Bare Knuckle Polymath Set

Introduction

The Polymath humbucker set marks the first signature collaboration between Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood and Bare Knuckle Pickups. And if you have spent any time in modern prog metal, you already understand why that matters.

Nolly is not just “the guy from Periphery.” He is a multi instrumentalist, producer, mix architect, and low end tactician. The man hears compression artifacts the way most people hear doorbells. When someone like that steps into a design room for a signature model, it is not a vanity project. It is a lab experiment.

The Polymath sets the tone for what that partnership becomes. Years later, the collaboration expands into the more vintage leaning PolyPaf, but this is where it begins. This is the blueprint. The modern voice. The calibrated strike zone between aggression and articulation.

Born from touring abuse, studio scrutiny, and obsessive refinement, the Polymath is not chasing extreme output or retro nostalgia. It is engineered balance. A true sweet spot design that lives between authority and control. Controlled aggression. Studio grade composure. That is a dangerous combination.

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Background

That video is worth your valuable time. It touches on things in relative layman’s terms of how the sausage in made. Not just on this model, but in an overview of an approach to factors that go beyond numbers on paper.

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Installation

The Polymath set lands in a double hum mahogany body with a 25-1/2″ scale maple neck and maple board. Bright platform. Firm low end. Honest upper mids.

Control harness is BKP CTS 550K pots, a Switchcraft 12120X 3-way toggle, and a Pure Tone 1/4″ output jack. No cork sniffing. No excuses. Just a clean signal path.

Strings are 10-46 in E standard. Same test mule used in my Peacemaker evaluation, so we have a consistent baseline. As well as amp, cabs, and speakers. If something changes, it is the pickup. Period.

Height is set conservatively at first, then fine tuned for attack response and low end damping. These are not “slam them into the strings and pray” pickups. They reward deliberate setup.

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Evaluation

I keep coming back to the Polymath over several weeks. That usually tells me more than a single hype session ever could.

The marketing language about “Goldilocks” approach is not fluff. This set sits in a calibrated medium hot range. It has push, but it is not saturated. It breathes. And that breathing room is where the magic lives.

Bridge

The bridge humbucker delivers tight low end control with zero flub under palm mute. Riffs track with surgical precision. Chords bloom without smearing into harmonic soup.

Midrange detail is the story here. There is enough upper mid articulation to cut through a dense mix, but the voicing avoids harsh spike territory. Harmonics leap out easily, but they do not feel forced. Pinch squeals are immediate. Sustained notes hold their shape without collapsing into fizz.

Pedal tones stay firm. No tubbiness. No saggy low string drama. If you play rhythm in modern prog or technical metal, this thing feels like it understands deadlines.

Neck

The neck pickup is where I get personally excited. It is transparent without being sterile. Low notes have a woody character that actually sounds like a piece of maple vibrating instead of a wool blanket over the speaker.

That 10th to 15th fret zone, where many neck humbuckers go nasal and congested, remains open and articulate. Leads sing without honk. Complex chords retain separation. Clean passages carry dimension instead of mush.

Flip it into parallel mode like Nolly suggests and it gets even more dynamic. The attack sharpens. The clean headroom expands. It almost behaves like a refined single coil without the ice pick. For studio players especially, that flexibility is lethal.

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Specs

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. If you are taking advantage of the earlier longer video, you caught it. There is reference to an unoriented Alnico 5 magnet. While in that video, I cannot find that spec on the BKP site. For now, I’m going with what’s in writing. But with the caveat that it’s definitely an Alnico 5, orientation notwithstanding.

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Demo

And a few more demos from the BKP YT page, here for your convenience:

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Conclusion

The Polymath is not a one trick djent machine. It is a precision tool for modern rock and progressive metal players who demand clarity under gain and dimension under clean settings.

Available in 6, 7, and 8 string configurations, the customization options are classic Bare Knuckle excess. Dozens of bobbin colors. Open coils. Covered options. Radiators. Triangles. Screws or bolts in multiple finishes. Short or long legs. Multiple lead options. You can spec it like a boutique race car.

But the real headline is this: the Polymath balances output, articulation, and dynamic control in a way that feels engineered rather than hyped. It does not overpower your rig. It reveals it. And if your playing is sloppy, it will reveal that too. Which, frankly, is exactly what a serious pickup should do.

For reference, this Bare Knuckle Polymath 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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