Bare Knuckle Pickups Abraxas

Scatterwound 43awg, Alnico IV magnets, 4-wire humbuckers. DC resistance approx 14K. Double cream bobbins (to go with the natural maple top of my guitar).

PRS McCarty Rosewood.
Bridge originally, then Neck too.
Replacing . . . BKP Mules. The original McCarty pickups were just fine - but when the GAS strikes, we just gotta try something new. There are lots of great pickups around, but I'm a big fan of Bare Knuckles (the Abraxas are my 4th different set of BKPs so far). I originally replaced the McCartys with BKP Mules, and they were superb - and if I'm honest, one of the best pickups I've ever tried for pure tone - the neck pickup, in single coil mode, was very close to Dave Gilmour (one of my all-time heroes) - plummy, fruity Strat - sheer bliss. But the dreaded GAS stalks us all, and I've always had a hankering to try the BKP Abraxas (I love Carlos Santana too, amongst others). I always check out the HC reviews before making any gear purchases these days, but there was only one review of the Abraxas - so here is my two pennies' worth. I first tried just replacing the bridge Mule with the bridge Abraxas, in the hope of getting the best of Gilmour and Santana in the one guitar - but the level differences were too great, and when paired, there was a distinct lack of magic. The Abraxas was loud, but it didn't seem to have great tone (but I hadn't yet tried it into an overdrive channel). To be honest, at that point I felt I might have wasted my money on the Abraxas pups, especially when the Mules are so good. Somewhat despondently, I then replaced the neck Mule with the other Abraxas pup - and the guitar suddenly sprang back to life. There's a lesson here - Tim Mills makes matched sets for a purpose - and now I could hear why.

The PRS McCarty pickups are essentially PAFs - and pretty good ones at that. The Mules are described as vintage PAFs with an extra kick - and they sure have that old black magic and then some. The Abraxas have an even higher output (the DC resistance is about twice that of the Mules). I was surprised, therefore, to discover that they've also got most of the magic of the Mules. The neck in single coil mode isn't quite as plummy and fruity as the Mule - but it's damn close ! There's still an amazing clarity to the Abraxas pups - though I'd say there was a little less width to them than the Mules. Where the neck Mule in full humbucker mode felt a little boomy on some settings, the Abraxas is slightly more refined at the bottom end - which is great when pushing the amp. There's no mush.
I've only just fitted the Abraxas pups, so I haven't yet tried them with my full rig (Cornell 40W 2x10 Rambler, or Peavey Classic 30, plus assorted quality pedals on a board). I've only tried them out through my home amp, a Fender Super Champ XD (clean channel only - I don't like the artificial overdrive channel). My Cornell amp - designed and hand-built by Denis Cornell himself - will love these pups. I use the (much cheaper - but excellent) Peavey in rough pubs, where I can't afford to have my Cornell wrecked by drunken idiots. In such venues, tone is not really an issue (as everyone's too busy fighting) - but I'm sure the Abraxas pups will sound great through this Peavey.
My band plays a wide range of music, with the notable exception of Metal. I need my guitar to cover the full range of material (from the jangly Pretenders to heavier Toto numbers. The Mules have a beautiful tonal spectrum, but the Abraxas will give me most of that plus extra power for the heavier stuff.
These pups work in both Neck and Bridge positions - and I'd heartily recommend getting the matched set.
I'll give the Abraxas set a 9, simply because I haven't yet tried them in my full rig.

The Abraxas pups will stay on this guitar. My initial reservations were unfounded - these are fantastic pickups. If somehow lost or stolen, I'd definitely get another set. My Mules will end up on one of my other guitars - and I'd definitely replace them too if lost or stolen.
Been playing too long to mention. Always searching for the perfect tone - but I'm almost there now.
If there was some way to switch between the pure tones of the Mule, and the 'Latin Fire' of the Abraxas, I'd be in guitar heaven. I emailed Tim Mills (Mr BKP) to see if it would be possible to have a hybrid pup with extra taps to give Mule or Abraxas tones - but he advised that such things don't tend to work (eddy currents, etc).
Bare Knuckle pickups are not cheap, but I've never had a bad one. They're built with care, look great, and sound fantastic - so they are worth every penny.

Humbucking Passive
DC: 14k
Magnet: Alnico IV

Fitted into Fender Highway Strat 2003 Cocoa Colour

Bridge Position

replacing Dimarzio Chopper (single coil size HB)

Other pickups are 2 x Bare Knuckle Irish Tours

Dont Know who uses this particular model

Wanted a full size HB

14k output

Using with Hughes Kettner Tour Reverb Amp and a Pod xt live, pickup gives a full bodied distorted sound and works well with the amps celestion speaker.

Tone is very well balanced, nothing remotely muddy about it, sharp crisp aggressive sound with distortion and a hot crunchy biting sound through a cleaner amp.

70's rock, metal and modern, pickup is maybe a little hot for personal taste but enjoying the amount of punch its giving me and plays 80's thrash metal seemingly on cruise control.

Suitable for all positions

If it got stolen id think about trying something a litle less hot not because the pickup isnt great i just like trying diffent things out and need to temper this pup to get a mellower sound (maybe ill try rewiring a tone pot to it when i next change strings).
Great service from Bare Knuckle pickups, bought this on a pre-wired guard from the company and they were happy to mod the wiring to my specs if i chose. It arrived in well under a week.
Been playing for 20 years and have to say this possibly the smoothest HB ive used. Nothing flabby about it. Well balanced and aggressive.