bareknuckle pickups?

I don't know how ive never heard of these until now, but.... do any of you guys have experience with these pickups?

Apparently they have a lifetime warranty? which is great, but im more interested in the sound.

comparing it to a Seymour Duncan ... less or more crunch and punch?

Probably this should have been posted in the Guitars section.

Which model pickup? They have quite a few models. I have a set of Cold Sweats in a PRS SC245. Sound great. Lots of output, well-balanced, easy pinch harmonics. Still a bit mid-focused on that guitar (mahogany/maple).

Yellowjacket has used the Rebel Yells and loves them. I almost put Nailbombs in one of guitars, but they wouldn't fit.

What do you ant to use them for? What do you want to use them with?

They are pricy, but I used that as an opportunity to get a custom look as well. I went with brushed nickel covers and gold screws, looks really nice on a Santana Yellow PRS.

I recommend contacting BKP directly. They are very helpful in choosing a pickup model.

RocknRolln said:

I don't know how ive never heard of these until now, but.... do any of you guys have experience with these pickups?

Apparently they have a lifetime warranty? which is great, but im more interested in the sound.

comparing it to a Seymour Duncan ... less or more crunch and punch?

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I love these pickups. I'm sure that there are quite a few boutique builders that do great work, and I'm sure that I became a BKP customer because happened to try their product and I liked it. They're getting quite big for a boutique builder. That being said, the pickups are great.

I think Duncan does great work too so I think they are a great benchmark for comparing with BKP.

I find Seymour Duncans to have a very thick and wooly sound. They tend to be phatter which becomes muddy under more gain. They tend to be quite hot as well, although that can be a result of the 'thick' sort of a timbre.

All the BKP I have tried are more open sounding with a lot of clarity and articulation. You can get a lot of tonal colours out of the pickup depending on pick attack, and the notes in chords tend to ring in a really clear way. The feel is different, and the pickups tend to handle high gain REALLY well because of the clarity. The perception can be that the pickups are not as powerful because they don't sound like a wall of distortion, but this is mostly because of that clarity.

My only advice with BKP is to email the guys there so you can match the best pickup for the guitar you are trying to use. I love the Rebel Yell bridge in my solid mahogany axe because it adds a lot of clarity and brilliance to a very dark instrument. The VHII was a great neck pickup because it splits well and it balances the tonal quality of the Rebel Yell bridge in a way that works with my playing style. I love the Juggernaut Set in a Super Strat because it adds power, punch, and body to a balanced but very bright sounding instrument. In the right guitar, the Juggerset is my favourite pickup offering from BKP because they do clean, rhythm, & lead all so well.

I currently have an Alnico Nailbomb bridge and a Rebel Yell neck in my Les Paul.

Got a warpig in bridge on my Les Paul Studio Lite (lightweight)
Nice cut-through and great mids. Very pleased with it.
Got a SD Black Winter (hotrod JB) in bridge on my heavy Les Paul and thats great.
The low mids are hugh with great punch.
Gonna swap em some day just to check how they sound on each other.
Had a DM X2N in the Studio and that was wrong.

Check sound examples on web, check youtube, check artists and records, and ALWAYS consider your guitar. A lightbody thin guitar can sound great and a fat heavy guitar can sound crap with the same pu.

pal said:

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and ALWAYS consider your guitar. A lightbody thin guitar can sound great and a fat heavy guitar can sound crap with the same pu.

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Agreed 100%

I have a Rebel Yell in a solid mahogany instrument and a Juggerset in a Super Strat. My theory is that it is best to match pickups to guitars.