All user reviews for the Bare Knuckle Pickups Painkiller

I bought secondhand € 105 on e-bay Germany. I received it in its pretty box with 1 set of strings, 1 sticker, 1 in boc (?!), 1 schematic assembly: rooooh is beautiful! This is the version BattleWorn (Cover deliberately scratched) bridge position (bridge).

Specs: Alnico 5 magnet, [6 Lo, Mid 8 Hi 7], 15.6 k-ohms.

I've played (and still plays) SeymourDuncan SH4, SH5, SH6, HS8 & ToneZone DiMarzio, Evo PafPro, TheBreed, FRED.

I'd say it's hot / live as a precise and Seymour / A DiMarzio defined as: the best of two worlds what! He transcended my guitar Basswood which hitherto seemed too dull: it kept its depth, but now sings in the mediums of alder! The seller had warned me: welcome to the midrange of doom! And he was right!
Not negative to report.
I'm even ordering BareKnuckle in several other models, because I was blown away by the sound quality: it does not cry, do not drown it: it sing!
I'll tell you more when they are received / installed / tested.

While this is true, it is a sum for a microphone (see rates new on the site), but after trying many "classic" more affordable, we must recognize that the quality and service (BKP team to listening, ultra fast response by e-mail) are well worth the price!

I do not know if this would be the ideal microphone on a wood / violin + gloss (e), but the lime, to play its saturated fat but defined, is the great class!

I put 9, and I recommend it!

Bare Knuckles pickups is a boutique pickup maker from the United Kingdom. They have been becoming very popular very fast due to their super heavy metal pickups. They have been making the most brutal pickups for modern music recently. This company has shown that passive pickups can still be brutal. People have been switching from EMG's to Bare Knuckle pickups because the passives are more brual plus have all the dynamics that you would expect from a passive pickup. The popularity of Djent music has meant that players are demanding pickups with way different attributes than what traditional pickup makers provide. Bare Knuckle pickups is able to make pickups for these players that fit their requirements perfectly. The Painkiller humbucker is labeled by Bare Knuckle pickups as the ultimate Djent pickup. In Djent music you need a super tight low end and a grinding midrange and that is what this pickup provides. You can tell by just looking at the finish that this pickup means business. The bridge output is 15.6k which is pretty average for a Bare Knuckle pickup. The eq'ing on this pickup is super aggressive. The high mids will cut your head off. This pickup grinds like no bodies business. The low end is dialed way back to help amplify the mids. The high end is pretty hot as well but it is not harsh in any way. Plus most djent music is played on 7 strings and with 7 string pickups you dont want the pickup having a ton of low end because the guitar will naturally have more than a normal guitar. These pickups are not just for riffing either they stay clear and open for complex chords as well. If you are looking for the tightest most grinding djent pickup on the market the Painkiller is a popular choice.

The Bare Knuckle Pickups Painkiller is part of BKP’s contemporary line. It is a high output pickup with lots of midrange and aggression. Like all BKPs, this can come with various options regarding wiring, covers, screw colors, etc. The one I had was wound for the bridge position and came with four conductor wiring and a ceramic magnet.

The Painkiller is an absolute monster of a pickup. The midrange just oozes out of this thing. Although Tim says there’s not a lot of bass, this pickup is actually fairly thick sounding. More importantly, it’s extremely tight and clear. Unlike most high output pickups out there, BKPs manage to stay clear and open sounding. This helps make this very complex chords really shimmer and allows you to hear every little nuance. The treble is fairly aggressive in this, but I never found it to be overly trebly or icepicky in any way.

The pickup cleans up nicely, but I really feel this is a pickup meant for metal. It seems to work very nicely with mahogany and darker woods, but I bet it would sound great in alder and basswood as well. Midgain tones were also pretty nice. I never got to try split coil or parallel wiring with this pickup, so I can’t describe how those sound, unfortunately.

If you’re in the market for a more boutique pickup that delivers ridiculous clarity, tight bass and aggressive midrange, this is really the pickup you want to get. Its tightness is pretty crazy, and I think the only pickups that are tighter are the Miracle Man and the newly released Aftermath (which is really just a tweaked Painkiller). The price might sway some people away from these, and I can understand that. If the price is an issue, try to look for one used.