Question JP6 BFR - who has replaced the pickups (crunchlab)?

[Chaka5150]

anyone swapped out the crunchlab pickup for another? and why? this is with specific reference to the BFR versions as i find the combination of mahagony and the crunchlab to produce a very dark sound. I am not bonding with it at all. It has it's place, no doubt, but not my go to sound. If I had a mesa mark 5, i could play petrucci stuff all day long (as much as I love his stuff--not my tone) the high's are noticeably rolled off and the mids and bass more resonant (to my ears).

they do sound great in cleans however especially with the pickup switch set right in the middle.

I have realized that a: i love maple necks and have gotten acustomed to brighter sounds. and b: i need more highs in the pickups themselves (but not actives). the crunchlab to my ears has a very nasal voice like a cocked wah...I compared this side by side with another bfr at a local guitar shop that was loaded with identical pickups, and it is most definitely the sound of these pickups in combination with the BFR woods used.

I love the pickups in many respects but wish the treble was more pronounced. Here's what I'm after...to get tight high gain (good mids and punchy if that makes sense) - think Van Halen (more my sound-due to being overexposed as a teenager. also need it to sound great clean(this is important)--something to compliment the liquifire and sound good when coil tapped.

Please please...share your ideas.

thanks in advance.

 

[TNT]

yeah, pretty fun doing this "pickup" stuff. I thought a DiMarzio "Norton" (not air) in the bridge would be perfect!! Also, maybe a PAF Pro would be hot; a Tone Zone may work but doesn't have a lot of color or character, just plain POWER.

 

[skydivewrongway]

Personally I love my JP6 BFR just the way it is, but I understand what you mean about it being relatively warm/dark....if it were me, I'd go the old faithful route and throw a DiMarzio Evolution in there. Bright, punchy, lots of gain and for your "EVH style" harmonics absolutely sing.

 

[Chaka5150]

mmm...never thought of the evolution...is that a steve vai pickup?

 

[Tung]

i've been looking for alternative to the LF/CL set as well. Have not found anything yet.
Bare knuckle Painkiller supposed to be real high output PAF sound. You might want to email Tim at Bare Knuckle and tell him what you're looking for, he's really good with responding right away. They actually have a Van Halen set and a Steve Stevens signature set that might be what you need.

 

[Grifff]

Have you thought about just reversing the orientation of the pickup so the bar faces the bridge? A lot of people on the internet seem to have done this and have gotten more highs.

 

[Chaka5150]

Have you thought about just reversing the orientation of the pickup so the bar faces the bridge? A lot of people on the internet seem to have done this and have gotten more highs.

yeah i tried to but there was not enough wire to rotate the pup...at that point i didn't bother getting someone to solder an extension of some kind only to find a negligible difference. I am very curious though if that would make the difference. I do like the crunchlab, but when i am picking single notes on the high e and b strings...sounds like the tone knob has been rolled off--nasal character to it...it drives me crazy.

 

[Chaka5150]

thought i'd share this youtube clip i just found this morning. it addresses the question about facing the crunchlab with bar towards bridge or facing neck. Pretty good demo he gives samples of each position with the exact same guitar. not sure what i'm hearing, and interesting to read the comments as well...tone is so very subjective. give it a listen and tell me if you think facing the bar towards the bridge will help enhance the highs with my BFR (mahogany neck/alder body)

here's the youtube clip: YouTube - Di Marzio Crunch Lab - Backwards Or Not?

 

[yellowv03]

The painkiller is not a super high output pickup. It is extremely tight and has bucketloads of high mids. I have used it in mahogany and it works awesome. Also tried it in walnut and it was still good, but not nearly as good as the mahogany. It is hard to say what will work real well as the bfr jps have a totally unique construction.

 

[Tung]

The painkiller is not a super high output pickup. It is extremely tight and has bucketloads of high mids. I have used it in mahogany and it works awesome. Also tried it in walnut and it was still good, but not nearly as good as the mahogany. It is hard to say what will work real well as the bfr jps have a totally unique construction.

Very interesting. A friend of mine has it in his JP6, and it sounds great. How do you like it for solos? do you have a complete set or just one?

 

[yellowv03]

I don't have the PK any more. I had it in a couple of different Caparisons. Only had the bridge as both of those guitars had singles in the neck. Never used the PK neck, but the bridge pickup isn't the best for soloing. Not a real fluidity or smoothness to it. However BKP's neck pickups often are completely different than their bridge counterparts. They will match up well output wise, but most of the times like with a ceramic bridge PK the neck is alnico and will be a much warmer sounding pickup.

 

[Tung]

However BKP's neck pickups often are completely different than their bridge counterparts. They will match up well output wise, but most of the times like with a ceramic bridge PK the neck is alnico and will be a much warmer sounding pickup.

Thanks a lot for your input, man. I'm still on search for a better set for my main JP6. have you use any other BKP?

 

[yellowv03]

I've used the Painkiller, Holy Diver, Miracle Man, Cold Sweat and Warpig. Yeah I tried a couple.

 

[Chaka5150]

i've been looking for alternative to the LF/CL set as well. Have not found anything yet.
Bare knuckle Painkiller supposed to be real high output PAF sound. You might want to email Tim at Bare Knuckle and tell him what you're looking for, he's really good with responding right away. They actually have a Van Halen set and a Steve Stevens signature set that might be what you need.

I sent them an email and checked out their website. some great audio samples of the rebel yells (steve stevens set) wonder how that'd sound in a bfr. also considering the evo2. I like vai no question, but he isn't so much a high gain player to my ears these days..more of a clean player. would the evo2's give tight/almost compressed high gain? and also sound great clean/coiltapped?

 

[Chaka5150]

I got an email back from Bare Knuckle guys and this is what they said:
"I would go for the Rebel Yell set. These are great for searing hi-gain, are a slightly brighter set compared to others we do (help with the effects of the rosewood). They still retain a classic humbucker tone but are really good for very hard rock and aggressive metal - great for coil tapping.

They should fit fine. [I asked about dimensions as i don't want to modify the JP body in any way] Our pickups are industry standard size (see dimensions below). You will need to put a note in the comments box "TRI TAB" for the feet of the legs to be modified - this is no problem and does not cost any more."

I told him the woods in the BFR construction and the relative sounds I'm after. This was their response. Interesting. the audio clips are pretty cool (their website)

 

[skydivewrongway]

mmm...never thought of the evolution...is that a steve vai pickup?

Sorry for the late reply...

Yep it's a Vai. I can't speak for the Evo 2's, but I have 2 guitars with original Evo's and they're gorgeous sounding...harmonics just shine.

Hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[Chaka5150]

what kind of guitar are your evo's in? EBMM?

 

[Chaka5150]

This thread kinda feels like a conversation mainly with myself lol but at anyrate, I'm hoping more will chime in here. This is really important to me and I just haven't come across much info on the web with this specific topic. I stumbled across this youtube vid which shows a JP mystic dream (i believe) with a suhr aldrich bridge pickup that he's reviewing. This is one of my top 3 choices right now but again in this vid, the guitar is going to be tonally different to my BFR due to wood construction.

this might be of interest to those considering this as well: YouTube - ‪Suhr - Doug Aldrich Bridge Pickup Demo‬‏

 

[ScoobySteve]

I find the best way to sort out this situation is to find a PUP dealer that offers a satisfactory window guarantee/return/exchange policy. The only best way to know, especially with the JP BFR which has a rather unique wood composition, is to test it out and run it with your gear.

I totally know that its not practical for a lot of people, but I've used so many pups that people swear by, and they just don't do it for me. Tone is in the ear of the listener!

 

[darrinis]

Hi, what did you decide on? I am in EXACTLY the same situation. I have a new Petrucci BFR and am used to playing a Peavey Wolfgang. The Crunch Lab pickup seems "dead" to me when it comes to highs and lacking bass on the lows. When using a wah pedal, the sweep seems much more limited as well. Tapping seems much more difficult on the high strings because the notes seem dull compared to the Wolfgang. My EQ pedal helps some but it makes it very difficult to play both guitars because the settings are very different for each. I am considering trying some Tone Zones, Breed, or Air Zones. My amp is a Mesa Boogie Roadster combo.