New pickups, Bareknuckle, which?

R

Roadrunner

Power User
Hi.

it's time for new pickups for one of my Axe's
Guitar is mahogany with quilted Maple top body and maple / maple neck, H/H configuration.
I would like to go with Bareknuckle this time.
Overall type will be hot / modern so it narrows the search for CONTEMPORARY: https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=humbuckers&sub=contemporary

What am I looking for….tough question…
Overall style is modern, progressive metal and rock, anything from AC/DC, ZZ TOP and up to DT.
Not pure metal at all, something clear, fat, "in your face", something that will cut through band mix easily, something that will sound good also when playing big chords with heavy distortion so I can hear each note, clarity is important.

So, for you who have experience with Bareknuckle, what do you guys think? What can you recommend?
Thanks.
 
Holydivers -- but they're the only BKPs I have experience with. Very versatile for overdriven sounds. I did not like them for cleans as much.
 
Thanks.
Well, for me the cleans are important as the dirty as well.
Thoughts to combine Aftermath in the bridge and Cold Sweat in the neck.
 
Just put mules in my les Paul. Love them. They're not hot, but I'm happy with how they do higher gain stuff. Clean up very well. Almost single coil like. And really let the natural tone of the guitar through. Absolutely worth the extra cost.

I'm sure others in the range are just as good. I'm personally turning away from hotter pick ups. The axe is so versatile it doesn't for me need them when it's metal time. Or I grab a different guitar...
 
I have BKP's in 3 out of the 4 guitars i own. Dont worry about clarity and note seperation , all bkp s are awesome in that department
The VHll , rebel yell and holy diver are awesome options for low to moderately hot pickups
There s nothing like a VHll neck
Cold Sweat and the holy diver are great options for a mahogany body.
Avoid the warpig, they are too dark and hot especially the ceramic variant . The warpig has been the only BKP i have ever replaced.
Tried the blackhawks in a basswood body and was not impressed.
 
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Thanks guys.
A lot of good options to choose.
I contacted BKP as well with the same questions, I've been offered Juggernauts (didn’t like), alnico Black Hawks (didn’t like), and also the Nailbomb set with the ceramic magnet for the bridge (like).

I'm not sure what to choose, never had experience with BKP.
 
I can't recommend the Juggernauts enough. They are really versatile and sound amazing. I play the same things you do, but add in some amazing cleans and edge of breakup (SRVish) They are my only BKP experience, but I have no need to look for anything else.

I have them in a Tele build. Alder body, rosewood neck, 2 volume, no tone knob.

Position 1 - Bridge Pickup - 500K Pot
Position 2 - Bridge Pickup Coil Tapped - 250K Pot
Position 3 - Neck Pickup Coil Tapped - 250K Pot
Position 4 - Neck Pickup - 500K Pot
 
I've had lots of different flavours of BKP pickups and love most of them. My absolute favourites are the Rebel Yell's. Especially in Les Paul style guitars but I have a RY bridge in my PRS P245 Semi-Hollow at the moment and it works really well as well. I've had the Emerald and Abraxas bridge in there and it's hard to pick a favourite between the Abraxas and the RY. The Emerald was a tad bright in that guitar.
 
I put Riff Raffs in a Les Paul and didn't care for them, too bright. They might be ok in a really dark guitar.
 
Given all the tools in the Axe, I'm starting to realize that hot pickups are not needed and lower output pickups sound more organic and are more versatile. I'm considering at vh2 set for my ibanez and maybe mules for my Lester. I've got a set of holy divers and cold sweats. They are pretty good but I think the low out put pups kill them, even for metal. Just cut some lows before the amp and plenty tight.
 
Johan Allard said:
I've had lots of different flavours of BKP pickups and love most of them. My absolute favourites are the Rebel Yell's. Especially in Les Paul style guitars but I have a RY bridge in my PRS P245 Semi-Hollow at the moment and it works really well as well. I've had the Emerald and Abraxas bridge in there and it's hard to pick a favourite between the Abraxas and the RY. The Emerald was a tad bright in that guitar.
Click to expand...

Same as above. I've got Rebel Yells in several Les Paul's & Strats. Just amazing pickups - fat, articulate & clean up really well.
 
I had the Rebel Yells in a Musicman BFR JP that I used to have. they sounded amazing. I don't have experience with any other of the BKP's.
 
I have the Rebel Yell in the bridge and the VH II in the neck in my Mayones Setius, and that is an awesome combo. I couldn't imagine anything better for this guitar.

I have another Setius on order (a HSS version with a Floyd), and that will feature a Rebel Yell in the bridge (because I love it so damn much) and the Slow Hand singles in the neck and middle positions.

I have a Charvel So-Cal with the Holy Diver/Irish Tour HSS set, and I must say, I don't like the Holy Diver that much, it might be that it just doesn't work well in this particular guitar, but there is something weird about the high end that I don't like, and it feels very compact and compressed compared to the very open sound of the Rebel Yell.

You should know that while the Rebel Yell is considered a "modern/contemporary" pickup, it is really not that hot - of course, it's not a problem to add extra gain in the Axe-Fx, but you might be surprised anyways.
 
Interested in the Bare knuckle....how do any of these pickups compare to the Lollar Imperials? anyone had lollars.? may change mine to Low Wind? do BKs do a similar pickup ?

thanks
 
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