Bare Knuckle Pickups Nailbomb

Passive Humbucker pickup, dc:16k, with alnico5 magnet, 4 conductor (splittable to single coil),
you get custom camo covers options to..fully calibrated! : black, zebra, nickel, chrome, gold or black covers.

Installed in bridge position on an Ibanez Sabre S-540 (mahogany body, maple neck, flod tremolo type) and Rg-550 (bass wood body, maple neck floyd tremolo type)

The pickup being replaced is a Dimarzio Fred wich I chose after trying all of these:
SeymourDuncan Jb, Dimarzio Evolution, ToneZone, Paf pro, air Norton, Super distortion, Ibanez/dimarzio stock pickup F2, Dimarzio.

All these pickups are great but for my ears in the bridge position all of them where to bright sounding, sometimes harsh.
The tremolo and thin body and neck of my Ibanez S540 makes it a bright guitar on high strings (thow the mahogany body helps a bit)
The Dimarzio Fred is great at getting artificial harmonics, is precise and tight in tube amp but still sometimes ear piercing bright and in amp modelisation in direct such as vox tonelab, guitar rig, boss vf1, gt5, the distortions get to brittle and harsh even when tweeked.

The output is powerfull enough for any situation making a versatile pickup.
I use a Soldano HotRod Hr-50xl+ and various gear played directly in the mixer, a Boss Vf1, Vox tonelab and Guitar rig.

I get a fat sounding bridge pickup with warm lows and fat highs with no harhness making it a very well balanced pickup for the Ibanez.
No mud, nor harshness and the pickup is still precise! I agree with one comment saying that its precision wont be as forgiving as a mudy pickup with sloppy playing.
What amazes me is it how it can sing artificial harmonics, they come out so easy you can just play the harmonic itself. Pikups that are good at that such as dimarzio fred and seymour duncan pearly gates are often to bright sounding for my ears.

I would certainly buy it again thow it's expensive!
I've been playing for 18years and own/and have owned a lot of gear..
I love this pickup because its versatile, I get good clean tones and a suprising split single coil texture. I'v rediscovered all my overdrive and distortion sounds with it, they are all more musical now. I like its warm fat singing tone wich is pretty medium sounding with plenty of bass and most important to me: fat highs.
It's a precise pickup, I'm not a shredder thow I like to speed up things every now and then.

I find a lot of the pickups i'v tryed are sometimes very specialised at one trick, most of them seem to have a precise sound to get every note sounding in a fat tube amp but be carfule. I find it hard to get the clean to dirty souds with thows pickups with the volume on my guitar especialy in a precise modern amp!
Thanks to Tim at barknuckel for his patience and kindness..
The site is fantastic with plenty of demos mp3..

Passive, humbucking pickups. Calibrated set with distressed camo covers, bridge unit has a ceramic magnet instead of Alnico V. 2-conductor wiring.

Bridge unit: 15.9K
Neck unit: 10.3K

These beasts have gone into my Ibanez PGM301, replacing the stock DiMarzio PAF Pros. I've taken the middle pickup out entirely as I never really use it.

I believe Pin from SikTh uses this exact configuration. After playing his guitar, I had to get some for myself!

The stock DiMarzios were great for rock and blues, but they couldn't handle the high-gain stuff very well at all.

High-output, but very versatile, and never harsh sounding.

My current amp (Peavey 5150II) blew up a few days ago, but the plan is to get either a Framus Cobra or Engl Powerball head. My setup is simple: I use a Keeley modded tubescreamer to get a solo boost, and a Boss DD-6 delay pedal and ISP Decimator noise gate in the FX loop, but that's it. The amp runs into a Laney 4x12 cabinet fitted with Celestion Vintage 30s.

The bridge unit is wonderfully articulate and defined. The ceramic magnet provides very tight bass and pronounced (not harsh!) highs. Under high gain, it sounds impossibly chunky and every note has an incredible clarity. Pinch harmonics leap out all over the place. I was riffing away with a ridiculous grin the whole time I was playing! Rolling back the guitar volume got some amazing crunch tones, and even cleans sounded great.

The neck unit is a really juicy affair. It has a beautiful organic woodiness to it, plus an almost single-coil clarity. Bell-like jazz and gritty blues tones were a doddle, and it stays super-defined under high gain. Shredding sounded incredible, fast sweep picking especially, smooth and articulate yet with absolutely no muddiness at all. It all cleans up beautifully when the guitar volume is reduced as well.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely get another set (after extending my overdraft!). They may be expensive, but the quality is just astounding, and you can't even compare the experience to buying any mass-produced pickup.

I've been playing for nearly 7 years, and have been teaching for 3 1/2. I mainly play technical metal and hardcore, but dabble with pretty much every genre from country to neo-classical shred. The Nailbombs are absolutely perfect for my needs.

My other main guitar is a Kramer superstrat that I use as a baritone (tuned to Bb standard). It currently has Joe Barden Two-Tone humbuckers in it, which are amazing, but are struggling with the massive downtuning. I'm definitely going to get some Bareknuckles for that as well! Possibly Painkillers or Holy Divers, I haven't decided yet.

I'd also like to say that I have never experienced customer service as good as the service that Tim at Bareknuckle provides. He truly is a consumate professional and thoroughly nice guy. He spoke with me for a full half-hour about exactly what I wanted, going into every little detail about my pickups. Not only that, but when Royal Mail managed to royally screw up their delivery, Tim dealt with all of the paperwork was genuinely concerned that I got them as soon as possible.

bridge and neck

i put a calibrated set into a gibson explorer. replaced the stock pups.

the output of these are awsome very high output and tight.im playing through a framus cobra full stack.for a while i was tweaking my amp alot to get the sound i wanted untill i put the nailbombs in and now i have it. these pups are amazing. a nice low end no mud crisp mids and highs. very brutal sounding. metal all the way. i also have a miricle man in my les paul. bare knuckles are truley worth every penny.

i would by another if it was stolen i cant play without them now. i have my tone finally

Calibrated set of scatter-wound passive humbuckers, 16 and 10.5 kOhms

Installed in a Music Man Axis to replace the stock DiMarzio custom.
I found the stock pickups too harsh and sterile sounding and emailed BKP for a recommendation. BKP boss Tim Mills himself answered my emails, carefully responding to my questions. Unreal service. After two times back and forth I ordered the 'Bombs. Mr. Mills modded the mounting legs to meet the special bolted-to-body installation requirements of my guitar. You get to choose all kinds of options (open or covered, a variety of colors). Mine are reverse zebras and look just beautiful.

Very, very good. Neck is warmer and less powerful, bridge is huge. I had them wired out-of-phase in the middle position, which is absolutely great for rhythm work.

The Axis has a powerful, punchy sound by itself (somewhere in between an SG and a Tele, I'd say), and these PUs open it up wide. Very well-defined even on rather heavily distorted chords. Bitey, present, but way more soulful than the stock DiMarzios. Not a lot of oooomph on muted power chords, which is a big plus in my book. Highly sensitive to everything you do with your hands and pick - you need some chops or these pus will make you look very bad. The output levels are calibrated in a way that makes the neck unit stand out nicely, while the neck PU is still clear enough for low chords on an overdriven tube amp.

I have absolutely no regrets about this purchase.

Passive humbucker with coil split. Around 16.9kohms

I put my nailbomb in the bridge position of my HSS Yamaha Pacifica, which replaced the generic stock pickup, which was VERY uninspiring. I also put in 2 Bare Knuckle Trilogy single coils.

The output is high, but definately not annoying like a seymour duncan dimebucker. I run it straight through a Roland Cube.

The tone is absolutely perfect. solid bass, crunchy mids and powerful highs.

I play hard rock/blues/metal/fusion and my nailbomb can do it all, and brilliantly too. For this kind of output, it's surprisingly warm & dynamic and can do everything from light overdrive to grinding, chunky metal sounds.

Look nowhere else for that Iron Maiden, Steve Morse, Randy Rhoads, John Petrucci (etc) tone, it's all here.

There is a bit of a hum, a bit more than you'd expect from a humbucker... But who cares! You wouldn't hear it over a band anyway.

I love this pickup, it's really brought a pretty entry-level axe back to life. i'm still looking for THAT sound, but that's because i'm playing through a cheap-ish amp. Even still, having better tone now than most people will ever have is inspiring enough! I'll try a BKP Miracle Man next.
Oh, and the customer service is amazing - i wrote a number of emails to the guys at BKP, and they were all replied to in a couple of hours. Also, it's all customisable. If you want a pickup overwound, different magnets, or even gold pole pieces to match your guitar, you can just ask and they do it for no extra charge.

They're not the cheapest pickups on the market, but they're worth every cent. Oh, and i must warn you - once you try them, you'll never be satisfied with any other pickup ever again

Passive alnico V, 16k humbucker, optimised at my request for bridge position, open coils.

This pickup went in the bridge position of my Ibanez IC400HRG (that's the Iceman with the "Alien" graphics, done by H.R. Giger, to you and me!), because the stock unit was shite. I didn't bother changing the neck unit as I so rarely use it. I don't care who else uses this pickup - that wasn't on my agenda when buying it. All I wanted was the tone to go with the guitar. Awesome playing guitar, shit tone, how's that going to work?

Output is high, but not stupidly so, which I expect from BKP at all times as tone seems to be their goal rather than volume. I use the guitar mainly with a Boss DS-1 into a 1979 Marshall MkII 100w head and a MArshall 1960 AV cab fitted with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. This gives an already ballsy set-up a huge tone, with loads of top-end bite, an aggressive midrange and a really solid bottom, which was where the stock unit suffered most. The tone is consistently good, whether on single note runs, powerchords, riffs or what have you. I use this guitar mainly for filthy dirty rock n roll, with a bit of metal thrown in for good measure, but what did suprise me was the quality of the clean tones also available from the Nailbomb, which proved that tone is the aim of the game, not just output at all costs, which some pickup manufacturers are guilty of.

I would replace this pickup with an identical unit if for some reason it went walkabout. How the walkaboutee would go about replacing his kneecaps would be up to him. Bareknuckle have consistently delivered the tones that I have asked for when ordering their products. I don't know why people still use other manufacturers, as Bareknuckle are miles ahead of the pack as far as tone, price and build quality are concerned. Their customer service is also second to none - you can talk to the person who'll be making your pickup, ask advice on materials, tones etc, ask for adjustments to the stock models to be made for you etc. Nothing is too much for this small company - I will use them for all my retrofits.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: 16k, Alnico V magnet

Model of guitar or bass: Hamer Centaura US '87
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: DiMarzio Evolution
Other pickups on guitar: Van Zandt single coils
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): prog
Reason for pickup change: It was time for change, I didn't really like my bridge pickup I just got on with it. And one fine day I thought there was no good reason for indifference so I'd give something else a go, but something a lot different

Perceived output level: more powerful than a DiMarzio Evolution, uncomparable on all accounts
Tone: Tight, balanced and rich
Sonic evaluation: Steavens "Brick" preamp -> VHT 2/50/2 -> 2 Marshall 1912 cabinets
I'll spare you the numerous pedals but some of them like a hot signal to do their stuff, and this is perfect for me.
Sounds vicious and refreshing.
Ahhh... change is good... but sometimes it's... excellent.
I fancied something different, and that's exactly what I got.
Sometimes I'm unsure what I think at all when trying pickups but not on this occasion, I like this, a lot, and it was instant.
Certainly heavy enough, plenty heavy but that's not all there is to it it...
- Roll off the volume cleans it up superbly, still retaining it's character (as they say).
- Played crunchy it's big attitude and still plenty of power.
- Played clean, shockingly plenty of scope for such a fierce pickup, again volume rolled off and it's a lovely clean bridge sound.
- String separation is great.
- Great tone balance.
Very very nice.
Versatile yet uncompromising, deadly and controllable is what I'd say. An absolute treat to drive. That's all I care about actually.
I don't pay much attention to the technical stuff and all the science behind pickups in general, I can't say I understand it all but I can tell we have something very serious here and I suspect there is magic at work. I have to admit I have considerably more interest in the subject after exploring Bare Knuckle Pickups though.
The Nailbomb is awesome for me. Works a treat with my setup.
Briefly... my sound is geared towards modern prog-rock, something like that, with offshoots into more experimental territories (not
necessarily good). I like recording and it is now a pleasure to change strings in the view of playing this guitar. Sounds
great on recordings, played heavy or not.
On the chugging side, you'd have to be a robot not to be rock pouting yourself into a cramp. Utterly great.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Prog, experimental and noisy rock, this pickup is clear and great

Comments: The Nailbomb is awesome for me, I actually got a second one for another guitar, superb sounding too. A very worthwhile double experiment it turned out to be.
I don't even like admitting to playing guitar at the best of times, I feel awkward contacting companies or shops when I need something, and I never review anything. I am the grumpy kind.
But contacting Bare Knuckle happened to be most enlightening in the gentlest possible way. I felt comfortable and the advice was nothing short of spot-on. I trust them.
I've been playing for about 20 years but it feels I'm starting all over again, that's the current level of excitement (so yes good value).

Pickup features: Humbucking, Chrome Cover
Impedence or other specs: 16k output

Model of guitar or bass: Epihone Les Paul
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Kent Armstrong ceramic humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: Kent Armstrong Alnico Hot Vintage humbucker
Artists using this pickup: Unknown - not really an issue anyway
You musical style(s): Hard rock, metal, blues
Reason for pickup change: The Kent Armstrong bridge pickup had a very sterile, characterless sound,particularly when running clean. It also lacked punch, and frequently got overpowered by the neck pickup (which is a great sounding pickup)

Perceived output level: Hotter than the pickup it replaced, but not overpowering. Back off the volume a little and it can do whatever you need - clean rhythym, slight dirty etc.
Tone: The tone is very crisp and clearly defined. Plenty of bass without being muddy, decent midrange and good treble, but no one facet overpowers another, they all balance very nicely.
Sonic evaluation: The guitar is runniing through a Boss GT6 floorboard into a Laney Tube Fuison 120 combo with a 12" speaker. Gives a great performance in pretty much any style i have asked of it so far. Also coil-taps down very well to give an interesting Tele-ish sound. Sounds far clearer and way more characterful than either the pickup it replaced or the EMGs in my ESP guitar.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I'm using this pickup to play hard rock (think Nickelback, Alter Bridge, Iron Maiden), metal (Trivium, Metallica, Opeth) and blues. It copes with all of these styles very well, although for a really good blusey sound it is best to roll off the volume control a little. This pickup is calibrated for the bridge position, but the company makes neck models as well, which i may well try out at some point!

Comments: If it (or more acurrately the guitar it is in) were lost/stolen, i would definitely buy the same pickup again, it does everything that Bare Knuckle promise and more. When i was searching for a new pickup i consider a few Seymour Duncan models, including the Full Shred, as Mikael Akerfelt from Opeth uses it, but the sound clips i heard didn't impress me that much,and when no-one from the compant bthered to reply to my query, i gave up and looked a bit closer to home. The level of customer service Bare Knuckle provide is almost unheard of these days - emailsare answered quickly, and the advice is always helpful and sensible.
I've been playing for 11 years, and have owned this Les Paul for six. Until now,i have neverbeen totally satisfied wih the sound from the bridge position, but now it is as i want it. The search, at least as far as this guitar is concerned, is over.
I am really pleased with this pickup, and will certainly be retrofitting more Bare Knuckle pickups to other guitars, the first target being the lifeless EMGs on my ESP M302.

Pickup features: Passive bridge humbucker
Impedence or other specs: 16

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson SG Standard
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan
Other pickups on guitar: Original Gibson neck pick up
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Punk/Rock n Roll
Reason for pickup change: Needed a higher output pickup and had heard lots of good things about BKP? so I had to get one!

Perceived output level: High, but with no lack of tone or texture.
Tone: Full, organic & responsive! This pickup has great bass response and perfect, clear highs. There are no muddy areas at all and the over all balance is perfect!
Sonic evaluation: Orange Amplifiers and Gibson Guitars.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This is THE ultimate Punk/Rock/Hardcore pickup! High output and loads of tone. High output pickups are often not very suitable for cleaner sounds but this does not loose any quality across the board whether its blues, indie or punk!

Comments: I ordered directly from Bare Knuckle and the service was outstanding. It?s always a good sign when the person selling you their product wants to know the purpose of purchase, you?re setup and playing style to ensure that you get the right product. Tim and his team get top marks across the board. I will certainly be back for further purchases in the near future!

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass:
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level:
Tone:
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: this is just a customer surport review as i have already submitted a full review, i had a problem with the pickup last week but had no idea what was wrong with it. i emailed tim and he told me to send to him within a week (would have been quicker if the post was faster it took 5 days to get to him...) he fixed the prob it was a loose wire he said he had never came across this before, so i was prob sum fluke meh. but he fixed it and replaced the pole pieces with nice new ones, re-wax potted it, gave me some new strings and and 3-way switch so i can have lots of different sounds from the pickup now. cheers tim highly recommend buy this pickup, when it was gone i went to my back up guitar and it was ok but then the nailbomb was put through the door and it made the backup sound like a childs toy!!! 10/10 for customer support thanks tim :D