Bare Knuckle pickups. Who’s used them. What’s what.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tone Junkie
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Overall i was left unimpressed with the ones i tried, i only play tube amps no modeling Fwiw, they all seemed pretty lack luster and generic. I do like clarity and note definition but they are not for me.
I had tried a few:
alnico nailbombs
pain killers
warpig
miracle man

tried them in the following guitars: suhr modern, 2004 prs standard 24, Jericho premium 6, may havectried in some other guitars.
 
lespaul6 said:
I think all the old gibson pickups were machine wound too?
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Yep, including all the legendary PAFs. Very inconsistent though - the winders didn't have turn counters back then.
Seth Lover said, "We wound them until they looked full." Then those coils were paired at random to make humbuckers.

Today, even so-called 'handwound' pickups are generally hand-fed onto a mechanically spinning bobbin.

Now that Tim White is retired, the only truly hand-wrapped pickups I know of are 'Pure Handwounds' from Zhangbucker.
For an upcharge, David will actually wind them entirely by hand. He makes great stuff; even his regular line are outstanding.
 
scottosan said:
Pretty much all of the most famous humbuckers, especially PAFs were hand wound.
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Not so. They vary a lot simply because the coils are wound to inconsistent turn counts and then paired at random.
PAFs were mechanically wound - Seymour Duncan actually owns one of the Leesona 102 machines Gibson used in Kalamazoo back in the day.
Leesona primarily made machinery for textile factories. (EDIT: Apparently Throbak has one or two of the old Leesonas also.)

The thing is, in the early years those winding machines didn't have counters on them, so every coil was somewhat different.
Sometimes a little different, sometimes a lot. And they grabbed any two from a box of wound coils to put together into each humbucker.

Original PAFs can have two weak coils, or two strong coils, or one of each, or relatively well-matched medium coils, though these are less common.
Mismatched coils (known today as 'coil offset') give a humbucker brighter sound overall and often more 'air' in the treble.
In bridge pickups, it also matters whether the stronger coil is nearest the bridge (more singlecoily) or farther from it (smoother attack).
Matched or 'symmetrical' coils make for a sweeter but warmer tone.
 
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eclecticsynergy said:
Not so. They vary a lot simply because the coils are wound to inconsistent turn counts and than paired at random.
PAFs were mechanically wound - Seymour Duncan actually owns one of the Leesona 102 machines Gibson used in Kalamazoo back in the day.
Leesona primarily made machinery for textile factories.

The thing is, in the early years those winding machines didn't have counters on them, so every coil was somewhat different.
Sometimes a little different, sometimes a lot.
And they grabbed any two from a box of wound coils to put together into each humbucker.

Original PAFs can have two weak coils, or two strong coils, or one of each, or relatively well-matched medium coils, though these are less common.
Mismatched coils (known today as 'coil offset') give a humbucker brighter sound overall and often more 'air' in the treble.
In bridge pickups, it also matters whether the stronger coil is nearest the bridge (more singlecoily) or farther from it (smoother attack).
Matched or 'symmetrical' coils make for a sweeter but warmer tone.
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I meant to say machine wound. That was 14 hours of timezone jetlag talking:D
 
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As for BKPs, I have a few and I like them. I think it's probably true that in general they tend to have very good definition, which also makes them seem less forgiving than some others. But taking them for what they are, they sound good to me.

Haven't owned enough of them to comment on consistency. Still, I've noticed no flaws in the build quality.

I've got the Rebel Yell set, the Holy Diver set, and the Polymath set. I'd say the descriptions of each on the BKP site are pretty accurate.

Love the Rebel Yells in an Explorer, they really gave this full-sounding axe a new clarity and extra sparkle. People are all about the RY bridge - which is great - but I feel the neck pickup in this set is an underappreciated gem.

Holy Divers in a superStrat. Another good match for the guitar. IMO the Holy Diver bridge is like a more civilized JB. Tighter in the lows at gain than the JB and it cleans up far better. Yet it has similarly effortless harmonics & classic-80s-album tone. Cuts through a mix like the JB does, too.

The Polymaths are my latest so I'm still sorta honeymooning. These are in a 20th Anniversary PRS and IMO they're downright amazing. Somehow paradoxically they manage to balance a tight, fast attack with a nice elasticity in the fingertouch. Sweet rich low mids and no nasality in the upper mids. Very touch-responsive feel for a medium-output set. And a beautiful, singing lead voice, even up the neck on the higher strings. Great set.

I haven't owned any from BKP's vintage-output line, which I know many really like about this brand.
Nor any of the crushing high-output models either.
But I certainly do like the ones I've got.
 
eclecticsynergy said:
As for BKPs, I have a few and I like them. I think it's probably true that in general they tend to have very good definition, which also makes them seem less forgiving than some others. But taking them for what they are, they sound good to me.

Haven't owned enough of them to comment on consistency. Still, I've noticed no flaws in the build quality.

I've got the Rebel Yell set, the Holy Diver set, and the Polymath set. I'd say the descriptions of each on the BKP site are pretty accurate.

Love the Rebel Yells in an Explorer, they really gave this full-sounding axe a new clarity and extra sparkle. People are all about the RY bridge - which is great - but I feel the neck pickup in this set is an underappreciated gem.

Holy Divers in a superStrat. Another good match for the guitar. IMO the Holy Diver bridge is like a more civilized JB. Tighter in the lows at gain than the JB and it cleans up far better. Yet it has similarly effortless harmonics & classic-80s-album tone. Cuts through a mix like the JB does, too.

The Polymaths are my latest so I'm still sorta honeymooning. These are in a 20th Anniversary PRS and IMO they're downright amazing. Somehow paradoxically they manage to balance a tight, fast attack with a nice elasticity in the fingertouch. Sweet rich low mids and no nasality in the upper mids. Very touch-responsive feel for a medium-output set. And a beautiful, singing lead voice, even up the neck on the higher strings. Great set.

I haven't owned any from BKP's vintage-output line, which I know many really like about this brand.
Nor any of the crushing high-output models either.
But I certainly do like the ones I've got.
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I was looking at the alnico nailbomb when I sme across the polyshits. They seem to have some mean mids without any overly harsh upper clank... seem slightly less nasal than the nailbomb.

🤔
 
i've got 2 sets.. I have Mules in a LP, and VHii's in a PRS CU24. Mules are more in the PAF vein, probably my favorite humbucker. VHii's are as mentioned above - aggressive and gnarly. LOVE them.

Side note - I bought both sets used and was able to get them for approximately the same price as a new set of Dimarzios or SD's. New BK's are pricey fo' sho.

I'd love to try the ToneNerd stuff
 
I've got a Piledriver set in a Tele I built some years ago, and have been very happy with them overall.

I put a set of Mule humbuckers into my ASAT last year and haven't gotten along with them at all so far. I'm gonna swap the pots out (from 250 to 500k) and see if that makes a substantial difference.

I also have a set of aftermaths in a 7 string multi scale that I'm not crazy about. Honestly they're great for what they do, it's just not a sound I use frequently. That guitar has coil split switch & no tone knob, I may remove that & add a tone pot, to see if that changes my mind on them.
 
I have a set in my Aviator. Honestly I much much prefer the tonenerd in my other guitars any day of the week.
 
eclecticsynergy said:
I think it's probably true that in general they tend to have very good definition, which also makes them seem less forgiving than some others.
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I thought the exact opposite. Seemed overpotted to me almost--lacking definition and sustain. And I tried three sets.
 
Had the C Nailbombs. Sounded like running a Fortin 33 at all times. Clank!
 
I am a BKP conversion...since the first one I tried I'm almost exclusive to them. I have 4 Warmoth builds 3 with Alnico Nailbombs in the bridge...and and 1 with a Jugg set...assortment of necks..Jugg..Emerald..Cold Sweat....

I don't find them to be sterile at all...articulate and clear sounding yes. If you want tight clarity and character then BKP is your choice. They are also much quieter than the usual suspects. I like that I can use as much drive as I want and still keep definition and not have issue with feedback..

I do have Duncan PATB and a Duncan 59 Custom Hybrid in a couple other guitars and dig those too, but they are just not the same.

The one feature above all others I love about BKPs is the sensitivity to pick attack and the much more linear reaction to the volume knob. The other brands...Dimarzio and Duncan when I roll volume back..there are maybe 2 or 3 spots that something happens...at about 7..all of a sudden the sound gets darker..then at like 4or 5 you get tinny...BKPS..every spot from 1`-10 on the volume has a slightly different character...it never goes too dark or tinny..just gives so much more variation in the sounds and pick attack than any others I've used.

Now that said..I believe someone else here noted they can be pretty picky to certain guitars...I'd agree with that...I yanked a Cbomb out of one of my guitars and went to Juggs...night and day..I've also swapped out a Crawler for an Abomb...but you find the right one and you're set.

As far as price, when it comes to tone and my joy of playing, price is really not a factor. Most of my BKPs were pre Covid..so $240-260 per set....I will agree the prices are pretty stupid today, but you can snag used ones to try. I am really Jonesin to try the new Peacemaker set, but almost $400 is just crazy.
 
It comes down to the guitar. Don’t believe all the internet B.S. …. Every guitar has its own unique eq curve before you even put a pickup in it. So then you slap a pickup in it and say “this certain pickup is so bright and terrible” or whatever. That same pickup might sound great in a different guitar.

Anyways in my opinion if you play Metal the Nailbomb is BKs best sounding pickup , at least to my ears. Then you also have the choice of Ceramic or Alnico which helps to fine tune further. I’ve had the NB in a lot of guitars and have also tried most of what BK offers. Honorable mention goes to the Blackhawk, Warpig, Silo, Crawler and Mule. All of those have worked for me in certain guitars and sound incredible.
 
I've tried a few BKPs and the only one I like so far is the Juggernaut. I've had it in the bridge of my PRS for awhile now and don't plan on taking it out. (I want to get a matching neck) The others just didn't do it for me, although I kind of liked the Alnico A-Bomb.
 
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