Bare Knuckle Impulse

Dave Sloven

Dave Sloven

Ambassador of DOOM!
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I had some money to spend and these were on sale so I couldn't resist. Ordered them today and should have them fairly soon. Going into my yellow Gibson SG for now, but I might move them around

www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

Impulse humbucker

The Impulse humbucker is a full, tight pickup that embraces down-tuned guitars but can also handle medium-gain applications for full, muscular, rock-mids.
www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk




Seven string version:



I don't play most of these styles of music but just going on the characteristics and the similarities to my Black Hawks I think they are a pretty safe bet.
 
Oh okay that clears that up, the wording in your initial post confused me a bit. I'm glad that you like those pickups. I see a lot of Mayones guitars with Bare Knuckles on forums etc, I think BKPs and Mayones are a popular combination. Also this guy for example seems to have a whole collection of Mayones guitars with different versions of the Black Hawk, Aftermaths, Juggernauts, Impulses, and who knows what else. Must be rich I guess. All of his demos seem to have the same annoying playing and awful EQ in them though


EDIT:
Also I found this demo last night. I can't play like this guy but it gives a good idea of the tone of these pickups.

 
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Hotter is not better ... also I have tried various pole piece configurations and found that they don't make a lot of difference

Pickups are such a subjective thing, and it 100% depends on the purpose intended and the combination of elements within the rig as a whole

With regard to price, there are plenty of DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, and other brands of pickup that are in the same price range

Pricewise these Aetec pickups are competing with Mighty Mite etc
 
BKP are great pickups. They seem to have a little something special compared to most brands.
Maybe it's because he hand-feeds the wire when winding the coils.

I haven't used the Cobras or the Impulse set but I really like the Rebel Yell set in one of my Explorers.
The Holy Divers are great too, though a little hotter than most of my other sets which are vintage to vintage-hot.
Holy Diver bridge is about as loud as a JB but more balanced, not so 1980s sounding.

~

GM is a decent cheap source for Chinese clones of premium pickups. (I think Aetec is just a typo; they're likely to be made by Artec.)
I've had good service from GM for a couple of purchases (59er PAF, .25cal alnico fatpole Strat pickups, and a Tele bridge).
He ships from here in the USA - Staten Island, NY.
 
I have GM P90's in ---well ALL my P90 Gibsons -- and they all sound better--the Firbird was damn near UNPLAYABLE when I got it -- the hum was insane and the guitar had bad static issues --- @Hackmaster can confirm my issues as I reached out to him several times for guidance/tips/tricks-- it is now as quiet as several of my Humbucker guitars---still has that P90 growl with VOl knobs on full -- and gets WAY WAY WAY more play time now as it is not so annoying and unruly

the Les Paul Jr 2015 had a WEAK sad excuse for a P90 with tiny "slug" poles no adjustment ability -- put an 18.00 (yep to the door) Dog ear from GM in it and it now keeps up with any Les Paul Jr out there-----but yet----has 1/2 the hum and negative issues associated with a P90


they also offer lower out put :"vintage toned" pups

my thought would be for 25.00 why not "try" them before dropping 250.00 on BPK --- but to be totally honest--- I dont have a new album out either -- so WTF do I know ;)
---I figured Id beat ya to it BUWAHAHAHAHAHAH

What ya NEED there Davie ol Lad-- is an ENDORSEMENT from BPK -- and then ya get all their toys for FREE ;)
ANd your pic on ads for them--
and posters....t-shirts...schwag...groupies....
and perhaps a sponsored world tour???
then you can come to the SWAMP for a MOTM!! ;)
 
eSGEe said:
my thought would be for 25.00 why not "try" them before dropping 250.00 on BPK --- but to be totally honest--- I dont have a new album out either -- so WTF do I know ;)
---I figured Id beat ya to it BUWAHAHAHAHAHAH

What ya NEED there Davie ol Lad-- is an ENDORSEMENT from BPK -- and then ya get all their toys for FREE ;)
ANd your pic on ads for them--
and posters....t-shirts...schwag...groupies....
and perhaps a sponsored world tour???
then you can come to the SWAMP for a MOTM!! ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah well I guess the BKPs are a big part of my sound now, that's why I keep using them ... I've built my whole sound around their uncompressed, detailed, clear character ... I don't run any compression besides what is created in the gain channels of my amp, and that really exposes the character of the pickups. I tried Seymour Duncan Blackouts when I got the ATX and they were basically unusable. I'm pretty broke but this covid situation has ironically put a bit of spending money in my pocket and these were considerably discounted compared to what it would cost for me to order them direct from the UK at the moment ... despite the UK succumbing to the virus and the USA as well we are still very much an export-based primary industry economy, exporting food and raw materials to the rest of the world, so if our trading partners are buying less and we keep buying consumer goods (of which we produce very little) then our dollar suffers.

I wish I did have an endorsement but there is no long-term vision of this band where we could build to that point. I am 53 soon and not in great health, so we perhaps have two albums after this one max before I retire from playing live altogether. In the meantime I can enjoy my toys. The covid provisions also allowed us to access our superannuation funds (up to $10K - AUD - a financial year) early tax free if we are long-term unemployed so I have done that and I might spend most of that money with Stew Mac on tools to start a business as a guitar tech. Even if I don't make much money from that I will have the tools to keep myself occupied and working on my own stuff. I already have a Foredom SR that I bought back when I had a good salary, that was extravagant but now I can buy the various attachments to convert it into a router for inlays, pickguards etc so I might use the $10K for that. I'd like to use it to go visit my friends in California but I don't know when I will be able to travel overseas again

I seriously doubt that we will ever tour overseas. Our drummer doesn't even have a passport and when I mentioned touring New Zealand and Southeast Asia to them they were all like 'we're too broke and I don't have a passport'

So I guess we will just remain this obscure underground band from Australia. Hopefully people talk about us when we're gone!
 
eclecticsynergy said:
BKP are great pickups. They seem to have a little something special compared to most brands.
Maybe it's because he hand-feeds the wire when winding the coils.

I haven't used the Cobras or the Impulse set but I really like the Rebel Yell set in one of my Explorers.
The Holy Divers are great too, though a little hotter than most of my other sets which are vintage to vintage-hot.
Holy Diver bridge is about as loud as a JB but more balanced, not so 1980s sounding.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree. There is something about them that I really like, it's the openness and clarity of them. How exactly they achieve it besides the scatter-winding I'm not really sure. Rebel Yell is supposed to be excellent in Explorers. Apparently in normal scale lengths and tunings the Impulse is closest to a Rebel Yell or a Cold Sweat. I have a Cold Sweat and I've tried an Emerald and from what I understand the Rebel Yell is somewhere between the two. I suspect that the Impulse has a lot of Black Hawk character to it as well though.

I really want to try a ceramic Black Hawk combined with a Cobra. Someone is selling a Schecter 006 (the early 2002 standard series, which were a better instrument) with the HS pickup config and hardtail with a bolt-on neck so I might contact that guy to see if he can ship it interstate with a view to installing that combo later. I am also thinking of selling some of my BKPs, or maybe swapping either my Warpig set or my Nailbomb set for my friend's Emerald set. He's never really been happy with it because he has it one of those Les Paul Studios from the early '90s with the chambering and basically the guitar has no balls, and can't cope with a tighter, brighter pickup like the Emerald bridge, especially as he is putting it through a 20W Laney Lionheart into a 212. I thought the guitar sounded great into my 6534+ and 412 but that set up has so much balls that a Melody Maker would sound huge through it.

The Impulse set is at the post office waiting for me, I just need to get in the shower and then go collect it.
 
Play what you like is what I say, I know I am. I like my Gibson, Fender USA, and Carvin pups ;)
Can't wait to try some Made in Canada with pride pups - I'm sure if I keep stating this sooner or later we'll have a new Canadian pup manufacturer - lol.
 
:love::love::love::love:

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Well ya dont get all the case candy w/ the 25.00 GM pups ------

however sometimes --- they screw up and you get 2 sets of pickups -- for the price of 1 -----
yep I bought a set of these 5 weeks ago---
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they came in 3 weeks ago--- I went to install them LAST weekend and I didnt like the fitment in the SG -- so I offeed them to @Hackmaster for a project he is undertaking......and low and behold when I got home today ---- a FRESH SET (free not charged to my card) of the IDENTICAL pups were in the mailbox.............

NOW THAT IS SERVICE----- no fancy box.......or coaster......I like the coaster-- did that pick come with them to???
 
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