Bare Knuckle Pickups Painkiller

Scatterwound/Handwound humbucking pickup made in England. Mine is an uncovered black bobbin bridge model. Painkillers, as all Bare Knuckles made thus far, are passive. The magnet is ceramic. It came with a 4 wire configuration for multiple wiring applications, but can be ordered any way you like, I believe....let's see, can't think of much more regarding features as this is an electric guitar humbucker.

I had the Painkiller installed in the bridge position my killer Japanese made Fender Jaguar Baritone Special. It replaced a Tom Anderson HN3+, which is a great pickup in its own right. I have a BG Darkbucker in the neck of the guitar (another great handwound pickup made in Northern California by BG Pickups). I am not aware of what "BIG" artists are using the Painkiller, or any BKP for that matter. My guess is that this would likely have to with them not wanting to divulge what would amount to such a proprietary part of their sound. Wait..Chris Broderick in Megadeth uses Bare Knuckle Pickups! The reason I chose to change from the HN3+ to the Painkiller was a desire for a tighter more defined yet still-chunky-when-muffled lowend, more aggressive mids, and that "take the blanket off of your speaker cab" tone, that in my humble opinion, you can only get from using professionally crafted scatterwound/handwound pickups.

Output is quite hot, but not so much that it distorts my clean tones or anything. In fact I really dig my clean tone with this pickup. I would describe the output as perfect for my application(s). I play an all original mishmash of metal/thrash/death metal/hardcore music with the occasional clean moment. My amp of choice is a Framus Cobra with my own specifically chosen set of preamp tubes. I also a totally different type of power amp tube than EL34's (sorry, it sounds so good that I can't tell ya which!). My amp roars with incredible distortion, and one of the sweetest clean tones I've yet to hear on a distortion based amp (Mesa what?). The Painkiller, along with the rest of my carefully pieced together signal chain, has given me the tone that I have wanted for a long long time. And I was actually quite happy with the Tom Anderson HN3+ I had in the guitar before it. It was put near perfect, but wasn't tight enough in the lowend for my needs. And there was just that little unexplainable something missing....not quite "3D" enough perhaps. I actually owned a different set of Bare Knuckle Pickups in the past, an Alnico magnet based set of Warpigs. They were great sounding in their own right and had that "something" that I speak of. The Warpig has a huge lowend that is even spongier due to its Alnico V magnet. It was simply too much bass for my application. My band plays strictly in Drop B tuning (C# with the low string dropped to B), and the Framus Cobra already has a ton of lowend inherent in its tone structure. I also use only baritones these days. Back when I had them, The Warpigs were in a Les Paul scale length guitar tuned to drop B. Not the most articulate set up regarding bass or lowend! The Painkiller stays 100% clear in the low frequencies, as it is designed to do, and also has this punch and character in the mids that just cut through the mix like no other pickup has for me. My band is loud, and I play with a bassist who plays tons of chords, leads, arpeggios, and more on one of the brightest and most powerful bass rigs I've had to do battle with :). So our sound is unique in how our tones interact. And since the day I showed up at practice with this pickup in my guitar, we all have been almost crying at the end of rehearsals due to how intensely signature and massive our sound has become. It is like we have 2 guitarists, if not 3, and it is just the bassist and I with our drummer and vocalist. What a pickup! It does midrange based distortion perfect. Not sure what more there is to say about the sound other than my tone goes from modern Meshuggah to Slayer to Lamb of God depending on how I am playing.... It is so 3 dimensional, articulate, and clear...AND MENACING!!! Sure, this pickup might be unsuitable for jazz, country, blues, or even standard tuned guitars playing through overly bright amps - although I highly doubt it because the Painkiller has plenty of bass at hand....it's just tight tight tight. I have a mahogany bodied backup guitar that I am going to put another one into - a total first for me. I never have had the same pickup in any two guitars in the past because I always wanted something different to relieve excess GAS. But now that my tone is so on point, and the fact that the interplay between the bassist's and my tone has become an exact science, I am 100% inclined to make sure that my 2 axe's sound put near the same. This truly is a magical pickup for tight and cutting, yet huge and monstrous tone all at the same time. If you don't like mids though, don't even bother. Try the Nailbomb or Miracle Man (a non-active EMG sort of tone as I've read) if you are a pooper scooper (into scooped mids). Awe now that was harsh and uncalled for, and not even funny in the slightest. My bad! :)

Destroyed or Stolen?...silly question. Of course I would buy another. It's MY pickup (in case you haven't noticed already). I forgot to mention that the body wood in the guitar that I have the Painkiller in is alder (both of my guitars have maple/rosewood necks). This is actually not a common wood that people put the Painkiller pickup in I am told. This in accordance with what I have read and/or discussed. Someone actually mentioned that it would sound absolutely horrible in an alder bodied guitar. Nope. It compliments the wood quite nicely, but keep in mind that the guitar is a baritone, and that I tune fairly low, Drop B, both of which balance out high mids and treble. There is not a single thing I would change about the Painkiller. And I have played on loads of pickpups from stock crap to mid-grade Seymour Duncans and Dimarzios to near top of the line brands such as Tom Anderson, and Suhr. Some guitarists won't touch anything other than a Dimarzio or Duncan, while some could care less and play whatever is stock in a guitar. As with all things guitar, tone, and music though, to each his or her own. That said, the above order is my personal opinion as to what the ascendancy in pickup brand/quality is, and I honestly have to place Bare Knuckle and other handwinder's such as BG Pickups at the top of the heap. I truly have found THAT SOUND (ask my wife, I haven't changed out a pickup in almost 6 months..hehe). But again, it is not only a pickup that gets you to "THAT SOUND". It is what happens as your signal flows from your fingers playing those strings all the way to how your speakers make the final interpretation. One more thing regarding what has happened to my signal since employing the Painkillers. For the first time in my life, I have taken effects completely out of my signal chain. Anything other than my ISP Decimator noise reduction pedal taints my tone. Even in off position with hardwire bypass, or rack effects in my parallel loop. It's incredible to me. I actually dislike effects of any sort now because my tone is so pure when it runs: guitar-cable-noise reduction-cable-amp-cables-speaker cabs. That's it, and in my 20+ years on the guitar, with the last 10 purely dedicated to bands, you know that you've struck gold when this happens..Trust me.

Passive humbuckers bridge-15,4k neck 13k
ceramic magnets

Installed in 1980 Burny Les Paul copy,mahogany neck,rosewood fretboard,mahogany body with maple top.Changed the stock pickups,because too vintage for me and caused a lot of feedback.I tried also Bill Lawrence L 500 XL,but it was too bassy for me.Reason for change - my friend changed the pickups of 5 of his guitars,and he was so exited.

Hot output pickup.Used with Line 6 Spider II combo with 2x12" Celection speakers opened back,directly in the amp.I am 33 years old and I changed lot of guitars and pickups,and I'm totally impressed for the first write review for anything at all.Very well defined and balanced,with high gain level I can hear every note of the chord,nice "chug" sound with palm mutting,with crystal clarity.Pinch harmonics came out very easyly and with right overtones.In the neck position you can get some warm tones very easily .Clean tones from the both pickups is very good and balanced,not too bassy from the neck and not too thick from the bridge.I play trash and hardcore,but I love also blues and rock and my solos are inspired from it.

I it was stolen or destroyed I immediately will buy another set.I
've been playing guitar from 16 years.This is the first time that I write review for anything.I'm really happy with this pickups and I can't compare them with other pickups that I had.I tried Dimarzio's,Seymour Duncan JB and '59 set,but this thing is different,so organic and good.I will recommend to everyone who is seeking good and articulated sound.

Passive Humbucking bridge pickup. Chrome cover. Impedence measured around 15. Ceramic Magnet. Handwound in england by Tim Mills.

Put this in the Bridge of my Gibson SG Standard. Replacing a GFS Fat Pat. Still have the GFS Fat Pat in the neck, as it balanced better with Painkiller then the stock 490R. I was looking for a little more cut and tighter bass response for the music I have been playing. I emailed Tim and he recommended this model.

This pickup is hot, but does not seem over the top to me. Just about right for highout put rock / metal humbucker. Playing through a Baron custom amps M160L. Tone is balanced, took a little tweaking with the screw coil heights, but I got it. Very tight and controlled on the low end, but still plenty of beef. That is why they have bass control on your amp right? Even though the pickup is controlled in the lower register, it is still pretty raw and heavy. Harmonics jump of it like they are scared. It sounds similar to a Dimarzio Super Distortion I have in my Les Paul, but tighter, more balanced, and just plain better. It cleans up really well too. They cleans are pretty spanky, which I did not expect. I think Bare knuckles is on to something with this scatter winding thing. The tone is just more complex than any pick i have used before.

I would buy this pickup again definitely, at least for this guitar and heavy music. I have been playing for over ten years, a self proclaimed gear junkie. I am learning you get what you pay for in Pickups. This pickup is great, and Tim's customer service was great as well. I thought it was bit pricey at first, but this is a quality pickup, and you will not regret paying extra.

Passive bridge humbucker, ceramic magnet, 15.6k

Ibanez Prestige RGT 220, mahogany wings with maple neck through.
Replaced the DiMarzio IBZ bridge humbucker. BKP offer both 2 and 4 conductors, so keeping the Ibanez 5-way switch functionality isn???t a problem.

The guitar itself is as near to perfect as I???ve owned, with the exception of the stock pickups, which can be somewhat bland; not lacking in quality but trying to please by being a bit indifferent.

The Painkiller is a quite hot piece of gear, but as others have noted it doesn???t get there by cutting corners anywhere in the spectrum. I play it into an Engl Screamer for most sessions, and though it???s mainly intended for hard-hitting metal, it will do an excellent job on each of the four channels. The punch in the mid highs gives it a sonorous, tight yet fluid tone for lead work with standard to hi-gain sounds, and the same characteristic provides depth and response with clean ones. That said, I wouldn???t recommend this to a jazzer who lives by cleans alone, nor would I look for my cleans by merely rolling back on a hi-gain channel, of course.

The versatility is there, though.
I can go from smooth fusion to Zakk Wylde pinch harmonics at the drop of a hat, although Zakk???s harsh trebles aren???t the default for this pickup. Bear in mind that my guitar is mostly mahogany, and that a ???brighter??? wood might give more treble than I???m hearing, although hardly to the point of cracking.

The articulation is beautifully voiced, and the PK will retain its dynamics almost no matter how hard it???s pushed. Trebles soar, waiting for you to flip them (or not) into controlled feedback sustain, while the bottom end stays tight and responsive. I don???t think I could get a muddy sound from it if I tried, no matter what speeds I played.

I???ve been playing for 15-16 years in a variety of settings, most of them calling for heavy sounds at least occasionally, sometimes frequently. I???ve gone through more gear than I care to remember.
I???ve always needed versatility, however, and though the name and high output might scare some people off, this pickup delivers. A certain amount of experience in handling one???s gear might be advisable if your needs match my own, though.

This is the second pickup I???ve bought from BKP and as things stand I???m not going anywhere else. The handmade scatterwounds bring a whole new sense of life to my rig, and simply outperform machine-mades in every respect due to the attention to detail and the expertise of the people involved.
This pickup was ordered for my main axe, and I didn???t even think about any other brand.
Proprietor Tim Mills gives personal advice based on your guitar, gear and favored tones and players. A forum full of knowledgeable tone-worshippers is a fine bonus if (like me) you want to savor your GAS for a bit. Any number of clips, references and advice will help you decide if this is right for you.

Passive Humbucker for 7 string guitar. DC resistance on mine is 15.6.

I put this in my Schecter 007 Elite in the bridge position. It is replacing a Seymour Duncan JB. The only other pickup installed on the guitar is the stock duncan designed stacked single coil in the neck spot. I decided to change to try out Bare Knuckles mainly due to the reputation and a need for something new and different. I still have a JB installed in the bridge of my other guitar (Schecter C-7 Blackjack) and I was thinking the BKP would give me more variety in sounds between the two guitars.

Output from this pickup is extremely high...way higher than I expected. The DC resistance rating is less than the JB was but it sounds much louder and drives my amp to a much greater extent. I have an EMG PA-2 gain booster installed in the guitar which I used to use for solos and lead licks. I haven't needed to use it since I got this pickup.
I'm playing the guitar through a Laney VH100R and a Lopo 4x12 w/ Eminence Legends(480 watts mono). Only effects are a TC Electronic G Sharp and a BBE sonic max.

Compared to the JB the Painkiller's tone is much more level through the mid-range. It has a sort of deep-throated growl with distortion and it's a great voicing for metal. With my rig it cuts through very well and there don't seem to be as many frequencies being phased out by other instruments in my band as there were with the Duncan. The highs are clear and under control and there is a lot more bass present than with the old pickup. The low end is tight but not restricted. The feel is actually a bit looser than the JB but in a good way...it has more resonance which I think gives it a sweeter character.
Some other reviews said that this pickup is not ideal for clean tones but I'd have to disagree. Especially, due to the greater resonance that I just mentioned, the painkiller sounds outstanding on the clean channel of my Laney. I just have to dial back the volume a bit because the pickup will overdrive a clean channel if you let it.

So far this pickup seems like a good match more my music. It's very versitile and handles both clean and distortion well. I don't need to use as much gain on the amp which is good because that means less speaker hiss. ALSO IMPORTANT: This pickup is very well made and is very well shielded from noise and interference. There is a lot of interference in the air where I rehearse and the noise coming from the Painkiller, while it is still present, is considerably less than with the JB.

If I lost this pickup somehow I'd definately get another. I've been playing for 15 years and my guitars are all schecter 7 strings. One has EMG's and I only use it for home recording and practicing. The other has a JB/'59 set up. I will most likely change the '59 to one of BKP's medium output models.
What I love about the painkiller is that the openness of the sound gives me exactly the type of "feel" I've been wanting for years. It's especially evident when I play clean...I could just sit around and jam all day.
It isn't missing a thing. The pickup arrived just about 2 weeks after I ordered it and they included a free set of guitar strings and a pick with it.
Not to say I am at all disatisfied with the pickup but I would be curious to try out some of BKP's other models just because now I know there really is a huge difference between these and the mass manufactured pickups I was used to. Maybe on my next guitar.

ESP M2

Replaced Dimarzio X2N

Coupled with a stock ESP SS120

Needed a tighter sounding pick up

Output is great and remains responsive at high levels. The pick up remains clear at higher levels and never looses any of it's character. I wanted a a tight sounding passive pick up that could handle a plethera of sounds from a crushing dirty sound to a pristine clean sound. The Painkiller performed out standing with face crushing distortion sounds. The one draw back was that it was bit harder to get the the pristine clean sound. The high output made it a bit muddy, but you can tweak the amp. Very tight and more guitar characetr than the active EMGs.

I love Seymour Duncans, but there Distorion model for as good as it is can not keep up with the Painkiller. I would also compare the Painkiller with the Custom 5, which has a great sound it self, but lacks tthe Painkiller's clearity.

Standard size passive humbucker, 15.6k DC resistance, optional 4-conductor wiring for coil splitting, ceramic magnet.

I installed a Painkiller in the bridge of my Gibson LP Studio. It replaced a Gibson Dirty Fingers humbucker which was previously the closest I could get to the sound I was looking for. The DF was just about right for what I needed (huge detuned sludge/doom chordwork but still lots of cut and treble clarity), but the sound was too scooped for my taste and I wanted a smoother sound without losing articulation and treble cut. I had tried AlNiCo V Rio Grandes but they sounded dull.

I combine this pickup with a Gibson 490R in the neck position. I rarely use the neck pickup, but the Painkiller seems to blend with it rather well.

The Painkiller is very hot --- hotter than the BK Nailbomb, even though the DC resistance is lower (this is due to the ceramic vs. alnico magnet and different wire gauge).

To my ears it's about the same as my Dirty Fingers was, but with a different tonal character. It's much more middy, and the bass is present but doesn't get boxy and farty like the DF sometimes did. I detune to A# and the Painkiller is very tight and controlled. It also has superb articulation when playing widely spaced chords, keeping all note definition even at ultra high gain. Even though there are a lot of mids, the treble doesn't suffer. It's not harsh at all, which was surprising.

The Painkiller also has a MUCH better clean sound than any other pickup I've tried with output this high. WAY better than Seymours, and a significant improvement over Gibson 500T and Dirty Fingers. It has the warmth I've heard from Rio Grandes but without the dullness.

I am really impressed with BK. The scatterwinding does seem to give the pickups a kind of life that I'm not used to. It just seems to have more of everything, with no sacrifices in terms of voicing. The output is such that the tone network on my amp (a heavily modded Marshall TSL) is more useful now. I'm considering getting more BK pickups to install in my other guitars. This is probably the closest I can come to the sound I'm looking for.

Passive Humbucker

Epiphone Les Paul Custom (Bridge)
Replacing a Dimarzio Super Distortion
the other pickup on the guitar is a Gibson p-496r with coil tapp and Phase reverse

Output is loud, punchy and clear, perfect for the styles of music i play and what i use it for (metal, rock and prog) it also balances out well with the coil tapped gibson p-496 in the neck which is what i use for the blues and jazz side of things. I use a mesa boogie single rectifier solo 50 into marshall 4x12 1960 cab (no effects, only a boss ns-2 noisegate).
the tone is excellent, it cuts through really well without being shrill and ripping your face off with treble (in my opinion its got just the right amount of treble). There is a nice punchy mid thats works well with the tight bottom end, which helps to make the sound clear but it also stays agressive with a mean british voicing at the same time.

If it were destroyed or stolen i would defo get another.
i have been playing about 7 years, this epiphone is my main guitar and it can achieve a massive range of exellent sounds without the use of pedals or any of that crap. the bare knuckle really does do the job. Its the perfect passive pickup for agressive, modern rock, classic rock and metal styles its defo the best bridge pickup i have owned (the close second is the emg-81 but this does not allow me to have a coil tapped p.a.f style pickup in the neck and there is the burden of batteries), this pickup pisses on seymour duncs and dimarzios from a great hight in my opinion... it really is a badass well built motherfucker of a pickup

Callibrated humbucker set.

15.6k bridge, Ceramic
?k neck, Ceramic

Battle-scarred covers (please note the price includes these: it adds 30 or 40 quid)

These went in a Dean explorer. I'm not sure of the model, but its a lower end one, bolt on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, basswood body, fixed bridge, silly headstock.

I replaced both pickups. I changed them because the bridge was mediocre, lacking much of any character or life (though in fairness to Dean, it was great for a cheap guitar!), and the neck was horrible, shrill, bodiless, grating and unpleasant (1 out of 2 isnt too bad for a ~??200 guitar)

I dont know of any big names using painkillers (though BK have quite a few artists to their name, so it wont be long, I imagine)

I play through a roland cube 30 for practice. I dont really use its effects. When I need some real power (practice, gigs), or more fun, I play through either my ENGL screamer or Marshall TSL602 (sometimes both at once :D).

The only effects I use are a compressor (digitech), noise gate (ISP Decimator) and EQ in the FX loop (Boss EQ20). I dont always use them, though, and I dont radically reshape the sound with any: they're for smoothness and fine-tuning.

These pickups are powerfull. They're meant for metal, and they do it VERY well. The 'vibe' of the pickup is inspired by judas priest, obviously, and its an energetic, punchy metal monster. The bridge has a load of mids, a phenomenally tight low end (rather a lot of it, too, but its not in the least muddy or overbearing) and biting highs. Dont mistake biting for harsh though, they're never brittle.

The neck is a pure shred machine. Its very clear, very middy, very fluid but being ceramic has an extra edge to it that A5 (what I have in all my other neck humbuckers) doesnt. Bearing in mind that I never normally like ceramic necks (and hate many of them!) I was a little hesitant about this, but I'm really glad I went for it now. Suberb pickup.

The cleans on both are suprisingly good for such powerfull, in-your-face pickups. Its not a clean that a blueser or jazzer would go for, but they're very useable for a clean riff or section in amongst heavier music. They have a great lower gain crunch to them, too (due to the strong mid push, I believe)

Dont let the name put you off if you dont like priest: they arent 'for' british metal exclusively! Thats not really my thing anyway: they work extremely well for thrash of any flavour and death metal (these being much more my style). To my mind they could have equally been named in honour of Master of Puppets or Cryptopsys None so Vile.

I have 10 guitars, and wont bother to list them, but suffice to say this dean and its painkillers sit in the company of a handmade custom (a legra: amazing stuff, but thats another story), a custom shop dean and a top-end MIJ jackson (all of which have BKs too: these are not my first set: I like the BK sounds and service enough to keep going back), so tonal comparisons are being made to some pretty elite metal guitars.

I've also used and played many other pickups: I was an EMG guy for a long time, but switched my go-to brand to BK when my first warpig ripped my 81 a new one (I still like them, just not as much). I've never been impressed with duncans or dimarzios. Ever. I have a couple of swinseheads, and I'd buy them again: good pickups, but they arent in BKs league. I've got a couple of kent armstrongs too, and have played a couple more, and again, I like these better than duncan and dimarzio, but they fall pretty far short of BK sound quality.

I went for BK because I know they provide consistently amazing pickups and excellent service. I went for the Painkiller based on Tim Mills' (BK owner, designer, evil genius, but seriously hes a really nice guy) advice of which to go for when I told him what sound I was after "I want something tight, powerfull, crunchy, heavy, plenty of mids and metal"..."Have you heard the painkiller?". And here we are.

Given that these pickups are made to rock, thrash and generally rip it up, and not be nice or super-versatile, I have to give them 10 because they do what they're supposed to brilliantly while still being usefull for adding light and shade to heavy music.