are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

[appar111]

Never tried a Bare Knuckle pickup before, but was perusing their A5 humbucker offerings.

What's your favorite A5 Bare Knuckle humbucker and what are you using it in? Is there one that would kill with a swamp ash strat w/ maple neck, rosewood board and vintage trem? No other pickups on this one-- just one good ol' humbucker at the bridge.

[JohnZAH]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

I can't comment on the swamp ash but I love the A5 nailbomb in mahogany guitars.

[SGFanatic]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

The only BKpickup I have experience is the Holy Diver. I just got one used, and I like it a lot. The BKPickups website calls it a hot rodded humbucker, sort of like a JB, which I love, but it does not sound like a JB. It's the same "class" of pickup, but not a copy.
The only reason I got it was because I got it for a reasonable price. I think $180 is a little steep for a single pickup.
I put it in the bridge of my LTD Viper, and I really like the sound. It's darker than I'd hoped but it has a crunchy mid range and a smooth/creamy top end.
Tight bottom and good with high gain. Actually, it sounds better with high gain.
To be honest, I think the Holy Diver would do well in a guitar with that brighter tone wood combination.
Hope that helped.

[Brow]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

I have about 2/3s of the BKP range so as you can guess I do think they're good

If you want to know anything about any specific model then I'll help where I can.

[hermetico]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

I think there are two statements that are in the bottomline of any BKP:

- Articulation: high definition note-by-note, even drived hard
- Complex tone: complex harmonical content

Said this, not all BKPs are my cup-of-tea.

I specially love The Mule, as the best PAF I've tried (even that they use A4 magnets!). Think on a '59 with everything you like about '59s (complex harmonical content) and nothing of what you don't like (confussed bass/mids when driven hard).
Riff Raff are A5 and, in the ballpark of the JB but removing those things I don't like in JB (ice-peak nasal sound, specially clean). They work good clean and hard driven.
Nailbombs have way more output and more modern sound, very even EQ.
Abraxas are overwound Mules and, I don't like them so much.
Blackguard Teles are pure Tele sound but, I don't see too much gap respect of other good Tele pickups. Less than I can hear with those Mules respect other PAFs.
Mother's Milk are quite similar to Antiquity II Surf pickups. Maybe, neck pickup has a complexer sound than the Ants but, oveall, I prefer SD' set.

Price tag is absolutelly crazy and, that stopped me to test anything else.
My experience says that '59s and (in alder bodied guitars) JBs can do all the job with spades, when looking for a PAF-alike humbucker. Maybe, not the cream of the cream but, good enough and, reasonablely priced.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

My Warpig is A5, Painkiller is triple ceramic. All I can say is that nothing sounds like a Warpig and it sounds like nothing else. Don't let the 22K or whatever it is fool you, it's heavy and grindy, but it's not overly distorted and clarity and pick attack are both really impressive, really unexpected, it surprised me. I had played a ceramic pig before, but I expected the A5 version to be really dark, it's not.

PK is somewhat like a DD, but not as distorted on it's own, and a lot cleaner/clearer, non of that white noise sound that the DD has.

It's like Herm said, there's other tools that will do the same job just fine, but I love both of mine and plan to try more.

[richard parker]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

My main gigging guitar for 20 years was an old SG Junior with a JB in the bridge. My main guitar for the past 2 years has been a Firebird Studio with a set of Rebel Yells. Similar ballpark but just plain better. Talk to Brow - he's an expert.

[AlexR]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

I can't comment on specific A5 humbuckers, but the two sets of BKP's I've had whilst being nice are no better than other pickups from the big companies.

Its also fair to say that they are more costly than most boutique winders product.

[richard parker]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

Alex R - not disputing your experience in any way but I'm curious about which BKPs you had ?

As much as I love mine the whole pickup thing is subjective and there no rights and wrongs - only what our ears tell us.

[Brow]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

Here's my take on some of the things mentioned:

I think there are two statements that are in the bottomline of any BKP:

- Articulation: high definition note-by-note, even drived hard
- Complex tone: complex harmonical content

Said this, not all BKPs are my cup-of-tea.

I specially love The Mule, as the best PAF I've tried (even that they use A4 magnets!). Think on a '59 with everything you like about '59s (complex harmonical content) and nothing of what you don't like (confussed bass/mids when driven hard).
Riff Raff are A5 and, in the ballpark of the JB but removing those things I don't like in JB (ice-peak nasal sound, specially clean). They work good clean and hard driven.
Nailbombs have way more output and more modern sound, very even EQ.
Abraxas are overwound Mules and, I don't like them so much.
Blackguard Teles are pure Tele sound but, I don't see too much gap respect of other good Tele pickups. Less than I can hear with those Mules respect other PAFs.
Mother's Milk are quite similar to Antiquity II Surf pickups. Maybe, neck pickup has a complexer sound than the Ants but, oveall, I prefer SD' set.

I agree 100% on the articulation and harmonic complexity comment. With all BKPs I owned and have tried you can hear every note in every chord even under high gain. They don't cover mistakes and leave everything out in the open.

I have AIV Mules in my Gibson Les Paul and they replaced a pair of Seth Lovers, which replaced a pair of 59s; I hated them. Boomy, mid scooped and rather bland sounding. This is how they were in my guitar and not necessarilly how they are in others so please prefix what I've just said as 'IMO'. The Mules are very neutral sounding EQ wise, no 1 frequency jumps out. They really seem to let the natural voice of the guitar come through.

Riff Raffs though are nothing at all like a JB. From what I recall they're going for a ballpark tone of some 1970s T-Top pickups. They're in the PAF ballpark of the Mules but are a smidge brighter sounding. The Holydiver and Rebel Yell are said to be JB-ish: I don't find this to be the case though.

What you said about the Nailbombs and Abraxas are completely your opinions and that's cool. I agree with you on the Nailbombs but not on the Abraxas; I really like my set. The neck is pretty much a Mule and the bridge is wound to about 14k and tonally is what I'd refer to as a 'PAF on steroids'.

I also have Blackguards in a Tele and like them too, but I can't compare them to anything else as the guitar had Kent Armstrong pickups in before and they were horrid, so anything was an improvement on those!

I also have Mothers Milks in a Mahogany/Ash sandwich bodied Strat and they replaced a set of Duncan Antiquity Texas Hots, I also haven't played the Surfers so can't compare them.

Price tag is absolutelly crazy and, that stopped me to test anything else.

Its also fair to say that they are more costly than most boutique winders product.

This is relative.

Over here in the UK BKPs aren't much, if any, more expensive than a set of Seth Lovers or Antiquities.

Infact; anyone outside of the UK gets them cheaper than we do as you don't have to pay the 20% VAT tax ontop like we do

[d1dsj]

Re: are Bare Knuckle humbuckers REALLY good? (A5 models in particular...)

Appar111 - What sort of sound are you going for? I have a Crawler in my LP standard and I do like it a lot, kind of a hotter PAF sound. However it's very similar to a S.D C5 which was a great pick up too. I believe that Geoff Whitehorn developed this to work in both Strats and LP's.

I spoke to Tim at BKP a while back and he had Pageys #1 on the work bench to get some readings from the bridge pick up. And he said the Riff Raff was pretty much that sound.

I can't offer anything else other than you pm Bro who loves his BKP's.