Bare Knuckle Black Hawks

[Austin1993guitarist]

Hey guys, I am thinking about getting some Black Hawks for my Carvin Dc700, but I don't know wether to go for the ceramic or alnico V? She has a Koa Body, 5 piece Koa Mahogany neck. I also currently have EMG707s in it what pots / capacitor would be recommended? Should I buy the BKP Jensen 550k, 500k, or any other suggestions would be appreciated! This is my first time really delving in this deep into the electronics side of my Guitars.

 

[MF_Kitten]

You'll have to ground the bridge, unless it used to have passive pickups before. Then you'll have to get 500K pots. Regular CTS ones will do fine.

Depending on whether or not your guitar has a brighter or thicker high end response, and whether or not it's bassy or not, you'll want to choose the magnet type that works with your guitar tonally. Ceramic will be a bit brighter and a little sharper, while Alnico will be softer and more growly with a slightly looser low end. I'd go for alnico probably, because it usually has an explosive quality to it that I like, with a softer response that feels good in the hands when chugging and stuff. As long as the pickup is bright to begin with and your tone is sufficiently tight, that is.

The differences between the two are very small though, and I'm guessing it's more in the response ("feel") than tonality (which is subtle)

 

[nicktao]

I really like 550k pots for my humbuckers, it just sounds so much better. Alnico BHs sound awesome, you should also consider the juggernauts which are apparently supposed to be the best of the aftermaths and the blackhawks.

This should probably be in the pickup section.

 

[Johnathan]

Hey guys, I am thinking about getting some Black Hawks for my Carvin Dc700, but I don't know wether to go for the ceramic or alnico V? She has a Koa Body, 5 piece Koa Mahogany neck. I also currently have EMG707s in it what pots / capacitor would be recommended? Should I buy the BKP Jensen 550k, 500k, or any other suggestions would be appreciated! This is my first time really delving in this deep into the electronics side of my Guitars.

For passive humbuckers you should have 500-550K Impedance pots. Since the pots impedance varies around 10 - 30 % to whats printed on them be sure to measure them if you want to know how exact they are. And make sure you always buy logarithmic pots!!! Logarithmic pots are usually always marked with an A in it's name for example: CTS A500K 10%. The manufacturer is CTS, the A500K means it's a logarithmic 500K impendance pot that has a 10% variance in the highest impendance value.

Regarding capacitors for the tonefilter: The standard for humbuckers are a capacitor at .022 uF and the capacitors decides how much highs your low-pass filter is gonna cut off. But as you substitute capacitors of higher value, you lose more and more highs as you lower the pot. In my opinion there isn't a "right" value here. It all depends on how dark you want your tone to get when you adjust the tone control. On the link below you can listen to audio samples using different capacitor values and how it affects the filtration.

Change Your Caps, Change the World!(or at least your tone pot response) « tonefiend archives

If i where you i would consult with someone at BKP and ask them what they think are the best pots and capacitors to use. Since pots and capacitors in general are very cheap components it wouldn't cost much to switch if you feel you want to.

 

[mongey]

I have the ceramic BH's in my 7 and I like em allot. nolly has a good vid comparing the alnico and ceramic BH.

I went the ceramic cause I find through a tube amp they stay together a bit better

 

[Austin1993guitarist]

Well my guitar is made of koa so I don't know if the darker alnicoV or the brighter ceramic would be better.

 

[mongey]

email BKP and ask.

they have always answered me within 24 hours

 

[purpledc]

Honestly I wouldnt do the swap your wanting to do. My reason for this is purely based on looks. If you put BKP black hawks in the guitar you will have about 1/4-1/2" space on each side of the pickup due to the routes for blackhawks being smaller than EMG soapbar type pickups.

If you are insistent on going passive I believe Lundgren now offers a passive now with emg style covers and the deathbars from Lace will fit nicely as well. I would have just recommended putting an EMG style cover over the blackhawks but Im pretty sure they wont fit and who wants to cover up blackhawks.

As far as the pots go since you have EMG's and their pots are made by noble just like carvin you will want to stay with those or these no name pots made in japan as they have the smaller diameter shaft. If you go to bourns or CTS pots you may have to enlarge the holes for the shaft and you dont want to do that if this is your first time really doing something like this. I cant tell you how many carvins are out there with buggered pot holes with missing finish because people took a drill bit to their guitar.

 

[Austin1993guitarist]

Honestly I wouldnt do the swap your wanting to do. My reason for this is purely based on looks. If you put BKP black hawks in the guitar you will have about 1/4-1/2" space on each side of the pickup due to the routes for blackhawks being smaller than EMG soapbar type pickups.

If you are insistent on going passive I believe Lundgren now offers a passive now with emg style covers and the deathbars from Lace will fit nicely as well. I would have just recommended putting an EMG style cover over the blackhawks but Im pretty sure they wont fit and who wants to cover up blackhawks.

As far as the pots go since you have EMG's and their pots are made by noble just like carvin you will want to stay with those or these no name pots made in japan as they have the smaller diameter shaft. If you go to bourns or CTS pots you may have to enlarge the holes for the shaft and you dont want to do that if this is your first time really doing something like this. I cant tell you how many carvins are out there with buggered pot holes with missing finish because people took a drill bit to their guitar.

I know about the gap and it honestly doesn't bother me. What should I use if I need to make the holes bigger? I was thinking about using a dremmel tool with sand paper so that wouldn't happen? I appreciate all your guys advice it's helping me a lot!

 

[Mike]

I don't know the exact dimensions of the EMG 707's, but what you could do is measure them to be safe then get a set of EMG style soapbar pickup covers with about the same measurements from here: Bass
That way you can get the blackhawks, cover the pickups and fill gaps.

 

[Johnathan]

Honestly I wouldnt do the swap your wanting to do. My reason for this is purely based on looks. If you put BKP black hawks in the guitar you will have about 1/4-1/2" space on each side of the pickup due to the routes for blackhawks being smaller than EMG soapbar type pickups.

If you are insistent on going passive I believe Lundgren now offers a passive now with emg style covers and the deathbars

This one of the reason why i choose the Lundgren M8C over all the other manufacturers for 8 string passives for my RG2228 (i also choose them because i just LOVE the tone from them). Had a nice chat with Johan Lundgren himself before ordering, he recommended CTS 500k pots and an orange drop capacitor 0.022 uF for the tone control. The hardware will be exactly the same if you order the 7 string version, the M7C. And arn't they just beautiful?

 

[lewstherin006]

Carvins do tend to be bright, at least my DC800 is with a swamp ash body. I mean you could go either way. Watch some videos or email BKP and see what they say.

 

[purpledc]

I know about the gap and it honestly doesn't bother me. What should I use if I need to make the holes bigger? I was thinking about using a dremmel tool with sand paper so that wouldn't happen? I appreciate all your guys advice it's helping me a lot!

That is exactly what you use. I use the bullet shaped stone grinding bits. They sell them in the exact diameter you need and you use a high speed and let the bit do the work. You will sail right through and the heat from the bit will actually re seal the poly by slightly melting it right at the edge and prevent lifting and moisture. Many guys try using a standard drill bit and the edge of the bit grabs the clear coat and just rips chunks of finish and wood. One word of advice is to go from the backside and work your way to the top of the guitar. This way if you slip your in the control cavity and wont damage the face of your guitar. And you lower the risk of finish damage even further.

I don't know the exact dimensions of the EMG 707's, but what you could do is measure them to be safe then get a set of EMG style soapbar pickup covers with about the same measurements from here: Bass
That way you can get the blackhawks, cover the pickups and fill gaps.

I dont think blackhawks will fit under emg style covers. They are too wide.

 

[Johnathan]

I know about the gap and it honestly doesn't bother me. What should I use if I need to make the holes bigger? I was thinking about using a dremmel tool with sand paper so that wouldn't happen? I appreciate all your guys advice it's helping me a lot!

This might be just me on this thread, but i would never mod my guitar to an irreversible point just by that principle alone.