Bare Knuckle Pickups The Sinner Single Coil Set

Bare Knuckle is a boutique pickup maker from England known for making some of the most brutal pickups out there. They are so brutal I know of people who are trading in their EMGs for a set of Bare Knuckle pickups. That is a huge statement when it comes to heavy metal pickups that a company can make passive pickups as brutal and heavy as active EMG pickups which have been the standard for metal pickups for the past 20 years. They carry this brutality along with them in their single coil designs. Although they are not as popular as their humbuckers they are gaining popularity among people who want straight single coil replacements that look stock but have an insane sound. These pickups are real single coil with a huge sound bigger than most humbuckers. These pickups are eq'd slightly towards the bass end to drive and blanace out the natural single coil sound. A trebly pickup with this output would be pretty much unusable. In the neck with its tons of output you can get super smooth leads tones and really bright cleans. This single coil can drive any amp. The neck pickup having an output of 15k should warn you what you are getting into when you throw these in your strat. The bridge pickup is on a whole different planet. The bridge pickup is has an output of 21.5k which is crazy for a true single coil. With such output and low end this pickup has crazy chunk. You have never gotten such heavy palm mutes with a single coil before it is crazy. Since these are super high output true single coils there will be noise so you will have to start gating. If you are looking for the most brutal true single coil on the market here they are.

The Bare Knuckle Pickups Sinner is part of the contemporary line of single coil pickups that BKP offers. It’s an extremely high output single coil that will absolutely crush most normal humbuckers out there. Like all BKPs, this comes with tons of options to choose from. Most people run these in the bridge, but mine was actually a neck model with the vintage stagger, Alnico V magnet and normal base plate.

The Sinner is one crazy single coil pickup. Tim doesn’t offer any single coil sized humbuckers due to him saying they compromise tone. While I disagree with that, his take on what a heavy metal single coil should be is pretty insane. This thing has gobs and gobs of power. In fact, it doesn’t really sound like a normal single coil. The lows on this thing are absolutely brutal and crushing. The midrange is pushed back a bit to allow for the lows and high end to help make the pickup sound big. The treble is fairly even sounding with maybe being pushed back just a touch.

When I ran this in the neck of my guitar, it delivered a wonderful singing lead tone. If you’re one for smooth lead tones, this is the pickup you want to get. Despite being a crazy hot overwound pickup, it was still very clear and open sounding. When you rolled back the volume and turned on the clean channel, it delivered a pretty nice clean, too. One thing I will say is that, because this is a normal single coil, it will hum. You’re going to have to live with that as Tim doesn’t offer single coil sized humbuckers. He will, however, rewind one if you give it to him.

If you’re looking for the most brutal single coil on the market, this is the pickup you want to get. It’s crazy powerful, and it can pretty much crush any normal humbucker on the market. To top it off, it still remains clear sounding under high gain.

I bought used a year ago because I was looking for a powerful microwave to replace the single coil in his skimpy micro standard strat.
I wanted a humbucker but luthiers with whom I have brought my guitar to work on it only worked with Bare Knuckle, which make no single humbucker format. They directed me to this microwave a friend to them (a seller of a well known music store in Brussels) resold, and like a fool and confidence, I bought it.

So I do not know if the guy I passed on another model of micro-or is it the right, but still it is that this microphone does not match what I expected and described by English is the manufacturer: This microphone is supposed to have a high level of output and produce no unwanted noise while retaining the characteristic sound of single coils ...

Well yes, of course, it keeps the identity of a single coil, the output level is slightly higher than a traditional and it blows a little less, but nothing really amazing!

I did place it in this neck on a Start with a Seymour Duncan Japan SL59 in bridge and it's a little better, unless he produces a bit too low for my taste and lacks teeth, So I'm still not satisfied with the result.

Moral: beware when you buy a Micro OCCAZ because if there is no distinguishing mark on the mic, you can not be assured that this is the right and you may be having This is probably my case!

Well then here I can do a little focus.
I tried everything that was done on single coil bridge couillu (seymour, Lollar, DiMarzio ...).
And bein this little gem made me hallucinate!
Found (on my guitar case in tt) sound very vintage / medium between the old strata, the guts of large pickups telecaster brown sugar, and something of a p90 or a little bam vieu demagnetized.
I have a double handle, and combinations are very interesting with the sinner, was bold, both medium and twang (I have a switch that allows to set neck and bridge without touching the middle coil).
sinner ... it sounds almost a chouille Gretch / strat / tele.
Try it on another guitar though.