Not sure if it's my PC speakers or what, but it didn't come through great. I can imagine with all the specs I've read it should scream. Going to get one myself, for a new project I just bought. BTW nice BC. Keep on jamming sir.
Bought these pic ups because this video and let me tell you, this video doesn't do them justice! Bought them 2 years ago and got them in the bridge and neck positions....My Agile 2000 jams now.
@viletantrum Thanks for the reply your right this video doesn't do them any justice! Videos rarely do about guitar equipment you only get a sense of what it sounds like.
@northlander30 One thing I do regret, I wished I would've coil tapped mine also. Getting the most out of your axe is what it is all about. Again, thanks for your post.
The pickup sounds great and it seems like it's extremely inexpensive compared to many other pickups lol Did you have to change your volume/tone pots (I think that's the name haha) when you installed this pickup?
@LRC6A No the BC Rich already had Alpha 500k pots in it, I had to replace the volume pot a few years ago but that was only because it was completely worn out. But no you don't have to replace the pots when installing pickups. The pickups will work fine with either 250k or 500k and even the newer 750k pots.
@northlander30 Oh, great :D I hope to be ordering one soon haha but it is kinda troublesome as I don't live in the US :P but whatever. Thanks for answering! Happy New Year! :D
@LRC6A Hey No problem and Happy New Year to you and yours as well. I don't live in the US either lol I am in Canada and GFS is pretty good with shipping. I will order and I usually only have to wait about 4-6 days before it is at my door. These pickups and anything GFS sells is well worth the money ask for. I bought a whole bunch of parts from them about 3 years ago now for a strat build I am doing and every part was quality! No cheap pot metal crap!Pull the trigger man get those pups lol!
@bruceleerules747 The pups are designed for metal. As for getting the tone your after, That depends on you the player not the pickup lol. All I can do is say to take the plunge and buy one or 2 and try them out. I love them!
hey dude great vid, but i'm looking for new pups in my les paul copy,
i want this pup in my bridge but i also need a new pup for my neck,
but i also play in church etc. and i need to have nice cleans... do you know a gfs pup who has some nice cleans? the neck doesnt need to have a high output
@OrcMageRocker Thanks! The GFS Crunchy Rail comes in a less hot neck version as well. After I put this one in the BC Rich I then purchased a matched pair for the neck and bridge. The neck is awesome! Nice and warm great highs and very articulate and harmonics are effortless as well. I am planning to buy a set of their PAF's for my Dean Evo Special (Les Paul copy as well). The Crunchy Rail is basically meant for hard rock and metal but they do clean up very nice. This pup is rated at 16.2k output
@NickoTheGuitarist ya it does brighten up quite a bit coil tapped. It is great for using acoustic sim pedals, the coil tapping makes the guitar sound like an acoustic.Mind you I don't use the coil tap as often as I should. I prefer the full on humbucker tone,
i wish i could find somebody who has a demo of metallica for this pickup im getting a new guitar for free and it only has 1 humbucker slot in the bridge and im considering this but im just not sure. what yall think?
@ghostschiphon I have mine on both my BC Rich and my Ibanez set about an 1/8 of an inch below the strings. I get great output and harmonics are effortless. It is one of those things that has to be played around with until you find it. I did that for about 6 months with my Fender Strat with the neck single coil , I just couldn't find what I was looking for until I started adjusting the pickup height for side to side. I have one side higher then the other and it sounds great now. Keep trying!
These pickups can't be beat for the price! $32.95 a piece and are very close if not a clone of the Dimarzio X2N pickups. They have 16.2k output and is GFS's highest output pickup.They are a little higher output then Dimarzio's X2N and sound great. Don't be discouraged because it is an unknown brand. I was hesitant at first but once I got it installed in my BC Rich the rest is history! I bought a matching set for my Ibanez and now that guitar screams! This pickup is A++ you won't be disappointed!
I have currently installed a Mighty Mite Motherbucker on the bridge. I feel the pickup is great for hi gain stuff and the output is amazing but when dropped tuned it becomes very muddy. How does this crunchy rails behave tuned drop C for example?
Hey thanks! This pickup lends itself very well to drop tunings and is one of the reasons it was designed. It was designed for modern metal and sounds great in drop d drop c and drop b. Well worth the money!
The mid single coil is the stock BC Rich single coil. Don't know the specs on it , I bought this guitar new in March 1987, It was made October of 1986.
No the pickup is not noisy at all. It is very articulate and great for anything you want to play. What I have heard is , Dimarzio makes these pickups for GFS based on pickups already long in production from Dimarzio. It is something like what Seymour Duncan does for Ibanez.
I've heard with this pickup that it overdrives the clean channel does your amp have really high clean headroom or will it not distort the clean anyway?
This pickup does clean up nicely. It has a slight overdriven tone when the amp is loud . This is to be expected when using high output pickups. Just roll off the volume on the guitar a smidge.
It will likely sound great in an alder bodied guitar. Ya it is 16.4 k output but not as high as a lot of the SD pickups. It is just the highest output in a pickup that GFS makes. Clean tone is great I find.
nice video, i especially liked the coil tap thingy! would a GFS Crunchy Rails pickup work also for more 80's-like metal? is treble, mid or bass the most present freq in the sound? does it clean up nicely when you back off the volume?
This pickup cleans up great! The most present tone that I can determine is the slightly scooped mids it has about a 6 for treble and about a 7 for bass. It is great for 80's metal. All of the GFS pickups come 4 conductor wire so coil tapping is possible, they follow the same wiring as Seymour Duncan but are a 1/3 of the cost lol.
LOL I just bought a Marshall MG100 half stack and it isn't the distortion that is the problem. It is stressing the camera mic cause it was so close to the amp.
Do you mean an EMG 81? EMG's are digital pickups and require batteries to power the preamp inside them. As far as sound comparison , No I don't think it sounds like an EMG it sounds to me like a Seymour Duncan SH8 Invader. The GFS pups are passive pickups not digital.
I've been having a blast with these crunchy rails!!! They are hot!!! I get all the highs I was looking for with these bad boys. Even in the neck position, they sound amazing.I have another Agile LP but, she will remain stock. Funny, when I switch guitars I have to lower my settings when I use my LP with C.rails in it. I know you warned us but, damn!
Killer... Got a question for you though.. Im building a Guitar and in the mix of what pup I want. These sound amazing but my question is. what wood is that BC Rich made from?
Hey my BC Rich is made of Nato (Eastern Mahogany) but I also have 2 of these pups in my Ibanez and it is Basswood and it sounds amazing. Currently I am building a Strat and I am putting one of the GFS PAF humbuckers in the bridge. Great pickups they are!
ahh thats cool. yeah GFS pups are really nice. I bought an Xaviere XV-500 and Im REALLY happy with the Crunchy PATs it came with. (You can check out my Video if youd like to hear them in a modern metal sound most videos dont show that side of them) but yeah Im building a 67 V out of Alder and wanna drop some CRails in it. Hope it sounds as good in Alder as it does in that Nato lol
Well I have a Mexican made Fender Lonestar Strat that I just absolutely love and it is solid Alder and in the bridge is a Seymour Duncan PHG1 Pearly Gates and that pickup is just awesome for tone. I mean everything from country to metal this pup handles it all. I am glad to hear that the crunchy pat sounds great that is the pup I was planning to buy! The other Strat I am building will have a GFS Lil' Killer in the neck and will be coil tapped along with the bridge humbucker.
Im still in debating weather I wanna go coil tap or not... but im not sure if I wanna go through all that seeing how the purpose of this build is to be a simple to the point Metal Shred guitar. 1 pup 1 vol easy as that haha!
Those single coils sound great clean, but the rails pickup sounds terrible on the cleans. But distorted it sounds pretty good. Wearing in those strings would be good, too.
Well I wouldn't say the Crunchy Rail sounds terrible clean. A lot gets lost in the mix when the video is made and then compressed. But I hear ya the Crunchy Rail does has a slight overdriven tone clean but that's where the coil tap comes into play , it cleans that pup up nicely.
IMO I think that both are pretty much the same the Power rails being slightly less output but not much. I don't think it would make a difference. The Power Rails do look a little cooler though with those extra wide pole pieces.
I got both the neck and bridge GFS Crunchy Rails pick-ups being installed in my white Agile LP copy. I can't wait to piss the neighbors off!!!Thanks for the post, you sold me on them.
I just got my guitar back from the shop with GFS crunchy rails in the neck and bridge . MY GOD!!!This mother screams!!!Plus, my White LP Agile 2000 looks so wicked with black pickups. This thing will break glass! Next I'll have to get my bail money together cause' I know I'll be getting a visit from the fuzz soon.Thanks!!!
Nice! I have a guitar that I have tuned B F# B E G# C#, and I will be getting a set of these for it! I think the Crunchy Rails will do well for the low tuning. Thanks for the Demo. Now I am pumped to order these!
Yes this pickup is great for drop tunings. This BC Rich has been tuned to drop D permanently as I have 5 other guitars and this guitar sounds awesome drop tuned. I have also put these Crunchy Rails in my Ibanez as well. I put the zebras in it. That guitar can be seen with these pups in another vid of mine my camera sound test video.
I bought this BC Rich at Alto II Music in Oshawa where I live in 1987. It is a 1986 BC Rich Assassin ST-III. The paint is called red/black crackle fusion
thanks, great review, i actually have a couple of GFS pickups in my guitars but was going to buy a humbucker, so your demo will be really helpful!! greetings from Lima, Peru
The amp I used for this video was a Crate GT15 practice amp. I normally use my Crate CR160 amp for videos but I wanted to see how this amp recorded for sound. I had the tone bass mids all turned to 5 or neutral and was using the eq on my Metal Zone pedal.
well...its sick...but the distortion isnt 100% from the pickups...its probably ur amp///settings..or something but it is kool....the pickups r sick...nice vid
No your right the distortion isn't 100% from the pickup itself. I am running through the Boss MT2 Metal Zone as well. This pickup has some moderate bass and mids in it. It is really noticeable on a clean channel. Distorted, it gives that extra boost. The dynamics are great and the attack and sustain is fantastic and harmonics are effortless.
No I have the mids totally scooped on the pedal plus the camera mic doesn't like distorted tones too much.
This pup is not muddy at all it actually goes great with the single coils though hotter then the neck pup, there is a little bit of volume difference between them but that is the way the BC Rich BDSM was too before I took it out. Great pickup!
nice playing man, and this really clears up whether i should consider this pickups or not.. i just don't know between this or the bill lawrence l-500xl
What did it for me on deciding which pup to buy was the price of this one and all of the reviews I have read about GFS pups. I was considering on buying the Seymour Duncan SH8 Invader and the SH 13 Dimebucker as well as the Dimarzio D-Activator. But the price of this pup just said wow man I can buy at least 4 of these for the price of one on the pickups I mentioned lol. Excellent pup for that price man!
the bill lawrence is only like $20 more, but that gfs seems like a really good pickup.. i'm also wanting kind of a warm sound out of it that i know i can get out of the bill lawrence. can it do that as well?
I can get some nice warm tones from this. This pickup is made for metal though. Using the coil tap I can generate a real nice almost strat like bright clean tone as well that is great for acoustic simulations.
i need to ponder on this for a while.. you responded to one of my comments on another guys video saying you got this pickup.. i'm still getting the lil' killers no matter what.. did you ever get them?
LOL not yet that will be a project for later on. I was also thinking about changing the pups in my Dean Evo Special to the cream and black zebras GFS Power Rails. I am also considering a set of the Crunchy rails for the new Ibanez RGR320EX I just bought a month ago. So I have lots to think about for pups and what I want to go where.
alright man.. i don't really have to think much about single coils since my kramer striker is the only one that has the single coils in it.. i don't know if i will change the pickups in my dean mlx or not..
Thanks man hard to believe that it is 22 years old now. One thing I have noticed is most guitar companies have gone to quilted and flamed maple tops and solid colors. There isn't a lot out there nowadays that have anything like what was applied to this BC Rich. I just bought an Ibanez RGR320EX and it has a beautiful finish on it, it is the red arctic frost finish.
hi there i own a bc rich assassin qx6 i made a vid of it under the name my bcrichqx6 assassin from whiib! could you please tell me how to set it to get a sort of punk rock sound something like green day?! please answer if you can. ps:i have a marshall amp if it helps any?!?!?
Got a early 90s warlock NJ wher can I get info on 5 wire bdsm pickups?? Desperate for a schematic for 5 wire bdsm pickups.Anyone?? its all thats left on a complete overhaul,cant correctly wire the pickups being 5 wire.
Hey , the 5 wire design that the GFS and BC Rich BDSM's are for a purpose. 2 of the wires tie together as a ground and if you don't plan to have coil taps then the use of that wire is not a factor either. Seymour Duncan has wiring diagrams for hum hum configuration pickups.
Wow! The distortion sound is great, as expected, but I was really shocked by how lush the clean sound on this thing is! Are you using some chorus in there or is that just reverb? Also, as others have said, nice chops.
Hey thanks man, no I am not using any chorus but yes there is reverb and it is at 10 on my amp. This pickup does have a real nice clean tone. It sounds really good split as a single coil. Running this pickup on a clean tone using either my AC2 Acoustic sim or through my RP350, I can get a pretty dam close acoustic sound. But using the MT2 Metal Zone this pup just screams just what I like lol. I just bought an Ibanez and I am planning to put both the bridge and neck if this pup in that guitar.
thats a fire breather alright! ordering now. btw nice chops! and what kind of amp are you using? people reviewing gear should always explain their rig, you know, tubes/solidstate etc.
Ya i agree, I am using a Crate CR-160 amp and running through my Boss MT2 Metal Zone.This guitar really didn't need a pup replacement but I was starting to find the 1986 BDSM pup that was in this guitar was starting to sound hollow sounding to me and I wanted something fuller sounding and the GFS gave me this. This pickup has tone and not quite scooped mids in it . it sounds great.
Not sure if it's my PC speakers or what, but it didn't come through great. I can imagine with all the specs I've read it should scream. Going to get one myself, for a new project I just bought. BTW nice BC. Keep on jamming sir.
rmxrider20032000 9 months ago
@rmxrider20032000 The mic in the camera really isn't the best. But these pickups do rock! They are a great alternative to Seymour Duncan or Dimarzio.
northlander30 9 months ago
oh, side note, i do rather enjoy the sound that they are putting out over there, and its helping me lean towards buying one for myself. so thanks.
Tetradigm 9 months ago
That distorted solo sounds FUCKING GREAT!
Macsk8ing 10 months ago
@northlander30 you're fucking right man..
mijesric 10 months ago
that was a great review!
nazareneartists 11 months ago
@jahnj1 Don't waste your time on him. Some people won't ever understand 'tone' (term used VERY loosely here).
monorailsandwich 11 months ago
Bought these pic ups because this video and let me tell you, this video doesn't do them justice! Bought them 2 years ago and got them in the bridge and neck positions....My Agile 2000 jams now.
viletantrum 11 months ago
@viletantrum Thanks for the reply your right this video doesn't do them any justice! Videos rarely do about guitar equipment you only get a sense of what it sounds like.
northlander30 11 months ago
@northlander30 One thing I do regret, I wished I would've coil tapped mine also. Getting the most out of your axe is what it is all about. Again, thanks for your post.
viletantrum 11 months ago
I imagine with all the output they'd have a lot of noise? Are they noisy on solid state amps?
MWRMontages 1 year ago
@MWRMontages actually no they are not a noisy pup at all, they clean up real nice!
northlander30 1 year ago
@MWRMontages Yeah.. horrendously noisey. He needs a Mesa QUAD Preamp running through a 295 Simul class and a 4 x 12 RECTUM Fire Cab!!
ThePhallystorm 1 year ago
The pickup sounds great and it seems like it's extremely inexpensive compared to many other pickups lol Did you have to change your volume/tone pots (I think that's the name haha) when you installed this pickup?
LRC6A 1 year ago
@LRC6A No the BC Rich already had Alpha 500k pots in it, I had to replace the volume pot a few years ago but that was only because it was completely worn out. But no you don't have to replace the pots when installing pickups. The pickups will work fine with either 250k or 500k and even the newer 750k pots.
northlander30 1 year ago
@northlander30 Oh, great :D I hope to be ordering one soon haha but it is kinda troublesome as I don't live in the US :P but whatever. Thanks for answering! Happy New Year! :D
LRC6A 1 year ago
@LRC6A Hey No problem and Happy New Year to you and yours as well. I don't live in the US either lol I am in Canada and GFS is pretty good with shipping. I will order and I usually only have to wait about 4-6 days before it is at my door. These pickups and anything GFS sells is well worth the money ask for. I bought a whole bunch of parts from them about 3 years ago now for a strat build I am doing and every part was quality! No cheap pot metal crap!Pull the trigger man get those pups lol!
northlander30 1 year ago
I want a tone similar to chuck shculdiners or any thrash or death metal tone would you recomend these?
bruceleerules747 1 year ago
@bruceleerules747 The pups are designed for metal. As for getting the tone your after, That depends on you the player not the pickup lol. All I can do is say to take the plunge and buy one or 2 and try them out. I love them!
northlander30 1 year ago
hey dude great vid, but i'm looking for new pups in my les paul copy,
i want this pup in my bridge but i also need a new pup for my neck,
but i also play in church etc. and i need to have nice cleans... do you know a gfs pup who has some nice cleans? the neck doesnt need to have a high output
OrcMageRocker 1 year ago
@OrcMageRocker Thanks! The GFS Crunchy Rail comes in a less hot neck version as well. After I put this one in the BC Rich I then purchased a matched pair for the neck and bridge. The neck is awesome! Nice and warm great highs and very articulate and harmonics are effortless as well. I am planning to buy a set of their PAF's for my Dean Evo Special (Les Paul copy as well). The Crunchy Rail is basically meant for hard rock and metal but they do clean up very nice. This pup is rated at 16.2k output
northlander30 1 year ago
good purchase????
FuhrerKaiser 1 year ago
Nice when it's tapped it's really bright!
NickoTheGuitarist 1 year ago
@NickoTheGuitarist ya it does brighten up quite a bit coil tapped. It is great for using acoustic sim pedals, the coil tapping makes the guitar sound like an acoustic.Mind you I don't use the coil tap as often as I should. I prefer the full on humbucker tone,
northlander30 1 year ago
i wish i could find somebody who has a demo of metallica for this pickup im getting a new guitar for free and it only has 1 humbucker slot in the bridge and im considering this but im just not sure. what yall think?
MrMetallica65 1 year ago
@MrMetallica65 metallica sucks
xXxBuLLeTxXx1 1 year ago
@NeatStar MT-2 is fantastic... you cant hear it when its recorded using a crappy camera microphone...
skybld 1 year ago
for the crunchy rail how do you have the pickup heigh set, ive yet to find a sweet spot sadly
ghostschiphon 1 year ago
@ghostschiphon I have mine on both my BC Rich and my Ibanez set about an 1/8 of an inch below the strings. I get great output and harmonics are effortless. It is one of those things that has to be played around with until you find it. I did that for about 6 months with my Fender Strat with the neck single coil , I just couldn't find what I was looking for until I started adjusting the pickup height for side to side. I have one side higher then the other and it sounds great now. Keep trying!
northlander30 1 year ago
are you using the boss MT-2 metal zone? jw, cuz i have that pedal, and was just checking.
DeathMetalUnderKing 1 year ago
Yep running through the BOSS MT2 Metal Zone. I also have an old Ibanez DS10 Distortion Charger pedal it sounds fantastic through that one as well.
northlander30 1 year ago
@northlander30 nice, this pickups pretty
good for what you pay? i mean, the video
is pretty nice, but i'm curious what you thinkn
overall
DeathMetalUnderKing 1 year ago
These pickups can't be beat for the price! $32.95 a piece and are very close if not a clone of the Dimarzio X2N pickups. They have 16.2k output and is GFS's highest output pickup.They are a little higher output then Dimarzio's X2N and sound great. Don't be discouraged because it is an unknown brand. I was hesitant at first but once I got it installed in my BC Rich the rest is history! I bought a matching set for my Ibanez and now that guitar screams! This pickup is A++ you won't be disappointed!
northlander30 1 year ago
@northlander30 dude thanks for the advice
man. i was really looking into this for my
ibanez, but now i think i'll get em for sure.
DeathMetalUnderKing 1 year ago
Dude thanks for this video. I had wanted a pair for a guitar mod & your video just solidified my choice.
rogerwilco59 2 years ago 6
Hey dude! Awesome tone by the way!
I have currently installed a Mighty Mite Motherbucker on the bridge. I feel the pickup is great for hi gain stuff and the output is amazing but when dropped tuned it becomes very muddy. How does this crunchy rails behave tuned drop C for example?
Cheers, Antonio
Niemandx 2 years ago 3
Hey thanks! This pickup lends itself very well to drop tunings and is one of the reasons it was designed. It was designed for modern metal and sounds great in drop d drop c and drop b. Well worth the money!
northlander30 2 years ago
Thanks for responding so quickly! Best of luck and keep rocking!
Niemandx 2 years ago
is this pickup acive? cant have a passsive haha. but i got confused when i looked up a bunch of review for the dimarzio d active x.
613haze 2 years ago
No this is a passive and why can't you have a passive pup? The Dimarzio D-Activator is a passive pup as well
northlander30 2 years ago
sick ass guitar bro
anc13ntr4ng1 2 years ago
The mid single coil is the stock BC Rich single coil. Don't know the specs on it , I bought this guitar new in March 1987, It was made October of 1986.
northlander30 2 years ago
sounds great, planning on putting one in a dan i'm buying for a great metal tone for cheap, thanks for the vid, definitely gonna buy this now.
teleguy92 2 years ago
Thanks man they are a really good pickup for a fraction of the cost of the big name brands!
northlander30 2 years ago
I'm planning on putting crunching rails and a dual rail (single coil size) in my guitar that I'm building on my channel. Can't wait.
DUY1337GUITAR 2 years ago
Is this pickup noisy ?
and are notes articulate enough for fast/technical music?
fixthafernback 2 years ago
No the pickup is not noisy at all. It is very articulate and great for anything you want to play. What I have heard is , Dimarzio makes these pickups for GFS based on pickups already long in production from Dimarzio. It is something like what Seymour Duncan does for Ibanez.
northlander30 2 years ago
I've heard with this pickup that it overdrives the clean channel does your amp have really high clean headroom or will it not distort the clean anyway?
m3talgu1tar1st 2 years ago
This pickup does clean up nicely. It has a slight overdriven tone when the amp is loud . This is to be expected when using high output pickups. Just roll off the volume on the guitar a smidge.
northlander30 2 years ago
Thanks. About how loud is it when it starts to overdrive?
m3talgu1tar1st 2 years ago
Would you say that the eq on this is balanced, or is it more bassy or trebly. Thanks.
m3talgu1tar1st 2 years ago
Would this sound good with a Laney TF200, with EQ, Bass:9, Treble:8, and Middle:4, I play punk, but, I like to have metal tone.
StreakingInJanuary 2 years ago
This pickup would sound god playing country lol. It is an all around pickup but is really high output. 16.4 K output
northlander30 2 years ago
Seymour Duncan JB, is 16.7k. Hows the clean tone? I'm planning on putting this through a alder body guitar.
StreakingInJanuary 2 years ago
It will likely sound great in an alder bodied guitar. Ya it is 16.4 k output but not as high as a lot of the SD pickups. It is just the highest output in a pickup that GFS makes. Clean tone is great I find.
northlander30 2 years ago
shoulda gotten a bugera amp...tubes and tone for under $700!!!
fearminerd 2 years ago
nice video, i especially liked the coil tap thingy! would a GFS Crunchy Rails pickup work also for more 80's-like metal? is treble, mid or bass the most present freq in the sound? does it clean up nicely when you back off the volume?
thecurse172 2 years ago
This pickup cleans up great! The most present tone that I can determine is the slightly scooped mids it has about a 6 for treble and about a 7 for bass. It is great for 80's metal. All of the GFS pickups come 4 conductor wire so coil tapping is possible, they follow the same wiring as Seymour Duncan but are a 1/3 of the cost lol.
northlander30 2 years ago
MT2 deadly ofc ;)
Makes crazy sounds combined with my Micro Cube xDDD
sprEEEzyNETWORKS 2 years ago
LOL I just bought a Marshall MG100 half stack and it isn't the distortion that is the problem. It is stressing the camera mic cause it was so close to the amp.
northlander30 2 years ago
Sucks you bought a 100W solid state MG, you could of got a great tube amp instead.
ibanezmon 2 years ago
Ya I know but I had 700 bucks to play with not 1700.00 for the Marshall or Mesa I wanted. Don't worry a tube head is at least on my radar later on.
northlander30 2 years ago
is it an h118
CemeteryBerserker 2 years ago
is that pickup anything like the emg 80
as far as sound goes
CemeteryBerserker 2 years ago
Do you mean an EMG 81? EMG's are digital pickups and require batteries to power the preamp inside them. As far as sound comparison , No I don't think it sounds like an EMG it sounds to me like a Seymour Duncan SH8 Invader. The GFS pups are passive pickups not digital.
northlander30 2 years ago
northlander30,
I've been having a blast with these crunchy rails!!! They are hot!!! I get all the highs I was looking for with these bad boys. Even in the neck position, they sound amazing.I have another Agile LP but, she will remain stock. Funny, when I switch guitars I have to lower my settings when I use my LP with C.rails in it. I know you warned us but, damn!
viletantrum 2 years ago
Killer... Got a question for you though.. Im building a Guitar and in the mix of what pup I want. These sound amazing but my question is. what wood is that BC Rich made from?
Dean4Xaviere2 2 years ago
Hey my BC Rich is made of Nato (Eastern Mahogany) but I also have 2 of these pups in my Ibanez and it is Basswood and it sounds amazing. Currently I am building a Strat and I am putting one of the GFS PAF humbuckers in the bridge. Great pickups they are!
northlander30 2 years ago
ahh thats cool. yeah GFS pups are really nice. I bought an Xaviere XV-500 and Im REALLY happy with the Crunchy PATs it came with. (You can check out my Video if youd like to hear them in a modern metal sound most videos dont show that side of them) but yeah Im building a 67 V out of Alder and wanna drop some CRails in it. Hope it sounds as good in Alder as it does in that Nato lol
Dean4Xaviere2 2 years ago
Well I have a Mexican made Fender Lonestar Strat that I just absolutely love and it is solid Alder and in the bridge is a Seymour Duncan PHG1 Pearly Gates and that pickup is just awesome for tone. I mean everything from country to metal this pup handles it all. I am glad to hear that the crunchy pat sounds great that is the pup I was planning to buy! The other Strat I am building will have a GFS Lil' Killer in the neck and will be coil tapped along with the bridge humbucker.
northlander30 2 years ago
Im still in debating weather I wanna go coil tap or not... but im not sure if I wanna go through all that seeing how the purpose of this build is to be a simple to the point Metal Shred guitar. 1 pup 1 vol easy as that haha!
Dean4Xaviere2 2 years ago
Those single coils sound great clean, but the rails pickup sounds terrible on the cleans. But distorted it sounds pretty good. Wearing in those strings would be good, too.
dwaswyf 2 years ago
Well I wouldn't say the Crunchy Rail sounds terrible clean. A lot gets lost in the mix when the video is made and then compressed. But I hear ya the Crunchy Rail does has a slight overdriven tone clean but that's where the coil tap comes into play , it cleans that pup up nicely.
northlander30 2 years ago
the power rails are voiced for a thicker sound and have little less out put
religiousMurder 3 years ago
Great review - thanks man! Excellent value too (blew me away).
Z064me 3 years ago
IMO I think that both are pretty much the same the Power rails being slightly less output but not much. I don't think it would make a difference. The Power Rails do look a little cooler though with those extra wide pole pieces.
northlander30 3 years ago
what would be a better rythym crunchy rails or power rails
googaboogaloo 3 years ago
I got both the neck and bridge GFS Crunchy Rails pick-ups being installed in my white Agile LP copy. I can't wait to piss the neighbors off!!!Thanks for the post, you sold me on them.
viletantrum 3 years ago
LOL have fun with them they are great pickups! Glad I could be of service to you. Enjoy, Rock on \m/ \m/
northlander30 3 years ago
Well,
I just got my guitar back from the shop with GFS crunchy rails in the neck and bridge . MY GOD!!!This mother screams!!!Plus, my White LP Agile 2000 looks so wicked with black pickups. This thing will break glass! Next I'll have to get my bail money together cause' I know I'll be getting a visit from the fuzz soon.Thanks!!!
viletantrum 3 years ago
how does the GFS crunchy rails do clean wired full- how easily does it distort?
tw926 3 years ago
The pickup is great wired straight or in parallel or coil tapped. I haven't had any problems with distorted tones on a clean setting.
northlander30 3 years ago
so it stays clean regardless of the volume setting? do you have to roll back the volume? thanks-tim
tw926 3 years ago
Ya it stays clean but I only ever have my amp on 1 anything beyond that is just too loud.
northlander30 3 years ago
Nice! I have a guitar that I have tuned B F# B E G# C#, and I will be getting a set of these for it! I think the Crunchy Rails will do well for the low tuning. Thanks for the Demo. Now I am pumped to order these!
HotKarl78 3 years ago
Yes this pickup is great for drop tunings. This BC Rich has been tuned to drop D permanently as I have 5 other guitars and this guitar sounds awesome drop tuned. I have also put these Crunchy Rails in my Ibanez as well. I put the zebras in it. That guitar can be seen with these pups in another vid of mine my camera sound test video.
northlander30 3 years ago
the bopy on ur guitar is awesome!!! where did u get it?
justwondering155 3 years ago
I bought this BC Rich at Alto II Music in Oshawa where I live in 1987. It is a 1986 BC Rich Assassin ST-III. The paint is called red/black crackle fusion
northlander30 3 years ago
cool, thanks a bunch >:D
justwondering155 3 years ago
thanks, great review, i actually have a couple of GFS pickups in my guitars but was going to buy a humbucker, so your demo will be really helpful!! greetings from Lima, Peru
pepelrh 3 years ago
The metal stuff you were playing was awesome!
lifeisdeath203 3 years ago 2
nice demo
machineguns0 3 years ago 2
hi, could you do a review from your amp? what amp u use?
istu0517 3 years ago 2
The amp I used for this video was a Crate GT15 practice amp. I normally use my Crate CR160 amp for videos but I wanted to see how this amp recorded for sound. I had the tone bass mids all turned to 5 or neutral and was using the eq on my Metal Zone pedal.
northlander30 3 years ago
that's a beautiful guitar
tony93666 3 years ago 5
awesome, nice PU's
YesSirItsEsser 3 years ago 4
Cool. GFS makes good pickups.
4321Blastoff 3 years ago 3
Awesome man, nice work.
skidder36 4 years ago 4
well...its sick...but the distortion isnt 100% from the pickups...its probably ur amp///settings..or something but it is kool....the pickups r sick...nice vid
signitureDGK 4 years ago
No your right the distortion isn't 100% from the pickup itself. I am running through the Boss MT2 Metal Zone as well. This pickup has some moderate bass and mids in it. It is really noticeable on a clean channel. Distorted, it gives that extra boost. The dynamics are great and the attack and sustain is fantastic and harmonics are effortless.
northlander30 4 years ago
Nice demo man. I needed to hear some good audio with these pickups to persuade me.
elchingonito 4 years ago 2
When you switch over to the metal zone it sounds harsh. Is that that just the way you have your pedal setup ?
Does the GFS overpower the neck and muddle pickups ? Are the preceived volumes close ?
MisterShred 4 years ago
No I have the mids totally scooped on the pedal plus the camera mic doesn't like distorted tones too much.
This pup is not muddy at all it actually goes great with the single coils though hotter then the neck pup, there is a little bit of volume difference between them but that is the way the BC Rich BDSM was too before I took it out. Great pickup!
northlander30 4 years ago
Distortion is used for both rythm and lead guitar.
northlander30 4 years ago
nice playing man, and this really clears up whether i should consider this pickups or not.. i just don't know between this or the bill lawrence l-500xl
dime9876 4 years ago
What did it for me on deciding which pup to buy was the price of this one and all of the reviews I have read about GFS pups. I was considering on buying the Seymour Duncan SH8 Invader and the SH 13 Dimebucker as well as the Dimarzio D-Activator. But the price of this pup just said wow man I can buy at least 4 of these for the price of one on the pickups I mentioned lol. Excellent pup for that price man!
northlander30 4 years ago
the bill lawrence is only like $20 more, but that gfs seems like a really good pickup.. i'm also wanting kind of a warm sound out of it that i know i can get out of the bill lawrence. can it do that as well?
dime9876 4 years ago
I can get some nice warm tones from this. This pickup is made for metal though. Using the coil tap I can generate a real nice almost strat like bright clean tone as well that is great for acoustic simulations.
northlander30 4 years ago
i need to ponder on this for a while.. you responded to one of my comments on another guys video saying you got this pickup.. i'm still getting the lil' killers no matter what.. did you ever get them?
dime9876 4 years ago
LOL not yet that will be a project for later on. I was also thinking about changing the pups in my Dean Evo Special to the cream and black zebras GFS Power Rails. I am also considering a set of the Crunchy rails for the new Ibanez RGR320EX I just bought a month ago. So I have lots to think about for pups and what I want to go where.
northlander30 4 years ago
alright man.. i don't really have to think much about single coils since my kramer striker is the only one that has the single coils in it.. i don't know if i will change the pickups in my dean mlx or not..
dime9876 4 years ago
your guitar is beautiful :-)
eternalwarr1or 4 years ago
Thanks man hard to believe that it is 22 years old now. One thing I have noticed is most guitar companies have gone to quilted and flamed maple tops and solid colors. There isn't a lot out there nowadays that have anything like what was applied to this BC Rich. I just bought an Ibanez RGR320EX and it has a beautiful finish on it, it is the red arctic frost finish.
northlander30 4 years ago
hi there i own a bc rich assassin qx6 i made a vid of it under the name my bcrichqx6 assassin from whiib! could you please tell me how to set it to get a sort of punk rock sound something like green day?! please answer if you can. ps:i have a marshall amp if it helps any?!?!?
whiib 4 years ago
Got a early 90s warlock NJ wher can I get info on 5 wire bdsm pickups?? Desperate for a schematic for 5 wire bdsm pickups.Anyone?? its all thats left on a complete overhaul,cant correctly wire the pickups being 5 wire.
97warlock 4 years ago
Hey , the 5 wire design that the GFS and BC Rich BDSM's are for a purpose. 2 of the wires tie together as a ground and if you don't plan to have coil taps then the use of that wire is not a factor either. Seymour Duncan has wiring diagrams for hum hum configuration pickups.
northlander30 4 years ago
i just got those today i LOVE gfs crunchy rails their...AWSOME
kronickkid 4 years ago
Wow! The distortion sound is great, as expected, but I was really shocked by how lush the clean sound on this thing is! Are you using some chorus in there or is that just reverb? Also, as others have said, nice chops.
jsarnold513 4 years ago
Hey thanks man, no I am not using any chorus but yes there is reverb and it is at 10 on my amp. This pickup does have a real nice clean tone. It sounds really good split as a single coil. Running this pickup on a clean tone using either my AC2 Acoustic sim or through my RP350, I can get a pretty dam close acoustic sound. But using the MT2 Metal Zone this pup just screams just what I like lol. I just bought an Ibanez and I am planning to put both the bridge and neck if this pup in that guitar.
northlander30 4 years ago
thats a fire breather alright! ordering now. btw nice chops! and what kind of amp are you using? people reviewing gear should always explain their rig, you know, tubes/solidstate etc.
hellspark 4 years ago
Ya i agree, I am using a Crate CR-160 amp and running through my Boss MT2 Metal Zone.This guitar really didn't need a pup replacement but I was starting to find the 1986 BDSM pup that was in this guitar was starting to sound hollow sounding to me and I wanted something fuller sounding and the GFS gave me this. This pickup has tone and not quite scooped mids in it . it sounds great.
northlander30 4 years ago
I wonder how it compares to the Dimarzio X2N? Thats what i wanted to buy for my guitar. I wish i could AB them.
joerez8 4 years ago
Another comment - the middle+neck setting sounds *really* good. Your guitar is a real swiss army knife now!
HvitRavn 4 years ago