Hot or Not? Bare Knuckle Irish Tours

MonkeyZero

MonkeyZero

Mexican Mayonnaise Weiner Sandwich
Bare Knuckle pickups

Anyone have any experience with these pickups? I've been watching videos all night and I like them a lot. Found a set for $250. Can they be had cheaper?
Thoughts? Comparisons? Alternatives?
 
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I don't know if you can find them for less. But I can sell you a set of Porter Handwound Classics for $125 shipped. People on TGP seem to like them. Check out the YT videos. They represent the sound of those pickups very well.
 
PunkKitty said:
I don't know if you can find them for less. But I can sell you a set of Porter Handwound Classics for $125 shipped. People on TGP seem to like them. Check out the YT videos. They represent the sound of those pickups very well.
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I'm only finding humbucker videos of those and I'm looking for an s/s/s set. Are the ones you have singles? I is confused. :embarrassed:
 
Semi bump. I'm actually more interested in the Mothers Milk set now. Same questions as before. I'm looking for a really across the board set.
 
I've never played a set, but I know a guy who has them in all of his guitars. They sound great when he plays them. Then again, a fucking concrete block with some strings taped to it would probably sound great played by him.

I wouldn't count on finding them any cheaper though.
 
The Dimarzio area series are fantastic as you can get if you're looking for silent singles, and the Duncan antiquity series kicks ass too.
 
MonkeyZero said:
They all sound good but I'm hesitant to judge by a sound clip. I need his input! I like the Apaches too.
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I'm having an Emerald and a Piledriver installed in my McFeely. I don't have any prior experience with their SC pups, but the humbucker a are great! Price stings a bit, but I like them better than any Duncan/DiMarzio I've ever tried.


Sent from my iPhone at a Tijuana donkey show.
 
I don't have any prior experience with their humbucker pups, but the single coils are great!
 
vintage clubber said:
I have a hard time paying that kind of money for a set of strat pickups, considering I can get a set from Rose Pickups for $60...:shrug:
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Yeah, I feel the same way. Bare Knuckle has a fantastic reputation and uses it's branding well, they are much bigger than small pickup manufacturers but smaller than the big names, sweet spot in the market, but not $250 a set sweet to me when I know I can get something 95% as good for less.
 
I've got a set of Bareknuckle 'Mississippi Queen' P90s in my SG and they are a cut above. Very, very responsive pickups - the sound changes dramatically with the tiniest tweak of the tone/volume pots - makes them incredibly versatile (but also quite hard to use!)

I like the Irish Tours - my friend has them in his Strat and I've done a direct comparison with the Texas Specials in mine - quite similar in terms of output (I think the BKs might be a bit hotter).

If you're looking for a set of hot Strat pickups you can't go too wrong with the Irish Tours. They are expensive but so are Fralins, Lollar, Suhr etc. If you want something a bit cheaper then the Fender Texas Specials would be a good bet.

Word of warning - they won't quite do the vintage Strat sound - but if you're going for an overwound set and not too bothered then I recommend them.
 
vintage clubber said:
I have a hard time paying that kind of money for a set of strat pickups, considering I can get a set from Rose Pickups for $60...:shrug:
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I'm sorry, but there is a notable difference between a $60 Rose set and the Irish tours. I'm not saying the $60 Rose pickups are bad, but let's stick with apples to apples here.
Now the Rose Belle at $110 a set, those sound fantastic and would be closer to comparable, but you also need to weigh in the guitar they go in to.

I've moved on from the Irish Tours as I don't want all that Texas sound. The Apaches and the Mother's Milk are more the sound I'm looking for which is why I bring up the Rose Belle. More similar.
 
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MonkeyZero said:
I'm sorry, but there is a notable difference between a $60 Rose set and the Irish tours. I'm not saying the $60 Rose pickups are bad, but let's stick with apples to apples here.
Now the Rose Belle at $110 a set, those sound fantastic and would be closer to comparable, but you also need to weigh in the guitar they go in to.

I've moved on from the Irish Tours as I don't want all that Texas sound. The Apaches and the Mother's Milk are more the sound I'm looking for which is why I bring up the Rose Belle. More similar.
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Which Rose sets have you tried? I have installed Buff Beauties, Mariposas, and Robustos thus far.
 
Just to rile this up a bit, how could one say comparing apples to apples when one has not tested either set? That's kinda playing into exactly what Bare Knuckle has set up, charging a premium price to instill a premium customer base. As I said, i've heard nothing but good things about Bare Knuckle pups, but it all comes back to that "boutique" thing we had a thread about, if you spend that kinda money on something that is "boutique", you have expectations in that product. You'll most likely automatically think them amazing because you threw down $250 for some wire and magnets, when there is the strong possibility that a full set that costs $150 or less would be absolutely equaled if you blindly A/B'd them.
 
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