Bare Knuckle definitive modern thread

[Exo-metal]

Of which out of their line has seen the most abuse for modern tones?

 

[stratjacket]

I’ve tried a bunch of them. My favorites are:
Warping - I threw some in a Caparison Horus that was a little bright. It gave it the bottom end and just slays, mean sounding. Big bottom end that you can roll in and out with pedal/amp settings as needed. Never shrill sounding.

Silo - I bought a PRS Custom 24 last year that had a set. I thought I’d change them out but fell in love with them. It’s my number 1 guitar for recording. Does everything well.

Painkiller - works great in darker sounding guitars. Just sizzles.

Ragnarok - I put a set in a PRS Standard. They deliver the goods too. Full sounding, sounds great for metal.

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

I can only speak of the Nailbomb (ceramic) that I have, it's like the most perfect thrash/heavy metal pickup that never existed in the '80s, but it's here now. It has plenty of everything for me, but not too much. I have it in a Charvel superstrat. Splits very well also, especially with the Cold Sweat neck.

 

[PiggySmallz]

Had a painkiller in a custom 24 that replaced a 59/09, but it sounded worse. It accentuated the annoying highs of the guitar. It was an ice pick.

Have a set of polymaths in an ash duvell elite. Cool pickups, pretty transparent but that guitar is also very bright being a bolt on so I may swap them out for something a bit darker like silos or a dimarzio AT1.

My regius has a set of the BKP TKOs that are absolutely incredible. Arguably my favorite BKPs ive ever tried.

I had a set of ragnaroks in a baritone regius core as well that I really liked. That guitar had the goods but the 28" scale was a bit too much for me. I miss that one!

On the hunt to try some crawlers in a les paul standard but they dont come up for sale very often.

 

[itsgoodnow]

I’ve had good luck with ceramic warpigs. I also have a lot of polymath pickups but they can be a bit bright in the wrong guitar. Aftermaths are also ones I love.

 

[mnemonic]

I have an aftermath bridge in a Mayones Regius, works fantastic in that guitar but it’s a picky pickup. I have had it in various other guitars and its sounded ‘okay’ to ‘not good’ depending on the guitar. It’s got a strong midrange and upper midrange, sounds clanky in some guitars/amps. My Regius however is pretty balanced but with a dip in the mids/upper mids somewhere so the aftermath just sounds like a tight punchy crunchy metal pickup. It reminds me of a JB but if it was a tight and punchy modern metal pickup from the 2010’s instead of a rock pickup from the 70’s.

I also have an aftermath neck but I find it dark and boring and not really good at anything.

The black dog is also great for high gain despite its low output. Very bright top end, kinda PAF-ish but strong mids. I have also had the pickup in multiple guitars and have never been impressed with its cleans though. I have an alnico iv PAF-alike set in a Les Paul and a SD ‘59 I’ve had in a few guitars and both (bridge) pickups have much better cleans/low gain sounds than the black dog in my opinion.

 

[WizardAmpIphoneClip]

Had an alnico Warpig about 15 years ago in a flying V. Pretty dark but punchy

Bought an Ibanez rg with an Aftermath I think and it was pure ass. Super hollow. Might have been the guitar though

Went Emg 81 after that in every guitar and game over

 

[Exo-metal]

I want to try these in my Jackson King Vs. They aren't bright or dark so I hope not to spend good money on the wrong ones. The poplar and alder have a nice warm midrange. So far I want to try three, the Ragnarok, ceramic Nailbomb and possibly the Aftermath. The Painkiller sounds interesting. How is the wait time to the states if I order custom options?

 

[vultures]

I've owned a few. (I wish BKP would fucking sponsor me). Order time is pretty good. They usually get them done in a few days and it's to your door in less than 2 weeks, but I am East Coast.

Ragnaroks - Raw unrelenting power. It has all the aggression you need, all the tight chugs, all the searing notes. They are really microphonic, you will need to hard gate your stuff. I used a built in gate in my amp (Invective / ENGL) as well as a Zuul up front. In my Quad Cortex I have 2 gates set up as well. I can hear backing tracks thru my amp/cab when jamming on stuff at home. That being said I have Ragnarok/Cobras in 2 of my guitars. I had Ragnaroks in my PRS CU24 for years as well.

Polypaf - Boomer pickup. Not high gain. Wimpy.
Polymath - Rock pickup. Not high gain. Slightly less wimpy.
Stormy Monday - Honestly makes your guitar sound like an old LP with PAFs, really cool.
Black Dog - Boomer pickup, but not wimpy. Has some balls to it.
Black Hawk - Supposed to be the passive active pickup? Not enough output for my tastes, didn't have the compression that actives had.
Cold Sweat - Great set, great attack. Neck pickup is tight and clear. This was my go-to neck pickup before Ragnaroks/Cobras
Aftermath - Tighter than a Dolphin's blowhole. Almost too tight.
Nailbomb - I always confuse these with the Aftermath, same same, but different.
Miracle Man - I like everything about these pickups. I point people to these instead of Black Hawks. They nail that Miracle Man tone and more.

 

[Exo-metal]

I've owned a few. (I wish BKP would fucking sponsor me). Order time is pretty good. They usually get them done in a few days and it's to your door in less than 2 weeks, but I am East Coast.

Ragnaroks - Raw unrelenting power. It has all the aggression you need, all the tight chugs, all the searing notes. They are really microphonic, you will need to hard gate your stuff. I used a built in gate in my amp (Invective / ENGL) as well as a Zuul up front. In my Quad Cortex I have 2 gates set up as well. I can hear backing tracks thru my amp/cab when jamming on stuff at home. That being said I have Ragnarok/Cobras in 2 of my guitars. I had Ragnaroks in my PRS CU24 for years as well.

Polypaf - Boomer pickup. Not high gain. Wimpy.
Polymath - Rock pickup. Not high gain. Slightly less wimpy.
Stormy Monday - Honestly makes your guitar sound like an old LP with PAFs, really cool.
Black Dog - Boomer pickup, but not wimpy. Has some balls to it.
Black Hawk - Supposed to be the passive active pickup? Not enough output for my tastes, didn't have the compression that actives had.
Cold Sweat - Great set, great attack. Neck pickup is tight and clear. This was my go-to neck pickup before Ragnaroks/Cobras
Aftermath - Tighter than a Dolphin's blowhole. Almost too tight.
Nailbomb - I always confuse these with the Aftermath, same same, but different.
Miracle Man - I like everything about these pickups. I point people to these instead of Black Hawks. They nail that Miracle Man tone and more.

No Painkiller in the mix? I very much appreciate that breakdown btw.

 

[RedB4Black]

Ceramic Nailbomb is my favorite pickup.

Silos are great too

 

[shar-vell Dan]

I have a Painkiller & True Grit in my Warmoth. Very high quality.

 

[iff]

Had a painkiller in a custom 24 that replaced a 59/09, but it sounded worse. It accentuated the annoying highs of the guitar. It was an ice pick.

Same experience here with the Painkiller. I had it in a Soloist tuned to D and it was annoyingly bright. I generally like brighter tones but it was too much.

 

[Exo-metal]

Scottosan, have any experience with these? Share your take on them?

 

[the4thlast1]

For metal the Ceramic Nailbomb is the BK to go for. It’s not the only one that’s good but it works great in a lot of different guitars. Some of the others have a more drastic eq like the Aftermath which can sound amazing in the right guitar. The Alnico Black Hawk, Ceramic Warpig and Impulse are also very good.

 

[cobrahead1030]

I have an aftermath bridge in a Mayones Regius, works fantastic in that guitar but it’s a picky pickup. I have had it in various other guitars and its sounded ‘okay’ to ‘not good’ depending on the guitar. It’s got a strong midrange and upper midrange, sounds clanky in some guitars/amps. My Regius however is pretty balanced but with a dip in the mids/upper mids somewhere so the aftermath just sounds like a tight punchy crunchy metal pickup. It reminds me of a JB but if it was a tight and punchy modern metal pickup from the 2010’s instead of a rock pickup from the 70’s.

I also have an aftermath neck but I find it dark and boring and not really good at anything.

The black dog is also great for high gain despite its low output. Very bright top end, kinda PAF-ish but strong mids. I have also had the pickup in multiple guitars and have never been impressed with its cleans though. I have an alnico iv PAF-alike set in a Les Paul and a SD ‘59 I’ve had in a few guitars and both (bridge) pickups have much better cleans/low gain sounds than the black dog in my opinion.

I had a set of aftermaths in a maple/ash headless and couldn’t get along with them. They had this nasally upper mid spike that I couldn’t get along with. I loved their overall clarity & feel though.

 

[Warmart]

Seems I have tried pretty much the same as most in this thread, lmao.

I think the Ragnarok is the best "Modern" of BKP's lineup. I put mine in a Legator Ghost headless, replaced the shitty Fishman Moderns, they fuck severely for anything metal.

I have Silos in a PRS CU24, and they really fit that guitar. Was the 3rd set I tried and they saved it from being sold. Great for anything you throw at them.

Ceramic Nailbomb and VHII in a Mayones Regius, love the Nailbomb but rarely use the neck pickup lol.

Had Polymaths in a PRS 594 SC but traded it away. They were the 3rd pickup attempt in that one but I still didn't like the guitar, I would agree with the other dude that said, "rock pickups". Don't think they marketed that one properly.

Have Stormy Mondays in a Aristides headless, rock focused but can do decent for metal. Thinking of putting the Ragnaroks in this and then selling the Legator, but will lose my ass in any sale.

 

[viridian]

I had a set of aftermaths in a maple/ash headless and couldn’t get along with them. They had this nasally upper mid spike that I couldn’t get along with. I loved their overall clarity & feel though.

I had the same impression with the aftermaths, they sound great recorded but were definitely on the brighter end of the spectrum (also used them with an ash/maple guitar). I really like brighter tones but it can get a little fatiguing to constantly listen to that level of brightness.

Also own many sets of juggernauts and a set of ragnaroks. Juggernaut neck is absolutely killer and they split really well, seriously some of the best clean tones ive ever gotten have come from the juggernauts. The bridge is aftermath adjacent to my ears but a little more balanced and it has this unique midrange quality that people seem to either love or hate, I personally think it sounds great though.

Ragnaroks lose that weird lower mid quality and have a bit more low end, compression and output? They sound cool and I think any of the 3 of the sets i've played can get in the same ballpark. I'd honestly try and just find various second hand sets and try a bunch with how absurd the prices are these days, I think most of the metal oriented ones aren't that drastically different.