# Which Bareknuckle Pickups are your favorite?



## MikeySans908 (Jul 21, 2012)

Might consider buying another Bareknuckle pickup, this time for a 7 string.
I have a Warpig in my 6 string and I am pretty happy with it.
I need something pretty tight and clear for lower tunings (A standard / drop G) on my 7 string. 

Out of curiosity, which ones do you guys suggest?
I would gladly try them out for myself but there is none around here I can.


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## metale (Jul 21, 2012)

So, what is your guitar?


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## MikeySans908 (Jul 21, 2012)

metale said:


> So, what is your guitar?



Just an Ibanez S370
Mahogany body, Rosewood Fretboard


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## mniel8195 (Jul 21, 2012)

if its a bolt on lighter body i would use a holy diver. if its a heavier darker warmer guitar i would use a rebel yell. And if your looking for a ceramic pup i would use the black hawk probably. Also the black dog is a good choice if you want a clearer lower output pickup.


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## leonardo7 (Jul 21, 2012)

Everyone has different opinions but Ive tried various combinations and the winners for me were/are:

Painkiller in a heavy weight mahogany Ibanez
Aftermath in my 11 piece maple neck thru swamp ash Mayones kills all
Aftermath in maple neck thru mahogany body for tightness
Holydiver in maple neck thru mahogany body for fullness
Warpig in swamp ash body
Coldsweat in Basswood

Side notes:
I havent tried Nailbombs yet, or Rebell yell
Black Hawks sounded good in maple neck thru mahogany body, but its hard to beat Holydiver for those wood specs
Black dogs sound good in Heavy Mahogany body Ibanez, as did Aftermaths
I havent tried anything other than Painkillers, Aftermaths, or Black Dogs in Mahogany yet
Since Painkillers have good upper mids and mahogany is pretty much all low end mids, its no surprise Painkillers sounded amazing in heavy weight Mahogany for me. Id bet Aftermaths would be amazing in light weight Mahogany though.
Miracle mans were super duper ultra tight in Basswood, Id like to try those out some more


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## metale (Jul 21, 2012)

MikeySans908 said:


> Just an Ibanez S370
> Mahogany body, Rosewood Fretboard



I mean the 7 string guitar on which you want to put a new pickup.


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## C-PIG (Jul 21, 2012)

started with a warpig , sounded great, then went to a painkiller , even better cleaner tighter, now using aftermath , best pickup i have played . period.


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## Zugster (Jul 22, 2012)

I have painkillers in a heavy mahogany Les Paul custom and they are just sick. They blow away the burstbucker pros that were in there. Good cleans too. I also have RYs in my SG, and that's a good combination too.


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## MikeySans908 (Jul 22, 2012)

Awesome guys! I seem to have my eye set on the Aftermaths at this point but I definitely would like to try all of the ones that were mentioned above!



metale said:


> I mean the 7 string guitar on which you want to put a new pickup.



Oops, I meant Ibanez S 7320! Don't know why I wrote that model number down... Long day at work I guess. Sorry for the confusion!


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## Hollowway (Jul 22, 2012)

Make sure you talk with Zimbloth. He's one of the few guys that have actually tried most (all?) of the BKPs on here.


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## metale (Jul 22, 2012)

Painkiller, aftermath, or even rebel yell as mentioned.

I've ordered a lower output one for my RG7 tuned to A, but it's a basswood guitar and I was looking for more clarity than tightness.


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## Mega-Mads (Jul 22, 2012)

Painkillers


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## MikeySans908 (Jul 22, 2012)

Ha, well at least we can all agree there is no bad BKP. When I swapped the original pickup in my RG320Q with a Warpig I was blown away with the quality. Now I am just eager to hear them all!


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## NovaReaper (Jul 22, 2012)

I've only tried an Alcino warpig and an Aftermath (both bridge) and i have to say the warpig is my favorite bridge pickup i've tried from any manufacturer. so ridiculously brutal but somehow not muddy at all, it plays beautifully in hollow bodied guitars like a Carvin HF2 as well. thick voiced chords ring with a very open airy quality and also with a throaty low-mid spike that maintains weight throughout anything you play. palm muting sounds utterly destructive. leads are highly responsive to how you actually play the instrument. cleans have a considerable amount of power behind them so you'd probably want to roll down the volume knob on your guitar a little to avoid breakup (unless you want that. i think it sounds pretty cool, although i always use the neck pickup for pristine cleans anyway). 

by the way, from what i've read, most of what i've typed above can be applied to any of the pickups in the contemporary range.


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## grunge782 (Jul 22, 2012)

Without a doubt the Warpig. Clearest, thickest and heaviest pickup I have ever tried and I have used a LOT of different BKPs. 

That said the Miracle Man is a close second. Very full, thick sounding pickup, but its a little smoother than the Warpig. It does handle lead tones better for my tastes. 

For metal, it is a hard pickup to beat.


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## that short guy (Jul 22, 2012)

I put the a Cold Sweat in my Mayone Regius PRO 7 and it has amazing clarity. I got Curious one day and tuned it down to F# and it still had great definition and tone. I know most people over look the Cold Sweats because they're not really high output but I found them capable from going from smooth rich cleans to angry agressive distorted tones better than almost any other pickup I've ever used.


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## Astewie26 (Jul 23, 2012)

Aftermaths are supposed to be the best pickup to detune tho I have had three so far in mahogany neck thru guitars and one in a
Bolt on maple neck, there my favorite pups over any other bkps, seem to have that tight low end for death metal, hardcore, or metalcore. Sounds like u have the right idea . Aftermaths are the only pups I'll ever use again


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## -JeKo- (Jul 24, 2012)

The VHII bridge model. Amazing pickup! If my guitar had a neck humbucker, I'd get the neck version as well.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 24, 2012)

I'm really digging the Holy diver Bridge + Emerald Neck Combo. Pairs up nicely in bright guitars.


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## mniel8195 (Jul 24, 2012)

holy diver's in my hesperian 7 sound awesome lightweight mahogany with a bolt on maple neck. I think i may end up taking the rebel yells out of my esp and putting in divers. I think the rebel yells would sound best in a les paul of you didnt want to go as modern as the painkillers. they are a very lean sounding pickup


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## Konfyouzd (Jul 24, 2012)

I've only tried the Emerald 7 and 8. I like the 7 much more than the 8. But to be fair, the 7 was in a basswood guitar and the 8 in a mahogany guitar. Perhaps that had something to do with the difference I heard...?

At any rate... Emerald 7.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 25, 2012)

Konfyouzd said:


> I've only tried the Emerald 7 and 8. I like the 7 much more than the 8. But to be fair, the 7 was in a basswood guitar and the 8 in a mahogany guitar. Perhaps that had something to do with the difference I heard...?
> 
> At any rate... Emerald 7.



How tight was the emerald 7 in basswood? Ibanez 7 I presume. I have miracle mans in my RG1527 but I might get something less hot/forgiving.


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## HOKENSTYFE (Jul 25, 2012)

I got an Ibanez RGA7QM with Alnico Warpig for bridge(high bass response) & Alnico Cold Sweat(high treble response) for neck. Ain't changing them for shit! Chrome covered, too note. I find this combination to be perfect. I like high output Neck & High output Bridge pickups so, this works for me. In G tuning, G-C-F-A#-D-G-C. Quite smitten, with it.

Not a big fan of Aftermath/Painkiller combo. I am looking at a calibrated Miracle Man set, though. Looking for that fast & fluid attack. Which I understand the Miracle Man can deliver on. We'll see how it works for me. This came about as I was checking the new Black Hawks out. Wanted to combine a Black Hawk with a Miracle Man. Found out they don't make Black Hawks for 8's!?! A bar/blade pickup...not made for 8's? Huh?

Thought that would of been a match made in hell. Huh?


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## purpledc (Jul 25, 2012)

MikeySans908 said:


> Out of curiosity, which ones do you guys suggest?
> I would gladly try them out for myself but there is none around here I can.




Whatever is in mishas guitar(s) this week.  


sorry I couldnt resist.


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## Webmaestro (Jul 25, 2012)

I love the calibrated Aftermath 7's I put in my RG1527M. Like 'em so much that I just ordered another set for another guitar... which is mahogany w/maple top and has a fixed bridge. Can't wait to hear how they sound in that guitar.


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## Konfyouzd (Jul 25, 2012)

drawnacrol said:


> How tight was the emerald 7 in basswood? Ibanez 7 I presume. I have miracle mans in my RG1527 but I might get something less hot/forgiving.



Very. And it sounded more aggressive than what I'd expect from something classified as vintage hot. Pleasant surprise indeed. The 8 wasn't the same for me though...


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## Dr. Von Goosewing (Jul 31, 2012)

-JeKo- said:


> The VHII bridge model. Amazing pickup! If my guitar had a neck humbucker, I'd get the neck version as well.



 I also love the VHII, sorely underrated. It's clear with low tunings (well, A at least) & great raw sound. I have them in a JH600.


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## toiletstand (Jul 31, 2012)

i miss my first ceramic warpig pickup. i had it in an apex II(mahogany body). the low end is harder to manager but the cleans blew me away each time. so full but not overbearing. 

Later on i bought a warpig 6 for a jackson sls mg but failed to get the same joy out of it like in the apex II. i switched that out for an aftermath and though it sounded great it wasn't for me in the long run. 

Next i am going to try out a Crawler in the neck for black limba rg7 style guitar and an emerald/vhii set for an incoming basswood rg6 string.


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## AngstRiddenDreams (Jul 31, 2012)

I have toiletstands old aftermath in an all mahogany guitar. Sounds wonderful.


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## nostealbucket (Jul 31, 2012)

I have tried painkillers and I own aftermaths.
Aftermaths all the way


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## Captain Butterscotch (Jul 31, 2012)

What pickup do you guys think would sound close to a Liquifire? I just got a new 28" 8 string, and I miss the sound of my Liquifire  Mahogany body and maple fret board. I've heard Cold Sweat?


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## Euthanasia (Aug 1, 2012)

mniel8195 said:


> if its a bolt on lighter body i would use a holy diver. if its a heavier darker warmer guitar i would use a rebel yell. And if your looking for a ceramic pup i would use the black hawk probably. Also the black dog is a good choice if you want a clearer lower output pickup.


This guy right here sayd it all.
My personal favorie is the Blackdog. Super tight, agressive, rich, organic and dynamic. perfect for me.


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## Ninjahat (Aug 1, 2012)

So I am really stuck on 3 pickups.

Warpig, Black dog and the PS90 Stockholm. Can any bro's here gimme pro's and con's?


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## Euthanasia (Aug 1, 2012)

Ninjahat said:


> So I am really stuck on 3 pickups.
> 
> Warpig, Black dog and the PS90 Stockholm. Can any bro's here gimme pro's and con's?



As you probably know. the P90 is a single coil, so the debate should be if you want a single coil or a humbucker.

I had a ceramic Wapig in the past and now I have the Blackdog.
It was a long time ago and with another gear but as far as I can recall:
The warpig was a much hotter pickup, more compressed, bigger sounding and smoother. It sounded darker and was quite bass heavey in my opinion.

The blackdog is more dynamic, more balanced IMO, more hi and low mid oriented instead of bass and low mid orientation of the warpig, more open sounding pickup due to it's lower output and alnico magnet and IIRC has more "bite" as the warpig has more "growl", if that makes any sense haha..

Both are very good, organic sounding pickups, and fits different guitars and owners. I would prefer the blackdog a fatter sounding guitars or in general for low tuning and for my signatue sound, and will take the warpig for thinner sounding guitars.

My 2 cents..


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## that short guy (Aug 1, 2012)

Captain Butterscotch said:


> What pickup do you guys think would sound close to a Liquifire? I just got a new 28" 8 string, and I miss the sound of my Liquifire  Mahogany body and maple fret board. I've heard Cold Sweat?


 
Cold Sweat for sure, it took everything that was good about the liquifire and did it better, I love mine. I have them in the bridge and neck of every guitar I have. I will say that they have a little less output but I found that to be a plus. some people don't like them for that fact.


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## Jason_Clement (Aug 2, 2012)

I think the warpig and nailbomb sound great


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## Captain Butterscotch (Aug 2, 2012)

that short guy said:


> Cold Sweat for sure, it took everything that was good about the liquifire and did it better, I love mine. I have them in the bridge and neck of every guitar I have. I will say that they have a little less output but I found that to be a plus. some people don't like them for that fact.



Thanks


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## Amanita (Aug 2, 2012)

as a sidenote, i always tend to put aftermath together with warpig. they are voiced very differently, with warpig being all about lows and aftermath all about mids and upper mids, but both have similar "hollow" percussive attack, devoid of "twang".
if you think of eg. nailbomb as a hammer driving a nail, then these are a hammer hitting wood.


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## Greatoliver (Aug 2, 2012)

I'm actually liking the Emerald, it can pull off more vintage stuff while being really tight for modern stuff. I'd interested to see what the neck pup is like!


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## Saidincontext (Sep 7, 2012)

C-PIG said:


> started with a warpig , sounded great, then went to a painkiller , even better cleaner tighter, now using aftermath , best pickup i have played . period.



Really?? I'm actually trying to get a painkiller instead of my aftermath.. What were the differences in your opinion? I feel it doesn't quite scream enough


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## Chiba666 (Sep 10, 2012)

Lots of good info here so I am going ot ask your opinion.

I'm after a set of pups to go into a mahogony bodied, 5 piece maple/mahogony neck with an ebony fretboard.

Chances are the guitar will eb in E or D.

Type of music I play is mostly Metal, the more extreme end. But I would like to have a good clean tone as well.

So far I'm liking the warpig (would go for a calibrated set).

Any other suggestions?


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## Lorcan Ward (Sep 10, 2012)

Greatoliver said:


> I'm actually liking the Emerald, it can pull off more vintage stuff while being really tight for modern stuff. I'd interested to see what the neck pup is like!



I really like the Emerald Neck. I have it in a bright guitar(swamp ash/maple/rosewood) and its very smooth but doesn't mud up under heavy distortion. Pairs up very well with a Holy Diver bridge and sounds great with a coil-tap too. My next guitar I'm going to get an Emerald or Black Dog bridge paired with a VHII neck.


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## Fiction (Sep 10, 2012)

I know that I don't like the Aftermath, sounds like a bag of dicks.

Really thin weak dicks.



drawnacrol said:


> I'm going to get an Emerald or Black Dog bridge paired with a VHII neck.



The VHII is amazing, do get that


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## technomancer (Sep 10, 2012)

Fiction said:


> I know that I don't like the Aftermath, sounds like a bag of dicks.
> 
> Really thin weak dicks.



Sounds like you had a bum set or it was wired wrong... I totally get not liking them, I HATED the upper mid spike on the Painkillers, but thin and weak are just not words that describe the Aftermath


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## Fiction (Sep 10, 2012)

Probably a bad pup, I've re-wired it myself twice, the second time with new electronics and had a friend of mine re-wire in the middle once as well when I thought my first job was a problem 

The Dimarzio stock Neck pickup sounds better IMO, same output. Either way i'm just after something warm anyways, the high mids thing isn't really my deal in the first place.


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## Saidincontext (Sep 10, 2012)

Remember: the higher the output, the less sustain you're gonna get. I think after about 16 it starts killing it.


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## Fluxx (Sep 17, 2012)

I have 2 guitars with Nailbombs, one is a covered alnico, the other an open coil ceramic. Not a lot of difference tonally, but both pickups outshine the crunch labs in my other two guitars. I plan on trying the holy diver or miracle man next.


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## Solaris (Sep 19, 2012)

I've got a pair of coldsweats in my Jackson SLSMG(mahogany body/neck) and it sounds awesome. Huge low end but still cuts because of how bright they are. This thing makes for a great rhythm guitar.


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## JaeSwift (Sep 19, 2012)

I had a pair of Painkillers in my K7 and they were amazing. Have an Aftermath in my limba/rosewood 7 string which is great but not full enough for me. Getting a calibrated pair of warpigs for it and can't wait to try them out.

I've also tried the ceramic nailbomb and the miracle man but both aren't for me. I'de love to give the alnico nailbomb a go someday though.


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## JamesM (Sep 19, 2012)

Fiction said:


> I know that I don't like the Aftermath, sounds like a bag of dicks.
> 
> Really thin weak dicks.



No.


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## Purelojik (Sep 19, 2012)

Fiction said:


> I know that I don't like the Aftermath, sounds like a bag of dicks.
> 
> Really thin weak dicks.
> 
> ...



dude most of the people here absolutely love the aftermath. its anything but thin. perhaps you wired it in parallel. Thats the only way i could think that they could sound thin. 

Check the wiring buddy. its a thick ass sound, super tight and percussive. it has a focused midrange which some might misunderstand as being ;thin' but compared to most other pups its anything but thin sounding.


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## Fiction (Sep 19, 2012)

It has no bass definition basically.

And the wiring is correct, I'll just put it down to a faulty pup.


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## Haunted (Sep 19, 2012)

I have aftermath in my K7 now, replacing the microphonic CL/LF combo the guitar came with
they are articulate, tight, great dynamics, and very responsive to pick attack, full chords are clear and ring out bright
I have to admit I didn't like them at first, they whole guitar sounded so different that I wasn't sure I'm digging it, but somewhile after and experimenting with sounds, they are absolute beasts IMO
not perfect for everything, but hella good in what they are advertized for


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## Lorcan Ward (Sep 20, 2012)

Opinions on Black dogs in a 6 string guitar? 

Mahogany Body, Rosewood + Ebony neck, flame maple top, ebony board.
Playing metalcore/melodic death metal tuned to D/drop C. Looking for a fat sound, I always EQ out some of the bass and highs to tighten and smooth things out so this pickup really grabs my attention.


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## mniel8195 (Sep 20, 2012)

i would say the black dogs would be perfect in that guitar if you wanted a little bit lower output than lets say holy diver/nailbomb/painkiller.


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## leonardo7 (Sep 20, 2012)

drawnacrol said:


> Opinions on Black dogs in a 6 string guitar?
> 
> Mahogany Body, Rosewood + Ebony neck, flame maple top, ebony board.
> Playing metalcore/melodic death metal tuned to D/drop C. Looking for a fat sound, I always EQ out some of the bass and highs to tighten and smooth things out so this pickup really grabs my attention.



I tried the Black Dogs in my J Custom 7 and they were awesome. Very tight for a low output pickup, and not as low output as you might think. The neck is runner up w the VHII for the best neck pickup BKP makes IMO. In a weird way the bridge reminded me of a less hot Painkiller in terms of how it tamed the lows and in tightness while retaining thickness. It wasnt anywhere nearly as loose as a PAF style and not as compressed as Aftermath. IMO Black Dog bridge was made for mahogany guitars. The neck is so incredibly airy, light and juicy as well.


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## Lorcan Ward (Sep 20, 2012)

Sweet!!!

Cheers lads!


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## infernalservice (Sep 20, 2012)

I like the aftermath, vh2, and black dog in mahogany. For alder the holy diver or vh2. I have had a hard time finding one I liked in a basswood rg, but the c-bomb was the best out of what I tried (vh2, miracle man, hd were the others).


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