Bareknuckle recommendations

[NinjaRaf]

He recommended painkillers to me, and I literally could not be happier for the application I wanted them for.

[The4thlast1]

Im not sure if the NB bridge will do ya good in that guitar. The NB has a lot of upper mids. It sounds really good but I think it sounds best in a guitar that sounds naturally dark and thick.

 

For your guitar the go to modern bridge pickups would be the Holy Diver and the Warpig. Because they are darker sounding pickups. They also have more of a low mid focus than the NB and the PK.

 

Now here comes the problems that I came across. I tried all of the pickups mentioned in a bright guitar that I have. Now I am only assuming that your guitar sounds somewhat bright because of its construction. Anyway my problem was that the Holy Diver sounded great for leads but was a bit slow on the lows for modern metal, it didnt have a tight enough attack for me.

Now the Ceramic Warpig had great attack on the lows and a surprisingly good lead tone. However in this guitar which was bright and focused with the C-pig in the bridge it pushed some of my amps to much. At the time I had a Cobra, a 5150 and a MarkIII. The c-pig only sounded good to me through the MKIII because I could dial down the drive low and set the eq to match.

 

Oh by the way I thought the Ceramic pig sounded the worst through the Cobra because : You have to set the gain and the channel volume low with this pickup to sound pleasing in any way. However when you set the Cobra like that it doesnt sound right. It becomes thin and harsh. With the gain and channel volume up and the c-pig in the bridge it is way to much gain and drive, it also doesnt sound right this way.

 

Surprisingly I would say to get a painkiller because the painkiller sounded pretty good in my bright guitar. I didnt care that much for the leads because the highs are a bit thin but for rhythm it is very good, maybe the best sounding pickup for Metal rhythm I have ever tried. However you would have to use your neck pickup for most of your lead work.

[Nolly]

I'd go with a Holy Diver/Cold Sweat combo if I were you. In an alder guitar I would stay away from the ceramic models and even the Nailbomb.
Cold Sweat is an excellent choice for the neck position, very hard to go wrong. It should be a good match in output to the HD in the bridge.

Everyone here (especially ToS) recomended Cold Sweat neck. So I got ready to order and emailed Tim from BK and he said "sounds like you need a Nailbomb neck." So I figured I should trust him. Got the NB neck and hated it. It wouldn't surprise me if maybe sometimes he suggested what he had in stock. He might wind Cold Sweats and Painkillers all day because they're selling like hot cakes while he watches a couple Holy Divers and Nailbomb necks sit in a pile and collect dust. Not accusing, that thought did cross my mind though.

Believe it or not, the Nailbomb is the biggest selling BKP set!

[zygoat]

Aw yeah, I have a Nailbomb set that just came in yesterday. Only problem is the guitar won't be here for another week. Suhr Modern

[Pizza Combo]

suscribed

[monkeysuit]

I'd go with a Holy Diver/Cold Sweat combo if I were you. In an alder guitar I would stay away from the ceramic models and even the Nailbomb. Cold Sweat is an excellent choice for the neck position, very hard to go wrong. It should be a good match in output to the HD in the bridge. !

Thats what Chris from BKP told me as well. He suggested not to get a ceramic pickup as I didn't like the bridge EMG81 much for rhythm playing because it was too bright for me at least on the Cobra. I have not a lot of experience with pickups but if I can make any valid comparisons from the EMGs I tried I think I should go with an alnico as I preferred the 85 in the ESP by far. btw. for Bath, been there in February and looked like a nice place to live

[ShaneV2]

Does anyone know if BK will make pickups with triangle (DiMarzio) feet? I want to try a nailbomb in my JP but I don't want to have to swap pickup base plates around.

[corporealJigsor]

Which is more compressed out of the painkiller, nailbomb and warpig (bridge)?

[Eric Hellstyle]

the holy diver works great with the cobra, but it needs some front end boosting

without a boost, go ceramic

tried the miracle man, painkiller and cold sweat through the cobra, and they all sounded great, but consider that I only play les pauls

for alder, I'd avoid the miracle man and cold sweat

the nailbomb is a great pickup too, but it lacks some upper midrange, imo

it is brighter, more focused and aggressive than the holy diver, but it's no near as middy

[Eric Hellstyle]

 

Which is more compressed out of the painkiller, nailbomb and warpig (bridge)?

 

 

the warpig is the most compressed, but not the hottest

I'd say those models have a similar output range

the warpig being more grindy and compressed, the nailbomb being more focused and aggressive, the painkiller being louder, tighter and more cutting

[Nolly]

Does anyone know if BK will make pickups with triangle (DiMarzio) feet? I want to try a nailbomb in my JP but I don't want to have to swap pickup base plates around.

 

 

Yep, just make sure you specify when you order

[Poundcaketoredvelvet]

Yeah, it's a great place to live, very homely! Yep, just make sure you specify when you order

 

 

 

 

Finally made up my mind and pulled the trigger on a CS neck to pair with my PK bridge. Will have clips in hopefully a week or two. Thanks for all your help Nolly.

[Nolly]

No worries man, I hope it works out!

[ROLDE DU'BAGE]

Been thinking of replacing the EMGs in my ESP M-II and as I'm in the UK next month I thought about trying some Bareknuckles. What pickup would you recommend me? The ESP is alder body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Tuning is Drop C and I play mostly heavier stuff though not really death metal. Amps are in the sig, I don't know how much a pickup can influence that but I like a tight bass response but my amps already deliver more than enough bass so I want no bassy pickup and plenty of mids.

 

 

You are basically talking about the exact switch that I faced, and the Painkiller came out MILES AHEAD for me. According to your frequency wants and nots, make the Painkiller your first BKP choice, especially down in C. A lot of players start eslewhere in the line and end up at the Painkiller. Its simply one of the finest pickups ever created. I play mine in alder and mahogany, and both sound phenomenal. Don't really need BKP for a neck pup unless you can spare the cash of course. If you go elsewhere for the neck, BG in Norcal has some great pups that pair well with the PK bridge.

[monkeysuit]

You are basically talking about the exact switch that I faced, and the Painkiller came out MILES AHEAD for me. According to your frequency wants and nots, make the Painkiller your first BKP choice, especially down in C. A lot of players start eslewhere in the line and end up at the Painkiller. Its simply one of the finest pickups ever created. I play mine in alder and mahogany, and both sound phenomenal. Don't really need BKP for a neck pup unless you can spare the cash of course. If you go elsewhere for the neck, BG in Norcal has some great pups that pair well with the PK bridge.

Damn, youse guys give me a hard time Have you tried an EMG81 in the alder guitar that also had the Painkiller. I don't know if there is a point in comparing the Painkiller with the 81 just because they're both ceramic pickups but if so I will definitely stay away as I didn't like the EMG81 through my Cobra at all, way too bright.

[ShaneV2]

Yep, just make sure you specify when you order

Awesome, thanks for the info