Bare Knuckle Abraxas Humbucker Set

Vintage Soul with a Modern Punch

The Bare Knuckle Abraxas humbuckers don’t bother playing coy. They’re not trying to be everything to everyone – they’re here to slap your tone awake. You get the familiar PAF soul, but with added authority. It’s like a vintage sports car with a turbo mod – still classy, but now it’ll leave tire marks on your ears.

These aren’t pickups that beg for attention – they demand it. You hit a note, and the Abraxas grabs it by the collar and throws it through the speaker with purpose. Players stuck in tone purgatory between “vintage warmth” and “modern edge” finally have their answer. You want personality without sacrificing precision? That’s where the Abraxas lives.

Bare Knuckle doesn’t mess around with materials, and the Abraxas is proof. We’re talking scatter-wound coils, custom-formulated pole screws, and vintage-correct baseplates. That means you’re not just buying a sound – you’re buying engineering. This thing is put together like a boutique watch, but built to get thrown around on a dark, beer-soaked stage.

Installation

It’s become common practice now for BKP to match pole piece length with your chosen leg height – especially for players running direct-mount pickups. Short legs? They’ll spec pole pieces that sit flush, avoiding any awkward overhang and keeping things clean under the hood. That’s modern BKP: form meets function meets killer tone.

But here’s the twist – the BKP set I’m using for this review is over six years old, from before this was standard procedure. And yet, it still features short pole pieces, suggesting this wasn’t just about hardware fitment – it was a purposeful tonal design. Why does that matter? Because shorter pole pieces pull the magnetic field in tighter, giving you faster response, tighter low end, and surgical note definition – especially important for high-gain, modern rock, metal, and even prog players chasing high-performance pickup tone.

Now for the test bed: I’m dropping this bad boy into a double cutaway beast with a 2-humbucker loadout, maple neck, and rosewood board—classic meets modern. Running 9-42 strings in standard E, because we’re going for surgical articulation with enough tension to keep the Floyd honest. Speaking of which: it’s sporting a German-made Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo, because tone without tuning stability is just noise.

Here’s your pro tip: when you’re installing Bare Knuckle Pickups, keep your third eye open. BKP doesn’t slap a giant neon sign on their pickups telling you which one’s which. Just a tiny little “Neck” or “Bridge” tag on the hookup wire, and those suckers love to vanish like socks in a dryer when you’re feeding them through body cavities. Pro move? Invest in a label maker (yeah, like a P-Touch) and tag those leads like you’re cataloging dinosaur DNA. Save yourself the headache, and stay locked in.

Tone: Classic Rock to Doom and Beyond

Here’s the fun part: tone. The Abraxas isn’t some mid-scooped, high-gain mudfest. It’s articulate. Neck position drips with syrupy sustain – think creamy leads, soulful bends, and a low end that doesn’t fart out. The mids are juicy, vocal, and just hairy enough to stand out in a dense mix.

The bridge humbucker is where things get wild. It cuts without icepick highs. It growls without flubbing. There’s enough midrange push to keep you front and center in a live mix, even if your drummer thinks they’re in Meshuggah. Throw it into a Marshall or a Friedman, and it delivers harmonics that jump out like they’ve got somewhere to be.

Bare Knuckle calls it a vintage hot humbucker. Translation: it’s like if your ’59 Les Paul got tired of being polite and decided to punch through the mix instead. Think of it as the Mule’s angrier, rowdier sibling. You want warmth, bloom, AND muscle? The Abraxas brings all three to the table and doesn’t ask for permission.

This isn’t just for the Clapton cosplay crowd. Want to do Santana, Zeppelin, or even early Mastodon? The Abraxas can hang. It’s dynamic. Your pick attack matters. Roll the volume back, and you get that glassy PAF thing. Push it, and it snarls like a blues lawyer who missed happy hour.

Specs

Demo

Verdict: A Hot-Rodded Classic

Let’s be honest. Most “hot vintage” pickups either sound like bees in a tin can or get so polite they might as well apologize after every note. The Abraxas? It does neither. It roars, sings, purrs, and screams – on command.

If you’re chasing a classic tone with modern muscle, this is a top-shelf contender. It doesn’t chase trends. It sets the tone, then leaves others trying to catch up. Plus, with Bare Knuckle’s killer craftsmanship and no-BS attitude, you know you’re getting a pickup that’ll outlive your amp – and maybe your drummer too.

It’s a killer match for Les Pauls, SGs, and PRS-style guitars. But even in a super strat or offset, it still brings its A-game. It doesn’t care what you play – it just wants to work. And it does. Like, really well. It’s got the touch sensitivity to handle your boutique pedalboard, but enough raw guts to go straight into a Plexi and still bark.

For reference, this Bare Knuckle Abraxas humbucker pickup set evaluation was conducted with the following: Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller. ADA MP-1 Tube Pre-Amp loaded with Tube Amp Doctor ECC83 Premium Selected tubes, using the ADA MC-1 MIDI Controller. Fryette LX II Stereo Tube Power Amplifier. Physical cabs 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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