Hey everyone!
I thought I would take a minute to write my review on this pickup. I know there are a few videos and quite a bit of information out there already, but maybe my experience with it can help anyone trying to decide whether they want to pick up a pair and try them out.
First things first, I purchased the set and the guitar that they went into is a very balanced guitar with typical tone woods. It has an alder body with a maple cap, and a maple neck with ebony fret board. I want to start out with stating that I was pleasantly surprised by these pickups, and even though they are being marketed for the heavy stuff, they have many other applications and are quite versatile.
The first thing that I noticed with these pickups was that they had a really neat quality of compression to them. Don't mistake me for saying that they sound compressed because they have a unique dynamic nature to them. If I had to relate these to another pickup I would say that it kind of reminded me of a high def version of the Blues Saraceno parallel axis pickup that Duncan offers. The pickups are brighter than what I was expecting too. I also enjoy the pick attack that the ragnaroks have (very dynamic). Obviously, these handle gain super well, and can get very bone crunching while still maintaining the clarity that knuckles are known for. Riffing was really fun and I noticed a nice edgy quality to my palm muted stuff. The cleans sounded appealing too. There was no harshness to my ears, especially while coil tapped. I think these pickups really shined when I dialed the gain back (a bit of a preference as I'm getting older). When I dialed the gain back, I thought to myself that the there are so many possible applications. I was thinking in terms of rock, early prog, new wave bands from the 80s, or even 80s pop.
All in all, I'm enjoying them a lot so far. I certainly don't think that these are just another djent pickup. At all. I actually like these quite a bit more than the Juggernauts, but that is more of a personal preference. If you are on the fence I'd recommend getting them, especially if you are out for something new. They have a unique flavor to them and I think they are a welcome addition to the BK line.
Here is a good review video that inspired me to pickup a pair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CotCWUWDnM0
