Bare Knuckle Pickups Trilogy/Sinner Set

Submitted at: 5:41, 12/8/2003

Product Info

Pickup features: Passive single coils
Impedence or other specs: The Sinner in the bridge postion is 15.5K(!), and the Trilogies in the neck and middle are 12.2K
Price Paid: Ł165
Purchased from: Direct from Bare Knuckle

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Jap Strat from about 1987.
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan Lil '59 and Duncan SSL1
Other pickups on guitar: Also had a set of Dimarzio Fast Track 2 pickups for this strat.
Artists using this pickup: Choose something different.....................
You musical style(s): Rock/Jazz/Blues
Reason for pickup change: Tired of the lifeless sound from the Duncans and the sterile nature of the Dimarzios. I wanted a typical strat sound but with enough volume so that I can change guitars from a PRS to teh strat live without habving to adjust my amps volume.

Sound

Perceived output level: About twice as loud as standard.
Tone: But still with a typical strat sound - very balanced classic strat tone from the Trilogies, everything you expect from a good vintage strat but louder! The Sinner has more volume and is slightly warmer with a touch more midrange and low end - it sounds chunkier than the old Duncan Lil '59!
Sonic evaluation: This is being played through custom Matamp amps and JCM800 for rock sounds. The Matamp shows everything in your instrument an technique - these pickups sound wonderful. Each position on the free (all manufacturers should throw in a quality 5 way!) is clearly defined, presenting all the usual strat tones just louder. The nice thing is they don't sound overly aggresive or harsh. And there is no midrange Texas Special style hump in the sound - so they sound great clean and dirty! Nice and dynamic, good attack, not mushy or squashy sounding. Not hash and ice-pick-in-the-ear like a lot of singles at volume.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: If you want a great strat tone without the midrange-in-your-face tone of most hot single coils. Teh sinner balances nicely with the Trilogies - and gives your strat enough grind to rock with the best of them!

Overall Rating

Comments: I'd have these again - they are much better than the Kinmans I was thinking about - they are too sterile and don't quite get there as far as I can tell - although it's nice to have a silent strat in these days when every studio has a CRT monitor!

I've had this Strat for about 14 years - it was my first proper electric and has had many changes over theyears - after using these pickups for a while now I don't see me changing again! And at Bareknuckle they are really supportive and will take as much time as is needed to make sure you are happy with your pickups - great service!!

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