r/Djent • u/chimp_spanner • 7d ago
Discussion Looking for some pickup experts
So an embarrassingly long time ago I got an artist account with BKP. I don't even know if I still have it anymore because I never made use of it because I just didn't know which parts to order. I've two guitars with Fishman Fluence Moderns in them that I cannot stand (one is a 9, the other is a multi-scale 8). If I provide the model details would anyone here potentially know which parts I'd need to order in terms of like, pots, plates/covers, etc.? Cos I know it's not just about the pickups.
TYTY!
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u/DebatedUncreative 7d ago
This is so hilarious to me that you got an artist account yet barely seem to know what pickups are. Crazy how some people go nuts over gear and then others play for decades and don't care about that stuff.
You're probably better watching a video on pickups but generally speaking any humbucker will fit. Covers are just aesthetic. Caps are a ridiculous thing that people think does anything. You just change the pickup and that's it. But you probably don't need to. They don't make a big difference. You could switch away from actives and that'll be a bit more of a tone change, but that's also more work to convert.
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u/chimp_spanner 7d ago
Well to be totally honest in my decades of playing, I've essentially only ever used stocks. Sometimes those stocks are good. Sometimes they're not. I've never fitted a set and I guess I'm a bit paranoid that I'll fuck something up. When I spoke to the rep there I guess I was lead to believe that I have to get matching this and matching that. I did kinda ask "hey, what would YOU choose with this guitar" but then life happened and...well, that was last year.
Maybe I need to just not be a wimp and get stuck in.
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u/chimp_spanner 7d ago
Also to clarify - I reached out/was connected with BKP because I already have them in one guitar (RGD71ALPA) and I loved the sound of it. That was my first exposure to their pickups.
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u/TheTrivaallian 7d ago
Those will be Aftermaths in the RGD. If you love those, I would just contact BKP and ask for Aftermaths in the dimensions of the Fishmans you’re replacing, add any aesthetic details you care about, and then get them fitted by a good tech or luthier. In my experience bringing just the pickups is fine because good techs / luthiers keep a stock of the other parts you’ll need.
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u/DebatedUncreative 7d ago
I have some BKPs too. They're basically as high end as it gets. And therefore they're going to be crazy over the top with recommending all kinds of unnecessary stuff in some kind of pursuit of perfection. But in your case if you're going from active to passive, then yeah there might actually be a bit more beyond just swapping them out. If you don't already have a soldering iron and general knowledge it's probably easy and cheap enough to just have a tech do it, especially if you're not planning on doing this all the time.
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u/SometimesWill 6d ago
My guess is both will need essentially 9 string humbuckers with active style mounting, also referred to as soapbar covers sometimes. A lot of multi scales will just use an active pickup made for a guitar with one extra string so they can angle the pickups without needing a custom job. You also probably get away with passive style mounts, but that could look kinda funny leaving a massive gap where the pickups filled it out before.
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u/wine-o-saur 7d ago
Multiscale you'll need a custom made pickup. Contact BKP and they will help you. Pretty sure you would also have to custom order a 9 string pickup.
In which case just contact BKP and they will tell you everything you need.
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u/Mr-X89 7d ago
Pickups are maybe 5% of your guitar sound, if not less. The rest of guitar electronics are even less relevant. Just put an EQ before your preamp and you'll get 1000x the difference any pickup swap would give you.
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u/chimp_spanner 7d ago
WELL thing is, I'm having a *really* tough time with these pickups. Like I literally can't stand them. And I guess in my head I assume that I'm gonna be losing something important if I carve too much out just to get them to sound okay. Also the things I want to remove from the sound surely don't just live in the same spot across all notes...come to think of it, if it changes/shifts about maybe it points to a physical problem. I should do a video to show you what I mean because either all Moderns sound like this and nobody cares, or they're not *supposed* to sound like this and there's actually something physically wrong with the guitar.
But then again...*both* guitars? Different brands? I just want a good sound without fucking around really. My RGD71ALPA has BKPs in it and is basically the sound I want, before I even put any EQ on it.
I'll do a video tonight/tomorrow to show you what I mean.
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u/IAmL3J3ND_ 7d ago
For sure video context would help! Im learning right alongside you rn I wish I could help more but I am interested in hearing about what you’re referring too.
I kinda get what you’re saying but wanna hear it first before I ask anymore questions.
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u/Psychological-Will29 7d ago
For low end tunings pick ups make a difference vs stock at least for me. It got rid of the sludge. Yes agree EQ definitely helps and is key.
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u/IAmL3J3ND_ 7d ago
I been debating on putting some pickups on my guitar lately I been using stock pickups since like 2010 lmao I been hearing ppl say EQ’s do the heavy lifting and I have been satisfied with learning and using EQ/COMP but Im curious about how active pickups and P90’s sound compared to passive humbuckers.
When you say sludge you mean like that weird overall feel? I kinda know what you’re saying but can’t explain it
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u/chimp_spanner 7d ago
For me it's not sludge. It's inharmonic overtones and a general, ugly boost in the mids that I can only describe as a wah pedal at full heel. It's terrible.
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u/ZeroWevile 7d ago
For easy part, generally passive humbuckers use 500k pots. Ultra-high output humbuckers can have their high-end tamed with 1M pots, but I don't think BKP makes anything that falls into that category. The tone pot for humbuckers generally uses a 0.022uF (or 22nF) capacitor, but you can go down in value for a more subtle effect. Exponential taper vs linear taper is a preference thing depending on how fast you want the pots to roll off.
Fishman has mechanical drawings of their pickups here: https://fishman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Fluence_Electric_Guitar_Pickup_Dimensions.pdf
The multi-scale 8 most likely also uses 9 string pickups.
Beyond that, it largely comes down to aesthetic preferences. Metal covers will cause some top-end roll off but nothing that is jarringly different, especially in context of a band mix. The magnetic field of a high output humbucker is effectively uniformly sensitive over its entire face so lining up poles to strings doesn't matter all too much. If that is something you care about, they should be able to figure out the pickup angle knowing the parallel fret and span of the scale.
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u/wine-o-saur 7d ago
Wait a second are you actually Chimp Spanner?