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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Yeah everything except for the book, coffee, water, and table
Bare Knuckle Impulse
- Thread starter Dave Sloven
- Start date
I'm just listening to all this and hoping you really dig the new pickups.
I have really changed my tastes of late and now gravitate towards the lower output/warmer pickups, then just hammer the amp with the tube screamer, but I'm cheering for you, Dave!!!!
I have really changed my tastes of late and now gravitate towards the lower output/warmer pickups, then just hammer the amp with the tube screamer, but I'm cheering for you, Dave!!!!
eclecticsynergy
Ambassador of Electric Synergy
BKP gets a lot of praise for their muscular bridge pickups (and lower wind PAFs like the Mule & Stormy Monday).
I just wanted to point out that their neck pickups are awesome too.
Both the Rebel Yell and Holy Diver necks are super sweet - very open , lively and touch responsive.
Slightly different personalities yet they have those qualities in common.
Great cleanup when you roll back, too; for me that's one of the most crucial factors.
I just wanted to point out that their neck pickups are awesome too.
Both the Rebel Yell and Holy Diver necks are super sweet - very open , lively and touch responsive.
Slightly different personalities yet they have those qualities in common.
Great cleanup when you roll back, too; for me that's one of the most crucial factors.
OP
Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
I don't have either of those but the neck pickups I have from their range are all great, and all different.
The Impulse set is not a high output set. In terms of actual output people say it is 20% less than the Black Hawks. The Black Hawk is more like a Painkiller or Ragnarok whereas the Impulse is more like the Rebel Yell and Cold Sweat in terms of output
The Impulse set is not a high output set. In terms of actual output people say it is 20% less than the Black Hawks. The Black Hawk is more like a Painkiller or Ragnarok whereas the Impulse is more like the Rebel Yell and Cold Sweat in terms of output
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
I'm in the middle of installing an Impulse set into my SG, but it is the middle of winter so I am leaving the soldering work until the middle of the day tomorrow (runny nose =/= flowing solder). But I thought you guys might be interested in some aspects of the installation. I modified the 'batwing' pickguard a few years ago so that I could fit pickup rings to protect my open coil pickups and enable easier pickup changes (i.e., without removing the pickguard and bridge, and hence losing the bridge setup). But I found last time that I ended up removing the bridge and pickguard anyway, because I couldn't get the wires to go through without doing that. But this time I drew on some experience installing a front car camera (!) to create a 'fish' from a zip tie and some masking tape that enabled me to get the pickups in without removing the bridge and pickguard. Here are some photos. The guitar has had an alnico War Pig set in it for the last five years. I also cut some coils off of the springs to make it work better with the short legs of the Impulse set (being able to use short leg pickups was another reason why I did the pickup ring mod).
The guitar is a 2007 SG Special Faded Worn Yellow. This finish doesn't have a top coat, hence the wear.
Impulse mounted into a pickup ring
Here you can see the 'fish' I made from a zip tie, taped around the wires so that they will go through smoothly.
Note how I cut the pickguard to allow the legs to pass through instead of having a pickguard mounting. The bridge and tailpiece are TonePros.
I shielded the cavity with snail tape a couple of years ago. Here you see cable with the fish has passed through. Wiring harness is '50s style with 500K CTS pots and 0.022uF World Music PIO caps, Switchcraft switch and jack. I had some problems with the jack hot wire grounding on the shielding so I added some electrical tape a couple of years ago.
Here I've got the neck pickup in and have removed the zip tie and masking tape.
Both pickups successfully mounted without removing the pickguard. Note that I bought black height adjustment screws rather than using the BKP screws, which stand out like dog's balls.
It was too cold in the garage to solder. The last time I tried soldering this guitar in the cold it was a disaster.
I just put the control cavity cover back on to bring the guitar inside to clean and restring it before finishing the installation tomorrow afternoon.
The guitar is a 2007 SG Special Faded Worn Yellow. This finish doesn't have a top coat, hence the wear.
Impulse mounted into a pickup ring
Here you can see the 'fish' I made from a zip tie, taped around the wires so that they will go through smoothly.
Note how I cut the pickguard to allow the legs to pass through instead of having a pickguard mounting. The bridge and tailpiece are TonePros.
I shielded the cavity with snail tape a couple of years ago. Here you see cable with the fish has passed through. Wiring harness is '50s style with 500K CTS pots and 0.022uF World Music PIO caps, Switchcraft switch and jack. I had some problems with the jack hot wire grounding on the shielding so I added some electrical tape a couple of years ago.
Here I've got the neck pickup in and have removed the zip tie and masking tape.
Both pickups successfully mounted without removing the pickguard. Note that I bought black height adjustment screws rather than using the BKP screws, which stand out like dog's balls.
It was too cold in the garage to solder. The last time I tried soldering this guitar in the cold it was a disaster.
I just put the control cavity cover back on to bring the guitar inside to clean and restring it before finishing the installation tomorrow afternoon.
OP
Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Here's a before (taken a couple of years ago) photo and an after (just now) photo.
I think the blade pole pieces of the Impulse set look better than the black hex bolts of the War Pig set
The lighting on the new photo isn't as good due to it being at night
I think the blade pole pieces of the Impulse set look better than the black hex bolts of the War Pig set
The lighting on the new photo isn't as good due to it being at night
OP
Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
By the way the advertised resistance on these pickups is 7.9 kΩ for the neck pickup and 12.7 kΩ for the bridge. The actual test on the warranty card came out as 7.9 kΩ for the neck and 13.0 kΩ for the bridge, so the bridge is a bit overwound by spec.
OP
Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Wiring is complete. Simple red to hot, black and bare to ground, green and white just left soldered together and insulated. I added some black shrink tubing over the black and bare to insulate the bare from anything that it might ground out, and put a piece of yellow tube on the bridge wires in case the pickup wire tags ('bridge' and 'neck') come off. I also used a couple of zip ties so that I would be able to keep everything neat without cutting wires down. Next task is to plug it in to my practice amp to check that everything works
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Well I've done a bit of testing of the Impulse set ... the bridge pickup likes to be quite high, otherwise it has a quite 'clangy' character, but up higher on a 24.75" scale you can get a thicker sound, but not as thick and dark as the alnico Black Hawk in my Schecter super strats, or indeed as the alnico War Pig set that I took out of this SG (no surprises there). Now this guitar is very bright and doesn't have a lot of bottom end acoustically, so I suspect the set will sound very different (and closer to the Black Hawk) when I eventually install it in one of those Schecters, as the War Pigs were very dark in an Epiphone Explorer that I have compared to how they sounded in this SG. The pickup is tight and articulate, considering that it was in a Gibson tuned to C standard with 11-56 strings. Some of the brightness difference between this guitar and the two Black Hawk Schecters would also be due to the strings. While the Schecters are both due for a string change the Gibson has brand new strings (same set and tuning). Overall though I think my eventual move will be to install this set in my all-mahogany set-neck ebony fingerboard C-1 Blackhawk ATX and install the Black Hawk set from that into another Schecter, perhaps a Sun Valley Super Shredder, and put the War Pigs back into this SG.
OP
Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Totally exceeded expectations when I installed them into the C-1 Blackjack ATX today. All I can say is 'wow' ... the darker guitar really brings out the best qualities in these pickups, especially the bridge.
Amp Mad Scientist
Ambassador of Heresy
Well ya dont get all the case candy w/ the 25.00 GM pups ------
however sometimes --- they screw up and you get 2 sets of pickups -- for the price of 1 -----
yep I bought a set of these 5 weeks ago---
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they came in 3 weeks ago--- I went to install them LAST weekend and I didnt like the fitment in the SG -- so I offeed them to @Hackmaster for a project he is undertaking......and low and behold when I got home today ---- a FRESH SET (free not charged to my card) of the IDENTICAL pups were in the mailbox.............
NOW THAT IS SERVICE----- no fancy box.......or coaster......I like the coaster-- did that pick come with them to???
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