Hey there!
Long-time lurker, 1st time poster, just decided to create an account to share my experience with my new pickups!
First of all, I wanted to thank everyone on the forum for sharing all your knowledge about everything BKP, it went a LONG way in helping me make my decision.
Well, where should I start? My upgraded guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Traditional, and i had '57s in it. I run through a MB Stiletto Deuce and an Avatar Cab. I like playing hard rock mostly, in the vein of GNR, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Sabbath, you get the picture. I also like playing some softer stuff too, like Cream, Free, etc. So I need a pickup that can handle the heat, but cleans up to a low-gain grind. Also, I play rhythm guitar only. I don't solo at all, so I was looking for a pup that shone in that aspect. I narrowed my choices to Mule, Riff Raff, Rebel Yell, and Nailbomb. After alot of research, I decided that the RY's would suit me best as far as versatility and overall tone.
I went a different route than most people, an aged nickel neck and an aged zebra bridge, I just LOVE that look! Got them put in, and had them coil-split as well. When I plugged in, I was blown away by how clear they sounded. Trying to play chords on a gain setting always produced cr@ppy, mushy and muddy sounds with my old pups, but with the RY's there was none of that! The drive and crunch from the amp was nothing I had heard from it before, it was pushed very well by the pups. Turning down the tone and volume really gave off this vintage tone that I really loved, and using them in single coil got me closer than I thought to a Gilmour-style sound. With the neck, I play mostly cleans, and there was again this clarity that I had never heard before with my cleans. Also, the presence control on my amp really never changed my tone at all no matter how high or low I had it. The Rebel Yell's gave all my EQ knobs new life, and especially on the clean channel and maybe with my OCD turned on the dynamics really shone.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Rebel Yell is THE real deal, no doubt about it. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anybody looking for a kick-ass pickup with serious attitude. Thanks and rock on! :guitar4: