be ideal for ac-dc in an SG... but the whole tone of the guitar was blantantly classic flying v. great bite and crunch. but easily manageable dynamics too... near-clean to nwobhm drive with a flick of the wrist with the guitar volume on 10. even a beginner could extract screaming pinch harmonics even at medium gain levels. the pickups almost demand a physical playing style.

the clarity made the shonkier parts of my playing sound like pure shite at some points, but at least the tone was great ;) you really can hear every note in the chord, no doubt about it. i actually raised the action a bit as i could hear a little fret buzzing.

riff raff is definately a bit more of a specialist than the mule. while you can change the great basic tone of the mule (with its transparancy) quite alot, the riff raff always seemed to keep its character.

ok, thats enough praise ;)
Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

Philly Q

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gushing praise of the riff raff
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2007, 12:17:05 PM »
You realise this would get you banned from UG for advertising?

Great review.  I'm definitely thinking about getting a Riff Raff for my white V and moving the Black Dog elsewhere (maybe my PRS SE).
BKPs I've Got:  RR, BKP-91, ITs, VHII, CS set, Emeralds
BKPs I Had:  RY+Abraxas, Crawlers, BD+SM

gwEm

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gushing praise of the riff raff
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2007, 12:55:39 PM »
advertising? lol ;)


gwEm, proud endorsee of BKP Ultra Super Plus Plus Distortabuckers, was heard to say "with BKP, a few more pence makes a lot more sense... they're bad boy tone to the bone... tim, with these handwound pickups you are really spoiling us"
Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

ailean

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gushing praise of the riff raff
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2007, 08:34:32 PM »
Whenever I try to tell people how good BK's are they always look at me like 'Fanboy', and I really want to say to them 'No, they really are that good'

Anyway, thanks for the post gwEm, I shall have to take a closer look at Riff Raff's, they sound interesting.

The problem with this forum is it's got me wanting every damn pickup BK make (well just one of each).
Gibson LP std + Nailbomb set
Diezel VH4 & Orange Rockerverb 50

sgmypod

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gushing praise of the riff raff
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2007, 09:54:35 PM »
"one is never enough"
Autotune My Arse

Crawler,nailbomb & Ltd Ed Emeralds, apache, now riff raff..EX- N/bomb, IT, Mquee

38thBeatle

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gushing praise of the riff raff
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2007, 11:11:54 PM »
Quote from: sgmypod
"one is never enough"


I expert H M The Queen says that quite often.
Send three and fourpence we're going to a dance
BKP's: Apache, Country Boy, Slowhands.