Bare Knuckle Pickups Steve Stevens - Rebel Yell

Passive Humbucker for Bridge Position

I recently bought the Stevie Stevens - Rebel Yell Signature Pickup from Bare Knuckle Pickups to replace it in my custom shop Randy Rhoads.

I was not so happy with the pickup that was in the guitar before, so i was searching for an alternative. I already got Harry H??ussels and Bill Lawrence Pickups in other guitars of me, but i wanted to take some risks and try something new now.

In some Forums on the net i have read about Bare Knuckle Pickups and i have seen some really cool photos of great and different looking pickups from them, so i visited there page.
Then i was nearly lost in there huge range of different pickups.
I knew for which sound i was looking for, but it was impossible for me to choose one from the bkp arsenal.

So i wrote an email to bkp and told them that i want a pickup for hard-rock / metal style, and i describted the sound i was looking for and of which components my guitar was made:
"I??m searching for a fat, organic, tight high-gain sound, not muddy but with pressure and clarity. It shouldnt be dirty, more of modern kind.
Still the guitar should sound decent in clean (but thats not the main affect, more important is the sound in distortion)"

After that i recieved an answer from tim, the man behind bkp and he suggested me the BKP "Rebel Yell Stevie Stevens Signature" Pickup.

I was always looking into the painkiller, nailbom or miracle man pickup, but i thought, he is the guy who works with it, he should know it best so i made the decision to try it.

Then i was also a little bit unsure about the pickup specification (long leg, short leg, conductor cable...) but the service of tim was really great and friendly and so he helped me out with all my questions.

After 2 days, all things were clear to me and i ordered the pickup.

A little bit more than a week later the pickup arrived in a well prepared package.
I opened the package immediately and took a look at the stuff the he sent me.
the Box contained the pickup, screws and springs, a wiring guide, a guitar-plek with the bkp logo, a set of roto-sound strings and a certficate with the serial number and impedance written on it.
Very nice!!!

The Pickup is very solid made, really nothing were you have worries that something will broke off.

I had alot work at this time so i had to wait for the weekend to changed the pickup in my guitar, and i was very very curious about the new sound.

After all the work was done, i plugged the guitar into the amp and i was really suprised.
The sound of the Pickup matched exactly my taste.
It was really so a big difference in the tone that i never believed that such a difference is possibly only with the pickup. This new Pickup simply ROCKS!!!
The Tone has very much bottom and growl on palm-mute notes, is very clear and differentiated,
on complex chords you can hear earch string very good, even on high-gain.

This has really upgraded my guitar to the next level, the guitar was playwise always very good, but soundwise i was not happy, until now, the sound with the new pickup is really a killer.

I will definitely order from tim again, his service ist great and his product is top quality.
It cannot get much better then this.

Chris. H.

This review is for the Bare Knuckle Steve Stevens "Rebel Yell" Humbuckers with the ray gun covers.

These pickups were installed in an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis with a quilted maple top. The pickups I replaced were the stock zebra colored high output Demarzios. They weren't bad pickups, but with the high output, they were lacking nuance and an organic sound I've been searching for. The neck pickup was warm but lacking depth, and the middle and bridge position was a little flat sounding on clean settings

The output was a little higher than my strat replica guitar(Loaded with hand wound single coil pickups). I play the Axis through a hand wired VibroVerb replica with a single 15" Weber Alnico speaker made by SDG Vintage(The best sounding amp I've ever heard). The sound that came out was beyond words. The lows, mids, and highs were perfectly balanced in this guitar, especially through the neck pickup on a clean setting. Individual notes sang out perfectly with a sweet organic three dimensional sound. Even with the bridge pickup alone on a clean setting produced a full sound, which is rare in my experience. The pickups suited my style of playing perfectly. I usually play blues based rock, sometimes getting a little heavy or jazzier. Most of my playing is clean with sometimes a little grit. If you really want to rock, nothing sounds sweeter. The clarity of individual notes and chords was amazing through a distortion and/or overdrive pedal. To me, I have to hear what I'm playing, and I can here every little nuance in these amazing pickups. I've never heard harmonics this sweet come out of a guitar before. The low end from hitting mutted power chords was addicting. I would sometimes get lost in the sonic ecstasy of playing between the 12th and 15th frets in the neck position on a clean setting with the mid juiced up around 8, the treble a little low around 3, and the bass at 6. Wow! What more can I say?

I would in a heartbeat buy another set of these if something happened to them. I tested out five different sets of Bare Knuckle pickups at my local dealer and these to me reigned over everything else.(Their other pickups sounded great too). I've been playing for about six years and I can confidently state that my search for tone is over. My strat replica was neglected for long time after loading these in the Axis. Which before, it was vice versa. The pedals I play through are a Z.Vex Super Hard On, Box Of Rock,Fuzz Factory,Fulltone Deja' Vibe, Maxon Analog Delay, and an OD 808. To me, this particular setup gives me the full potential that these humbuckers offer. They're expensive, but worth every penny. I can't thank Bare Knuckle enough.

its a humbucker pickup with a aged nickle cover

i have put it in a gibson les paul studio premium plus, it is in the bridge position it replaced a seymour duncan pearly gates pickup as i was after a more heavier sound, i spoke to tim and he suggested this pickup it is steve stevens sig model and its really nice. i

the output on this pickup is moderate i would say a bitless than my pearly gates, i use it through a marshall avt 150 half stack. it has a really nice organic sound initially i thought it was a fairly 'cold' sound i.e not very warm and it took alot of tweeking on my amp to get this pup to its full potential, it is DEFFINATLY a great pup for a les paul as it really brings the highs out and cuts through beautifully, i play rock, blues, hard rock and punk rock music and it suits all these styles very neatly i personally think if you want a really heavy or metal tone you may be better off with the nail bomb or warpigs although i am not sure how they will work in a lp. overall i would say it has a very ballsy sound with great highs and a good clear low end takes a bit of getting used to and working on the amp but when you get it right it is amazing.

if this pup was stolen i would def buy another one for me bareknuckle own the pup market, i have been playing around 7 years i also have an epi lp and an old yamaha, i eventually hope to kit all my guitars out with bare knuckle pups, i chose this pup over the seymoure duncan alnico pro2 because i really like the fact thhat ther are hand wound and to me it appears tim puts ALOT of effort into his products.
jus a small thing on the side i was really impressed with the presentation of the pups and the box they came in you also get a free set of roto strings and a bare knuckle pick and a sticker (i know its only small but it put a smile on my face)

Passive humbuckers, nickel covers.

neck pickup = 8,3K
bridge pickup = 14,5K

Both have Alnico V magnets.

I Installed the Rebel Yells in a 88' Gibson Les Paul standard with ebony fingerboard.
I've replaced the Mules because they sounded too bassy in this Les Paul. They were great, but I've always had problems balancing the pickups correctly. The neck pickup sounded too warm and bassy, while the bridge pickup sounded harsh, thinner and painful.
I was searching for brighter humbuckers with more highs to get a better balance in tone and volume.

The Rebel Yells are the Steve Stevens signature pickups. I have them with nickel covers because it looks very classic.

They have higher output then the Mules...I would say medium.
I'm using a Laney MXD-120H stack with a Boss Metal Zone or Tonebone Hot British Tube Distortion.
The Rebel Yells have a GREAT tone. They are not bassy, but more middy and trebly (in a good way). Treble is a great thing in a Les Paul...you can always get a fantastic balance by lowering the pickups. My Les Paul sounds absolutely amazing now: very clear, bright and sweet. The best clean tone I've ever heard. Every pickup selection is great with the RY's, but when using both neck and bridge together the sound is soooo sweet and clear. Distorted they are definately rock/hardrock pickups with pinch harmonics!

I would buy these pickups definately again if they were stolen or lost.
I've been playing guitar for almost 10 years and the Gibson les Paul Standard is my only girlfriend right now...why more guitars if you only need one?!
I'm totally in love with this Gibson...these Rebel Yells have brought fresh life into it.
I'm not searching for the perfect sound anymore, because the Rebel Yells are everything I wanted in a Les Paul!

Passive humbuckers, alnico V.
______________
Neck =8,3K
Bridge = 14,5K

Nickle covers.

I installed these pickups in a Gibson Les Paul Standard (ebony fingerboard).
I've replaced the Bare Knuckle Mules because they didn't sound well in the Les Paul. The neck pickup was far too bassy and had almost no highs. The bridge pickup sounded very brittle, thin, scratchy and painful. They had no balance. I've always had problems with the Mules in my LP, so my LP really didn't like them! I needed a brighter humbucker that is focused on the highs...that lend me to the Rebel Yells.

I would say the output is medium. The sound is still vintage and vocal, but also a little bit modern. I use a Laney MXD 120H stack with no effects.
The tone from both pickups is VERY, VERY balanced! They are clear, bright and very punchy, exactly what I needed. The balance from string to string is amazing, so is the balance between the pickups in volume and tone!
The clean tone is a cross between a Les Paul and a Tele...really beautiful.
Distorted it likes rock and definately HARDROCK!!
These Rebel Yells are everything I wanted in a pickup...they give you clean and distorted best of both worlds. They're great in every aspect, I've no negative thing about these pickups.

If it was stolen or lost, I would definately buy the Rebel Yells again. My search for the ultimate pickup is over. These pickups are exactly what I wanted in tone and I would not say that often! I'm very picky, so do yourself a favor. If you have a Les Paul, buy these. Definately better, more defined and clearer than the Mules...but hey, that's my opinion.

I've never heard such a beautiful clean sound from a Les Paul..

Passive Humbucker, Alnico V magnet - DC resistance reads around 15k

The pickup was installed in the bridge of a 2004 Gibson Les Paul custom, accompanying a Bareknuckle Missippi queen in the neck. Not a big fan of Steve Stevens, but when I spoke to Tim with what I was looking for in a pickup this is what he recommended - And I'm glad he did! The stock ceramic pickups were very flat and flabby, I wanted more clarity.

It's a moderately hot pickup, not too hot to distort a clean signal but it breaks up nicely. I'm currently using it with a Mesa/boogie .50 caliber through a few units and a Homemade 2x12 cabinet loaded with old Plessey Blue alnicos.

The tone is warm for a bridge humbucker, courtesy of the alnico magnet - and there's a perceived boost in the mids and in the bass, with plenty of top end but nothing too harsh. One of the first things I noticed is just how clear notes ring through. Even when Saturated with gain, every nuance of your playing can be distinguished.

I play an ambient progressive metal kind of thing - not scooped mids type metal and this pickup suits what I was looking for almost perfectly.

If anything was to come to this pickup, I'd most definately go to Bareknuckle again. Tim was a pleasure to do business with and delivered (to Australia) within a week of me placing the order.

I've been playing for quite a while now - I can't really remember to be honest - along with this custom, my other main guitars are a Gibson LP standard and a tele Thinline with a Baritone neck. I'd been shopping around for replacement pickups for a while, and eventually settled on Bareknuckle because of the very high quality pickups I've seen from then. I've played plenty of SD and Dimarzio, Lindy Fralin and just about everything else over the years, and I must say that these are the most impressive pickups I've yet to come across (though I'd love to try out some Alembics.)

10

Passive Humbucker set. Alnico V magnets. DC Resistance approximately 14.5K (bridge) and 8.3K (neck).

I installed this calibrated set in a new Tokai Les Paul LS150 '59 Replica, replacing both the stock PAF-replica bridge and neck pickups. These are Steve Stevens' (of Billy Idol fame) signature pickups. I had installed a set of Bare Knuckle Mules in my old Les Paul Custom, and they were absolutely great, but in this new guitar I wanted something with more balls that would kick the amp a little harder and more punch to cut through the mix. My tastes had got a little harder (I used to almost exclusively play blues-rock, but am now covering a much wider variety of styles, including heavier stuff) and so I wanted something like a hot-rodded PAF designed for hard rock.

The output level is definately hotter than the stock PAF-replicas, but without being over-the-top. They give the amp a little more kick, and produce a phenomenal overdriven sound. I'm running it through a 1987 Marshall Silver Jubilee 2554 combo, sometimes kicked with an overdrive pedal (set as a clean boost) to push the tubes a little harder for heavier stuff. The tone is well balanced, with a slight edge in the upper-mids. Because of this added presence, these things really cut through in a band situation. These things are quite simply the best set of rock pickups I have ever heard, and are surprisingly versatile, capable of covering a wide variety of styles. I really cannot stress enough how great these pickups sound, clean or overdriven - simply the best tone I've ever had.

If these were stolen, I'd definately replace them - they're without a doubt the best pickups for my style and sound I've ever heard. I've been playing about six or seven years, and have been through a fair amount of gear in this short time. I took a look at a bunch of competitors' products prior to purchasing (Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Rio Grande, Fralin, Holmes etc.), but I heard some sample clips of these pickups and my mind was made up. My past experiences with Bare Knuckle pickups have all been great, so I decided to stay loyal, and I'm so glad I did. I am absolutely satisfied with these pickups - they're *exactly* the pickups I was looking for to nail that sound in my head.

Passive calibrated humbucking pickup set. The bridge humbucker is rated at 14.5k and the neck at 8.3k or 8.4k.

I should also mention that these pickups do not give me any unwanted feedback. I can turn my gain all the way up and stand in front of the amp and it will start to hum but not even feedback, where on all my other guitars (none of which have any BKPS yet), if I turn the gain that high it doesn't matter where I stand, it feedsback out of control.

Installed in a 1995 Gibson Les Paul Classic. Mahogany body and neck, maple top, and a rosewood fretboard...

Generally these pickups match the description of an overwound PAF. They are bright, have a lot of midrange, and are very clear and well defined. You can not get any pickups of this voicing and output anywhere else.

Make no mistake, while these pickups were designed to rock, I have been able to play anything from jazz to thrash on them and sound great. I play all different types of music, and these things provide their best tone with medium gain settings (think Billy Idol's Rebel Yell as the name implies), they sound great with whatever I play through them. Usually one can expect one or two great tones, usually clean or distorted but not both from a pickup or a bunch of mediocre tones and nothing great about it, but I've got a great range of tones with the Rebel Yells. I guess it could be said that they have a great bright, mid-heavy tone (whether it be clean or distorted).

I've tried these pickups in my Les Paul through my Vox AC30, modified Marshall JCM 900 SL-X , 1969 Marshall Major, and my Marshall Studio 15. I also tried them through a brand new AC30CC.

Through the Vox and Major, the bridge is a little bright so it can be hard to use clean (I normally don't like the bridge cleans much anyway). The neck or combination of pickups gets amazing cleans. Turn up the volume a little and they provide overdriven tones.


For higher gain amps, I hav a Marshall Studio 15, and a 100 watt Marshall JCM 900 SL-X with EL34s which I had a '68-'80 Marshall spec Marstran transformer installed and the gain toned down a little so I could get more power amp distortion and a more dynamic sound (and it worked beautifully!). These pickups will nail the classic Led Zeppelin tones, as well as Steve Stevens and Billy Idol tones (kind of an obvious one) as well as do a very good Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Guns n Roses tone. I've even pulled off a pretty good Marshall thrash tone, but for that department the louder Nailbomb would be a better choice mainly because it has that extra little bit of output to help get me the extra little bit of distortion due to having the gain lowered on the SL-X.

My only complaint, and it is a minor one is that with a lot of gain, the neck is a little too bassy on the lower notes. However, it's not much of a problem because when I'm talking this much gain, I usually only use the neck to solo on up the neck anyway.

They also do great pinch harmonics.

I would buy these again in a heartbeat. I am ordering BKPs for all my guitars now....

I'm very picky. I've tried Gibson BurstbuckerTs, 500T/496R, Duncan Distortions, and I forget what else I've had in this Les Paul and not been too happy with before I got my Rebel Yell set which will be staying in there for a very long time to come.