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Bare Knuckle Pickups

dozicusmaximus

dozicusmaximus

Mar 18, 2009
2,974
733
Ohio
#1
Some clips on thier site. Looks like they are selling them now.
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Anybody tried them yet?
They only have a couple of soundclips up. The '58 P's sound pretty good to me.
Any thoughts?
 
#4
My thought without trying them are: Those blokes at BKP know how to charge! I've always been a bit disapointed by the pricing of Bare Knuckle. I think when you are a relatively small UK company a good way to get the love is to do what Wizard do: undercut the big boys on price.

I've never played a Bare Knuckle Pickup and I probably never will when their P Bass pickups are £90 and I can get excellent SD, Dimarzio and Wizard pickup for far less cash.

By the way, I recommend Wizard pickups. :)
 
#5
Bare Knuckle pups are some seriously crafted, handmade, pups from the UK. Now, I have not dealt with their bass pups, but in my previous life I was a guitarist for a very long time. I had the last two electric guitars I owned outfitted with Bare Knuckles; A G&L Bluesboy with a Stormy Monday HB and Blackguard tele in the bridge, and an ASAT with the Country Boy (tele) set.

Everything that was stated about the pups rang true (no pun intended). They sounded great, and gave me a very similar sound to not only what I had heard through clips, but also through Tim (he's the dude that founded BK). So, from a guitar pup standpoint I have nothing but good things to say about the product.

However, I will wholeheartedly complain about the availability of these products (as of about a year - year and a half ago). I placed an order with one of the BK authorized dealers here in the states. The place displayed the pups as "in stock". Well, the form to order the pups was in stock. The pups weren't. At the time, you ordered the pups from a dealer, the dealer placed the order, and the process started. I placed my order for the "in stock" pups, and didn't receive them for close to eight weeks.

Furthermore, my communications with the retailer were some of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had; regardless of product or industry. Around the fifth week of ignored emails, and unanswered phone calls, I asked that my order be cancelled. I finally received an email stating that my pups were being wound in the UK, and cancellation was not an option, nor was it at any time after placing my order. Remember, I ordered "in stock" pups from a place in NY.

So, I called Tim in the UK. The guy is super nice, and explained that he simply did not have the orders to fill, and that it was indeed a crappy thing for the NY shop to advertise pups "in stock". Now, I didn't get any special deals. I wasn't given a coupon. What I did get was a ton of stress from a NY shop, some cool advise and answers from a dude in the UK, and.....the WRONG pups eight weeks later when they arrived on my doorstep via UPS.

I didn't even try to remedy the situation. By this point it became laughable at best. I put the Stormy Monday in the Bluesboy, and it sounded like gangbusters.

I don't know the policy on smashing/bashing retailers openly, but if it's cool to PM me, I will definitely tell you from whom who should not order.
 
#6
I have some Wizard jazz pickups. To bad the covers that come with the pickups weren't drop in. Also the pickups were a different size. The poles don't match up with any other cover. I had to cut up the ones I had to make the pickups fit. I guess I can get blank covers and drill my own holes, or hid the pups under the non drilled cover. :(
I have yet to try their P's.
 
#7
Bare Knuckle Pickups aren't a small company, relative to DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan etc, sure, but that doesn't male them small.

They do great quality work and the price reflects it. IMO, claiming they should be undercutting SD etc, is akin to saying Sadowsky should be trying to undercut Fender :p

Not tried the BKP bass pups, but I know a few people that haven them, and I've wired up a few over the years. My favourite being an "aged (or possibly 'camoflaged') Nailbomb pickup into on of my friends LPs, awesome pickup! BKP are a boutique brand with prices that match other producers.

There are a lot of really small companies around that'll do cheap stuff that is also good quality (for guitar stuff I quite like dealing with Alan over at http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/.

And he now does bass pickups! Which is news to me :D
 
#8
echoSE7EN said:
Bare Knuckle pups are some seriously crafted, handmade, pups from the UK. Now, I have not dealt with their bass pups, but in my previous life I was a guitarist for a very long time. I had the last two electric guitars I owned outfitted with Bare Knuckles; A G&L Bluesboy with a Stormy Monday HB and Blackguard tele in the bridge, and an ASAT with the Country Boy (tele) set.

Everything that was stated about the pups rang true (no pun intended). They sounded great, and gave me a very similar sound to not only what I had heard through clips, but also through Tim (he's the dude that founded BK). So, from a guitar pup standpoint I have nothing but good things to say about the product.

However, I will wholeheartedly complain about the availability of these products (as of about a year - year and a half ago). I placed an order with one of the BK authorized dealers here in the states. The place displayed the pups as "in stock". Well, the form to order the pups was in stock. The pups weren't. At the time, you ordered the pups from a dealer, the dealer placed the order, and the process started. I placed my order for the "in stock" pups, and didn't receive them for close to eight weeks.

Furthermore, my communications with the retailer were some of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had; regardless of product or industry. Around the fifth week of ignored emails, and unanswered phone calls, I asked that my order be cancelled. I finally received an email stating that my pups were being wound in the UK, and cancellation was not an option, nor was it at any time after placing my order. Remember, I ordered "in stock" pups from a place in NY.

So, I called Tim in the UK. The guy is super nice, and explained that he simply did not have the orders to fill, and that it was indeed a crappy thing for the NY shop to advertise pups "in stock". Now, I didn't get any special deals. I wasn't given a coupon. What I did get was a ton of stress from a NY shop, some cool advise and answers from a dude in the UK, and.....the WRONG pups eight weeks later when they arrived on my doorstep via UPS.

I didn't even try to remedy the situation. By this point it became laughable at best. I put the Stormy Monday in the Bluesboy, and it sounded like gangbusters.

I don't know the policy on smashing/bashing retailers openly, but if it's cool to PM me, I will definitely tell you from whom who should not order.
Click to expand...

That isn't so good! Over here we buy direct from BKP (at least it used to be that way, I'm assuming it still is). Often the pickups are made to order, so a little extra waiting is expected, but it sounds like you had a downright ****y dealer right there!
 
#10
dozicusmaximus said:
I have some Wizard jazz pickups. To bad the covers that come with the pickups weren't drop in. Also the pickups were a different size. The poles don't match up with any other cover. I had to cut up the ones I had to make the pickups fit. I guess I can get blank covers and drill my own holes, or hid the pups under the non drilled cover. :(
I have yet to try their P's.
Click to expand...

Really? I didn't have this problem in my Mexican Fender.
 
#11
i_got_a_mohawk said:
Bare Knuckle Pickups aren't a small company, relative to DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan etc, sure, but that doesn't male them small.

They do great quality work and the price reflects it. IMO, claiming they should be undercutting SD etc, is akin to saying Sadowsky should be trying to undercut Fender :p


:D
Click to expand...

I know what you are saying but all the things that make BKP good are applicable to Wizard. I suppose undercutting SD and the like is a lot to ask but I would like them to be competitive before they get my cash. My point is that the pickup they sell is £90, a Wizard Thumper would set you back £50.

To me, just saying it is boutique doesn't excuse that difference. Wizard do everything to order and the bloke that runs the show could give lectures on quality customer service.
 
#14
I don't have any of their bass pickups, but I do have a set of Stormy Mondays on one of my Les Pauls. They're fabulous pickups, and if I needed to replace the pickups on a bass, and the P/J style would fit, I would have no qualms about plunking down the price on 'em. They are, in my opinion, simply the best traditional pickups available.
 
#16
If they are half as good as their guitar pickups then they will be outstanding. I have used a few Nail bomb guitar humbuckers and they were some of the best I have ever heard.
 
#17
Ditto on the quality of their guitar pickups. Got a Mule & a Stormy Monday in one of my Les Pauls (vintage correct wiring harness from TundraTone too) and the sound is absolutely unequalled by any other pickups I've ever used...stock or aftermarket. No, they're NOT cheap, but WELL worth every cent I spent on them.
 

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