Bareknuckle pickups

DefaultM

Which ones have you had and what did you think? 

I love to buy pickups, and I have no problems spending BKP prices. However, every set that I've had I've thought were simply 'good'.

I got a set of Oil City Nightfighters a few weeks ago and my reaction as soon as I played a note was "OOOOO". I've never had that with the BKPs despite them costing nearly twice as much and having a massive following.

I've had:

Cold Sweat 7 string set and 6 string set
Miracle Man set
Ceramic Nailbomb bridge 
Mule set

Initially liked the Mule set in my LP Custom, but swapping between them and the Oil City pickups I've really gone off them as they sound a mess in comparison.

stimpsonslostson

Sounds much like a testament to the amazing quality of Oil City as anything else. 

After trying a variety of other pickups, my Esquire is rocking an Oil City Alligator 90, so all I can say is "Preach brother, preach!"

Stevepage

Nailbomb
Holy Diver set
Miracle Man
Warpig
Sinner
Trilogy Suite

All were fantastic except the Sinner. Great if you're Yngwie but you couldn't use it for much else. Super compressed.



Would like Nailbombs in my RG again.

Richardj

Maybe the hype is from being possibly the first high profile U.K. pickup maker.  I don't follow hype though.

Currently rocking a set of 5th Anniversary Triple Blues in my favourite Strat. Oh mama!

alanbass1

I had a few which I also thought were 'OK' - these were Slowhand and Apache single coils and the Mule humbucker set.  Recently I got a Broadcaster pickup for my tele and this is something special, gave me that 'wow' as soon as I started playing.  

BloodEagle

Ive never found a set of BKP that I really really liked - on paper they ticked the boxes but in reality, meh, never really did it for me. Bulldog pickups, on the other hand, in particular their Hot and Fat PAF sets, are genuinelly fantastic sounding and a step up from BKP (despite being somehwt cheaper) in my opinion.

rlw

Stormy Mondays in my Sheraton are amazing, a huge range of sounds at all volume levels.

menamestom

I don't have any BKP's at the moment but have had the following:-

Blackguard flat 50 - Excellent

Stormy Monday's - Excellent

Irish Tours - OK, a bit too edgy and bright

Mother Milk - OK, a bit thin but nice enough

It really just depends what you like and what suits your guitar.  They make some great pickups and have a really comprehensive range.  I don't think they are any better that Bulldog, Oil City, creamery etc

The ones that I though were okay some may love, there's no right or wrong.

sawyer

Mm I was gonna get a pP90 from these guys. I'm not sure now:(

WezV

I have had many which were fantastic and I really loved.  They became the only pickups I used for a few years.  I have had a few which didn't suit the guitars I initially put them in, and I have had some that were just good.

but I still remember the first P90 I ordered being a revelation, and I still have a few favourites in my own guitars.

Ossyrocks

I have BKP Mules in my Les Paul along with their pots and Luxe Bees. I really like them. They beat Custombuckers, Burstbuckers and Sheptones which I've had in the past.

I would really like to try some Wizz pickups or some OX4's though, but I'm not going to buy them just out of curiosity as I'm pretty happy with the BKP's.

Rob.

axisus

I've had a few over the years. I quite liked the Nailbombs and Crawlers, but I'm always a bit sceptical over expensive pickups and the exact 'improvement' over lesser stuff. Not keen on Apache SCs.

I have an Oil city HB and a p90, both of which I am liking. I think I am more likely to buy OC rather than BK.

Gagaryn

My Tele has a BK Blackguard Flat 50 in the bridge and on OC Triple Blues in the neck - it is a wonderful combination.

rash

I have mules in a few guitars, I think they're great pickups. They have a mid range push that I really like. I've also tried Stormy Mondays, which I liked, but I missed the extra mids and Black dogs, which had a bit too much treble for my taste.

Halikus

My BKP experience so far,


Aftermath 7 bridge - Has that Djent upper mid thing and really good for down tuning clarity
Coldsweat 7 Neck - Really liked it for leads - has that classic neck pickup sound but far clearer than most i've tried
Really like the middle position between these pickups for cleans - so much so that even though i would like to replace the aftermath it stays as il loose this sound otherwise....

Blackdog Bridge - Rather brash for such a low output pickup however handles super high gain like a champ
Stormy Monday neck - Love it, very woody sounding without ever getting muddy

Gadgie

I friend had BK's in his LP, but I preferred my Wizard Racer/Progression set, so didn't go the BK route......yet.

AndyR

Irish Tours
Apaches
Sultans
Blackguard Flat 50s (original recipe) x 2
Yardbirds
Country Boys
Mules
Riff Raffs
Stormy Mondays x 2
Mississippi Queens

My favourite humbuckers are the Stormies, I have them in a Les Paul and an SG. I'm actually about to get another set for another Les Paul.

I like the Mules (335) and Riff Raffs (another SG), but the Stormies are closer to the "humbucker" sound in my head. They are sweet and clear but get nasty real easily too. Mules are nice and raunchy, Riff Raffs kick through well, but neither sound as nice and sweet as the Stormies do when cleaned up.

The strat and tele sets seem to care a lot about which guitar they're in. My ITs and Apaches are in 60s and 50s roadworns respectively - they are fabulous there and are not going anywhere now. They were both in another strat before, neither set has enough top-end for that (the roadworns are nice, bright and spanking guitars, they're perfect in those). The Sultans are smooth and sweet and work nicely in that more mellow sounding guitar - I tend to use it for clean strat, gentle trem, that sort of thing.

Of the strat sets, I'd say the Apaches are my favourite. Nice and rounded and quite mean when you dig in. Really good all-rounders.

Teles. One set of Blackguards is in an original 50s Baja - that is STUNNING. The other set in a CIJ "52" - not so exciting, perfectly usable though. The Yardbirds have been in a MIJ Custom where there were really good (the neck pickup is GORGEOUS). At present they are in a 60s Baja and the Custom has the Country Boys. It's not working as good as it could that way round - both will be amazing when I swap them back.

Mississippi Queens I didn't really get on with - initial love followed by "wtf?". But I've recently acquired an LP Special and a Yamaha Revstar 502, and have now learnt that it's the P90-ness I was struggling with. Now I know what that is and what to expect, I'm happy with the MQs. They're in a Love Rock, and it does all the P90 the other two guitars do.


I am tempted by Oil City for the second Les Paul after all I've read on here... but the thing is, I love how the Stormies work in the other Les Paul and the SG, and I know they'll do a similar job in this new LP (it has the 57/57+ set which isn't too bad itself, but a bit harsher and muddier than Stormies).

DefaultM

I think the issue is that when I wanted a set of abraxas in gold I was looking at about £250 or so. Maybe a bit less. I gave the description to Ash at Oil City and he recommended nightfighters which I think were about £140 and they're awesome.

TTony

DefaultM said:

I think the issue is that when I wanted a set of abraxas in gold I was looking at about £250 or so. Maybe a bit less. I gave the description to Ash at Oil City and he recommended nightfighters which I think were about £140 and they're awesome.

You're always going to get that sort of differential when you're comparing a "proper" (no disrespect to Ash) corporate set-up with a much smaller business.

That extra money has to pay for a lot of stuff (the marketing & advertising, employee costs, premises, retailer margins, stockholding, etc) that doesn't really impact the actual product, other than in its price.

sweepy

Ash does make great pickups, I recently fitted a set of BK Rayguns, the Steve Stevens set, to a 61 SG reissue and they sounded immense. 

HAL9000

Another recommendation for Oil City. I emailed Ash and explained what I was after. He made a couple of suggestions and described how they differed. I settled for a set of Oil City StoneTones and couldn't be happier. Excellent pickups at a very reasonable price.