Bareknuckle pickup decision.

[LotsOfGrease]

I haven't tried most of them. I've got the Juggernauts in two guitars and love them. I recently swapped out the Juggs in my #1 (see avatar) for some Polymaths, then swapped back to the Juggernauts. The Polymaths sounded great in the Solar I got them in (I gushed about them on here), but in my #1 they sounded really blase -- the mids were really flat and broad, filling all the available space but lacking an actual voice. The Solar was mahogany and my #1 is northern ash over swamp ash, if you believe in that sort of thing. My #1 started out with SD Nazgul/Sentient (as seen in avatar), which I hated in that but really liked in my now-sold KM6, so it might just be an eccentric guitar.

The Juggs have a couple spikes in the mids that some people dislike, but it's subtle enough it doesn't give me a cocked wah vibe and prominent enough to have a distinctive voice. I also tried the Painkiller 7 set in a KM7 but found them bright and thin. It had an evertune tho which may have contributed.

The only other BKPs I have are the 63 veneer board singles and the Stockholm HSP90s, so that's no help. I do have a custom Valravn 7 with Silos on the way that I'm excited about.

I've been looking into the polymath a little as well. How would you describe the top end? Is it really brittle and harsh? From what I've read it's got a grindy upper mid thing. What kind of bass is it packing?

 

[getowned7474]

It's hard to be fully objective since the pickups are in two very different guitars but I'd say that the rags seems to have a bit more tightness on the bass which makes since with the ceramic magnet. That's not to say either are insanely tight or flubby pickups. They are on the tighter side compared most other brands tbh but just not quite as tight as say an aftermath or something which isn't a bad thing necessary.

I'd definitely say the treble roll off is more obvious with the rags. They come off as smooth and refined in a way on the top end but still have plenty of pick attack and bite from a decent upper mid range. The Silo definitely has more definition and grit in the treble than the rags.

Idk which I like better they are pretty different. I'd say the rags are good in that they are pretty neutral and clear and you could probably plug into most rigs and not have to tweak settings too much and get a good tone. The Silos are more gritty/raw and have a lot more character in the midrange. They might take more time to dial in with a rig in comparison with the rags for instance. I guess I'd say the Silos are a little more fun but might be more picky about the guitar or rig it goes into.

I have a Aristides H/07 with polymaths being built right now I'm excited about too.

 

[profwoot]

I've been looking into the polymath a little as well. How would you describe the top end? Is it really brittle and harsh? From what I've read it's got a grindy upper mid thing. What kind of bass is it packing?

The Polymaths have pretty extended top end and good clarity, because they're still scatter-wound and asymmetrically wound, but definitely not harsh. The midrange is broad, apparently related to the unoriented magnet. Beyond that it's hard to characterize the mids because in the Solar they had a lovely grunt in the mid mids and in the Mayo they had a high-mids pink noise thing. They're not an especially bassy pickup to begin with, plus my set was covered with no visible screws, which would tend to reduce the bass, so I had the bass knob on my amp turned up a couple notches.

My custom with Silos isn't here yet but I expect them to have a lot more low end and lower resonant peak in the mids. Bea's high gain tone tends to be huge and squishy, since most of his stuff has a single guitar part and he likes to fill the spectrum.

 

[LotsOfGrease]

It's hard to be fully objective since the pickups are in two very different guitars but I'd say that the rags seems to have a bit more tightness on the bass which makes since with the ceramic magnet. That's not to say either are insanely tight or flubby pickups. They are on the tighter side compared most other brands tbh but just not quite as tight as say an aftermath or something which isn't a bad thing necessary.

I'd definitely say the treble roll off is more obvious with the rags. They come off as smooth and refined in a way on the top end but still have plenty of pick attack and bite from a decent upper mid range. The Silo definitely has more definition and grit in the treble than the rags.

Idk which I like better they are pretty different. I'd say the rags are good in that they are pretty neutral and clear and you could probably plug into most rigs and not have to tweak settings too much and get a good tone. The Silos are more gritty/raw and have a lot more character in the midrange. They might take more time to dial in with a rig in comparison with the rags for instance. I guess I'd say the Silos are a little more fun but might be more picky about the guitar or rig it goes into.

I have a Aristides H/07 with polymaths being built right now I'm excited about too.

It's hard to be fully objective since the pickups are in two very different guitars but I'd say that the rags seems to have a bit more tightness on the bass which makes since with the ceramic magnet. That's not to say either are insanely tight or flubby pickups. They are on the tighter side compared most other brands tbh but just not quite as tight as say an aftermath or something which isn't a bad thing necessary.

I'd definitely say the treble roll off is more obvious with the rags. They come off as smooth and refined in a way on the top end but still have plenty of pick attack and bite from a decent upper mid range. The Silo definitely has more definition and grit in the treble than the rags.

Idk which I like better they are pretty different. I'd say the rags are good in that they are pretty neutral and clear and you could probably plug into most rigs and not have to tweak settings too much and get a good tone. The Silos are more gritty/raw and have a lot more character in the midrange. They might take more time to dial in with a rig in comparison with the rags for instance. I guess I'd say the Silos are a little more fun but might be more picky about the guitar or rig it goes into.

I have a Aristides H/07 with polymaths being built right now I'm excited about too.

I've been considering the polymaths as well recently. The demo nolly does sounds amazing. I like the grindy mid range sound they have a lot. I'm worried they would lack bass though which is why I've been looking at the silo. But I love the upper mid sound of the polymaths more. And there is something about the rags that just sound appealing but I'm worried they are just going to be dull. Bareknuckle doesn't make bad pickups but considering their price I'd rather not play the guessing game to much.

 

[tom schelfaut]

I have a ceramic warpig in one of my guitars, it's really high output but it sounds like a freight train, it's awesome! I also have a guitar with a black hawk, which is also really tight and clear sounding. Impulses are also really good for low tunings. If you want something different, also check Lundgren pickups, m6 or black heaven.

 

[Lemonbaby]

@LotsOfGrease So what did you end up buying?