Bare Knuckle Pickups

TelePaul

TelePaul

J to the R O C
I meant to provide a bit of an update on all my rewiring endeavours - in summary, I rewired two guitars, replacing the pickups in my LP Studio with Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays and replacing the pickups in my Pacifica 412 with a variety of 'hotter' pups. I also replaced the switch and picked up a Pacifica 812v along the way - still not sure how that happened!

Anyways, these Bare Knuckles are just plain fantastic! I've used some previously in a Bastardcaster Tele and they were good too, but in that instance I was mixing and matching. In the case of the Stormy Mondays, however, I mailed Tim at BKP and told him I was looking for something tighter and brighter for 90's rock/pop. He immediately suggested the Stormy Mondays which I had overlooked given their somewhat 'bluesy' name.

I've had a bit of a chance to play with them since and they really are great. I used to hate strumming clean, open chords in the neck pickup of a stock LP, because to me it always seemed a little on the 'woolly' side of things (a bit too dark). It sustained fabulously when you added some gain, but clean chord-work just wasn't a runner for me. All that has changed and I'm happy to strum away like a proper indie-rocker!

The pickups also handle well with a good dollop of gain, with a sweeter mid-range and less of the 'honk' I'd normally associate with a distorted Les Paul. I think I'll be using it a lot more for rhythm duties now.
 
So, how do they work for what you'd think they were made for, given the name? And what amp are you playing them through? How much were they?
 
notCardio said:
So, how do they work for what you'd think they were made for, given the name? And what amp are you playing them through? How much were they?
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I think they work very well as described, but I think the name is a little confusing; I would have expected something hotter and more vintage-sounding but they have a comparatively lower output to other humbuckers and clean up really well. This is in keeping with how Tim @ BKP described them though, so they sound very much as I expected. I've played them through a few 5-watt combos (Valve jnr, Champion 600, AC4TV and a Class 5 - they sound best through the Vox and Marshall). I also put them through my fx board and a Marshall AVT 50. They were EUR 250 w/gold covers ($340?)
 
Bareknuckles are bloody expensive in the States, but they're getting quite the following in metal circles. I've only played one or two guitars with them in them, but my very initial impressions was they were rather nice.

Also, by all counts Tim is an incredible resource when it comes to helping match his product line up with people's interests.
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
Also, by all counts Tim is an incredible resource when it comes to helping match his product line up with people's interests.
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Yeah that's been by impression too. I'm pretty sure he'd wind something to your exact specifications, and you can get a full refund within 14 days if you're unhappy with the product.
 
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