2nd Degree Black Belt question

[fearhk213]

I’ve played tons of MCP’s but not the 2nd degree blackbelt bridge. I’ve done some digging on it, so I have an idea of what it’s about. One thing I haven’t read yet is about the “feel.” Do these have that compression and sustain that some PAF styles pickups have or are they more firm in their response and attack?

 

[romanianreaper]

I have 2nd degree blackbelts in my Les Paul Classic and they are awesome!! They are PAF-style like you mentioned but just sit in a real good place tone-wise. No harshness, nice low end without flub, etc. They do a great hard rock tone. You mentioned the "feel" and I think it excels at that. I have used all types of pickups over the years from Seymour Duncan to Gibson and others, and these are one of my favorites.

 

[fearhk213]

I have 2nd degree blackbelts in my Les Paul Classic and they are awesome!! They are PAF-style like you mentioned but just sit in a real good place tone-wise. No harshness, nice low end without flub, etc. They do a great hard rock tone. You mentioned the "feel" and I think it excels at that. I have used all types of pickups over the years from Seymour Duncan to Gibson and others, and these are one of my favorites.

Cool man. Would you say they have some natural compression/sustain or do you need your amps and/pedals to bring that out?

 

[romanianreaper]

Cool man. Would you say they have some natural compression/sustain or do you need your amps and/pedals to bring that out?

Oh yeah man, in my opinion it is a real organic pickup and has natural compression/sustain like you mention. Here is a clip I did with it into my Friedman JJ. Jr. I was adjusting the amp's mid knob between riffs. Hopefully gives you an idea of what it can do a bit:

https://soundcloud.com/romanianreaper/friedman-mids

 

[romanianreaper]

Here is another clip I did back when I first got the pickups:

https://soundcloud.com/romanianreaper/mcp-2nd-degree-black-belts

 

[aftec]

I’ve played tons of MCP’s but not the 2nd degree blackbelt bridge. I’ve done some digging on it, so I have an idea of what it’s about. One thing I haven’t read yet is about the “feel.” Do these have that compression and sustain that some PAF styles pickups have or are they more firm in their response and attack?

They are really open sounding, it has a nice growl with a touch of "swirl", the high end is really open but not piercing. Kinda early VH tone with more balls.

 

[splatter]

I can't speak for the regular BB 2nd degree. I have the hot head which is the hot overwound version of the 2nd degree . Its my favorite all time pickup . Harmonics and sustain for days.

 

[Bad.Seed]

Here is another clip I did back when I first got the pickups:

https://soundcloud.com/romanianreaper/mcp-2nd-degree-black-belts

Great clips! This has me interested (Not that I wasn't before)

I'm finding it hard to order based on lead time, but really dig these clips.

 

[fearhk213]

Cool man. Would you say they have some natural compression/sustain or do you need your amps and/pedals to bring that out?

Oh yeah man, in my opinion it is a real organic pickup and has natural compression/sustain like you mention. Here is a clip I did with it into my Friedman JJ. Jr. I was adjusting the amp's mid knob between riffs. Hopefully gives you an idea of what it can do a bit:

https://soundcloud.com/romanianreaper/friedman-mids

Those clips sound great. Thanks for posting those. They were helpful.

 

[fearhk213]

I can't speak for the regular BB 2nd degree. I have the hot head which is the hot overwound version of the 2nd degree . Its my favorite all time pickup . Harmonics and sustain for days.

I have the Hothead bridge. It’s a killer piece. I didn’t know that it was an over wound 2nd degree.

Edited: for ridiculous autocorrect I missed lol.