I have 2013 Gibson Les Paul Signature T and I'm going to splurge on some Bare Knuckles for it. I'm also trying to decide whether to go potted or unpotted and I have a few questions.
(I have a thread at the Bare Knuckle forums but it's pretty long and has pretty much lost traction. :lol: They've been really helpful, I just haven't gotten much of a response on my unpotted vs. potted dilemma, which is pretty much the only thing I'm still having trouble deciding)
I've never played unpotted pickups, but I hear people rave about them all the time (at least on the BKP forums and The Gear Page). I've even heard that Bare Knuckle's building method in particular is better at resisting microphonic feedback than other unpotted pickups. This guitar will be used for direct recording 95+% of the time at pretty low volumes, so I think (or at least hope) I could get away with them. In fact, about the only thing I dislike about the state of direct recording these days is that it's harder to get musical feedback when you want it. I'm a big fan of sustained chords occasionally fading into musical feedback. It just makes the vibe of the song more exciting. I play high gain sometimes, and even doing that, I haven't been able to get feedback unless I crank the monitors and put the guitar right up next to them, and I really would actually like to get more "accidental" (but still pleasant) feedback when recording, which I currently can't get. Would going unpotted increase the chances of musical feedback in a low volume direct recording environment? Or do they only contribute to undesirable microphonic feedback? When I record direct, it's pretty much always with monitors (rather than headphones), but they're usually not cranked up.
Also, I've never actually had the pleasure of hearing how unpotted pickups affect tone vs. being potted, and I can't really find any good comparisons. I've heard they really open up the top end, which sounds great, but do they affect the lower frequences at all? For instance, do they make the bass any looser? Or do they pretty much just improve the high end and add harmonic content?
(I have a thread at the Bare Knuckle forums but it's pretty long and has pretty much lost traction. :lol: They've been really helpful, I just haven't gotten much of a response on my unpotted vs. potted dilemma, which is pretty much the only thing I'm still having trouble deciding)
I've never played unpotted pickups, but I hear people rave about them all the time (at least on the BKP forums and The Gear Page). I've even heard that Bare Knuckle's building method in particular is better at resisting microphonic feedback than other unpotted pickups. This guitar will be used for direct recording 95+% of the time at pretty low volumes, so I think (or at least hope) I could get away with them. In fact, about the only thing I dislike about the state of direct recording these days is that it's harder to get musical feedback when you want it. I'm a big fan of sustained chords occasionally fading into musical feedback. It just makes the vibe of the song more exciting. I play high gain sometimes, and even doing that, I haven't been able to get feedback unless I crank the monitors and put the guitar right up next to them, and I really would actually like to get more "accidental" (but still pleasant) feedback when recording, which I currently can't get. Would going unpotted increase the chances of musical feedback in a low volume direct recording environment? Or do they only contribute to undesirable microphonic feedback? When I record direct, it's pretty much always with monitors (rather than headphones), but they're usually not cranked up.
Also, I've never actually had the pleasure of hearing how unpotted pickups affect tone vs. being potted, and I can't really find any good comparisons. I've heard they really open up the top end, which sounds great, but do they affect the lower frequences at all? For instance, do they make the bass any looser? Or do they pretty much just improve the high end and add harmonic content?
