Is the Bare Knuckle Painkiller suitable for Standard E or Drop D?....

supermansonny

supermansonny

New member
I've just ordered a painkiller for my ESP eclipse ii (not the full-thickness one), and I rarely play any heavily downtuned stuff in my band. (but I play modern riffs and really dig the tightness and the high&low mids of the PK) I've watched a lot of reviews but their guitars are all heavily downtuned, so I'm worried about the PK won't open up with standard E or drop D tunings and would sound overly harsh...So will it sound good in those tunings? Is the painkiller suitable for my guitar?..Does anyone has similar situation? Thanks!!
 
Last edited:
You should ask before order... lol.
Painkiller is suited for lower tuning because it doesn't have too much bottom end and treble are on the brighter spectrum. It is little cleaner but thinner sounding than SH-6. Also depends hot much bass has Your Eclipse. Buddy of mine has non FT one and it is very resonant and quite bass-heavy, he choose Cold Sweat, it is little bit more organic and fuller sounding than PK.
 
bubucci said:
You should ask before order... lol.
Painkiller is suited for lower tuning because it doesn't have too much bottom end and treble are on the brighter spectrum. It is little cleaner but thinner sounding than SH-6. Also depends hot much bass has Your Eclipse. Buddy of mine has non FT one and it is very resonant and quite bass-heavy, he choose Cold Sweat, it is little bit more organic and fuller sounding than PK.
Click to expand...
Thank u so much for your reply! Gosh I really should ask before order...Haha but actually my eclipse is now installed with a SH-6b, and I think the bass is totally enough and quite tight too, I ordered the PK because I saw the EQ chart is quite similar to the SH6...(and maybe my eclipse is also bass heavy?...)I am the lead guitarist of our band, and our rhythm guitarist has a Invader on the bridge position, which has a very chunky bass, so I don't really want too much bass on my guitar, (but not lack of bass either...) I'm really worried the PK will sound lack of bass and too thin on my guitar...I should ask before my purchase...And maybe I should look for other BKP models...
 
Last edited:
I probably would have went with a Warpig or even Nailbomb in that situation. But you just as well try the PK since you bought it and see how it goes.
 
I had it in an Explorer and tried it in a Agile 3100 LP copy. Thin and trebly in both. The Explorer now has a Motor City Solution that is staying and the Agile has a Wolftone Timbre Wolf ( still on the fence on that one).
 
headlessdeadguy said:
I had it in an Explorer and tried it in a Agile 3100 LP copy. Thin and trebly in both. The Explorer now has a Motor City Solution that is staying and the Agile has a Wolftone Timbre Wolf ( still on the fence on that one).
Click to expand...
Then I think it might sound the same in mine...That's too bad..(ಥ_ಥ) I think I'm gonna try to dial the EQs in my effect loop to tame the treble and give the bass a extra boost...By the way I love Motor City haha, I've tried some of their pups. I'm also a big fan of Bill Lawrence, I got a Bill&Becky XL500 on my Les Paul Classic and it sounds huge! Absolutely killing when I'm having gigs! Anyway, thanks for your information! Cheers!
 
headlessdeadguy said:
I had it in an Explorer and tried it in a Agile 3100 LP copy. Thin and trebly in both. The Explorer now has a Motor City Solution that is staying and the Agile has a Wolftone Timbre Wolf ( still on the fence on that one).
Click to expand...
Please tell me more about that Motor City Solution...Based on the description on their website, it sounds like their answer to actives?
 
I had a PK in an MIC Dean CFH guitar (thick mahogany). In that guitar I didn’t find it thin sounding in E standard or shrill (BKP’s don’t really get shrill IME), but I found it for my taste boxy or nasal in the midrange, which I don’t like. I also found it tonally a bit bland or sterile as BKP’s are IME

For what that pickups does I would highly recommend instead an early ‘80’s Bill Lawrence 500L, late ‘70’s L90 or vintage Mighty Mite 1400. No BKP would be able to touch those pickups. Just my 2 cents

I’ve had MCP’s, Wagner’s, Wolfetone’s, and all the pickups I’ve seen mentioned on this forum. A bunch of them I did like for sure better than BKP’s, but none held their own vs great vintage pickups compared in the same guitars IME
 
angelspade said:
Please tell me more about that Motor City Solution...Based on the description on their website, it sounds like their answer to actives?
Click to expand...
It does sound similar to the original EMG 81. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than just that. A passive version of an old 81.
 
Sure they can, PK's have a high-mid spike and are quite aggressive. Not in a harsh way, but you notice it when switching between other guitars.
I've since changed out my PK's in favor of Miracle Mans since I wanted a flatter frequency response, but I did lose that high mid cut in the process.
The Miracle mans hit you in the gut, the painkillers hit you in the throat, If that makes any sense.

These are in a LPC. Went through most of the contemporary range on BK's site and they all sound great, not matter the ouput BK's have lots of clarity which is a plus. I do miss the PK's sometimes.
 
braintheory said:
I had a PK in an MIC Dean CFH guitar (thick mahogany). In that guitar I didn’t find it thin sounding in E standard or shrill (BKP’s don’t really get shrill IME), but I found it for my taste boxy or nasal in the midrange, which I don’t like. I also found it tonally a bit bland or sterile as BKP’s are IME

For what that pickups does I would highly recommend instead an early ‘80’s Bill Lawrence 500L, late ‘70’s L90 or vintage Mighty Mite 1400. No BKP would be able to touch those pickups. Just my 2 cents

I’ve had MCP’s, Wagner’s, Wolfetone’s, and all the pickups I’ve seen mentioned on this forum. A bunch of them I did like for sure better than BKP’s, but none held their own vs great vintage pickups compared in the same guitars IME
Click to expand...
Wow, thanks! I'm also a huge Bill Lawrence fan, but I haven't tried the ones from the 80s, I'll definitely try it in the future!
 
CEG85 said:
Sure they can, PK's have a high-mid spike and are quite aggressive. Not in a harsh way, but you notice it when switching between other guitars.
I've since changed out my PK's in favor of Miracle Mans since I wanted a flatter frequency response, but I did lose that high mid cut in the process.
The Miracle mans hit you in the gut, the painkillers hit you in the throat, If that makes any sense.

These are in a LPC. Went through most of the contemporary range on BK's site and they all sound great, not matter the ouput BK's have lots of clarity which is a plus. I do miss the PK's sometimes.
Click to expand...
That'll be great! I'll try it out as soon as my pickup arrives! Thanks!
 
supermansonny said:
Wow, thanks! I'm also a huge Bill Lawrence fan, but I haven't tried the ones from the 80s, I'll definitely try it in the future!
Click to expand...
The early '80's ones where they still had the chrome metal backs are better IME than the plastic back ones that came out a bit later. The late '70's ones are my favorites overall. Once you get into these great vintage pickups it's hard to find these recent made pickups satisfying/inspiring to play after lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top