Rant about pickup swaps/tone complaints

[Dakotaspex]

For the most part, I agree. BKPs aren't any better than Dimarzios, SDs, etc., but at the same time, a lot of the voicings on the BKPs are different.

Different strokes for different folks. I know a lot of people are in love with the Crunchlab/Liquifire combo, but I despise the crunch lab with all that I have after having it in one of my guitars. People probably do buy them for the hype, but I know a lot of people who really enjoy the brand and the tones they get out of their pickups. At the end of the day, I agree that most of the tone is from the amp, pedals, guitar, and hands.

 

[Science_Penguin]

I agree with what Bill Lawrence (God rest him) said long ago. "a pickup is one of many links in a chain, and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This can be the player, the guitar, the strings, the bar, the pickup, the cable, the amp, the speaker and when worst comes to worst, all of them!"

HOWEVER, pickups still play a pretty damn big role in shaping your tone. Some pickups just can't produce certain sounds, and messing with EQ can only do so much. I've personally had experiences where I've replaced a pickup, and no matter how I've tweaked the amp settings or the compression or the overdrive, I just can't get the sound I want out of it. Just something about the combination of this pickup in that guitar made of that wood just didn't work out.

Now, I agree some pickups are so similar in tone and changes between them are so subtle it's hardly worth the money to buy or the effort to install- I'm sure you can find yourself a Dimarzio or Duncan that'll get you tone close enough to anything in Bareknuckle's catalogue, for FAR less money- but if you think you can make an EMG 85 sound like a PAF by screwing around with your EQ, you're fooling yourself.

 

[pushpull7]

I started a thread about BKP's a while back and was surprised at the responses. Seems some are into it no matter what, others, not impressed.

Still, I'm attracted to them

 

[p4vl]

I play an Ibanez Prestige RG out of necessity (shoulder injury, I need a light, contoured body). Superstrats are not great for rhythm, so you kinda have to look around for pickups that thicken your tone. When it comes to making a Basswood superstrat into something really heavy without becoming monotonous and without going active, there aren't many options. I'm not doing another Dimarzio, nor will I have another Duncan in a guitar with a tremolo.

I just ordered a C-hawk last week in spite of the fact that I don't care for the trendiness of BKP culture. That said, the C-Hawk is repeated said to be what I'm looking for.

 

[Shewter]

I particularly enjoy when people try pickups with various differences (magnets, winds, etc) and keep their amp settings the exact same, then talk about how X pickup has "too much" or "not enough" of (insert tonal characteristic here). It kinda makes me wonder if some if not most of those people have ever moved their amp settings.. at least since they watched that one youtube video of (insert amateur or professional artist name here) who said that they dial their amp in at (insert values).

Quite frankly I've seen some amazing pickups for dirt cheap and some "meh" pickups for a hefty price. Wanna see something funny? Go over to the (prominent single cut guitar) forum and ask people what they think of the GFS fat pat or boutique humbuckers. You'll have the cork sniffers up in arms about how "Bro, it's not PAF, do you even PAF?" and folks who have actually used those pickups telling you that the differences in quality really aren't there or at least aren't at a $100+ difference level.

People and their gear... sigh. (I love it.)

 

[charlessalvacion]

I Love Bare Knuckles. I also like DIMARZIO's.

 

[Necris]

Eq knobs, they exist on an amp for a reason.