Output leveks of Bare Knuckle pick ups compared to EMGs?

[Pacarazzi]

I'm gonna buy a Bare Knuckle pickup for the bridge of my alder body strat. I'm about to buy either a Miracle Man, a War Pig, or a War Pig Ceramic. I want to know the output levels of the Bare Knuckles vs. EMG 81s and SD Blackouts.

[MDV]

I havent played blackouts, but it goes like this in the BKP high output range

NB<MM<PK<WP~81~C-Pig<My MM

If the WP 81 and C-pig have an order, then its that, but its really, really close between them.

I wouldnt buy a pickup based on its output alone though. What else are you after?

[Pacarazzi]

Sweet, thanks for the info! Honestly I was just curious, I just ordered a Miracle Man for the bridge. If it doesn't deliver I can just exchange it for a War Pig Ceramic. So hows you're MM such high output? I'm just trying to find something heavy and in your face, when I told Tim I'm going for a Children of Bodom/Rammstein tone he suggested the MM so I ordered it since most people agreed. However, on the topic I posted more people voted for the War Pig Ceramic, but I haven't really gotten any evidence..people have just suggested it. With the MM people have talked more about it's characteristics and it seems that it would be a good choice.

[MDV]

I voted for the C-Pig because it has a mid grind that the MM doesnt have that would do well for those bands.

My MM is overwound to 23k (and its double screw pole to increase the bass response).

[m0jo]

Where would a Super Distortion stand in that?

I got a vintage Super Distortion off a dutch knock-off of ebay:D it sounds.. as good as perfect. Only it's 50mm spacing and I have a Ibanez S with floyd... so it looks like cr@p. I think I'm going for a ceramic Pig.. depending on the output slightly.

I think BKP is surely the way to go for that magic sound (I like to think newer Dimarzio's are lesser quality than this because of mass production, still good pickups.. but I want the real thing)

[Chris Rowberry]

Mojo in my opinion i think you should be looking more towards a Nail Bomb. Though its not as hot as the Warpig you will still be able to get excellent metal and rock tones with great clarity and organic tone. I personally have a Nail Bomb in my bridge position in my Ibanez and its amazing. I play anything from heavy metal to ACDC on mine and it handles both fine. Ibanez and Nail Bomb just seem to work extremely well together. There Is also the option of getting it with a ceramic magnet too if you want it to have more kick to it.

Chris

[m0jo]

Hmm okay, that's a whoole way down the output road that is!

The problem is I like to play some Zakk style too sometimes, I like the sound a lot..  :D pinches have become a big part of my style as well. On the other hand I also like to play AC/DC sometimes so it's pretty hard.. :?

AC/DC is not really the problem by the way.. you can play that with much lower output than Nailbomb. And when it's too much just turn down the volume.:)

I play through a Laney VC100 (VH100 combo version), I am the solo guitarist in the band.. so I do need that articulation and presence, but sharpness is a real turn-off (do get me right: I mean the ear splitting sharpness, dullness is definetly what I'm going for.. but the highs shouldn't be sharp in any way).

Have you tried a (Cer.) WarPig in there as well? and what model Iba is it exactly? (just wondering :))

[Chris Rowberry]

What i need to know is what sort of music are you playing in your band, but I must say from what i am reading about not having too much sharpness still makes me think Nailbomb (as it will give you articulation and presence)  with a Cold Sweat neck. Cold Sweat neck for them solo's. The Cold Sweat neck is a great pickups for doing your solos with, lots and lots of clarity, very dynamic and a nice sweet fat tone.
I have a Ibanez rg but sadly i have not tried a Ceramic War Pig in it.

If you are still unsure you could always drop Tim an Email or give the workshop a call.

Chris

[MDV]

I've played a nailbomb and a c-pig in the same guitar....

If I can cast my mind back, because them being in the guitar was seperated by about 6 months or more, with a painkiller in between, so this wont be complete and may not be 100% accurate (but I have a decent memory for these things

In basswood/maple (dean Z)

The NB is lower gain than the c-pig, obviously, and quite a bit less compressed, it had more midrange girth than the pig, a really gritty, grinding feel - the c-pig is quite a bit smoother. Very dynamic, too. Its got more low mids than the C-pig, and more mids and high mids, but less lows and less highs. The reason I got rid of the NBs so quickly (I had them less than a week) was that the bass is pretty loose on them. One mans loose is anothers sag, and is another stills dynamic, but it lacked the razorblade precision that I want.

[MDV]

Oh, the NB is still pretty powerfull. Its no slouch. Its not psychotic in output though.

Chris, are you our new BK man on the boards?

Edit: not that tim doesnt still come by, but he told me he posts less here now because there are knowledgable members to help out newcomers these days so he's kind of handed it over to us and spends less time here now

[Tim]

Chris isn't so much our 'new man' he's been with the company for 2 1/2 years and was wanting to get involved on the forum which I've encouraged. I do look in most days and I'm pleased with the level of knowledge and help that is available to members. As always it's best to email me direct for a quick answer about pickup selection but I'll always chime in on a thread if requested.

[MDV]

One sees!

Such a fast response, too - you cant have gone too far from the boards!

Anywho, welcome Chris - not new, but new to us!

[m0jo]

I've played a nailbomb and a c-pig in the same guitar....

If I can cast my mind back, because them being in the guitar was seperated by about 6 months or more, with a painkiller in between, so this wont be complete and may not be 100% accurate (but I have a decent memory for these things

In basswood/maple (dean Z)

The NB is lower gain than the c-pig, obviously, and quite a bit less compressed, it had more midrange girth than the pig, a really gritty, grinding feel - the c-pig is quite a bit smoother. Very dynamic, too. Its got more low mids than the C-pig, and more mids and high mids, but less lows and less highs. The reason I got rid of the NBs so quickly (I had them less than a week) was that the bass is pretty loose on them. One mans loose is anothers sag, and is another stills dynamic, but it lacked the razorblade precision that I want.

Now see that's a helpfull post!

@ Chris R: I play mostly rock and some heavy funk (think Dave Navarro without the overkill delay, but I use a different guitar for that). The rock part would be closest to 3 Doors Down I guess with some metal-ish things in there.. soooo what I need is the availability for tight powerfull palm muting and nice strung out open chords. Combined with the solo fact.

Getting back to MDV's post; the first thing I saw in there was the "loose" low end of the NB's.. that really kills it in my opinion.
I do like the more compressed sound, since my amp is very open and dynamic. And it does throw out a lot of mids, which again speaks against the NB, too much mids is just too much (that logic for ya!), I'm not a scoop man but still I don't like it to be the overbearing frequency band.

Another question by the way is that my guitar is the Ibanez S, which is a (thinnish) mahogany body with floyd rose .. how that compares to the basswood+maple would be a hard one I guess.

[MDV]

In that case, you want the painkillers.

Nailbomb like mid-drive, but its not overbearing or honky in the least (not the the NB is either, but it wont send a middy amp over the edge - really the PJs eq-ing, to me, is a blank canvas. You can make it sound really big and middy, or you can make it sound really scooped - all the frequencies are there in it, and all of them sound great, none of them fight each other) and ULTRA tight, ULTRA clear. Its mid body makes leads sound huge - its great for super-fast riffs, detuning and all manner of lead technique. (Its also my favourite BK).

[Chris Rowberry]

I had a listen to the bands you mentioned and want to sound more like and after listening to 3 Doors Down i am going to put my feet in the ground and stick to NailBombs more so after hearing them. I had a little go on my guitar right after listening to them. I think that maybe you are underestimating the NailBomb i would really suggest taking a look at all the clips of them by other players using Ibanez because i am more then sure you will find it to be just what you are looking for. We can do them ceramic if u want that extra punch to it :)

Chris