Old JB VS New, or Bareknuckle Holy Diver

braintheory said:
Those Fluence's are not gonna cut imo if you want a JB substitute. They'll sound like JB's in the same way a modeling amp will sound like an amp its trying to be. I guess it's nice to have options, but I personally only use Fluences for their active sounds they excel at. I use them when I want all out modern brutality and maximum tightness. For the most part I find them to sound too processed and compressed, but they have their place
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Yeah... their place is in the garbage LOL :ROFLMAO:
 
Ventura said:
"Old JB VS New, or Bareknuckle Holy Diver"

Rebel Yell

/end
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There’s lots of pickups out there on a higher level than either of those. If within budget, the upcoming Tone Specific set will smoke any highoutput pickup I’ve heard, but if not within budget then the Wagner Iron Man would be my favorite alternative and other good choices are Arcane Lynch or Bulldozer or Motor City Angel Dust

As you go from Tone Specific down to Wagner/Motor City/Arcane then down to Bare Knuckle and so on the trend will be a progressively less organic/more sterile tone with less tonal complexity and nuance. Just my experience
 
Sounds like a subscription to the theory that the more money you spend, the better it sounds. Having used hundreds of pickups in all price ranges, that has not been my experience.
 
braintheory said:
There’s lots of pickups out there on a higher level than either of those. If within budget, the upcoming Tone Specific set will smoke any highoutput pickup I’ve heard, but if not within budget then the Wagner Iron Man would be my favorite alternative and other good choices are Arcane Lynch or Bulldozer or Motor City Angel Dust

As you go from Tone Specific down to Wagner/Motor City/Arcane then down to Bare Knuckle and so on the trend will be a progressively less organic/more sterile tone with less tonal complexity and nuance. Just my experience
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Just bought the Iron man. I can't wait to try it. I will hold you personally accountable if I hate it, lol
 
raybarbeemusic said:
Sounds like a subscription to the theory that the more money you spend, the better it sounds. Having used hundreds of pickups in all price ranges, that has not been my experience.
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Not at all. I’ve also been through hundreds of pickups and there are plenty that were more expensive than Tone Specific that I didn’t like as much as well as quite a few pickups I’ve tried that were cheaper than bare knuckles that were better and some at least as good. It just happens to be the case that my favorite current made pickups (Tone Specific) are more expensive than most

There’s nothing theoretical whatsoever about my opinions. My opinions are purely based on what sounded best to my ears with the extensive comparisons I’ve done of pickup swaps in the same guitar and in several different ones to be confident about it. I’ve consistently had the last few years 20-33 guitars in my collection that are all super different from each other that have been platforms for the pickup swaps (some have all rosewood, All Maple, all Paduak, all aluminum, magnesium body’s, tradional stuff like alder, mahogany and everything in between). The point I’m making is I’ve done my homework and just sharing my opinions my based on them
 
braintheory said:
There’s lots of pickups out there on a higher level than either of those. If within budget, the upcoming Tone Specific set will smoke any highoutput pickup I’ve heard, but if not within budget then the Wagner Iron Man would be my favorite alternative and other good choices are Arcane Lynch or Bulldozer or Motor City Angel Dust

As you go from Tone Specific down to Wagner/Motor City/Arcane then down to Bare Knuckle and so on the trend will be a progressively less organic/more sterile tone with less tonal complexity and nuance. Just my experience
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here comes the flame-suit 🤣

IME, IMHO, and of course YMMV - all I can say is after a stupid amount of time and money spent on various pickups, and bearing in mind a lot has to do with the amps we play when picking the right set of pups - in my particular case - with an arsenal of Lesters as my main fiddles, and Diezel and Bogner amps as my mainstays, the Rebel Yells blew my fkn mind - and continue to do so - they are amazing. Organic. Overtone lush and rich. Tight when needed. Wide open and raw when needed. Super height dependent/adjustable. They are the end-of-scrolling-on-the-net pickups for me. NOT for everyone. NO blanket statements as opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one and if it ain't yours you'll think it stinks. But for me?? JBs, 59s, PAF-redux, SD, MC, BKP, DiMarz, etc etc etc... Rebel Yells fucking knocked my socks off and are now loaded into 3 of my Lesters.

Peace.
Powerchords.
Progress.
Outta here!! :LOL::rawk:
 
Ventura said:
here comes the flame-suit 🤣

IME, IMHO, and of course YMMV - all I can say is after a stupid amount of time and money spent on various pickups, and bearing in mind a lot has to do with the amps we play when picking the right set of pups - in my particular case - with an arsenal of Lesters as my main fiddles, and Diezel and Bogner amps as my mainstays, the Rebel Yells blew my fkn mind - and continue to do so - they are amazing. Organic. Overtone lush and rich. Tight when needed. Wide open and raw when needed. Super height dependent/adjustable. They are the end-of-scrolling-on-the-net pickups for me. NOT for everyone. NO blanket statements as opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one and if it ain't yours you'll think it stinks. But for me?? JBs, 59s, PAF-redux, SD, MC, BKP, DiMarz, etc etc etc... Rebel Yells fucking knocked my socks off and are now loaded into 3 of my Lesters.

Peace.
Powerchords.
Progress.
Outta here!! :LOL::rawk:
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I’m not hating at all or anything like that, just sharing my opinions on the homework I’ve done. I’ve spent lots of stupid time and money on this myself. I’ve a few times AB’ed 2 models of the same exact pickups just to confirm they sounded the same. I had to for peace of mind lol

For those exact pickups you mentioned I’d agree that Rebel Yell’s would for the most part be better (but it’s a pretty limited scope of pickups you listed honestly) and I understand well about how they go with different guitars and amps, etc. I’ve got a few Diezel’s myself among others. I’m not trying to start a pissing match, just trying to be helpful/informative, so I’ll leave it at that and just say that you’re missing out in my opinion, but just my 2 cents

If you think the Bare Knuckles sound organic, height dependent or have lush overtones, you’ll be completely taken out the matrix if you hear a real paf or Tone Speicific, but to each their own. I’ve tried almost every humbucker Bare Knuckle made and in multiple different guitars, amps, etc. My opinions never come from a place of limited usage trying them and are always AB’ed with other stuff. I don’t necessarily have the best ears out there, but I try to be as thorough as I can testing things with what I’ve got
 
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braintheory said:
I’m not hating at all or anything like that, just sharing my opinions on the homework I’ve done. I’ve spent lots of stupid time and money on this myself. I’ve a few times AB’ed 2 models of the same exact pickups just to confirm they sounded the same. I had to for peace of mind lol

For those exact pickups you mentioned I’d agree that Rebel Yell’s would for the most part be better (but it’s a pretty limited scope of pickups you listed honestly) and I understand well about how they go with different guitars and amps, etc. I’ve got a few Diezel’s myself among others. I’m not trying to start a pissing match, just trying to be helpful/informative, so I’ll leave it at that and just say that you’re missing out in my opinion, but just my 2 cents

If you think the Bare Knuckles sound organic, height dependent or have lush overtones, you’ll be completely taken out the matrix if you hear a real paf or Tone Speicific, but to each their own. I’ve tried almost every humbucker Bare Knuckle made and in multiple different guitars, amps, etc. My opinions never come from a place of limited usage trying them and are always AB’ed with other stuff. I don’t necessarily have the best ears out there, but I try to be as thorough as I can testing things with what I’ve got
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You just keep doing the homework, and I will cheat off your paper. I don't understand the hate on trying expensive things. Not everything is snake oil because it isn't made by slave labor in china...
 
Smashedguitarist said:
You just keep doing the homework, and I will cheat off your paper. I don't understand the hate on trying expensive things. Not everything is snake oil because it isn't made by slave labor in china...
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Haha I want guys to cheat off me, so I can save them all the countless amount time and money I had to do to get my knowledge. That’s the main thing I try to provide on this forum and I want obviously the info I don’t have yet in return lol

There’s tons of expensive gear out there that I think is snake oil and not worth it, but I don’t talk about that as much and focus on the good stuff. If anyone wants to know that I tell too. At the top of my head Fortin, Two Rock, Bruno and Milkman comes to mind

There’s also some great sounding Chinese made stuff like the Danelectro French Toast. It was $40 new and sent packing many boutique fuzz pedals I’ve had that were $200-300 brand new. I still have it. Not the very best fuzz I’ve ever played, but maybe up there actually. It’s a damn good clone of a Foxx Tone Machine for less than 1/10th the price of the real deal
 
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