eclecticsynergy
Ambassador of Electric Synergy
There's something special about them - all of them, it seems. Very good clarity and string-to-string definition.
I think Tim is really good at finding just the right tension and scatter, and he applies that skill across the whole line.
Can't claim to have sampled them all of course, or even very many of them.
But comments about a certain special clarity seem to crop up in reviews of many of his models.
I have three sets and like them all very much. People tend to focus on how great the bridge pickups are (not without good reason, mind you) but because of that I feel the BKP necks are underappreciated gems. They're really good.
These are my three Bareknuckle sets:
Rebel Yell - nice bright set that straddles the line between vintage and modern character (and output). Bridge is hot enough for soaring leads and crisp enough to stay well-defined with quite a bit of gain. Yet when you roll back, the brightness allows it to cop a very nice vintage style as well. Neck is a sweetheart, warmer than the bridge but nice and chimey when desired. That clarity makes for a great neck lead tone too - nice pick attack, no mud. Marvelous in a mahogany guitar or anything warm. Might be a little too bright for a thin sounding axe tho.
Holy Diver - not sure how this compares with the VH II set but I like it a lot for the classic 80s style tones. To me this bridge is like an optimized JB, without the JBs traditional weak points. Doesn't get as loose in the lows yet still feels alnico/organic under your fingers. There isn't as much of a snarly upper-mid spike but just like the JB, single note lead tone stays thick even high up the neck. And it cleans up pretty well when you roll back; I've always considered cleanup to be the JB's Achilles' heel. Neck is balanced right for a great middle position tone and also excels on its own.
Polymath - my latest BKP set so I'm still sorta honeymooning, but I think it's going to be my favorite. Somehow he gave these super rich midrange without skewing the overall frequency balance. Crisp and airy in the highs, deep yet tight in the lows, with a really nice balance of wood and chime. Warm and full and voicelike when driven, yet no nasal, honky or vowely quality stands out. While there's a lot of complexity happening in those mids, they never seem congested at all. They just open up and sing when you want them to, like they're reading your mind through your fingers. The responsiveness is sort of uncanny. I like these. A lot.
I think Tim is really good at finding just the right tension and scatter, and he applies that skill across the whole line.
Can't claim to have sampled them all of course, or even very many of them.
But comments about a certain special clarity seem to crop up in reviews of many of his models.
I have three sets and like them all very much. People tend to focus on how great the bridge pickups are (not without good reason, mind you) but because of that I feel the BKP necks are underappreciated gems. They're really good.
These are my three Bareknuckle sets:
Rebel Yell - nice bright set that straddles the line between vintage and modern character (and output). Bridge is hot enough for soaring leads and crisp enough to stay well-defined with quite a bit of gain. Yet when you roll back, the brightness allows it to cop a very nice vintage style as well. Neck is a sweetheart, warmer than the bridge but nice and chimey when desired. That clarity makes for a great neck lead tone too - nice pick attack, no mud. Marvelous in a mahogany guitar or anything warm. Might be a little too bright for a thin sounding axe tho.
Holy Diver - not sure how this compares with the VH II set but I like it a lot for the classic 80s style tones. To me this bridge is like an optimized JB, without the JBs traditional weak points. Doesn't get as loose in the lows yet still feels alnico/organic under your fingers. There isn't as much of a snarly upper-mid spike but just like the JB, single note lead tone stays thick even high up the neck. And it cleans up pretty well when you roll back; I've always considered cleanup to be the JB's Achilles' heel. Neck is balanced right for a great middle position tone and also excels on its own.
Polymath - my latest BKP set so I'm still sorta honeymooning, but I think it's going to be my favorite. Somehow he gave these super rich midrange without skewing the overall frequency balance. Crisp and airy in the highs, deep yet tight in the lows, with a really nice balance of wood and chime. Warm and full and voicelike when driven, yet no nasal, honky or vowely quality stands out. While there's a lot of complexity happening in those mids, they never seem congested at all. They just open up and sing when you want them to, like they're reading your mind through your fingers. The responsiveness is sort of uncanny. I like these. A lot.
