First BareKnuckle ever

Barquentine

I have Rebel Yells in my S2 Singlecut and the Abraxas set in my Bernie. Those two guitars do everything I want between them. Great pickups but there are a lot more options available now for much less cash. 

Philly_Q

Barquentine said:

I have Rebel Yells in my S2 Singlecut and the Abraxas set in my Bernie. Those two guitars do everything I want between them. Great pickups but there are a lot more options available now for much less cash. 

The first "set" of BKPs I bought were a Rebel Yell bridge and Abraxas neck.  That feels like decades ago!

DavusPG

meltedbuzzbox said:

They are ok.
Definitely not the best and the prices are a bit silly now.

Who are the top runners for pickups?

My first experience of BK pickups is the set of Mules in my Feline Lion and it sounds great, but I'd be keen to know people's thoughts on alternatives and which brands of pickups are the best.

The only aftermarket pickups I've ever bought have been DiMarzio and a vintage Bill Lawrence 

thegummy

imalrightjack said:

Not as impressive as Ronnie Pickering’s bare knuckles. 

Which in turn are nothing compared to Joe Joyce's bare knuckles!

thegummy

Lestratcaster said:

I have their humbuckers (Aftermath, Juggernaut, Cold Sweat neck and Nailbomb bridge) in 3 of my guitars. They're great for those but didn't get on well with their single coils. I have Oil City ones in my Strat and Tele.

In my main guitar (Strat) I have Bare Knuckle Apaches in the neck and middle and an Oil City Diamond Geezer in the bridge.

The Bare Knuckle ones sound largely similar to the memory I have of the previous pickups - Fender CS Fat 50s. I've not actually compared the two side by side or even within the same session, I just mean that they both have that lovely classic Strat sound.

The Oil City in the bridge though is quite mind blowing - sounds a lot different to a standard Strat bridge and changed my mind on the Strat bridge position which I previously wasn't a fan of but now really like it.

This isn't to do with the manufacturers though, it's that the Diamond Geezer is much hotter than classic Strat pickups and has a baseplate.

Even as someone who has quite a few expensive pickups and will likely buy more, I think there's a good chance that the aftermarket pickup market in general has a lot to do with marketing and perceptions.

A lot of internet posts have people saying one pickup, or pickup maker, is drastically better than another, but when the pickups compared are of a similar type I'm not so sure that I, or anyone else, could actually hear the difference.

I very much stick by my initial reply to the OP though; even if there are cheaper pickups that are just as good as the BK ones, it doesn't stop them being great pickups and also the way they're packaged etc. is really nice which is always pleasing.

TINMAN82

I’ll add a shout out to Sunbear pickups. Review coming shortly.

Tat2dstesh

thegummy said:

Lestratcaster said:

I have their humbuckers (Aftermath, Juggernaut, Cold Sweat neck and Nailbomb bridge) in 3 of my guitars. They're great for those but didn't get on well with their single coils. I have Oil City ones in my Strat and Tele.

In my main guitar (Strat) I have Bare Knuckle Apaches in the neck and middle and an Oil City Diamond Geezer in the bridge.

The Bare Knuckle ones sound largely similar to the memory I have of the previous pickups - Fender CS Fat 50s. I've not actually compared the two side by side or even within the same session, I just mean that they both have that lovely classic Strat sound.

The Oil City in the bridge though is quite mind blowing - sounds a lot different to a standard Strat bridge and changed my mind on the Strat bridge position which I previously wasn't a fan of but now really like it.

This isn't to do with the manufacturers though, it's that the Diamond Geezer is much hotter than classic Strat pickups and has a baseplate.

Even as someone who has quite a few expensive pickups and will likely buy more, I think there's a good chance that the aftermarket pickup market in general has a lot to do with marketing and perceptions.

A lot of internet posts have people saying one pickup, or pickup maker, is drastically better than another, but when the pickups compared are of a similar type I'm not so sure that I, or anyone else, could actually hear the difference.

I very much stick by my initial reply to the OP though; even if there are cheaper pickups that are just as good as the BK ones, it doesn't stop them being great pickups and also the way they're packaged etc. is really nice which is always pleasing.

As Much as I love the idea of getting a Oilcity the p90's just did not sound quite what I was looking for, If I wanted a humbucker I probably would have gone for one of them as I love the Nightfighter or scrap yard dog plus as I have both and they are amazing. 

I did really resist going for BK but it came down to either a monty p90 leviathan and the stockholm. 
All the other p90's were either not the look I want (oilcity with the black open top) or either more vintage focused or way over the top. 
Both of the ones from BK and Monty were that middle ground I seem to stick with besides a Dimarzio tonezone and SD 

I did consider Alegree and zombiedust but I have not had any experience with either 

Strat54

Pickups: Totally subjective. There are really no good and bad at this level....just not to your tastes. To suggest that Bare Knuckle aren't a decent pickup is down to A) Yours ears  B)Your brain C) Your guitar D) Your pedals and amps E) Your ability to play etc. We all hear things differently....just saying. I'm sure if Tim was a regular on here, you'd all be gushing...like you do for the other Brit winders lol.

merciful-evans

fretmeister said:

I've had 3 of them
Didn't like any of them.

EDIT: Although to be fair unless it's a Seymour Pearly Gates or EMGs I generally don't like anything!

really? I don't like those 

FelineGuitars

Remember that you will find that some pickups work better in some guitars.
It is a matter of finding the right match .
The pickup is working like a filter, and to a large extent relies on the energy in the string, whose vibrational content is affected by the resonance of the body, neck and hardware. 

Yes I am saying that the wood matters, along with the attached hardware .....in terms of what is absorbed out of the full frequency spectrum that a vibrating string could have (it's all subtractive science). 

The pickup will only filter the signal that is going in to it and it is whether that signal and the way it emphasises certain ranges within that source signal proves to be pleasing to your ear once it goes through whatever pedals and amp (assuming that you are not losing much through the wiring harness too) as to whether you will like the sound.

So just because another person gets a great sound with a certain pickup doesn't mean that you will get the exact same sound  on YOUR GUITAR with that pickup . 

It may filter your sound to be in a similar ballpark but the underlying string vibration will be slightly different to begin with . You may find that after some experimentation that a completely different pickup sounds better in that particular guitar.

It is also the reason why despite the fact that we stock a LOT of pickups from various leading brands before installing any to a customer's guitar we take a look to see if anything needs improving in terms of the guitars acoustic/unplugged sound and will also check the pot values etc to ensure that the sound of any new pickup won't be held back by a volume pot with too low  resistance value.

TINMAN82

I’ve found this out in the last 24hrs after removing my archtops Seth Lover and exchanging it for a modded Sunbear. The Seth Lover is no doubt a decent pickup but it seemed to exaggerate part of the frequency spectrum (nasally upper mids/ treble) that didn’t sound great to me. The new pickup seems to have shifted the EQ curve into a more pleasant range and generally sounds more clear and balanced.

That said, the fundamental brightness of the guitar comes through with both pickups.

normula1

FelineGuitars said:

Remember that you will find that some pickups work better in some guitars.
It is a matter of finding the right match .
The pickup is working like a filter, and to a large extent relies on the energy in the string, whose vibrational content is affected by the resonance of the body, neck and hardware. 

Yes I am saying that the wood matters, along with the attached hardware .....in terms of what is absorbed out of the full frequency spectrum that a vibrating string could have (it's all subtractive science). 

The pickup will only filter the signal that is going in to it and it is whether that signal and the way it emphasises certain ranges within that source signal proves to be pleasing to your ear once it goes through whatever pedals and amp (assuming that you are not losing much through the wiring harness too) as to whether you will like the sound.

So just because another person gets a great sound with a certain pickup doesn't mean that you will get the exact same sound  on YOUR GUITAR with that pickup . 

It may filter your sound to be in a similar ballpark but the underlying string vibration will be slightly different to begin with . You may find that after some experimentation that a completely different pickup sounds better in that particular guitar.

It is also the reason why despite the fact that we stock a LOT of pickups from various leading brands before installing any to a customer's guitar we take a look to see if anything needs improving in terms of the guitars acoustic/unplugged sound and will also check the pot values etc to ensure that the sound of any new pickup won't be held back by a volume pot with too low  resistance value.

This is so true. I've a Duncan Custom Custom (which I put an A5 magnet into so is effectively a Custom 5) and I've never really got on with in either of its guises it at all in multiple guitars.... until I recently put it into my PRS CU22 where it sounds fantastic.