New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

[richard parker]

Got my Bare Knuckles Rebel Yells installed in my Firebird Studio today. Came home early from work and cranked up my Cornford Roadhouse. I only had about half an hour because my neighbours were home. What a difference to the 490/498 set. I quite liked the Gibsons but they sounded a bit muddy in a mix and I rarely used the neck p/u. The RYs are totally different. Less output but TONS more clarity. Incredibly articulate and with amazing sustain when you wind the gain up a bit. Very bright but in a good way but I do need to knock the top end down a bit. The low end is gorgeous - so clear and defined compared to the Gibsons. VERY responsive, it made me feel like I'd gone down a string gauge because it feels easier to play. The neck pick up is wonderful, very Hendrixy sounding.

I then put in some time playing through my Microcube and messing about with the height of the bridge p/u - I noticed that my guitar guy had set the treble side a little higher so I knocked it down a bit and got a very noticeble change in tone. I think it's going to take me quite a bit of tinkering to get these pickups adjusted to my taste. Guitar guy is older than me and probably even deafer and with less high frequency hearing than me.

Sadly, no rehearsals for a couple of weeks because a couple of the guys are on holiday but I can't wait to hear these in a mix.

And the bridge p/u sounds NOTHING like the JB in my SG. I was really quite astonished by the lack of similarity considering what Steve Stevens said about these p/us.

I'm going to post again when I've had a full scale rehearsal but my initial impressions are very favourable although I'm a little concerned about the top end but I'm hopeful that I can tame it to my satisfaction.

Bare Knuckles definitely have their own thing going. Whether you like it is a matter of taste. SD make fantastic p/us as well but different.

 

[richard parker]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

No, I posted a couple of times to say that I didn't much care for Van Halen's SONGS. I didn't buy these pups because I like Steve Stevens, it's just that when I was researching which pups to buy, I read an interview where he said they were like his old JBs. I'd never heard Steve Stevens other than on the old Billy Idol singles but I've listened to some of his stuff lately and I think he's a fantastic player irrespective of what pups he uses. However, I don't understand his thinking that the RY sounds like a JB when, to me, they sound VERY different, not even close.

 

[Brow]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

No, I posted a couple of times to say that I didn't much care for Van Halen's SONGS. I didn't buy these pups because I like Steve Stevens, it's just that when I was researching which pups to buy, I read an interview where he said they were like his old JBs. I'd never heard Steve Stevens other than on the old Billy Idol singles but I've listened to some of his stuff lately and I think he's a fantastic player irrespective of what pups he uses. However, I don't understand his thinking that the RY sounds like a JB when, to me, they sound VERY different, not even close.

I'm the same, I can't draw any comparison between the RYs and the JB. Great sounding pickup though!

 

[newking70]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

did you get the raygun covers?

 

[richard parker]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

No because I'm not trying to sound like/play like Steve Stevens (I can't). I just thought that they sounded like good pickups. They are good but they are taking a lot of messing around with to get the heights right. I don't think scatterwound pickups behave quite the same as machine wound ones.

 

[oilpit]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=24042.0

Make up your mind dude...

 

[richard parker]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

Read my other thread on the BK site - I accidentally started 2 seperate threads. When I first cranked my amp I was very surprised at the top end of these pups but several hours and a lot of adjusting later I'm getting some very good results.

 

[oilpit]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

Read my other thread on the BK site - I accidentally started 2 seperate threads. When I first cranked my amp I was very surprised at the top end of these pups but several hours and a lot of adjusting later I'm getting some very good results.

My bad, I was a dick for no reason...I hadn't had my coffee :banghead:

 

[richard parker]

Re: New pickups day - Rebel Yells.

You weren't being a dick - it was a perfectly valid observation. Being off work I've got more time on my hands than I'm used to. I also suffer badly from 'Have I done the right thing?' syndrome so I oscillate wildly between thinking I've made a great choice and thinking that I've made a terrible mistake. You're seeing the results of me recording this process in real time. I had the same issues when I bought my Cornford Roadhouse without trying one or even hearing one. I'm not very good at trusting my own instincts.