Bare Knuckle Pickups Crawler Set

Passive Humbuckers.
Neck = 7.8 K (Alnico 4)
Bridge = 15.4 K (Alnico 5)

I play a Gibson Les Paul R7. I replaced the stock Burstbucker 1 & 2 with the Bare Knuckle Crawler set. The Burstbuckers sounded good but I wanted great sounding pickups. I found the BBs vintage sounding but on the airy side. I was looking to keep the PAF sound but to add growl and bite......and the Crawler set delivered this hands down.

I use a Marshall Vintage Modern half stack without any pedals.....guitar, amp and fingers only. I play hard rock (Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Queensryche). The BKP Crawlers are an awesome match. The Bridge pickup has a real snarl to it with lots of bottom end. The neck pickup is so smooth and very vintage sounding. The output is just right on both pickups.... I love Alnico magnets over ceramic.....and the crawlers are killer sounding. I really recommend the Crawlers to get that sound/tone of Doug Aldrich.

If destroyed or stolen I would rebuy them immediately...they are that good. They are a little more expensive than seymour duncans or dimarzios but they have tons more quality. BKP are top class products....their sound is incredible !!! Tim Mills (BKP owner) is a super good guy....extremely knowledgeable and friendly....a real professional and gentleman. He really listens to the customers' needs and recommends the perfect fit. I am super happy and will only buy Bare Knuckle Pickups now. I recommend them fully.

Handwound (scatterwound) passive calibrated humbucker set to match each other in ourput. Neck and bridge. The bridge has an Alnico V magnet and measures 15,2k in dc resistance, neck is Alnico IV and measures 7,5k. Comes with a set of strings, BK pick, wiring diagrams, lifetime guarantee.

Guitar: PRS SE Custom
Position: Neck and bridge
Musical style(s): Rock, blues, rock'n'roll, metal

I wanted to change the stock picups because I wanted hotter picups and picups with coil tap. Fist I tried the Seymour Duncan SH4 JB and SH2 Jazz, but I wasn`t satisfied at all. Not that they probabily fit other guitars, but they didn`t sound right at all in my PRS. After countles hours searching the web and forums, I decided to try Bare Knouckle. I wrote a email to Tim at Bare Knuckle and asked him for advice and got a mail back the same day. He suggested the Crawler Set. And to follow his advice usually pays off!

The output level in the bridge is more or less the same in the Seymour Duncan SH4 JB. Maby little less but not much. First of all: It sound absolutely great. Second of all: It sound out of this world! Incredible sting definition. IT IS NEVER HARSH!

The neck pickup is about the same as the stock picup in my PRS but with increased note definition and tone complexity that is from another world. I have read other reviews and some say "it sing like a choir of angles". And they are right. I play through a Engl Sovereign Vintage 100 112 Combo and from a clear setting to 1 ton of gain it create astounding sweet sound.

It is hard for me to find the right words to desribe thise picups, especially when my English is not that greate... But I can say one thing: If you have a guitar with mahogany body, set in mahogany neck,tremolo and if you are not completely into the metal genre, pick the Crawler set from Bare Knuckle. And I am even not payed to say this! :-)

Humbucker. Double cream bobbins.
Specs as described elsewhere.

PRS Custom 22 (vintage natural - hence the double cream bobbins - birds, trem, etc).

Neck and Bridge (matched set).

Replacing PRS HFS/Vintage Bass - really nice, and pokier than the original Dragons IIs (nice, very acoustic sounding).

The other guitarist in our band is a loud bugger (very good, but very loud). As we have many twin lead lines, I needed something to compete with, yet compliment tonewise, his BKP Holy Divers.

The Crawlers are hotter than the PRS HFS. They snarl rather than grunt. Tapped, they sparkle like the best ones from 'Big F'.

I've been a Big F man most of my life, playing fast and funky rhythm. Tapped, the Crawlers are ideal for this. But my band is veering more towards classic rock, and the Crawlers deliver all the power I'll ever need. I've put a ToneStyler (16-way tone switch) on the guitar, and it shapes the ample top end of the Crawlers whilst allowing all the mid and bass through. With this combination, my PRS can sound like a Big F or a Big G. I can cover the wide range of material with just one guitar. I couldn't ask for more.

Pickups don't usually get destroyed or stolen from guitars - so none of the stupid rants about ripping people's eyes out - but I'd highly recommend BKP Crawlers, and use them on all my guitars if money was no object.

I've been playing longer than I can remember, and I'm still learning. I've tried a range of pickups, including various PRS, SDs and Dims, many of which have been great - but the BKP Crawlers have got the edge and give me all the tones I need.

Tim at BKP is a real gent. I told him my exacting requirements, and he suggested the Crawlers. He was spot on !

My amp is a Cornell Rambler 40, 2x10 (Vintage 10s) combo, hand-built by Denis Cornell. It's gorgeous and sounds better than all the other amps I've owned/used (You name it . . ). For overdrive, I use a Lucifer pedal (see my review). The Crawlers are the missing link in my sound chain. I'm now a very happy bunny.

Handwound passive humbuckers. Neck and bridge.
The bridge has an Alnico V magnet and measures 15,6k in dc resistance, neck is Alnico IV and measures 7,6. The set is "calibrated" to match each other in ourput, which they do well.
Also comes with a set of strings, wiring diagrams, lifetime guarantee.

I got the Crawler set for my Les Paul Studio. I had long been unsatisfied with the stock pickups (498T, 490R)and wanted to breathe some life into this cherished guitar of mine. This is exactly what the Crawlers did. I wanted something that's closer to a true, thick Les Paul sound with, but with enough power to handle high distortion levels (I like to use a tube screamer style pedal with a slightly overdriven amp) and without sacrificing clean tones. I emailed Tim Mills, the owner of Bare Knuckle Pickups (and former Iced Earth guitarist!) and he suggested the Crawler set. These are the signature pickups of Geoff Whitehorn.

My first impression of the clean sound was that it's very "alive". It has a sweet, bright(ish) chime on the attack but then gets warmer as it sustains. Very beautiful sound I think. Chords sound huge. The neck pickup is very sweet sounding with an even frequency responce (atleast to my ears) and the bridge has a kick in the mids and bass (like a ToneZone), but still with plenty of bite for a punchy overdrive. All pots are CTS 500k and they are very responsive to how you set your volume and tone controls. This is something I really appreciate, becuase it gives me a wide selection of tones from just the guitar and an OD pedal.
The middle position struck me as quite odd when I first heard it. It has a very pronounced "aww" sound like a wah pedal stopped in the middle that some will love becuse it can really cut through the mix, especially with overdrive, and some might think it's too nasal. I found that you can get rid of the nasal-ness by turning the volume and tone a little down on the bridge pickup, which is something I always did on the stock picups aswell, and get a very sweet but powerful sound from the middle position.

I asked for something very versatile with a true Les Paul tone and that's what I got. These days, I'm a big fan of "guitar hero" music (as cheesy as that sounds). Guys like Al di Meola, Jason Becker, Steve Vai, Shawn Lane, Satch, Gilbert, you know the gang ;), and as much as I'm influences by those guys, I want my own tone. I play many styles of music, and they can handle it all. They are not typical blues pickups, nor typical metal pickups but they will do both very well. I haven't had the opportunity to use it with many effects. Just my T-Rex OD pedal and Morley wah through a very bad Marshall amp that I've been meaning to get rid of, but the Crawlers definitely made a huge improvement to my tone.

I believe I found the right pickups for favourite guitar, and they will not be replaced. I've been playing for roughly 8 years now, as I started out as a classical player, then found a fondness for the electric and bought this Les Paul. I have played guitars with pickups of many brands, and I've never played something as organic sounding as these BKPs. They also have very rich harmonics, which is a plus for many musicians. You only have to think about pinching and they do it for you ;)
But as Harmony Central says, nothing is perfect. The downside to these pickups are very few though. The price is an obvious one (but hey, quality costs) and as I said earlier, I'm not too keen on the very middy middle-position sound. However, some blues players would see this is a definite plus and if not, you can even it out with the vol/tone knobs, as I also said. That is the reason I am giving it a 9 in overall rating. But if I could give an 11 for sound quality, I would.

Calibrated set of hand-wound passive humbuckers.

DC readings are 15,6 for the bridge and 7,6 for the neck. They have "vintage cut" Alnico magnets, AV for the bridge and AIV for the neck.

All BKPs come with a set of strings and a pick.

I ordered these pickups as replacements for the stock pickups in my 2001 Les Paul Studio (498T/490R). Initially, I only wanted to replace the bridge pup, seen as I've been unsatisfied with it for awhile. When I came across Bare Knuckle Pickups though, I decided to go for a calibrated set with bridge and neck pickups that are made to match each other. I liked the cleans from the stock Gibson, but it really lacked some clarity when you let it have some gain. The main problem with the stock bridge pickup was that it generally sounded too bright, and brittle on the higher registers. Also, it sounded really muddy with distortion.
Anyway, enough about the Gibson pickups.

I emailed Tim Mills, the owner of the company, and described the sound I wanted. I said I wanted some warmer sounding pickups with a lead overdrive-sound similar to Al di Meola, but with power to soak some more gain. Tim suggested the Crawler set, and as a general rule, following his advice pays off.

This was no exeption. I got them installed with standard wiring (schematic included in the package) and started playing with the only amp I own at the time, a (very bad) 20W Marshall. The clean was GLORIOUS. One thing I liked about the stock pickups was the chimey clean they had. The Crawlers have a similar chime, but when you let them sustain they get really warm, which I really like. Even with big, long chords they let you hear every note. This kind of clarity is very useful for those of you who enjoy those out-of-the-ordinary jazz/prog chords.

I turned on the T-Rex Alberta overdrive, my main source for gain, and was greeted with beautiful, smooth harmonically rich tones. Now, the Alberta is very rich on those addictive overtones itself, but with the BKP, they really sing. The harmonics (natural, artificial, tapped, pinched, you name it) sound like they just WANT to come out. It never gets boring to play with you guitar reacts like this. On the other hand, they don't do anything you don't want them to. It's very easy to control your tone.
The lead tones are very "singy" no matter level of gain you use. The neck pickup has a sweet "french u" vowel sound, middle position a very pronounced "aww", like a wah pedal stopped in the middle and the bridge has a similar "aww", but with a brighter "aah" on the highs. It's not a bad, brittle kind of brightness though. As I said, it is very "singy" and you can definitely do shreddy leads on the bridge pickup without it sounding like nothing but pick-attacks.

Even with a lot of distortion (OD pedal + overdriven amp), they never loose focus. They sound tight and clear, but never sterile and mechanical. Always keeping a very organic vintage-y tone but with incredible harmonic responce. You only have to think about pinching and they do it for you, even on the neck pickup.

I play mostly prog and "guitar hero" music with some jazz, fusion and world music influences. However, I am a sucker for that true, thick Les Paul tone. The Crawlers diliver that to the fullest with enough versatality to cover many genres. If you want thin and twangy tones, this is not your way to go. But for authentic, yet powerful vintage tones, you can't go wrong with the Crawlers. But I do recommend to email Tim for suggestions.

These pickups truly saved the sound of my beloved Les Paul, and BKP has been known to do that before. They come with lifetime guarantee so I don't have to worry about them going stale.

I've been playing for about 8 years and started out as a classical player. Then I slowly moved into blues, rock and metal country, and now I play a bunch of different styles in different bands/projects. I know these pickups will do well in just about anything I throw myself into.

These pickups do what I wanted for this guitar. But as my collection grows, I know a fair share of those are gonna get BKPed. They do cost more than the leading brands of replacement pickups, but you can really understand it when you hear them and feel them.

Calibrated set of hand-wound passive humbuckers.

DC readings are 15,6 for the bridge and 7,6 for the neck. They have "vintage cut" Alnico magnets, AV for the bridge and AIV for the neck.

All BKPs come with a set of strings and a pick.

I ordered these pickups as replacements for the stock pickups in my 2001 Les Paul Studio (498T/490R). Initially, I only wanted to replace the bridge pup, seen as I've been unsatisfied with it for awhile. When I came across Bare Knuckle Pickups though, I decided to go for a calibrated set with bridge and neck pickups that are made to match each other. I liked the cleans from the stock Gibson, but it really lacked some clarity when you let it have some gain. The main problem with the stock bridge pickup was that it generally sounded too bright, and brittle on the higher registers. Also, it sounded really muddy with distortion.
Anyway, enough about the Gibson pickups.

I emailed Tim Mills, the owner of the company, and described the sound I wanted. I said I wanted some warmer sounding pickups with a lead overdrive-sound similar to Al di Meola, but with power to soak some more gain. Tim suggested the Crawler set, and as a general rule, following his advice pays off.

This was no exeption. I got them installed with standard wiring (schematic included in the package) and started playing with the only amp I own at the time, a (very bad) 20W Marshall. The clean was GLORIOUS. One thing I liked about the stock pickups was the chimey clean they had. The Crawlers have a similar chime, but when you let them sustain they get really warm, which I really like. Even with big, long chords they let you hear every note. This kind of clarity is very useful for those of you who enjoy those out-of-the-ordinary jazz/prog chords.

I turned on the T-Rex Alberta overdrive, my main source for gain, and was greeted with beautiful, smooth harmonically rich tones. Now, the Alberta is very rich on those addictive overtones itself, but with the BKP, they really sing. The harmonics (natural, artificial, tapped, pinched, you name it) sound like they just WANT to come out. It never gets boring to play with you guitar reacts like this. On the other hand, they don't do anything you don't want them to. It's very easy to control your tone.
The lead tones are very "singy" no matter level of gain you use. The neck pickup has a sweet "french u" vowel sound, middle position a very pronounced "aww", like a wah pedal stopped in the middle and the bridge has a similar "aww", but with a brighter "aah" on the highs. It's not a bad, brittle kind of brightness though. As I said, it is very "singy" and you can definitely do shreddy leads on the bridge pickup without it sounding like nothing but pick-attacks.

Even with a lot of distortion (OD pedal + overdriven amp), they never loose focus. They sound tight and clear, but never sterile and mechanical. Always keeping a very organic vintage-y tone but with incredible harmonic responce. You only have to think about pinching and they do it for you, even on the neck pickup.

I play mostly prog and "guitar hero" music with some jazz, fusion and world music influences. However, I am a sucker for that true, thick Les Paul tone. The Crawlers diliver that to the fullest with enough versatality to cover many genres. If you want thin and twangy tones, this is not your way to go. But for authentic, yet powerful vintage tones, you can't go wrong with the Crawlers. But I do recommend to email Tim for suggestions.

These pickups truly saved the sound of my beloved Les Paul, and BKP has been known to do that before. They come with lifetime guarantee so I don't have to worry about them going stale.

I've been playing for about 8 years and started out as a classical player. Then I slowly moved into blues, rock and metal country, and now I play a bunch of different styles in different bands/projects. I know these pickups will do well in just about anything I throw myself into.

These pickups do what I wanted for this guitar. But as my collection grows, I know a fair share of those are gonna get BKPed. They do cost more than the leading brands of replacement pickups, but you can really understand it when you hear them and feel them.

Alnico 5 passive humbuckers; 15k bridge, 7.5k neck output. They didn't initially come as a set; I bought the bridge pickup (barely) used from a friend on the 'net, and the neck pickup was purchased new from SIS in California. I then sent them both to Tim Mills at BKP, who installed raw nickel covers for added coolness.

I used this set to replace the stock pickups on a 1999 Les Paul Standard. I didn't hate the stock Gibsons, but they seemed like a one-trick pony --- pretty good for hard rock blasting, but (to my ears) lacking in subtlety. These pickups are the "signature model" of Geoff Whitehorn, a guy whose playing with many different artists I have greatly respected over the years.

The output level of the bridge pickup is noticeably higher than stock, the neck neckup's output is about the same as stock. However, in both positions, the increased note definition and tone complexity are nothing short of astounding. I play through either a 20-watt Crate Vintage Club amp or a Marshall DSL50 half-stack, with a Dunlop wah and a Fulltone Dejavibe, and these Crawlers are perfect for the classic rock sound I want. The mids and bass are strong but smooth, singing but not shrieking; the treble never becomes overwhelming. I recommend them for any Les Paul-style guitar.

If these BKP's were somehow lost to me, I'd be ordering another set in a heartbeat. I've been playing since 1976, and I have yet to hear a better set of humbuckers despite trying numerous brands. Definitely on the expensive side, but this is one instance where one truly gets what one pays for. Tim Mills is a great guy who is never chintzy with his time/advice, and who puts out a fantastic product!

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Framus Diablo Custom
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Ducan-SSHR/SSL1/SSH4
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: Geoff Whitehorn
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, Rock'n'roll,Grunge Hiphop....
Reason for pickup change: Seymour?s sounded too harsh too me

Perceived output level: slightly more than the seymours
Tone: perfectly balanced
Sonic evaluation: Framus Diablo Custom/Hughes & Kettner Special Edition Tube20th
coveres a very wide range of sounds

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: all kinds of styles in Studio/recording use

Comments: Tim Mills customer service really the best I have ever had!
He helped me to get the right combination of pickups and wound them a little hotter than stock-perfect!

Pickup features: humbucker passive
Impedence or other specs: 15.3k and 7.5k

Model of guitar or bass: 2004 gibson les paul custom
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: gibson 498 and490
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Geoff Whitehorn
You musical style(s): classic rock,soul,jazz and pop
Reason for pickup change: gibson neck up was to muddy and bridge sounded too thin on the plain strings.

Perceived output level: same as gibson's slightly hotter than vintage.
Tone: very balance with no harshness at all.
Sonic evaluation: Im using rivera jake\rake amps and celestion g75t speakers.The sound of the bridge pu is fat\phat but never muddy a really good rock pu but still sounds good clean.The neck crawler more vintage in its sound and is very clean and sooth but never dull.my les paul sounds right now.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: any style except metal(though heavy rock is no prob)poss abit smooth for country?

Comments: If they were stolen i would ring tim up and order a new set.I have used seymour's,dimazio,gibson pu's over the last 25 year's of playing and in my opinion bare knuckle's make the others sound bland.btw Tim answers the email's personally and his advice is spot on.

Pickup features: Calibrated set, four-conductor wiring, gold-plasted covers, humbucking
Impedence or other specs: Scatter wound, Alnico V magnet, 15 kOhms

Model of guitar or bass: Les Paul Custom (1978)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Original Gibson neck unit, Seymour Duncan JB bridge unit
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: These are Geoff Whitehorn's signature pick-ups!
You musical style(s): Rock, blues, rock'n'roll, metal
Reason for pickup change: Horrible woolly sound of original neck unit, and JB good for high gain but not too good for clean

Perceived output level: Punchy and powerful
Tone: Balanced, sweet, very clear.
Sonic evaluation: Les Paul Custom 1978, Boogie Mk IV with 200w EV speaker (live) and PodXT through very old Marshall VS30R (at home). Bell-like sustain. My dear old Les Paul now sounds completely and pant-wettingly gorgeous. There is loads of power and punch, but bucket loads of clarity, and a lovely sweet edge to everything, whether played crystal clean or with face-melting high gain, and chord note definition never goes no matter how much distortion is piled on. The pick-ups come with four conductor wiring, and since I have other guitars for single coil and coil-split stuff, I opted for series/parallel wiring with two push-push pots, and it?s utterly brilliant. Not as dramatic as coil tapping, and a bit difficult to describe, but in series you get standard humbucking sounds, and in parallel the sound cleans up and thins out, but only slightly ? almost like backing off the guitar volume, but better . There?s not as much of a volume drop as with a coil tap. Great for cleanish/crunchy rhythm work before going back to series for a searing solo, and some lovely subtle sounds are available with one pick-up in series and the other in parallel. Retains single or chord note definition all the way up to face-melting gain. Can do everything from "Green Manalishi" Fleetwood Mac and early Wishbone Ash to Thin Lizzy to Slash to The Darkness. Also good for cleaner stuff - Snowy White or Peter Frampton would love these pick-ups

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: In the band we play 50s to 90s rock, rock'n'roll, a bit of blues and even some pop

Comments: These pick-ups are the best thing to happen to my Les Paul ever, and I would definitely buy again. I have been playing now for thirty six years, and also have a PRS CE22, G&L S500 and Fender Strat Ultra ... but the Les Paul, which I have owned since 1982, is suddenly my favourite again. I like everything about these pick-ups and dislike only the fact that you can no longer have them with engraved covers - I want to show the world what I have got! I did a lot of research before choosing these and it was a good decision. My Les Paul now sounds just like I always wanted it to sound.
The customer service from Tim Mills and his boize is great too - they are still a small enough company to care, and I have corresponded personally with Tim. Good mail order service, and no more expensive than anywhere else.