[Thrashmanzac]

ah fair enough, thanks heaps

[Blind Faith]

One more question would the maple fretboard be birdseye maple or just plain maple?

[JJ Rodriguez]

Base price on the custom Sii-7 is about $2100 and you have to order it through Apple music, or Noodles possibly. You'll probably have to wait like a year or so.

[technomancer]

Originally Posted by Blind Faith

One more question would the maple fretboard be birdseye maple or just plain maple?

For $1499 I would lay money it's normal maple...

[Blind Faith]

Originally Posted by technomancer

For $1499 I would lay money it's normal maple...

Yeah thats what i thought/think it would be

[HaGGuS]

Originally Posted by B Lopez

HIGH FIVE DUDE!

my girlfriend is quite possibly the nicest person i have ever met...
i let her move into my place.. she buys me a KxK ..

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

I'm pretty sure he has a Duncan Custom in there but I'll let him answer that.

Nope. He has a Wolfetone-rewound Duncan JB7 in it. I cannot recommend the man's services enough - he makes the JB7 sound like the '80s JBs that won the hearts of so many players....

[noodles]

Originally Posted by eaeolian

Nope. He has a Wolfetone-rewound Duncan JB7 in it. I cannot recommend the man's services enough - he makes the JB7 sound like unbridled awesomeness was given a voice....

[noodles]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

I'm pretty sure he has a Duncan Custom in there but I'll let him answer that.

In regards to BKPs though, a lot of things would work, but just keep in mind with a maple neck-thru guitar, the vast majority of the tone is going to derive from the neck and not the wings. So perhaps approach the pickup search with that in mind - something that would interact well with maple's tonal characteristics (high mid emphasis).

Like Mike said, I have a rewound JB7 in it, and I couldn't be happier. Considering how well they worked as the OEM bridge pickup for Jackson in the 80s, I'm really not that surprised with my results. As you said, most of the tone is from the neck wood, and the original JB always excelled with that construction. It is a shame that the stock JB7 is so far off of this, because I really cannot recommend it to anyone at this point. It is actually closer to a Distortion, since it is thin and overly hot, which is the wrong thing for maple.

I personally am not a fan of the DiMarzio D-Sonics. I liked them initially but fairly quickly after the honeymoon I started to find they sounded pretty boring and could get muddy fairly easily on the low B (even with the bar facing the bridge). If I was buying the KxK I personally would opt for the Blackout option, but that's just me.

Having payed Andy's green splat this weekend, I can say that the DS7 works a whole lot better in a neckthru with mahogany wings than it does in basswood. It has a nice punchy growl to the lower mids, and sings well up top. It just still has that processed sounding midrange that I associate with Dimarzio in general.

In contrast, the Duncan Blackouts in Chris' guitar had that angry bark that I have come to associate with the midrange character of Duncans. They were still obviously active pickups, with the focused highs that I expect from an EMG, but far warmer and more interactive. You still had to hit them a bit harder to really get the punch out of the bottom, unlike the on/off switch low end of EMG.

So, if I was choosing between the two, I'd pick the Blackouts. Of course, there is an excellent chance they would get replaced within a month or two.

[noodles]

Originally Posted by Blind Faith

One more question would the maple fretboard be birdseye maple or just plain maple?

Just plain maple, obviously.