[zimbloth]

I just got home from the Nemecide Terrordome where I got to test out my new Bare Knuckle 'Nailbomb' 7-string in the bridge of my Bernie Rico Jr Vixen custom. I am here to share my initial reaction. I'll post a thorough review at a future date when I have had more time with it.

First it's important to know some history of this guitar. It's my blood red Vixen 7-string, my first of two Vixens I now have. It is maple neck-thru with poplar sides and an ebony fretboard. It's always been a very bright guitar. For a long time I had a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge and it sounded really good; the dark brutal character of the Invader meshed well with the bright snappy character of the Vixen. However, the Invader is by no means perfect. It really excelled for rhythms, but due to the 3 massive ceramic magnets, it really did not sound great for leads or cleans. Definitely a one trick pony, instant growl and brutality, but not very complex or organic tone.

After falling in love with Seymour Duncan Blackouts in my mahogany guitars, I decided to try it in this one. The result was not very good. The Blackout bridge model was far too bright for this guitar, and being active, it had a much less complex sound as the Invader did as well. I still love Blackouts but not in bright guitars.

Finally, after I became a dealer for Bare Knuckle Pickups and hearing how happy my customers were with their tone and hearing clips (plus talking to Tim of BKP for hours on end on the phone), I decided to try one myself. After telling him the specs of my guitar and the problems I've been having (getting warm/fat leads with such a bright guitar, but while keeping the lows tight and crisp as well), Tim explained to me that the Nailbomb was probably my best bet, so I ordered one.

Fast forward to today, the pickup is installed and I got to spend a lot of quality time with my VHT rig to really test out.

Conclusion? I'm completely blown away. All I could keep saying to myself was "oh my God...". I honestly did not know tone this glorious could even exist. This pickup is a complete contradiction. It's the thickest, meatiest heaviest pickup I've ever heard, yet at the same time it's articulate, tight, and really organic. The mids are aggressive yet extremely rich at the same time. Extremely musical yet brutal. Leads are big, bold, liquidy. They're warm yet also very clear. Asides from just how flawless these sound, they also sound really unique. These don't sound like a 'better' version of a Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio, they sound like a completely different animal. So much better. Not even close.

I seriously just can't believe how drastic the difference is. Usually with things like pickups, there's a difference and you're happy when you upgrade, but this is so dramatically better than anything I've ever heard that it sounds almost unnatural. It's like going from a Crate 4x12 to a megastack of Diezel/Orange/Whatever 4x12's. HUGE difference! I mean no disrespect, but as I was driving home, I could not help but feel genuinely bad for all of the people out there using what are in my opinion ridiculously inferior pickups. These are worth every penny and more so. There is no other way to improve your tone this dramatically by just making such a minor purchase.

I implore all of you to look into these, whether its through me or anyone else for that matter. I feel like such a putz that I've been going all these years without using these. It's a similar feeling I had back when I discovered Tube Screamers.

In conclusion, needless to say I'll be switching all my guitars' pickups with BKPs. I'll likely try a different model for my snow white Vixen 7, probably Warpigs. As for my Ibanez Xiphos 7? Not sure yet, maybe the Miracle Man or Cold Sweat in the bridge. I haven't been so euphoric over my tone since the day I brought my VHT Pittbull home. I wish all of you could feel this way, it's just incredible. Oh, and even the cleans sound terrific too, and I've never been a fan of high-output bridge humbucker clean tones.

Take it easy guys, that's it for now. Here are some pics.

[hanachanmaru]

Nice guitar there Zimbolth !!! hahaha anyway when is mine coming?? lol

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by hanachanmaru

Nice guitar there Zimbolth !!! hahaha anyway when is mine coming?? lol

Thanks man. Yours are coming in a big batch of pickups that Tim is making for me as we speak. Stay tuned, they should be ready shortly. They're worth the wait trust me!

[Sepultorture]

damn that much of a difference, can't wait for that review.

honestly though will the Alnico V really do it better for TIGHT, SATURATED GAIN DEATH METAL, i want amazing chug but also clear and defined note definition.

and whats this about an Alnico 8?

[TheMissing]

You pretty much has the same response I had

[Codyyy]

Awesome. I've been thinking about getting Warpigs for my Soloist.

[hanachanmaru]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Thanks man. Yours are coming in a big batch of pickups that Tim is making for me as we speak. Stay tuned, they should be ready shortly. They're worth the wait trust me!

Thanks sure !!! your complimentary on the pickups really set my mood high today while waiting for it !!! anyway how well you doing for jackson guitar selected series??? if i know jackson have a new line up for a quilted trans SL2H guitar avaliable under 2008 models??

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Sepultorture

damn that much of a difference, can't wait for that review.

honestly though will the Alnico V really do it better for TIGHT, SATURATED GAIN DEATH METAL, i want amazing chug but also clear and defined note definition.

and whats this about an Alnico 8?

Abso-fucking-lutely my friend. I too use ceramic magnet pickups 99% of the time for the same reasons as you. I require death metal brutality in my tone as well. These are not your average Alnico V pickups dude. The thing I'm learning now, that some of you guys will too if you try these, is to unlearn the previous notions of magnet stereotypes when you're dealing with custom pickups of this caliber. The Nailbomb has loads of power, gain, and brutality. Extremely clear and defined. I didn't have to adjust the settings at all on my VHT, and they were setup for hot ceramic pickups I usually. In fact, I found myself lowering the gain on my amp. Reason being, I raised the gain with some other pickups to 'warm them up' and make them more responsive (wasn't about saturation if you understand me). No need with these, so I lowered the gain to around 10 o'clock.

Unless your amp/cabinet is super loose, you should not need a ceramic or alnico 8 version of this pickup. Certainly the bottom end is huge on this pickup, and a ceramic would be tighter, it's the perfect balance man. If you did want an Alnico 8, it would be tighter but in fact would be even more compressed than a ceramic (Tim's words not mine). I really feel as if the stock Nailbomb is the PERFECT combination of definition, richness, and brutality.

That said, I think you'd really love the ceramic Warpig as well. That pickup is probably a little more well suited for death metal than these, but these are fucking intense too man. Although its versatile enough to do anything with it, this is no moderate output pickup here. When I was testing it out earlier, I was mainly using the lead channel of my VHT Pittbull with a tube screamer in front, busting out brutal riffs, chords, runs, leads, legato licks, harmonics, trem picking, everything that I find myself doing with regularity and it handles everything perfectly.

The pickup has this incredible 'wall of sound' character to it, it sounds like it's quad-tracked, yet it's also so defined and tight. Granted I've heard tighter, if it was any more huge sounding it may be too much, but it's right on the threshold of where it should be IMO.

Originally Posted by Codyyy

Awesome. I've been thinking about getting Warpigs for my Soloist.

You should man. The Nailbomb or Warpig are unbelievable fits for bright guitars like Jacksons (guessing your Soloist is alder/maple).

Originally Posted by hanachanmaru

Thanks sure !!! your complimentary on the pickups really set my mood high today while waiting for it !!! anyway how well you doing for jackson guitar selected series??? if i know jackson have a new line up for a quilted trans SL2H guitar avaliable under 2008 models??

Cool man, I'm sure you'll be really happy with the Nailbomb/Cold Sweat combo I got for you. As for Jackson, I'm not fully setup with them yet so I'll have to get back to you on that.

[hanachanmaru]

is ok Zimbloth !!! your one nice guy getting to know.... wont be interested back on a jackson sl2h which i got mine sold to fund for a sherman custom 8s hehe... and would be sending money to him as soon as he would kick start on my dream custom perhaps till then i need you to getta bkp 8s for me as sherman quoted me a good price i felt afforable with nordstrand pickup ...

[technomancer]

Ain't it bad assed? I absolutely love the Nailbomb in the bridge of my KxK