Fralin / Wolfetone / Bareknuckle Users Speak Up!

[OlinMusic]

These are the 3 brands I have heard people really go off about. Are they really the Bee's Knee's?

How are they different than a good Duncan? What makes them soooooo amazing.

Please educate me. Would love to know if I am missing out.

[gripweed]

Are you satisfied with your Duncans? Or are you looking for a different flavor? That should be the reason that you are looking for something different than a Duncan. If a Duncan fully meets your needs then stay with it. Some of us are consumate tinkereres and like to try a lot of different things.

I love my 7.5 Fralin humbucker. It is the perfect neck pickup IMHO. I love its bass (not boomy or overbearing), it's incredible mids, and its not too bright highs. I like my neck pickups to be articulate and not mushy. The Fralin has that in spades. The Duncan Jazz is a close second in my book. The only thing I would fix on the Jazz is its bass -- still a tad too boomy for my tastes. I'd even bet that the Jazz with an a4 magnet would be *very* similar to a Fralin 7.5.

Some players prefer their instruments to be status symbols, and their pickups are a reflection of that. I think many of them could find a Duncan that would full meet their needs. Some gear snobs have really no clue what good tone is.

[JumpMarine]

I love my Fralin Blues Special neck in my Tele, it really leans toward a strat neck tone and it blends perfectly with the Broadcaster in the bridge. I unforutunately can't give you a good comparison to other neck pups as I've only tried the stock Fender and the Fralin in this position.

[Brow]

I currently have 2 Guitars fitted with Bareknuckles (Gordon Smith Graduate 60 (LP Clone) and a 93 Fender Strat) and 2 with Seymour Duncans (98 Gibson LP Standard and 70s Jap Strat).

The Bareknuckle humbuckers (Black Dog and Riff Raff in the Gordon Smith, Crawler in the Strat) have an 'openness' that I've never experienced from a Duncan humbucker. The Seth Lovers in my Gibson sound muffled and hollow in comparision to the BK humbuckers.

The Bareknuckle Irish Tours I have in the middle and neck of my Fender Strat also have a nicer tone, and more chime to my ears than the Antiquities in my Jap strat. Even through a small Marshall practise amp, the difference is like night and day.

My main 2 guitars for live work are the Gordon Smith and the Fender Strat, as I've gotten that used to the great tone of these pickups, that the Gibson doesn't come close at the minute.

[Peterku]

I can't explain the exact difference between my BK's (Mules in my Artist, and soon a Nailbomb in my Strat) and the Dimarzios/Duncans I've had or heard. 'Livelier' could be the correct word. For me it was something like trying organic food after having eaten regular food for years. You can't really appreciate organic food, though, unless you know the 'regular' version of that dish. There are lots of people who try expensive pickups and don't like the sound, I guess in most cases they do not know what they want. I had luck with the Mules because they perfectly delivered the sound I had in my head. My Strat, though, had had five bridge humbuckers of different brands before I could hear that it needed a Nailbomb.

[Lewguitar]

I've used alot of Lindy Fralin pickups and I think they're great.

I think one of the best neck humbuckers ever created is the Fralin 7.5K.

And I think one of the best Tele neck pickups ever created is the Fralin Blues Special...sounds alot like a Strat neck pickup.

I also love the heck out of the Fralin Blues Special Tele bridge pickup.

The Fralin Steel Pole 43 is a monstrously good Strat bridge pickup that sounds like a P-90 but blends beautifully with stock Strat neck and middle pickups so you retain those great middle/bridge combined Strat tones that are so classic.

The Fralin Vintage Hot Strat pickups are awesome! Classic vintage alnico 5 Strat tones without the ice pick in your ear shrill tones.

Lindy's P90's are fabulous too...I especially like his -10%/+5 or 10% set.

But all that said, I have Duncans in most of my guitars. There's a warmth and familiarity to the tones of the Duncans that just feels comfortable to me.

And I really like Evan, Seymour, MJ and everyone I've met at SD Pickups. I've developed a certain brand loyality over the last couple of years I guess.

Lew