Bare Knuckle Riff Raff vs. Throbak SLE 101 Plus

GotTheSilver · Feb 18, 2019

I have a guitar that sounds great in the high end, but could use a little help in the mids. I currently have a Throbak SLE 101 Plus in the bridge. I want to give the mids a boost without losing the nice sparkly high end I currently have. I have really been liking the Bare Knuckle Riff Raffs I have been hearing in videos. Anyone have experience with both pickups and can tell me how they are similar / different?

Any other pickups I should consider? I am also kind of intrigued by the Beast Buckers from Crazy Parts.

reswot · Feb 19, 2019

My best advice is to ask Jon at Throbak; he’ll steer you right. You might also,consider, though, the Throbak ER Custom with A5s, as it has a bit more midrange punch than the SLE-101 Plus.

GotTheSilver · Feb 20, 2019

reswot said:
My best advice is to ask Jon at Throbak; he’ll steer you right. You might also,consider, though, the Throbak ER Custom with A5s, as it has a bit more midrange punch than the SLE-101 Plus.

Reswot - thanks for the recommendation! I've checked out some videos on the Throbak ERs and they sound pretty good. But damn, his pickups are expensive!

El Gringo · Feb 20, 2019

My recommendation would be the ThroBak SLE-101 Plus as I have these in 2 of my Les Paul's and I will be putting them in my other 2 Les Paul's as well . Such nice tone and they do have the A5 magnets and they sound so good thru my high gain Marshall 2555X .I love these pickups so much .

GotTheSilver · Feb 20, 2019

El Gringo said:
My recommendation would be the ThroBak SLE-101 Plus as I have these in 2 of my Les Paul's and I will be putting them in my other 2 Les Paul's as well . Such nice tone and they do have the A5 magnets and they sound so good thru my high gain Marshall 2555X .I love these pickups so much .

I already have the SLE 101 Plus in my guitar. I am looking for a different pickup that helps fill in the midrange while not losing the great high end I have. I was curious if the BK Riff Raffs would give me more mids or if they would be about the same as the Throbaks.

corpse · Feb 21, 2019

Try popping a set of A4's in there. I wouldn't worry too much about who's magnets- it will sweeten things up in the middle. You might lose a few hz in the upper range but you will be happy. Other than removing the covers this is really simple surgery.

GotTheSilver · Feb 21, 2019

corpse said:
Try popping a set of A4's in there. I wouldn't worry too much about who's magnets- it will sweeten things up in the middle. You might lose a few hz in the upper range but you will be happy. Other than removing the covers this is really simple surgery.

Hmm, now I hadn't thought of that... :hmm

GotTheSilver · Feb 24, 2019

I found a used BK Riff Raff on Reverb for a good price, so I bought it. Will pop it in when I get it and see how it is.

mustachio · Feb 24, 2019

GotTheSilver said:
I already have the SLE 101 Plus in my guitar. I am looking for a different pickup that helps fill in the midrange while not losing the great high end I have. I was curious if the BK Riff Raffs would give me more mids or if they would be about the same as the Throbaks.

Tubescreamers help. I wouldn’t chase the dragon. I’ve been contemplating replacing my Wildwood Custombuckers in my new LP with Jon’s ESG-102Bs I just put in my ‘16 1961 SG Les Paul Reissue, but why have the same tone? Plus, wax potted custombuckers let me crank my Friedman. Plus, it’s a different flavor. We as guitar players get nutty and resist letting a good thing alone....because....maybe.....but, I have more regrets with the messing around I’ve done to perfectly fine guitars.

Bare Knuckle Riff Raff vs. Throbak SLE 101 Plus

GotTheSilver

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corpse

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