Best Bare Knuckle Guitar Pickups: A Buyer’s Guide

Bare Knuckle are well known for making top quality electric and bass guitar pickups. Their range is pretty large, so it can be hard to choose the right ones for your guitar. In this article, I’ll take you through the full range of humbuckers, single coils, P90s and bass guitar pickups available, so by the end of the article, you’ll have a much better idea of which ones are most suitable for you.

At a Glance

Bare Knuckle make passive humbucker, single coil and P90 pickups for electric guitar. They also have a bass guitar pickup range. They have a diverse selection of output levels and voicings to suit every music style from country to thrash metal, and use alnico and ceramic magnets.

Deciding on the Type

Before we talk about specific models in the range, I think it’s good to have an idea about whether you’re looking for single coil, P90 or humbucker pickups. Bare Knuckle made a pretty large range, and the easiest way to split it down is to categorise them into the main pickup types.

You may already be clear on what you want, but if you want some help choosing between the different pickup types, then check out my ultimate guide to pickups to take you through the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Also if you have a defined style of music and want to achieve a specific tone, then it’s easier to narrow down the options within the Bare Knuckle range. If you’re looking for something more versatile, then a couple of things to consider, are the magnet type and output.

The output refers to the power of the pickup, and high-output pickups are best suited to heavy styles of music such as metal. Lower output pickups are often referred to as “vintage”.

There are two main types of magnets used in Bare Knuckle pickups: alnico and ceramic. Here’s the difference:

• Alnico: these have a large dynamic range and sound a bit fuller and warmer. They are considered very versatile and suit a wide range of music styles.
• Ceramic: these have the highest output and more treble to give them a crisp tone. Ceramic pickups are often associated with modern metal, as they are able to produce a powerful sound whilst maintaining excellent clarity when using distortion.

Here’s a link to my comparison between alnico and ceramic magnets for more info.

To further complicate things, there are multiple types of alnico:

• Alnico II: these are fairly weak and produce a “vintage” tone with more mid-range. The lows are quite loose, instead of being tight, causing it to sound smooth.
• Alnico III: this is the weakest type of alnico and has very loose bass frequencies, a full mid-range and glassy highs. The effect is a vintage, smooth tone.
• Alnico IV: this is stronger than alnico II and III, but weaker than alnico IV. It has a very balanced EQ and tighter bass and treble than alnico II.
• Alnico V: this is the strongest type of alnico and produces the brightest tone.

Check out my comparison between the different types of alnico magnets to learn more.

As well as the output, pay attention to the EQ balance. This means the balance of the bass, mids and treble frequencies. Here are some examples of common EQ compositions:

• Scooped mids: low mid-range in comparison to the bass and treble. This produces a thinner sound however is popular when palm muting and was used frequently in the ’80s and ’90s metal scene.
• Boosted mids: this helps the sound of the guitar to cut through the mix and is popular amongst lead guitarists.
• Boosted treble: this will provide more brightness and clarity and is popular amongst lead guitarists. The opposite, produces a more mellow tone which is common for rhythm playing.
• Boosted bass: this produces a “boomy”, heavy and dark tone. On the other hand “tight bass” produces a more focused tone, which is popular in modern metal and helpful for detuned guitars.

What does all this mean then? Well, a lot of it is personal preference, but some guitars benefit from different EQ balances as well. Here are some main points to consider:

• Bolt-on neck and double cutaway guitars usually benefit from more mid-range focused pickups
• Drop-tuned guitars usually benefit from a tighter bass
• Heavy and single cutaway guitars may benefit from slightly scooped mids and boosted treble to brighten the tone

Now we’ve been through some basics, let’s have a look at the Bare Knuckle range. I’ve split this article into the following sections from here, so you can get to grips with the pickup type you’re most interested in, or have a browse of them all.

• Humbuckers
• P90s
• HSP90s
• Stratocaster Single Coils
• Telecaster Single Coils
• Bass Guitar Pickups

Humbuckers

Bare Knuckle primarily specialise in passive humbucker pickups and make an extensive range to suit different music styles. Pretty much every model is available in 6, 7 and 8 string versions, and they have a version for the neck pickup and a version for the bridge pickup, so you can buy them individually or as a set.

There are multiple designs and colours available for each pickup type, and some have their own exclusive finish, which can be found in addition to the basic options. Here are some examples of the different designs. Remember that each pickup is available with multiple designs, these images are just to show some options. All the images link to the product on Amazon.

At the time of writing this article, there are 25 models of humbucker pickups in the Bare Knuckle line-up. The range can be split into two divisions: the standard range, and the Boot Camp range. The standard range is the most premium, whilst the Boot Camp pickups offer a stripped-back and more affordable alternative.

Before we talk about the styles of music and tones they produce, here is a table to summarise them all.

Pickups	Bridge Magnet	Neck Magnet	Strings
Boot Camp Old Guard	Alnico II	Alnico II	6, 7
Boot Camp True Grit	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7
Boot Camp Brute Force	Ceramic	Ceramic	6, 7
Stormy Monday	Alnico II	Alnico II	6, 7, 8
PG Blues	Alnico II	Alnico II	6, 7, 8
The Mule	Alnico IV	Alnico IV	6, 7, 8
Riff Raff	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
VHII	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Black Dog	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Emerald	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Abraxas	Alnico IV	Alnico IV	6, 7, 8
Black Hawk	Ceramic or Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7
Impulse	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7
Rebel Yell	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Cold Sweat	Ceramic	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Aftermath	Ceramic	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Crawler	Alnico V	Alnico IV	6, 7, 8
Nailbomb	Ceramic or Alnico IV	Alnico IV	6, 7, 8
Juggernaut	Ceramic Alnico Mix	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Silo	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Holydiver	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Painkiller	Ceramic	Ceramic	6, 7, 8
Ragnarok	Ceramic	Ceramic	6, 7, 8
Miracle Man	Ceramic	Alnico V	6, 7, 8
Warpig	Ceramic or Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7, 8

Instead of going through each pickup individually, I’ve grouped them into the type of tone they produce, and made some key points to distinguish between the pickups in each group.

The groups are:

• Vintage: these have a lower output and suit lighter styles of music such as country, blues and rock. They work well in solid, semi-hollow and hollow body guitars.
• Vintage Hot: these have a medium-level output and work well for a wide variety of music styles, offering the most versatile tone. They work best in solid body guitars.
• Contemporary: these have the highest output and are most suited to metal and heavy rock. They are designed for solid body guitars.

Vintage

There are five pickups which have a lower output vintage tone: Boot Camp Old Guard, Stormy Monday, PG Blues, The Mule and Riff Raff. They suit solid body, semi-hollow and hollow body electric guitars.

Here’s a description of the EQ of each pickup:

• Boot Camp Old Guard: boosted treble to give it a bright tone suited to country, blues and rock.
• Stormy Monday: scooped mid-range, loose low end and smooth upper end. Suited to blues, country, jazz, funk and classic rock.
• PG Blues: very scooped mid-range, smooth bass and treble. Suited to blues, country, jazz, funk and classic rock.
• The Mule: higher output than Stormy Monday and PG Blues. Balanced EQ with slight treble emphasis for a crisper tone. Very versatile and suits anything from blues and country to metal, but sits most comfortably in the classic rock genre.
• Riff Raff: tight bass frequencies and boosted treble and mids to give it a punchy tone. Suits blues, rock, punk and metal, but is less suited to country than the other pickups in the vintage category.

Vintage Hot

There are five pickups with medium output in the Vintage Hot category: Boot Camp True Grit, VHII, Black Dog, Emerald, and Abraxas. These pickups are well suited to all types of rock, blues and even some types of metal, and they work best on solid body guitars.

Here’s a brief description of the tone of each model:

• Boot Camp True Grit: very balanced EQ producing a neutral tone.
• VHII: balanced EQ with emphasis on the treble and mids slightly to add clarity.
• Black Dog: boosted mid-range and fairly even bass and treble for cutting leads.
• Emerald: balanced EQ with emphasis on the treble and mids slightly to add clarity.
• Abraxas: fairly flat EQ for a neutral tone.

Contemporary

This range is made up of the higher output and more aggressive pickups which are most suited to punk heavy rock and metal, and are made for solid body electric guitars.

Here’s a brief description of each model:

• Boot Camp Brute Force: balanced EQ with slightly boosted mids.
• Black Hawk: balanced EQ with slightly boosted mids and treble.
• Impulse: slightly scooped mids with even bass and treble.
• Rebel Yell: tight bass and balanced mids and treble.
• Cold Sweat: scooped mids and boosted treble.
• Aftermath: balanced EQ with slightly tightened bass.
• Crawler: focus on the mid range.
• Nailbomb: scooped mids and boosted treble.
• Juggernaut: boosted mids and slightly boosted bass.
• Silo: balanced EQ with slightly reduced treble.
• Holydiver: fairly balanced EQ with slightly boosted mids and tight bass.
• Painkiller: balanced EQ with slightly boosted mids and treble.
• Ragnarok: boosted mids and bass, reduced treble.
• Miracle Man: scooped mid-range and boosted treble.
• Warpig: balanced EQ with slightly boosted mids and bass.

Tone Examples

Here is a video demonstrating the tone of 4 different Bare Knuckle humbuckers in the bridge position.

Which Humbuckers are the Best?

So now we’ve taken a look at the passive humbucker range in some detail, you hopefully will have a bit more of an idea of which pickups are more suited to your style of music. Here are my top recommendations.

• Best for Country: Stormy Monday
• Best for Blues and Classic Rock: Riff Raff
• Most Versatile: The Mule
• Great for Lead: Rebel Yell
• Perfect for Metal: Warpig

These are just my opinions though, have a think about the kind of EQ balance and output you’re looking for to help you make your decision. Here is a table to summarise what guitars and music styles these pickups are best suited to, and the output rating.

Keep in mind that just because a pickup is listed as best suited for metal in the table, doesn’t mean you have to use it for metal. Also, you can put some pickups which are designed for a solid body guitar in a semi-hollow for example, or vice-versa. These are all just guidelines.

Pickups	Music Styles	Guitar Suitability	Output
Boot Camp Old Guard	Country, blues	Solid/ Semi-Hollow/ Hollow	Vintage
Boot Camp True Grit	Blues, rock, grunge	Solid/ Semi-Hollow/ Hollow	Medium
Boot Camp Brute Force	Rock, metal	Solid/ Semi-Hollow	High
Stormy Monday	Blues, country, rock	Solid/ Semi-Hollow/ Hollow	Vintage
PG Blues	Blues, country, jazz, rock	Solid/ Semi-Hollow/ Hollow	Vintage
The Mule	Jazz, blues, rock, metal	Solid/ Semi-Hollow/ Hollow	Vintage
Riff Raff	Blues, rock, punk, alternative	Solid/ Semi-Hollow	Vintage
VHII	Funk, garage, rock	Solid	Medium
Black Dog	Punk, grunge, rock, metal	Solid	Medium
Emerald	Punk, grunge, rock, metal	Solid	Solid
Abraxas	Grunge and rock	Solid	Medium
Black Hawk	Rock and metal	Solid	High
Impulse	Rock, punk, metal	Solid	High
Rebel Yell	Rock, punk, shred, ‘80s metal	Solid	High
Cold Sweat	Punk, grunge, metal	Solid	High
Aftermath	Punk, rock, metal	Solid	High
Crawler	Rock and metal	Solid	High
Nailbomb	Punk, grunge, metal	Solid	High
Juggernaut	Metal, shred, extreme	Solid	High
Silo	Rock and metal	Solid	High
Holydiver	Garage, hard rock, metal	Solid	High
Painkiller	Punk, rock, Djent Metal	Solid	High
Ragnarok	Hard rock, metal	Solid	High
Miracle Man	Hard rock, metal	Solid	High
Warpig	Hard rock, metal, extreme	Solid	Very High

P90 Pickups

Now let’s take a look at the Bar Knuckle P90 range. P90 pickup offer solid outputs, but tend to be less warm than humbuckers, yet a bit fuller than single coils, offering the player a balanced and versatile tone.

There are 9 main pickups in the P90 range, 6 in the premium line-up and 3 in the more affordable, stripped-back Boot Camp range. Here is a quick table to summarise the magnets used. All pickups are currently only available in 6-string versions. You can purchase either the neck version or bridge version individually, or as a set.

Pickups	Bridge Magnet	Neck Magnet	Strings
Boot Camp Old Guard	Alnico II	Alnico II	6
Boot Camp True Grit	Alnico V	Alnico V	6
Boot Camp Brute Force	Ceramic	Ceramic	6
Half Note 90	Alnico III	Alnico III	6
Blue Note 90	Alnico II	Alnico II	6
Mississippi Queen 90	Alnico V	Alnico IV	6
Nantucket 90	Alnico V	Alnico V	6
Supermassive 90	Alnico V	Alnico V	6
Stockholm 90	Alnico V	Alnico V	6
‘Pig 90	Alnico V	Alnico V	6

Now let’s take a look at the EQ balance for each pickup.

To make things easier to compare each pickup, I’ve created another table to summarise the output, the styles of music each P90 pickup is suitable for and what type of guitar it works best in.

Pickups	Music Styles	Guitar Suitability	Output
Boot Camp Old Guard	Country, blues, alternative	Solid/ semi-hollow/ hollow	Vintage
Half Note 90	Jazz, blues, funk	Semi-hollow, hollow	Vintage
Blue Note 90	Country, blues, alternative	Solid/ semi-hollow/ hollow	Vintage
Boot Camp True Grit	Blues, rock, grunge, punk	Solid/ semi-hollow/ hollow	Medium
Mississippi Queen 90	Blues, alternative, rock	Solid/ semi-hollow	Medium
Nantucket 90	Blues, alternative, rock	Solid/ semi-hollow	Medium
Supermassive 90	Blues, rock, grunge	Solid/ semi-hollow	Mid-High
Boot Camp Brute Force	Rock, metal	Solid/ semi-hollow	High
Stockholm 90	Rock, grunge, metal	Solid/ semi-hollow	High
‘Pig 90	Rock, metal, doom, shred	Solid body	High

HSP90 Pickups

Bare Knuckle make a range of P90 pickups which are shaped like humbuckers.

This allows you to get those vintage P90 tones, but on a guitar which is designed to take humbucker pickups instead. There are 7 pickups in the range which all come in 6 and 7 string options. Here’s a table to summarise them.

Pickup	Bridge Magnets	Neck Magnets	Strings
Manhattan	Alnico III	Alnico III	6, 7
Blue Note	Alnico II	Alnico II	6, 7
Mississippi Queen	Alnico V	Alnico IV	6, 7
Nantucket	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7
Supermassive	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7
Stockholm	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7
‘Pig	Alnico V	Alnico V	6, 7

They are voiced to sound like the P90 pickups we discussed in the previous section, so I won’t repeat myself here by going over their suitability for different music styles and the EQ balance again. The only new one is the Manhattan, which is the most “vintage” sounding, which uses alnico III magnets and is designed for jazz players primarily.

Stratocaster Pickups

Now onto the single coils. Bare Knuckle make single coils specifically voiced for Stratocasters and Telecasters, so let’s start with the Strat models.

There are 14 pickups designed for single coil Stratocasters, 11 of which are the premium models, and 3 of which are the Boot Camp models, offering stripped-back and more affordable options. Here is a quick table to summarise the magnets used in each model.

Pickup	Magnets	Strings
Bootcamp Old Guard	Alnico II	6
Boot Camp True Grit	Alnico V	6
Boot Camp Brute Force	Ceramic	6
Apache	Alnico III	6, 7
The Sultans	Alnico II	6, 7
Pat Pend ’59 Slab Board	Alnico V	6, 7
Pat Pend ’63 Veneer Board	Alnico V	6, 7
Mother’s Milk	Alnico V	6, 7
Irish Tour	Alnico V	6, 7
Slow Hand	Alnico V	6, 7
Impulse	Ceramic	6, 7
Cobra	Ceramic	6, 7
Trilogy Suite	Alnico V	6, 7
The Sinner	Alnico V	6, 7

Now let’s take a look at the EQ balance of each pickup.

Here is a summary table to show the music style suitability, and output level of each pickup. Keep in mind that these are just guidelines and you can use any of the pickups for whatever music style you like, tone is just personal preference.

Pickup	Music Styles	Output
Bootcamp Old Guard	Country, blues, rock	Low
Apache	Country, jazz, pop, surf, blues, funk	Low
The Sultans	Country, jazz, pop, surf, blues, funk	Low
Pat Pend ’59 Slab Board	Country, blues, jazz, pop, rock	Low
Pat Pend ’63 Veneer Board	Country, blues, jazz, pop, rock	Low
Mother’s Milk	Country, blues, funk, pop, rock	Low
Boot Camp True Grit	Blues, rock, grunge	Medium
Irish Tour	Blues, funk, pop, punk, rock	Medium
Slow Hand	Blues, funk, pop, punk, rock	Medium
Boot Camp Brute Force	Rock, metal	High
Impulse	Rock, metal	High
Cobra	Fusion, rock, metal	High
Trilogy Suite	Fusion, rock, metal	High
The Sinner	Hard rock, metal	High

Telecaster Pickups

There are 13 single coil pickups in this range. The “Boot Camp” range offers stripped-back and more affordable options and consists of three models: Old Guard, True Grit and Brute Force.

Here is a table to show you the magnets used in each model. All models in the table below are available only in 6-string versions. You can purchase individually voiced neck and bridge pickups separately, or as a pair for all models except for the Cobra T which is a bridge-only pickup.

Pickup	Magnets
Boot Camp Old Guard	Alnico II
Boot Camp True Grit	Alnico IV
Boot Camp Brute Force	Alnico V
Blackguard Flat ‘50	Alnico V
Blackguard Flat ‘52	Alnico V
Blackguard 55 Stagger	Alnico V
Blackguard 68 Stagger	Alnico V
Country Boy	Alnico III
Yardbird	Alnico IV
Brown Sugar	Alnico V
The Boss	Alnico V
Piledriver	Alnico V
Cobra T	Ceramic

Now let’s take a look at the EQ balance of each pickup.

Here is a summary table to show the music style suitability, and output level of each pickup. Keep in mind that these are just guidelines and you can use any of the pickups for whatever music style you like, tone is just personal preference.

Pickup	Music Styles	Output
Boot Camp Old Guard	Blues, country, pop	Low
Boot Camp True Grit	Blues, rock	Medium
Boot Camp Brute Force	Rock, metal	High
Blackguard Flat ‘50	Blues, country, pop, classic rock	Low
Blackguard Flat ‘52	Blues, country, pop, classic rock	Low
Blackguard 55 Stagger	Blues, country, pop, classic rock	Low
Blackguard 68 Stagger	Blues, country, pop, classic rock	Low
Country Boy	Blues, country, pop, classic rock	Low
Yardbird	Blues, rock	Medium
Brown Sugar	Blues, rock	Medium
The Boss	Blues, rock	Medium
Piledriver	Blues, rock, metal	High
Cobra T	Blues, rock, metal	High

Bass Guitar Pickups

Bare Knuckle make two types of bass guitar pickups: the J Bass range (designed for the Jazz bass) and the P Bass range (designed for the Precision Bass). All the pickups are passive and use Alnico V magnets. The J Bass range has two models, and the P Bass range includes 4 models.

Here is a table to summarise the range.

Pickups	Magnet	Strings
J Bass – ‘60 HF	Alnico V	4, 5
J Bass – ’60 PE	Alnico V	4, 5
P Bass – ’51 Flat Pole P	Alnico V	4
P Bass – ’52 Stagger P	Alnico V	4
P Bass – ’58 Split Coil P	Alnico V	4
P Bass – ’65 Split Coil P	Alnico V	4

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to some questions you might still have about Bare Knuckle pickups.

Are Bare Knuckle pickups active or passive?

All Bare Knuckle pickups current available are passive pickups. They do have some pickups with a high output designed to produce the high power and crisp tones of active pickups such as the Black Hawk, Aftermath, Ragnarok, Warpig and Painkiller humbuckers.

Where are Bare Knuckle pickups made?

Bare Knuckle guitar pickups are all made in the South West of England. All the pickups are made in-house and are hand-wound by a small team led by the founder, MD Tim Mills.

Which players use Bare Knuckle pickups?

Many famous guitarists have used or currently use Bare Knuckle pickups including Matt Bellamy, Steve Stevens, Johnny Marr, Mike Shinoda and Andy Sneap.

Which guitar brands use Bare Knuckle pickups?

Several electric guitar brands use Bare Knuckle pickups on their high end guitars including ESP, Ibanez and Manson.

Here are some more articles you might find helpful:

• Best EMG Pickups
• Best Fishman Fluence Pickups
• EMG vs Fishman Fluence Pickups
• Seymour Duncan vs EMG Pickups