Bare Knuckle Pickups Blackguard Tele series

Flat 50s single coil neck pickup for Telecaster with chrome cover
Alnico 5 magnet

The Flat 50s BKP replaced a mid-80s hot wired Seymour Duncan neck pickup in a vintage 70s Fender Telecaster. For the past 20 years the SD did a great job for any type of driving rock music. However, for my blues band I needed the good old vintage sound back, to be able to produce sounds similar to Robben Ford, Rory Gallagher, SRV or Albert King. The bridge pickup, by the way, is still the original Fender. Anyway, in order to go "back to the roots" with an original Tele sound I discovered BKP (through the UK GUITARIST magazine). and ordered online as the pickup needed to be delivered to Namibia in Southern Africa.

I play a lot of different guitars, some of them are vintage Fenders and Gibsons so I have a pretty good platform to compare varies performances of pickups. the Blackguard Tele Series pickup is really great. It has less output than the hot-wired Seymour Duncan, but that was the idea because I needed more sonic projection.

Played over an slightly overdriven Fender Blues Deluxe amp, the pickup is punchy with loads of sustain but it also stays crisp with clear definition. Played over a Mesa Boogie with more drive, the pickup really sings but is not too dark or mushy. Perfect for Blues-Rock, classic Rock and also fans for early seventies David Gilmour stuff.

The pickup is perfectly balanced with the original bridge pickup and I recommend this particular brand to everyone who not only wants a vintage or relic-style looking guitar (and who doesn't nowadays), but also want the matching vintage sound with his or her instrument. The old Fender never sounded better and I would seriously considering a BKP as a replacement for my '56 Gibson ES 175 (P90) and my seventies Gibson Les Paul and ES 335, if necessary.

I would also like to state that the service was very good and quick. First at all, when I send an enquiry to Tim Mills he responded immediately, secondly the delivery was much quicker than usual - and I am used to get stuff from Europe and USA into South Africa.
Professionally, I am a marketing and brand strategy analyst, so obviously customer service is extremely important to me. That is to me real brand equity. BKP scores full points here.

Single Coil

Guitar: MIJ 1996 Fender Foto Flame Telecaster.This guitar has 1 tele PU(bridge) and 2 Stratocaster PUs (mid + neck).
Position: Bridge
Replaces: Standard fabric.
Replaced because I wanted some more "sting" and cleaner, more vintage Tele-sound.

The Output level is very good, and it is well balanced with the other two PUs (Also from Bare Knuckles, from the "Irish Tour" single coil set).
I play it through a Fender Blues Jr. (Laquered tweed) at home, with a 12" Jensen speaker, and a Fender Deluxe, Texas red, with a 12" Celestion VIntage speaker at practice and gigs.
The tone is pure Telecaster - clean, crisp and stings like a bee. Just what I was looking for.
I play Blues / Rock and this PU is used for the more bluesy stuff.

I would surly buy one again if it was destroyed.
I have been playing for 34+ years, but I have not owned a lot of gear, but I??ve had a 70??s Ibanez Stratocaster, a Gibson LP Studio and a 70??s Aria LP copy (which actually sound terrific). The Tele I have owned for 8 years. I love the clean, pure tone and the absolutely balanced string separation. Still, when you put it throug a TUbe Screamer, it screams!
It??s hard to compare PUs, because you are not able to really test them on your own gear.
I got a recommendation for the Bare Knuckle PUs from a guitar builder who said they gave the best value for money. And, he was right!
Apart from that it has been a pleasure to deal with the Bare Knuckle people. They seem very professional, they give good advices, they respond to your mails (however stupid..), and of course; The PU??s are made to order, by hand! Still they manage to keep low prices.