Loving Bulldog w/ PQs

[GDane1]

Just had to gush after rehearsal last night. Absolutely love my Bulldog w/ PQ1/PQ2

Have really dialed it in. Will try and post some clips this weekend although we know that won't really do it justice.

These pickups do everything.

I especially love the middle position (both pickups) with the neck pot pulled (parallel) and the bridge pot pushed (series). I keep the bridge volume up all the way and use the neck volume to adjust volume overall and tone. It covers everything from old school blues/jazz to modern rock.

Using my Electradyne with pretty much '12 oclock' setting on all the knobs (exept master volume at 1) and now hardly any effect.

My clean sound is just the amp, a little delay (DD-7 50msec) and the footpedal/higher gain setting on the electradyne for leads.

My distortion is from my new Suhr Riot pedal (amazing IMO) on the bridge pickup for saturated sounds and a Suhr Kokoboost for leads on this (if I use the high gain channel on top of the Riot its way toooo LOUD).

Was able to get rid of my noise suppressor (NS-2) as there is NO noise.

Thanks again to Tom Anderson Guitarworks for making me sound so much better than I really am and letting me get the most enjoyment out of playing guitar.:p :p :p

[gibson5413]

Congratulations on finding what makes you happy. I love those Bulldogs. Would love to see more pics and listen to some clips.

[TSAdeimy]

How do they handle higher gain sounds? Any squeel or unwanted feedback?

[GDane1]

here's a pic I put up earlier:

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/gdane4/IMG_8834.jpg


No squeal even with high gain. We did some pretty good stuff with the Riot pedal last night I should be able to put up tonight or tomorrow morning.

I haven't played it through a "high gain" amp yet so can't comment on that, but the riot pedal certainly gives high gain sound and saturation.

[j1mr]

Love hearing great things about the bulldog with PQs. I've ordered mine, and the wait is killing me.... black bulldog, PQs, VA boost, all mahogany and vintage trem. I've got a March slot, so I have a bit of waiting left to do :( Please post clips so that I may live vicariously through you during this difficult period :D

[GDane1]

OK tried to post some song clips from rehearsal. Again we're a bunch of 40 something yr old garage band dudes. Recorded on Olympus LS-10 mini recorder just sittin on the counter. Vocals are very quiet due to high speaker placement.

First clip is song "Shine" 1st or 2nd attempt. Drop D tuning. All distortion is Bulldog PQ2 series with riot pedal. There is another guitarist playing a '73 strat, but the recorder is pointed pretty much at the Electradyne amp w/bulldog. You can occasionally hear his tinny out of tune strat sound.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9896593


Next clip is Jesus Just Left Chicago. Bulldog playing the bluesy fills. Strat is playing the rhythm. I think I'm the second lead. Both pickups with PQ1 parallel and PQ2 series. Mild delay. Lead adds high gain channel of Electradyne. Nice mid scoop sound to it.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9896594


Last clip is classic garageband tune, Roadhouse Blues. Again Riot pedal with Bulldog PQ2 series. Kokoboost for lead.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9896595

[mslugano]

Man, I love your goldtop!

[oakridge]

Hey GDane1
sounds like you have nailed your sound

I am currently waiting on a drop top S, but have been seriously considering the PQs in a ? hollow cobra
What switching do you have to allow independant series/parallel on pickups?
do you think 2 is better than 3 (PQ's)
what do you think about 2 PQs and a humbucker (ie H2+)
btw my amp is an electradyne 2x12--Id really like to explore the PQ and electradyne combo

Thanks for any insight--not many to play downunder in Aus

[tom]

i'll just respond to the switching question.
with a bulldog you have 2 tone pots, so individual pulls for series parallel.
with the cobra you would have either available separately, but the combo sound would be either both series or both split.
with 3 pickups there would be less options since on switch could not do s/p of 3 pickups.
i have a bulldog special with 3 knobs and i have 2 pull pots to do the s/p function. i find so far that the series sounds work so well for me that i'm not using the parallel much at all, but if i needed the brighter edgier thing they are there.

[GDane1]

I love the PQ electradyne combo. I also use 2X12 (V30 + GT75). I have been using all my knobs at 12 oclock with the master (left-most knob) at 1 or 1 1/2. 45 watts most of the time. 90 watts is too loud for most uses for me.

I like that on the Bulldog I can independently choose either parallel or series for each pickup and then use the volume knobs to blend them together. The blend is really key for me. As stated I'm loving the neck in parallel and bridge in series. On it's own, the neck in parallel is a little thinner/stratty sounding - awesome for funk (as it should) but I mostly play the neck in series if on its own (especially for thick jazz/blues tones). I think the least played is the bridge in parallel. It's a very tele/country sound and my band plays lots of classic/hard rock. The bridge in series though is my go to for overdrive/distortion and even my clean rock sound where picked notes are key (think Blister in the Sun).

I would worry that 3 PQs would get confusing, and 2 PQs plus HB would pose switching probs esp. to split the HB. The PQ2 (and now PQ3) in series overdrives quite well and I don't think a HB would be needed. Plus if you have a HB coming on your DT you shouldn't really need one.

The PQs are very quiet (got rid of my noise suppressor) and cut through very well in the mix when needed, or fill it up thick with rhythm parts.

Also you mention a 'hollow' cobra. I was very concerned about weight for the Bulldog as it isn't hollow (yet?). I sold my LP because of weight issues and love the light weight of my HTC classic. I was very pleasantly surprised by how light the Bulldog is. The curves are subtly, but definitely takes a lot of weight off the guitar. Mine weighs just over 7 pounds! (7.15 I believe). It is incredibly balanced.

I also love the even taper neck on the HTC and was nervous about the happy medium neck profile, but it fits the bulldog perfectly. It doesn't feel big to me at all, but has enough beef to keep a solid feeling throughout the guitar especially with the short scale.

Sorry a little wordy, but hope this helps.

[oakridge]

Thanks for your insights
Didn't want to hijack your thread but found
it very interesting that you have pq's and a dyne!
I find your comments very helpful
I'm sold on 2 pq's with the series parallel
switching and no HB
I guess the difference between options
with cobra va bulldog is each pickup can
Be independant with series parallel config