Bareknuckle pickups have become quite the household name in the guitar industry of late. Their reputation has gone global in just a couple of years and they’re often spoken about as if they were legend!

There is a reason for this – they are simply amazing. They’re handmade in the UK by a man named Tim Mills and his crew, all of which are guitarists from all walks of life, so you know you’re getting the best testing. Every pickup they invent has been tried and tested onstage, in the studio, in all sorts of guitars and by all sorts of players. Nothing gets passed these guys unless it’s the best of the best.

Buying from small independent companies like this can be daunting. Because they’re so specialized they are made with no expense spared, so the price never fails to shock. This makes it a bit scary to hand over hundreds of pounds to someone you’ve never really heard of before. I mean, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and John Petrucci to name a few all play Dimarzio, who have been around for decades now, and are a very trustworthy name indeed. But Dimarzio don’t hand-make their pickups with the finest materials and rigorous testing.

I highly recommend you take the plunge and grab whichever pickup suits your style. You will never be disappointed, I can guarantee that. If in doubt, you can email Tim and ask for his advice on what will suit your guitar/style.

The Sound

The Painkiller is advertised on Bareknuckle’s website as the ‘metal god in a pickup’. They’re not wrong.

I bought a calibrated set of the 7-string model to replace the Dimarzio New 7s that come as stock in the Ibanez RG7620. The Dimarzios are by no means bad pickups, and are a large step above and beyond any stocks you’ll find in lower-end Ibanez or ESP guitars, but I felt like they weren’t quite supplying my demand for aggression.

Bridge

The Painkiller, however, was exactly what I was looking for. There isn’t a word capable of describing this pickups’ aggression. It has this mid growl with a cold-blooded top end attack that takes your face off, whilst retaining this warm punch to the stomach in the low end. As for tightness – there is no tighter without getting active circuitry. These things are ridiculously tight, to the point where you’d hardly notice if you switched your noise-gate off.

Neck

One word I can think of to describe the neck pickup – Filthy. This thing is low down, dirty, nasty and aggressive as all hell. It never ever at any point sounds woolly, though, and much like it’s bridge counterpart it retains clarity no matter what. The tones are absolute heavenly and sustain for days.

If you are ever in need to give your rig a kick in the pants, don’t go buying pedals and effects, just get some Bareknuckle Painkillers! ‘Fatness’ is the most appropriate word I can use to describe the over-all feel. Not muddiness, as they retain absolute clarity across the board, but fatness as in ‘chunk’ and hugeness! When multitracked they make your mix sound massive in comparison to other brands, and have the most pinpointed definition I’ve ever heard!

Installation

A word of warning – Bareknuckle pole-pieces are mighty long! That said, the RG7620 does have inherently shallow pickup cavities. I had to drill some holes in the pickup cavities for the pole-pieces to sit in so the pickup would sit at the right height. Also, and this was my fault, the pickup tabs were too square for the triangular ears on the cavities on the RG7620, meaning I had to cut/file them to shape. This could easily have been avoided, however, had I noticed on the order form that they can make the pickups with triangular tabs to fit such a cavity. Nevermind!

As for wiring, it’s pretty standard, and you have the option to have 4 conductor wiring for coil splitting, or 2 braided wires for simpler 3-way switches. I chose the 4-way, seeing as it’s an Ibanez I installed them on, so I could utilize the coil splitting method to get some great clean tones.

SOUNDCLIP

Here is a sound clip I recorded with the pickups in a multitracked format so you can get a grasp for their power. Unfortunately I didn’t record an example of the neck pickup but I will do soon!

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Generally speaking I find it quite off-putting when I see a piece of gear that’s synonymous with a big-name player. I don’t know if it’s fear for my individuality, or more the fact that I know what they sound like, and I may or may not want that tone. The DiMarzio D-Sonic was no exception, until I tried it.

You see, you shouldn’t really go by the player that made it famous, because they have it their way, with their settings, in their guitar, with their gear, played in their style. Go at it with a neutral attitude and completely ignore the player in question. I love John Petrucci’s playing to absolute death, but personally his rhythm tone would never work in a million years for my music. It’s too smooth, not very focused, and quite woolly in places, so with that in mind I was unnecessarily apprehensive about trying the D-Sonic, but it was in my price range and was highly recommended.

The D-Sonic has a neat little feature that’s utilized to great effect by a lot of players (Petrucci included), where they switch the pickup upside-down on installation, so the bar faces the neck. As DiMarzio states, this is supposed to add a warmer, and slightly louder sound better suited for standard tunings and lead playing. I tried it this way at first, and instantly took my strings off to turn it around! I didn’t like it at all. It was honky, bulbous, undefined, and muddy. Basically, it sounded like a neck pickup in the bridge position. That’s not to say you wouldn’t like it, but I most certainly didn’t.

I was quite disappointed, and resigned my thoughts to how they were before I installed the pickup, which were that of apprehension. On turning the bar to the bridge however I was absolutely delighted. Luckily, DiMarzio were right, and there is a significant difference in sound when the pickup is turned around. It had definition, masses of tightness and clarity, chunk, and plenty of output.

The D-Sonic is an extremely clean pickup, with absolute clarity even when massively overdriven. In fact, the more you crank it, the cleaner and tighter it gets! I tried it both with my Peavey Banditt 112, and my PODxt, and it withheld the same qualities through both units. Even when the guitar was detuned to Drop C it was still just as clear as it was in E, despite the huge boost in string gauge.

This pickup has a fiercely tight bottom end with plenty of chunk and swing, the mids are clear and defined without honk, and the highs are exceptional, despite them being rolled back a touch in comparison to the bass and mid on this particular model of pickup.

I was quite let down by the output at first, because it didn’t appear to be much hotter than the pickup that it replaced. I mean, it was hotter, but not as much as I thought it was going to be. However, this thing is extremely variable depending on your attack, and I’d underestimated its output due to its unbelievable clarity.

It has amazing response, and even when your amp’s very low in gain, as soon as you crank out a pinched harmonic it will squeal for days on end. I was seriously surprised with its output capabilities, especially on lead runs. It’s probably the cleanest and most responsive pickup I’ve ever tried for leads, which is obviously how Petrucci gets that sick pick attack sound when shredding. It never slurs.

I highly recommend this pickup for anyone who loves their metal with crisp tightness, a huge bottom end and articulation. That said, it’s versatile enough to do some hot blues, and even the clean tones aren’t harsh for such a hot pickup.

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Price new: £340

Neck type: Bolt-on Maple

Body: Basswood with Flame Maple Veneer

Hardware: Chrome

Bridge: Floyd Rose licensed double-locking trem

Frets: 22 Jumbo

Pickups: 2 Duncan Designed humbuckers. HB-103B (bridge), HB-103N (neck)

Price second hand: £170 - £250

Review
It’s a privilege to be able to say that this was my first big brand guitar. Not so much for its playability or sound, but for its iconicity and status in the metal world. Despite it being a low-end model of the Randy Rhoads series it was a model of his non-the-less, and for a 16-year-old avid Ozzy fan that was enough for me!

Playability
One of the flattest Jackson necks I’ve ever felt. It feels right the moment you put finger to wood. Major effortlessness, fast action, and great fret access, which is marginally due to the shape of the body. Speaking of which, this is not a guitar for sitting down! In fact it’s a total pain. The only way I managed to comfortably jam whilst sitting in a chair was to perch myself right on the edge, put one ‘spike’ of the V-shaped body either side of my right thigh so it’s sort of pivoted, and have the neck across my body as though I were standing up. Needless to say this is a performing guitar, you only have to look at the shape and the man behind the design to know that, but I can imagine it being a thorn in your side in a recording studio.

On the contrary it feels extremely well balanced when playing standing up. The sheer length of the body evens the weight out very well, and if you leave it to hang freely around your neck without laying hands on it, it finds the perfect medium.

Sound
If I’m honest, this has to be one of the guitar’s only flaws. That’s not to say it lacks tone, but a bit more oomph wouldn’t have gone a miss, as it does tend to die a bit early on sustained notes – a problem that does tend to be across the board with a lot of Duncan Designed pickups. Swap them out for some actual Seymour Duncans though and you’re laughing! Besides the lack of bite there is definitely a nice amount of crunchiness about the sound that’s perfect for all hard rock styles. Keeping it simple, Jackson has only mounted a volume pot, no tone, and a 3-way selector switch.

Over all
Ultimately this is one of the most metal guitars. With an iconic shape, shark fin inlays, amazing metallic finishes and a Floyd Rose trem, you can’t go wrong if you wanted to lay down some speed metal. If only the pickups delivered to the standard of the rest of the machine. Still, there are always the £1500+ models!

Rating

Sound: 7

Looks: 9.5

Playability: 8

Value for money: 7

Overall: 8

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Price new: £299

Neck type: Bolt-on 3pc Wizard II

Body: Basswood

Hardware: Black

Bridge: Edge III double locking

Frets: 24 Jumbo

Pickups: INF3 neck humbucker, INFS3 single coil middle, INF4 bridge humbucker

Price second hand: Probably not much less than rrp, because they’re still very much in production. £180 - £210

Review
Out of all the 6 string solid body electrics I’ve ever played and/or owned this is most probably the best so far, especially for the price. As soon as I picked It up it just felt right, looked right, played right, and most importantly it sounded right. It was my first Ibanez, and it was this guitar that made me an avid Ibanez player, and I’ve never ventured into other brands since. I wasn’t even intending on buying a guitar that day, I just happened to wander over to the music shop in my lunch break to annoy the staff by requesting to play guitars I couldn’t afford!

Playability
9 times out of 10 when I play a guitar that looks like this it always turns out to be quite disappointing. You’ve probably done it yourself; you see a guitar in a magazine or onstage, you think it looks amazing, then when you get to playing it it’s as dull as shopping with your Nan. Especially when you consider how badly they have the amps set up in music shops. But no, not this time, I plugged it in and it practically played itself. It was effortless, and even on low gain settings I could squeal it like a little piggy. Then when I got it home and adjusted it to my preference it was even more amazing. It had low action, amazing fret access, and a quick smooth tremolo, just awesome.

Sound
I’ve always said Ibanez have the best stock pickups on their guitars I’ve ever heard, and this one is no exception. Second only to the ones on my RG7620, the INF pups have such a bright, mid-crunch tone with a massive output, perfect for heavy metal and shredding. Even when you tune down they retain their brightness, which is a rarity in passive pickups. Usually you sacrifice clarity in the mid ranges when you drop a few pitches, making a sludge, but I’ve had this right down at drop B without having to drastically alter my amp settings at all.

Over all
For its price you cannot fault this guitar what so ever. It looks amazing, very Steve Vai (if you like that sort of thing) with the pearl-effect scratch plate, white paintjob, black hardware and white shark tooth inlays, this axe is a sexual beast and will look the mutts nuts onstage! It’s most certainly giggable, with tight crisp pickups that don’t feedback, and a durable smooth whammy that you can dive all day long, it would definitely be an instrument of longevity for home use, studio, or on the road.

Rating

Sound: 9

Looks: 10

Playability: 8.5

Value for money: 9

Overall: 9

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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=762150

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Provided you have access to the EQ management try something that looks a little like this for your kick drum.

Notice the deep ‘V’ shape. This is not too dissimilar to the way most metallers have their guitar tone in the sense that the mids are heavily scooped out. On a guitar this helps accent the percussiveness of the playing, forming an aggressive chug. On a kick drum however it reduces the “boxiness” from the mix, taking away the sound which, to me, sounds like a huge balloon being burst in a concert hall!

Scoop out quite a lot from 125-500hz, but leave in a few more DB’s of the 125hz end, which helps deliver the punch of the bass frequencies.

Around the 50hz mark are your bass frequencies, which, seeing as it’s the bass drum you’re modelling, should be slightly boosted. If you raise them too much however they can boom a bit more than required, so just play with it until you find a nice balance.

Taking your 1k back just a tiny bit, the rest of the EQ should raise in an upwards slope, peaking at 4k to get the attack. These are your highs and provided you’re trying to get the thrash metal “click” then these must be boosted. Depending on how much attack you want of course, it’s all to taste, but if, like me, you’re a huge metal-head then the more click you’ve got the better! Listen to drummers such as Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall or Chris Adler from Lamb of God and you’ll hear an abundance of click in their kick pedal EQ, which aides greatly when cutting through the mix of thunderous guitars, and helps develop the overall aggressive sound.

As I mentioned, it’s not for everyone, and if you’re more partial to a typical rock sound then just roll back the highs and dial in a touch more of the mid frequencies.

Now, for the snare I’ve noticed there are no real rules. As with the kick it very much depends what the sample is like. I’m only basing mine on the fact that my samples are real drum hits recorded with a mic, or at least “real sounding”. Snares tend to be a bit trickier and what works with one snare might not work with another where as kicks tend to be a bit more universal.

These are the EQ settings I use for the snare that I have and it gives a nice heavy rock style crack, with plenty of oomph to cut through the mix of the heavy bass pedals. Now, it does take some playing around, but if you use this model as a blueprint for your snare then just adjust to taste depending on what sounds best for your sample. It’s good to find a snare that you like the sound of by listening to the bands that you like, then listen along to a song and try to emulate it. I’ve based mine on the very sort after Abe Cunningham (Deftones) sound.

Reverb is a great way to make a snare sing out and sound great. Over-use it though and it will sound out of place in context to the rest of the mix. Dial it in until it sounds reasonable, and then roll it back a touch (you always over-use to begin with).

Happy programming!

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Ty, thank you for taking a break from your busy schedule,
Firstly, how did you get into music, and more specifically the guitar?
Well before I actually got my hands on an instrument, I wanted to play drums. One of my friends had just got a Bass, and I remember picking it up having so much fun just making noise with it. I then got the opportunity to sit behind a drum kit at school one day a couple months later and that was it, I knew I needed to get my own set and get myself involved in music. Several weeks later, I got my first kit and started jamming with friends after school. Guitar came later. People would leave their guitars at my house after we’d jam and I’d fool around on them at night. After a couple years of that I could play ok, and decided I wanted to pursue it more. I traded in my drums for a guitar rig. I switched back and forth between drums and guitar for a few years until settling on Guitar exclusively in 2000.

There’s clearly an 80’s instrumental rock influence in your music, Vai and Satriani are two names that certainly spring to mind. Would you say these are big influences of yours, and what other artists do you look to for inspiration?
Oh yeah absolutely. The “Healed Through Time” CD is basically a direct reflection of my influences at that time (the newest track on there is from 2003, the oldest from 2001) I was a total hairband fanatic, as well as a Satch/Vai fanatic. Nowadays, honestly it’s a different story. Satch and Vai are still a huge inspiration, but I’m definitely listening to and being influenced by some different artists. The Goo Goo Dolls, Lifehouse, Matchbox Twenty, stuff like that. The new material I’ve been working on for the next CD will move a bit more towards those influences and away from the whole 80’s thing. It’ll be more true to where my head and heart are at now, than when I wrote and recorded my first CD. It’ll still be very much a from the heart melodic rock guitar CD, but just a bit more modern sounding.

Melody plays a huge role in your music and you play with a lot of passion it has to be said. How hard do you find it to write something refreshing every time, and how often do you write and record?
Writing with heart and feeling have been something I’ve strived for since the beginning. That’s a big part of what inspired me in the first place. Songs like “Love Thing” or “Cryin’” from Satch, I love that stuff. Playing with feeling, focusing on big melodies, and strong songwriting I think are a magical combination. It is a challenge to keep it fresh and not repeat myself at times. I write and record more often than ever these days, as I now have a home recording setup. It’s great, whenever I have an idea, bam I can capture it. I’ve got two brand new tracks I’m putting on the next CD that I recorded at home over the last couple of months. It’s great to have the tools to capture inspiration right when it happens.
Writing music rarely comes easy though, and I may be a dry well creatively for months at a time. Then all of sudden I come up with two or three new Ideas over a weekend. I may come up with a good riff, and song structure quickly, but finding the melodies and solo’s I like usually takes a while.

An Ibanez man I see? (Good boy!) Tell us about your guitars.
Oh yeah, Ibanez for life! I love Ibanez Guitars, RG’s in peticular. I currently have 4 Ibanez Electrics, an Ibanez Acoustic, and a Jackson electric as well. My main guitar these days is a Blue Ibanez RGT42DXFM. It’s a neck through loaded with Stan Hinesley Pickups extra hot just the way I like ‘em

You have an absolutely sweet lead tone. Can we have a little insight into how you achieve it? Pickups, amps, strings, anything you use. Your entire rig basically, haha.
Hey thanks! Well for the “Healed” CD, it was very different from what I’m using now. I used to run the following Rig: Carvin Solid state power amp, Digitech GSP 21 Legend, BBE Sonic Maximizer, Elesis Compressor and EQ, Marshall Cab and I had an old Ibanez RG with EMG’s in it. For the sound I was after then, it did fine.

These days I like something more warm and organic, and less saturated with effects. I’ve ditched that old rig entirely and now run the following setup: ENGL 570 SE Tube Preamp, Marshall 9100 Tube Power Amp, and the TC Electronics G-Force effects processor. I’ve also got an Xotic effects BB preamp pedal I use on the floor along with my Digitech Whammy 4, and a VOX Clyde Mcoy Wah. I switch between tones with a Rocktron Midi mate. Like I mentioned above, I use custom wound Stan Hinesley Pickups, which are passive. For strings I use Guitar Force brand “Quantum Extra light gauge” strings. And last but certainly not least, I use twin MILLS Acoustic 4×12 cabs. You’ll hear the new tone all over the new material.

Now, down to a question that makes all guitarists feel guilty at some point – how much do you practice? Did you have much of a strict practice regime as you were learning or were you like me, more of a jammer?
Honestly, I have never had a specific practice routine. I’ve always just focused on working on songs. For me, that’s practice. I play everyday, whether it’s for 20 minutes, or 3 hours or more. It’s consistent, and that’s what I think matters. I don’t read or write music, or know any scales, so sitting and running through scales for hours on end has zero appeal. I used to practice alternate picking to a drum machine for a while. My right hand is definitely my weak point and needs the work. But I can only do that for so long before I lose interest. I’d rather work on a song ya know? I’ll play along to my backing tracks when I’m not rehearsing with the band for practice as well.

So what’s next for you?
Finish the new CD, and play as many shows as possible. I’ve been juggling both for the last year. Had some hang-ups with the new recording and funding for it (got burned by a record label, but that’s another story) but things are finally back on track and moving forward. I am really excited about getting the new CD done and out there for everyone to hear. Trust me, the best is yet to come!

Ty, thanks again for your time, best of luck for the future.
Thank you for the interview, my pleasure!

Check out Ty and his music here!

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In my endless search for that perfect tone I came across another avenue of possibilities. There are so many factors to take into account when approaching tone, depending on how meticulous you are of course, right down to the size of your speakers and the grain of the wood that they are mounted in.

String tension is my newest venture and it’s one of great impact. The gauge of string that you use can vary your sound massively. Because the actual mechanical movement of the string varies with its width you can therefore control the range of tones coming from it. Generally it’s quite self explanatory, the thicker the gauge the bassier and rounder the sound.

I chase a tone that’s chuggy, percussive, responsive, yet clear with a slightly scooped mid. I tend to use very light strings at the treble end and thicker strings at the bass end (9 – 46 with a 50 for the B string on my 7 strings). I like the way they feel, you can bend with ease and if you have a lot of control then you can command a massive range of sounds through them. A lot of people don’t like light strings because of the slack tension which is another factor – tone vs playability. It’s all about finding the optimum medium. For example; fast alternate picking can become clumsy on lighter strings because the string doesn’t return to centre very quickly, which is why mine thicken up as the pitch gets lower to provide a much more even tension.

Lighter strings can be combated of course with a lighter attack with your pick, but a lot of people can’t find the control. At speed your picking tends to become more aggressive as the muscles in your arm contract, so people up the gauge. Opt for a gauge that’s really thick though and you lose all clarity all together. For some people this is the desired consequence (I know people who have a .52 for an E string, and a .65 for B!!) but it’s not for me.

Heavier strings, therefore, do not mean heavier sound. The key is to experiment and find your perfect match taking into account all the factors. I manage to get a massively chuggy and heavy sound out of my strings because of the way they vibrate in context to my picking attack. Try it out for yourself.

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Specs

Price new: £899 (no longer in production)

Neck type: Bolt-on

Body: Basswood

Hardware: Black

Bridge: Floyd Rose double locking

Frets: 24XJ

Pickups: 2 Duncan Designed Humbuckers

Price second hand: £250-£400

Review

When I’d played ESPs in the past they didn’t click with me, but when a friend offered his 7 string up for grabs I couldn’t put it down. It felt great, weighty, chunky, everything you’d want from a metal axe.

You see, manufacturers like Ibanez offer craftsmanship and beauty, masterfully created for elegance and virtuosity. The thing I felt with ESP is that they are designed for beating the utter crap out of!! From the moment you wrap your fingers round the baseball bat of a neck you just want to hammer the shit out of it and play as hard as hell.

Playability

As I said, it’s chunky. The neck is not for me personally, it’s a little rounded and a tad wide, but that may not be a problem for you as it’s all down to preference. ESP have always modelled themselves on the fact that their necks are flat, fast, and built for speed, but I found that my playing was a little clumsy and void of any flare, even after giving it a setup. Don’t get me wrong, it was most definitely playable, but it felt like there was something missing.

That being said I cannot find a single fault with the rhythm playing on this beast. It’s ferociously tight and responsive, with a nice chuggy low-end that’ll make the ground shake. This guitar is certainly a performer, so long as you’re only playing up to the G string.

Sound

It’s a very “full” sound in my opinion, rich and full of tone, but the Duncan designed pickups leave a lot to be desired with the treble frequencies. The sustain on harmonics aren’t amazing for instance, not to say that the tone is dull, but it’s just not quite as bright as I like it, but this is easily fixed by swapping out the pups for something a bit edgier. With the right amplification and a few tweaks you can achieve some very useful sounds.

Over all

An interesting guitar to say the least, it looks tough, and it means business. However if you’re more inclined to shred then I’d recommend a lot of adjustment and most probably a change of pickups. With arrow inlays, reverse headstock, Floyd rose trem, and a variety of tough looking finishes, I’d say this axe has the full metal arsenal you need to throw down something heavy.

Rating

Sound: 7

Looks: 9.5

Playability: 7

Value for money: 7

Overall: 6.5

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