Bare Knuckle Pickups Sinner

Submitted at: 15:15, 12/17/2005

Product Info

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: 15.56k!
Price Paid: Canadian $120
Purchased from: BKP website

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: Zion Bent-T (custom Strat-style)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Lollar Vintage Blonde for Stratocaster
Other pickups on guitar: Lollar Vintage Blonde for Stratocaster
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Eclectic
Reason for pickup change: I wanted as hot a single coil in the bridge as I could find, basically. The Lollars are awesome pickups, but I wanted a more modern sound.

Sound

Perceived output level: Very hot, but balanced all the same.
Tone: Balanced. A touch more middy than a typical single coil, to my ears.
Sonic evaluation: I mostly play through a Vox Tonelab SE, either straight into a PA system, or through a small Vox amp.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play all kinds of music, really. This pickup is suitable for pretty much everything. It's a very diverse bridge pickup.

Overall Rating

Comments: I've been playing for years and years and I've never come across a single coil pickup quite like this one. Not only is the sound excellent, but it is very diverse. If I turn the drive down I get nice sounding cleans; up a bit and I get a reasonably good SRV sound; up still more and I can bury some humbucking pickups in the distortion I get. And the whole time it still sounds like a single coil pickup! Plus, it doesn't have that brittleness that a lot of bridge pickups have, nor does it spike horribly like many single coils do when they're way distorted; the cleans are smooth and the distortion is as well.

For my kind of playing this pickup rocks. I can't think of a more pleasing bridge single coil for my sound and what I require when I play live. When I play live I want to be able to switch from clean or slightly broken up to a good, smooth diistortion sometimes, without it sounding like I've switched guitars (when you have a humbucker in the bridge it often sounds like that) and this pickup delivers!

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted at: 15:32, 9/5/2005

Product Info

Pickup features: Passive single coil Bridge
Impedence or other specs: 22.5 Kohms
Price Paid: UK £ 56
Purchased from: Steelcage Sounds

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: 1995 USA Standard Fender Stratocaster
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock Fender
Other pickups on guitar: Stock
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Classic Rock, Blues
Reason for pickup change: Loved the sound of the stock Fender Neck/Middle but found the Bridge to be a little thin for Lizzy,Free etc. and needed some balls

Sound

Perceived output level: Output is considerably higher than stock with bags of tone
Tone: Loads more bottom end but clear as a bell and really punchy and defined. I was a bit sceptical about the claims at first but this pickup is amazing. It sounds like a full on humbucker with bags of sustain and bottom end but it's got the punch and seperation of a single coil. I cannot rate this pup highly enough , it's totally transformed the versatility of the guitar
Sonic evaluation: USA Standard Fender Strat with Marshall 8080 Valvestate amp. Use a Digitech RP1 and Dunlop Crybaby WahWah occasionally to sex it up a bit

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Classic Rock, bit of blues and occasional stabs at Satriani

Overall Rating

Comments: I would replace it immediately as the tone/output is exactly what I was looking for. Forget Seymours and the like, this is the real deal and hats off to Bareknuckle and the guys at Steelcage for sorting me out. Trust me,if you want that humbucker sound without sawing your pickguard in half or want more punch without sacrificing that single coil transparancy, you want one of these!

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Jimmy Reid <james.reid10@ntlworld.com>

Submitted at: 11:44, 6/21/2005

Product Info

Pickup features: single coil passive
Impedence or other specs: 15,65 K
Price Paid: GBP 59
Purchased from: Direct from Bare Knuckle

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: Westone Concord 1
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Westone Super Bridge
Other pickups on guitar: Westone Super Neck
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock and Rock
Reason for pickup change: j'ai acheté en occaze une Westone Concord 1, elle date de +/- 1982 et je l'ai payée 80€ (puisque je vous le dis !); je suis tombé amoureux de cette guitare, mais le son single-coil du micro chevalet ne me semblait pas assez GRAOUW (sans doute l'habitude de ma Gibson SG Special sur laquelle j'ai monté un Bare Knuckle Black Dog au chevalet)j'ai alors pensé monter un Hot Rail sur la Westone, mais je craignais de dénaturer le son caractéristique du simple bobinage...Donc, je suis tout naturellement retourné voir chez Bare Knuckle!!! Et j'ai trouvé mon bonheur...

Sound

Perceived output level: la patate d'un humbucker, la clarté d'un simple... attention ! Chaud devant !
Tone: tout ce qu'il faut là où il faut... que dire de plus ?
Sonic evaluation: Westone Concord 1 + Line6 Pod XT Pro + Brunetti 2x60 Watts (4 EL34) + Box 2X12(Celestion V30)de N.O.S (Name of Sound)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Overall Rating

Comments: Détruit, volé ? Je rachête le même sans la moindre hésitation ! D'ailleurs dès que possible, je vais monter un Irish Tour côté manche de ma Westone ! N'hésitez pas à contacter Tim Mills chez Bare Knucle et à lui demander conseil,il répond très vite et ses conseils sont d'or !

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: <bruno@wizardkind.be>

Submitted at: 7:17, 6/18/2005

Product Info

Pickup features: Single Coil passive
Impedence or other specs: see spec
Price Paid: £ 60
Purchased from: Direct from Bareknuckle

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: Fender 1962 Sunburst Relic
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan Lil' 59
Other pickups on guitar: Stock middle and neck
Artists using this pickup: Unknown
You musical style(s): Classic Rock
Reason for pickup change: Seymour Duncan didn't have great output.

Sound

Perceived output level: Unbelievable Wallop !! What a sound from a single coil !!!
Tone: Thick almost humbucking, but with that top end tickle that you would expect from a single coil
Sonic evaluation: Fender 1962 Relic, Cornford Mk50 into Marshall TSLC212 ext cab. Also Marshall TSL602. Effects are Ibanez tube screamer(Keeley mod),Dunlop Cry Baby, Boss DD3 delay,Boss CE2 chorus.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Lizzy, W.Ash, Skynyrd, Eagles, Neil Young. Pick up does it for me !

Overall Rating

Comments: Got this pick shortly after the Crawler, also after chatting to Tim. To say I was blown away is an understatement ! This thing ROCKS ! Tim also encouraged me to have a go at wiring it up myself, which proved a success. Thanks for that'nudge' Tim. These guys have got it nailed; check out Bareknuckle pickups or be the poorer(tone wise)for it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Steve Shipp <Shippchunky@aol.com>

Submitted at: 6:07, 5/17/2005

Product Info

Pickup features: Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: 14,64 K
Price Paid: 85 euros
Purchased from: Custom Shop Paris-France

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Stratocaster Custom Shop 60 Closet Classic Daphne blue
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Original custom shop Fender
Other pickups on guitar: 2 Custom shop neck and middle
Artists using this pickup: !!!!!
You musical style(s): Heavy Metal
Reason for pickup change: Obtenir plus de boost

Sound

Perceived output level: Très bon niveau de sortie, juste ce qu'il faut!!!
Tone: Bon équilibre, basses, médiums aigus
Sonic evaluation: J'utilise un Peavey 5150 modèle II avec une wha-wha Vox et un Digitech RP7, rien d'autre!!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Heavy Metal

Overall Rating

Comments: j'ai déjà installé un CRAWLER dans une Gibson Les Paul Standard et je cherchais la même sensation pour une Stratocaster!!! j'ai trouvé!!! :o)))) le SINNER se rapproche un peu du CRAWLER avec ce côté très délié et chantant, tout en restant un son de Strato!! au début j'ai été étonné du fait de l'impédance du micro (14 K), je pensais qu'il y aurait trop de saturation, et en fait, pas du tout, le son est très propre et précis, sans buzz supplémentaire malgré l'impédance. Par contre, il est nécessaire de faire très attention au réglage de la hauteur du micro, je me suis fais piégé au début, il était trop près des cordes et de ce fait, je ne retrouvais pas le côté "Twang" de la Strato, j'ai fini par descendre le micro, et là, plus de soucis!! remarquable!!! je ne vais bientôt plus avoir assez de guitares pour essayer tous les modèles Bare Knuckle!!!!

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Thierry Huylebroeck

Submitted at: 2:58, 1/29/2005

Product Info

Pickup features: Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: Can't remember - see website
Price Paid: GBP 60.95
Purchased from: Bare Knuckle Pickups website

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: Fender US series Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Standard bridge single coil
Other pickups on guitar: Standard fender single coils
Artists using this pickup: Not Sure
You musical style(s): bit of everything
Reason for pickup change: The standard pickup was too thin and weedy for my liking

Sound

Perceived output level: a fair bit more than standard
Tone: A fair bit more bottom end than standard whilst retaining the single coil glassyness
Sonic evaluation: Fantastic. This pickup really has transformed the guitar. No need for an overdrive pedal to get great tones out of my Laney. With this baby it really cuts through when playing in my band, previously I was finding that my sound was a bit lost.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock & some blues. Pickup is great for the rock stuff and mellows out for blues with the volume rolled back a bit

Overall Rating

Comments: Great pickup, great service. Will be buying more as soon as money allows.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Alex <ayersy at hotmail.com>

Submitted at: 4:21, 1/21/2005

Product Info

Pickup features: Hot single Coil
Impedence or other specs: see site for details
Price Paid: GBP 60 odd
Purchased from: http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: Fender US Standard Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Standard single coil
Other pickups on guitar: std single coil
Artists using this pickup: ??
You musical style(s): blues/rock
Reason for pickup change: The guitar plays really well but the bridge was too weak

Sound

Perceived output level: a fair bit more than standard!
Tone: Really chunky fat sound - similar low end to my Les Paul DC but clarity and top end of single coil
Sonic evaluation: Fantastic. This pickup has transformed my guitar! The distorted tone is superb and cleans up nicely. I play through a Laney LC15R at home and a GH50L head + cab when gigging. The sound I now get through the little amp is so good that I'm thinking of just miking it up for live work.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Overall Rating

Comments: # If it were destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? I WILL be getting the rest to complete the set when I have accrued enough beer tokens

# How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own? About 7 years. Have also Les Paul DC, various acoustics & amps listed above.

# What do you love about it? What do you hate? Love sound + service from Tim at bareknuckle To get that quality at that price is fantastic.

# Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one? I was looking at a hotrails but it didn't really do it for me.

# Anything you wish it had? No

# Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for that sound? Very much satisfied.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value