What turned you on to Bare Knuckles?

[littleredguitars2]

for me, over the past few years i've grown to love the band I Am Abomination . naturally i asked the guitarist on twitter what sort of 7 string pickups he was using and he said the bare knuckle aftermath.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrcFVboHo-8

what about you?

[bucketshred]

I was at the London Guitar Show years ago and saw a stand which had a Polka Dot Flying V fitted with a WarPig through a Zakk Wylde Marshall. I thought that the pickup SLAYED and really got into the whole ethos of the company; its been a real pleasure watching it grow. I also found out about Feline Guitars at the show.

The forum helps too! Its a nice wee community.

Paddy

[Dave Sloven]

I just saw some random reference to them while lurking at everythingsg.com

[Plenum n Heather]

Was playing in an old school metal band. Saw the web site. Spoke w Tim. Met Phil King. This began a long relationship w Tim, BKP, and PhilKing!

[AndyR]

Big Rory Gallagher fan. Found some pickups called Irish Tours during an online search... company name was quite cool too. No guitar to put them in, though  (I hadn't had a working strat for years)

When my missus later bought me a new strat in 2007, it was a no-brainer, I had to have Irish Tours in it... (I did warn her when she was offering to buy it)

What we both didn't realise was that this would mean I'd end up with 9 (I think) sets of BKPs and a bunch of new guitars to put them in! :lol:

(btw, ITs didn't suit that strat, it has Sultans now, the ITs are in a much more Rory-like guitar)

[Alex]

Frustration with the Gibson 498t really. I wanted to keep the chrome look, but could only find Seymour Duncan's 59, Seth Lover and JB in that look in Germany at the time. So I saw a used Miracle Man with a cover on Ebay and just went for it.

[Cam_H]

For me it was the rumours of clarity, as well as the lower output models. I still personally feel DiMarzio do a better job of producing "vocal" pickups which really sing, especially at high gain. But you loose some of that tightness. There always has to be a compromise. I think BKPs tend to show up your playing more which is good from the aspect that it improves your playing, but it somehow doesn't feel as fluent - this is where players say it hides your mistakes. I think that's why I'm more of a DiMarzio player, not because it hides my mistake, it just does a better job of recording solos. But if I'm outfitting a guitar such as a Les Paul with some awesome pickups, I'd go BKP. For vocal Vai, Satriani, Petrucci style leads, I'd go DiMarzio.

I do intend of trying some BKP higher output models such as the Holy Diver though, so I could become a BKP nut shortly. This is just how I feel at the present time judging by listening to players play the pickups.

[Kiichi]

While looking for PUs to replace the horrible stock ones in my Ibby S series I stumbled upon them. Was nearly set on the Dimarzio Bluesbucker I think (cause they sounded incredible on one of the clips they used to have), the others I donīt recall, as I was not as sure about them. Asked Dimarzio customer service and was pretty disappointed in them.

Looked around for alternative PU makers, knowing only Duncan, EMG and Dimarzio at the time, thinking Duncans and EMG sucked. Saw someone mentioning BKPs (noting they have a lot of high end, which I like) and looked em up. What I came up with made them sound really nice on paper, so I went to the website.

Initially I was taken by the description and clips of the HD, Crawler and RY.

Asked in the forum and mailed the guys, both of which made for great experiences and ended up with my beloved RY bridge, IT middle, Mule neck set. Never looked back.

[Dave Sloven]

Frustration with the Gibson 498t really.

Well the same thing brought me here really.  I'm pretty sure we are not alone!  Although I have to say that I liked the 498T a lot more than the 490R in the neck.  Then again I'm not much of a neck pickup guy.  I don't really get the value out of either of the BKP neck pickups I own - they just sit there doing nothing! - and have just bought a single pickup guitar ...

[Keven]

Was a DiMarzio guy through and through until i needed pickups to replace the EMG's in my 7 string schecter loomis. I always went for the PAF type pups and I didn't have much choice back then so i searched online and came across BKP. shot an email to tim and he recommended me black dogs for my dirty needs and since then i've found no pickup to even come close in terms of pure tone. Every model i've tried have this awesome kick in the rear and honest guitar tone. BKP even made me taste high output ceramics which work for me, which is quite a feat as i've been a vintage alnico 4-5 guy for years.

[littleredguitars2]

Frustration with the Gibson 498t really.

Well the same thing brought me here really.  I'm pretty sure we are not alone!  Although I have to say that I liked the 498T a lot more than the 490R in the neck.  Then again I'm not much of a neck pickup guy.  I don't really get the value out of either of the BKP neck pickups I own - they just sit there doing nothing! - and have just bought a single pickup guitar ...

some of gibsons pickups are nice but some like the 498 and 490 are just shite in my opinion. i can understand putting them in the lower model guitars but why put them in the custom shop stuff too? i dont get it

[GuitarIv]

Well, although this is a little bit embarrassing, I have to confess I was one of the Periphery Fanboys (I loved the Instrumental version of the first Periphery Album) and Misha used BKPs at that time and still does, so I went to the website, signed up at the forum and opened up a thread to ask which pickup would suit me the best for my needs. At first a bit shocked about the price I ultimately went for it and the Holydiver Bridge was ordered as the guys here had recommended it to me. I will never forget the sudden smile showing up on my face after I had hit a G Major Chord on my Strat. That Clarity, those Harmonics and that warmth that made the Duncan JB I was using previously seem like cr@p. Never looked back!

[JimmyMoorby]

Just looking at different options and the covers look cool!

With the exception of the sinner because its so different to any thing else on the market I much prefer di marzio for single coils but its some of bkp's humbuckers which really cant be compared to any thing else.....much better than what dimarzio and seymour duncan are offering particularly for heavy metal type stuff.

I always wonder if the nailbomb is meant to be based on any thing because I cant think of any thing like it its just perfectfor what I want.  I also really like the vhii's and mules and the cold sweat neck.

There are other pickup brands who seem really good and id like to look into though.

[Telerocker]

I didn't like the Rio Grande's in my HSS-strat. The Muy Grande bridgehumbucker was microphonic too. I wanted something clearer and more refined. Maxguitarstore, where I bought some of my gear, started to sell BKP's at that time. Did some research and got me a Crawler/Irish Tours-set. Still happy with it.

[Alex]

Frustration with the Gibson 498t really.

Well the same thing brought me here really.  I'm pretty sure we are not alone!  Although I have to say that I liked the 498T a lot more than the 490R in the neck.  Then again I'm not much of a neck pickup guy.  I don't really get the value out of either of the BKP neck pickups I own - they just sit there doing nothing! - and have just bought a single pickup guitar ...

And back then, Tim was the only manufacturer I knew of that made higher gain models with covers! I think that was definitely a market niche, letting customers choose whatever cover they want for their pickup.