Bare Knuckle Pickups BKP-91

Single coil, medium to high output, but not as high as the pickup it replaced.

This is in a Gibson Les Paul Studio worn, which is a limited run guitar at the moment. It's in the bridge position and replaced the stock pickup, which was dark sounding and too 'hot'. I kept the stock neck pickup, which seemed fine.

Output level is just about right. The stock pickup was really a little on the mushy side, and was much more in the ball park of a humbucker. I wanted something with a bit more bite and honk, and this pickup brings a much cleaner and clearer tone. I play through a Vox AC30 and it's as if a cushion has been taken off the speaker. It doesn't drive the amp as much as the old one, but I wanted something that sat more between a humbucker and Fender single coil. This pickup does that great - bell like when clean, but good and nasty when you overdrive it. Not too harsh either.

very happy with the sound. My only gripe is that the plastic casing came away from the pickup rather too easily... because it was slightly wider on the corners than the original Gibson, and wedges very tightly into the pickup cavity. This means altering height is a pain and the whole thing can come unstuck quite easily. I think Bareknuckles ought to warn people that this could happen, although to some extent it is also the fault of the guitar itself.

P90 passive single coil pickup. No idea of impedance

PRS SE One. Pickup fitted in bridge as only one pickup guitar. Upgraded from the original PRS pup. I changed the pickup as the PRS sounded very admirable for the price point of the guitar, but it was a little noisy.

Wow, Wow, Wow. This pickup is absolutely the dogs b*****ks. I have had many high end guitars over the years and tried most if not all of the boutique pickups. I bought a PRS SE One as it played very well and I did not have to worry about the guitar at gigs. I fitted this pickup and it was as though I had been waiting for this sound all my life. I have Lollar P90's in another guitar, but I have to say this pickup blows the lollars away. They have much more of an alive sound. Using the volume knob on the guitar, I can get beautiful clear articulate clean tones and with a litte more volume can get the most superb aggressive searing tone I have ever heard. The range of sounds in this pup is breathtaking. The sound comes to life in a very musical broad way. Many people have told me that my sound is very addictive and they just want to listen, and I can tell you, it is not with the excellence of my playing. I am competant, but no maestro. Thank you, thank you, thank you bareknuckle, I have at last found tone I will use forever !!!!!!!!!!

If it was lost or stolen, I would buy another in a heartbeat and I am going to change out my Lollars for a pair of these. I cannot wait to hear one in the neck position.

This is a set of 2 slightly overwound P90 single coil pickups. I ordered them with chrome covers, which are slightly distressed. My goal was to simulate Tony Iommi's pickups on his original SG Special guitar which he used in the 70s.
The neck pickup is Alnico IV 7,5k ohm affair, while the bridge is an Alnico V with 8.0 ohms. Apart from being virtually identical to the original P90s it has been potted twice to avoid any squeals

This guitar went into a Gibson SG 1967 limited edition guitar.

The sound is very open and has a lot of high end, but not uncomfortably so. The range is very broad and smooth. Due to the fact that it's a single coil it is great at clean tones, blues, country you name it. I also play it with gain ( a lot of it) and it does not squeal even with the high gain channel and a treble booster on top of that. Great work by Tim who provided advice before purchasing. It does not have an awful lot of push but that's what I ordered, these are vintage reproductions with a few twists. You can go for a Pig90 if you want extreme gain.

The chrome covers were a nice touch and Tim scratched them up a bit to make them look more vintage. Delivery was perfect and very fast, about 3 weeks.

Soapbar single coil pickups.

I changed the three pickups on my Yamaha SA503 TVL. More exactly biginning from the neck I set BKP90, BKP91 and BKP91 pickups on it because I found the sound a little poor, thin and crisp.
To me it only was good to play some kinds of rock and I like much more other musics like jazz, blues, bossa...

I only use tube amps : a Laney VC50 and a Rivera KR100 head.
The difference between the Bare Knuckle and Yamaha pickups is incredible, unbelievable. I have now a tonal richness I could never be able to imagine before and haven't enough words to tell it. It is warm and sometimes hot but always a great pleasure.
The mix between these pickups with the Yamaha "all access" system is really magical. I all the time find new and usable sounds. Tweaking a little in the out of phase positions is delicious. Sometimes it sounds like a strat, sometimes like a big fat strat with more bass and warmness and you can believe you're playing the Peter Green's Les Paul when you find the good settings.
These are a real booster for my creativity.

I love everything in these pickups and I of course would do the same choice again if these would be stolen or broken.

I especially want to tell how they're great professionnals at Bare Knuckle. The set had to be adapted to the specifications of the guitar and the centre pickup must be RWRP. Everything hase been perfectly maid without to pay anything more.

single coil

this has gone in two of my custom built guitar in the neck pos & going into a 3rd very soon. i changed because it's the best pickuo i've ever heard, so warm & bell like, beutiful!!

pure tone, fantastic

i would have this in all my guitars if i could

Calibrated set of passive, single coil, alnico v, p-90 soapbar stlye (though i got mine with chrome covers)

this replaced the p-90's that were in my gibson les paul studio. not sure if they were stock (normally i'd guess not, but there were no indications of any holes being filled and covered where mount rings for humbuckers would go....so who knows?). the p-90's that were on there were ok, but lacked a certain texture in the mids and the highs sounded a bit dull. after talking to the guys in my favorite local guitar shop (wassup ludlow guitars!) i decided on the bkp-91.

i'll skip the annoying list of pedals i use (delays, verbs, comp, blah blah), but my main stomp is a keeley ts-9 baked mod, going into a mesa f-100/mesa 1x12 widebody cab. you could plug a mic into my rig and burp into and it'd sound good, but i definitely wanted a bit more response and clarity from my gtr and i definitely wasn't disappointed! the bkp-91's are a HUGE step up from the p-90's that they replaced. the lows are fuller without the mud, the entire mid range is smoother (the old ones had this annoying peak around 2k), and the highs are bright, lively, and sing without being piercing. these p-ups with the keeley baked ts-9 gives me the most *** spanking tone i've ever had! running clean into my amp is something i absolutely dig now, which was always boring to me because the old ones were soooo dull in comparison.

i've been playing for about 17 years now (holy crap i'm getting old...), and i've worked in the music business as a musician/engineer for 9 of those. finding gear that stands out in quality is rare these days, and finding gear that stands out enough to make me take time to write up a review is one in a million! if someone had time enough to dismantle my gtr and steal my p-ups, i'd kick my own *** first, then i'd find the ******* and cut their fingers off. then order another set of bkp-91's.

Passive single coil. Approximately output is 7.8k's.

Guitar: Gibson SG Classic
Position: neck and bridge (both)
Replacing: stock Gibson soapbars
Reason for change: wanted better tone than I already had

Output: slightly hotter than stock
Amp/effects: Fender Blues Jr, modded Boss DS-1 sometimes
Tone: medium-high output, balanced overall
Musical style: hard rock, blues-rock and it works perfect
Suitable: neck and bridge both, but especially the neck- goes good with a Tele or vintage humbucker for the bridge

Would replace: most definitely
Playing experience: playing since I was 12, 16 now so about 4 years total
Love/hate: everything is a-OK, not a thing I would change
Compared with: the Seymour Duncan line of P-90s- didn't care for the ceramic magnets they use
Wish it had: nothing more than it already has
Satisfied: yes

Single coil P90 style. Scatterwound. Alnico V magnets. calibrated pair. Impedance: 7.8k. Described as "slightly hotter than [vintage] stock".

Callibtrated set installed at bridge and neck in a new PRS SE Soapbar 2. the guitar is otherwise stock. I shopped around a bit (for the guitar) to find a really well-finished example, which I then set up and replaced the p'ups. I had read in reviews of the guitar that it was great value and played well but that the pickups (while serviceable) were not as lively as vintage P90s. Hence, I bought the guitar with a view to upgrading and thus creating a really great instrument on a budget.

These are amazing pickups. The main differences from the Korean stock were greater clarity and presence, much more detail across the frequency spectrum and a little higher output. As with the great P90s of lore, the Bare Knuckles are sweet and detailed, but also raunchy with a beefy ker-chang when you hit the strings harder. The pickups exceeded my expectations and have transformed a guitar that I already really liked into the nicest instrument I have ever played - a real life partner. One caution: Pickups need a few hours of playing time to break in. I found the p'ups a little bright and cutting when first fitted them, but they softened quite quickly. If you find the same thing with ANY new pickups, stick with them a while before forming an opinion.

If I were ever deprived of my guitar, I would definitely buy a new one and fit a new set of BKP-91s. I spent ??350 on th eguitar and ??135 on the pickups. For a total ??485, I now have a guitar that I prefer to any others I have played that retail for up to ??1500. I recommend these pickups (and the guitar if the looks are up your street) unreservedly to anyone after a P90 upgrade.