Valentine bridge pickup replaced with BKP Silo HB.

[Sleeping At Sea]

I recently bought a BKP Silo bridge humbucker to put into my Valentine and after seeing a few posts/photos of others changing their bridge pickup I had thought this would be pretty straight forward. I just dropped my guitar and pickup into my local tech and when they had a look they were scratching their head how to make this work as the MM Valentine mount does not seem to line up with the humbucker. I left it with them and they are going to call me before they begin work and have had a bit more of a look but I thought I'd just chime in here to see if I can get a more info!

Here is a photo of the same guitar that has had a Lollar Imperial put in the bridge. From what I can see, it's using the OG mount still. Looking at that pickup, it looks the same as my BKP, so how is this being mounted?

Thanks!

 

[skelt101]

The pickup is mounted to the ring from the bottom. The ring is mounted to the guitar via the three exposed screws and springs for height/angle adjustment.

 

[Sleeping At Sea]

Thanks for that! That makes sense. I guess they hadn't seen this before. I just got a call and it's all been done so once they got it out they would have seen it. They had me nervous for no reason haha.

 

[Sleeping At Sea]

I've just updated this thread title as I've just picked up my guitar with the newly installed BKP Silo HB'er in the bridge. If anyone is interested I might post some clips if you would like an idea of what this sounds like?

 

[Ventanaman]

So, are you happy with the Silo? Pros/cons in the Valentine?

 

[Sleeping At Sea]

So, are you happy with the Silo? Pros/cons in the Valentine?

Really happy with the Silo actually!
Pro's - Better balanced with good articulation and bite without being too bright or shrill. It also surprisingly works really well in the middle position. I thought it might be a little muddy as it's not splitting but with the Val being a very snappy and bright guitar is sounds really good. Some very nice clean tones in this position, especially with the Neck split.
Cons - I am kind of use to the bridge pickup being a bit louder and so getting a bit of a volume bump when going to the bridge for solo's or heavier parts however I find it's matched very closely to the neck pickup output. This is not a bad thing, but something I am just getting use to. It's really smooth moving through each position.

Overall I am glad I made this move and it's got me playing the Val a LOT more. I just didn't gel with the stock pickup for my style.

 

[Ventanaman]

Really happy with the Silo actually!
Pro's - Better balanced with good articulation and bite without being too bright or shrill. It also surprisingly works really well in the middle position. I thought it might be a little muddy as it's not splitting but with the Val being a very snappy and bright guitar is sounds really good. Some very nice clean tones in this position, especially with the Neck split.
Cons - I am kind of use to the bridge pickup being a bit louder and so getting a bit of a volume bump when going to the bridge for solo's or heavier parts however I find it's matched very closely to the neck pickup output. This is not a bad thing, but something I am just getting use to. It's really smooth moving through each position.

Overall I am glad I made this move and it's got me playing the Val a LOT more. I just didn't gel with the stock pickup for my style.

Thant’s great to know. One of the things I have found with most BKP products is that I can run them closer to the strings - in some cases even going as close to 1.5mm (with strings fretted at 22). Silo in a Valentine sounds like a great combo!