Bare Knuckle Miracle Man Humbucker Set

You see the Miracle Man humbucker set while you shop for new pickups. Miracle Man? Zakk Wylde? They must sound like EMGs! Well, now, ease on up there pardner. Not so fast.

The deal with active pickups of that variety is that you get sort of a broad resonant peak and a squashed headroom. That is how you end up with the tightly compressed vibe you hear from Zakk and so many other users of that brand. Nothing wrong with that, if it’s your cup of Earl Grey.

Those are kinda sorta the types of traits that you don’t usually get from a) most passive humbuckers, and b) Bare Knuckle pickups. Bare Knuckle is generally known for scatter winding their pickups. There are a few levels to peel back on that approach. But the end result is a lower capacitance distribution across the coil. And while there are a few ways to get the same result, Bare Knuckles has marketed the scatter wind concept into pay dirt.

The Miracle Man is really interesting in the way that the specs seem to defy convention in how it is made from the scatter method. Yet presents a tight, throaty, thick voice that has rock and metal in it’s DNA.

Installation

For this rumble in the jungle, the Miracle Man set is going in a double-hum guitar with a German Floyd Rose. The harness is using Bourns 500k pots, Switchcraft 12120X 3-way switch, and a Switchcraft 1/4″ jack. The guitar is in E standard with 10-46 gauge strings.

During the pickup install, I hit the frets and fretboard with some Lizard Spit Fret Polishing Pads and Fret Board Conditioner, respectively. I’m also applying the Slick Nutz Slot Lube at friction points.

This is where it is really awesome that BKP puts little tags on the end of each lead wire that designate “Bridge” or “Neck” positions. The Miracle Man set are so similar in DC Resistance that it will otherwise be hard to tell what’s what. This is a relatively pricey boutique level, so it’d be swell if each pickup were marked. I’m pretty sure they sell label makers in England. LOL!

Evaluation

On the whole, the Miracle Man set has oodles of low-mid grunt. The low end is heavy, while remaining tight. Now I am not talking about heavy in the same way as the Warpig. And when I say tight, this is not the clinically rigid focus of the BKP Aftermath.

Putting your amp on a clean channel, the Miracle Man set will most likely require you to tweak the settings. Your typical amp knob locations for most medium to medium-hot humbuckers are going to be a bit hot for these bad boys. For a ceramic bridge, it cleans up alright. The alnico neck is going to naturally be a little more organic sounding. Split or parallel wiring options do wonders for the Miracle Man set on a clean amp.

Things are right at home on a dirty amp. The neck is going to be good for your really fast and fluid speed runs up high on the neck as well has heavier blues styles.

The bridge position Miracle Man is most likely why you are really here. HaHa! The punishing low end is really going to be a good fit for players looking more toward all forms of metal, including prog-metal. Yep, I said it. This is a totally viable consideration for Petrucci style players. It might go without saying, but I will do it anyway: the harmonic squeals are practically effortless all across the board.

Demo

Specs

Now you probably want some specs? I actually do have those!

What do you think about those numbers? Pretty powerful specs. However, if you dig through specs of other high resistance humbuckers, you will find this set to have a little lower inductance. Considering the big heavy vibe, it’s fun to ponder how they pull this off.

Generally speaking, you should be able to find the Miracle Man with most BKP dealers. If you want custom options, that can be done as well by placing an order. As with many Bare Knuckle humbuckers, the Miracle Man set is available in 6, 7, and 8 strings. You can get standard or tremolo pole spacing as well as long or short mounting legs. The company offers a wide selection of covers that range from traditional to outrageous (see the bubblegum camo in the header image! LOL!).

For reference, this Bare Knuckle Miracle Man humbucker pickup set evaluation was conducted with a Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller.  In addition, real cabs in use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s and Classic Series G12M Greenbacks.

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