Gibson SG + Bare Knuckles Pickups + Mark V

[guijs]

Hi guys,

I have a Gibson SG Standard Limited (498T/490R stock pickups), mahogany body and neck, baked maple fretboard, and the Mark V combo. I play standard tune, EADGBE. I will use this guitar mostly to play Metallica, Dream Theater and tones alike.

I am searching for a tone similar to Metallica Black Album/And Justice for All. More like Black Album actually. I was willing to buy a EMG 81/60 set, but then my Luthier recommended the Bare Knuckles (which I never heard of until now).

I want a bridge humbucker for tight, crispy and very powerful palm-muting "punch-in-the-chest" metal riffs. I will use the neck pickup for clean chords and solos. So I can get a balanced set or choose another BK model for that.

Are you guys using Bare Knuckles pickups with your Mesa amp?

From what I have read and heard at the internet, the best set options would be Nailbomb, Miracle Man and Warpig (all ceramic). Considering my equipment, which one do you recommend?

Thanks in advance

 

[Jackie]

I have a Nailbomb calibrated set in my home-made explorer and I LOVE it with my TriAxis/2:90 combo, which is tonally quite close to the Mark V. Rippin' but warm midrange, clear as day without being harsh, just enough bottom end. Plenty of output, but these pickups clean up a lot and are very dynamic.

tight, crispy and very powerful palm-muting "punch-in-the-chest"

That, my friend, comes from your right hand and the riff itself

 

[guijs]

Jackie, your set is ceramic or alnico?

 

[LesPaul70]

BKPs are handwound very high quality 'boutique' pickups. I have BKPs in my Gibsons. Compared to standard factory pickups by Gibson, Dimarzio, Duncan and others, I find that the biggest audible difference is increased clarity and presence.

They have lots of different pickup options, vintage voiced and modern voiced, low to medium to high output, ceramic, alnico and so on. You can order a humbucker-sized P90, a 8-string pickup, and custom covers.

Back in the day when I got my first BKP, it was commonly understood that Warpig and Miracle Man were - to some degree - designed to deliver EMG active style sound in a passive package. The Miracle Man pickup was supposed to catch the EMG 81 vibe, while the Warpig leaned more towards EMG 85. Of these two, I would recommend the Warpig. The Miracle Man can be a bit flat or sterile sounding to some ears (although still very good).
As it happens, I have a Warpig in the bridge position of my Gibson SG. It is a firebreathing monster of a pickup! But I have the Alnico version; if you want to get closer to the EMG style sound, you probably want the ceramic version. The difference is that the Alnico version is looser, warmer and more organic sounding, while the ceramic version is colder sounding, surgically precise, fast tracking, punchier and tighter.

There is also the more recently added Black Hawk model, which is supposed to imitate the sound and output of active pickups. However, that model is too new for me, I have no experience or knowledge of it.

I would suggest that before making up your mind, contact them directly - see https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ccs/open.php for the email addresses (I would try tech.support@ or info@, not 'sales'). They are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Just tell them what you have (your guitar, your amps etc.) and what kind of sound you are after. You really can't go wrong with if you follow their recommendation, in my experience. They know their stuff better than anyone on this board. :wink:

 

[crane]

My two PRS are on BKP now, Rebel Yell for the Custom 22 and Pigs90 for the McCarty Soapbar.
I was a great EMG fan, 60, 85, 81 on every guitar, playing Metallica style...

But man, those BKP are really... well better isn't the right term as it's a matter of taste, but they're really more complex, more dynamic, richier sounding...

The Pigs90 have a really really high output, more than the EMG I've owned. And yes they're single coils P90 !

The Rebel Yell have a midrange output, more or less the same as the Dragons II on the PRS, but they are incredibly, incredibly dynamic ! The harder you hit the string, the more ouput they delivers, but it seems endless, just harder, harder, more output, more output.... my favorites of the moment, capable to turn a good overdrven rythmic into a quite hainous gain sound by... hiting harder ! (yeah every pickup can do that, but these seems to have no limits).
The give also great and complex harmonics.

 

[guijs]

Thanks for the inputs guys

I already contacted BK support before opening this topic and first they recommended the Nailbomb Ceramic, and after I gave more information about the kind of tone I seek, they recommended the Warpig Ceramic. Know that I have excellent reports from Mesa owners, I think that this will be the one for my SG!

I am just waiting for more feedback from BK regarding the neck pickup. Do you guys think I should get the balanced set or another model?

 

[Jackie]

Jackie, your set is ceramic or alnico?

Alnico, I kind of wanted to steer away from the cleanliness of ceramics since my Nailbomb set replaced a pair of EMGs.

+1 on contacting them directly. I had a multitude of questions and they answered all of them in a clear and concise manner. You can tell they take customer support seriously.

Also +1 on the dynamics comment. I'm used to beating my guitars to get the amount of gain I want from playing, not from output and hi-gain. Can't think of a better pickup for this than BKPs.