If there were a MasterChef for pickup makers, Tim Mills would have won it countless times over the past 21 years. Anyone with a troublesome Tele, whatever style you play in, needs to hear these.
Pros
+
Beautifully detailed craft.
+
Very balanced outputs.
+
Good dynamic range.
+
‘No spike’ zone at bridge.
+
Enhanced clarity at neck.
Cons
-
Not that we can hear or see.
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Pickups for Telecasters come in numerous sonic shades, and to that end Bare Knuckle already makes quite a few. In fact, adding this new set, the company has 11 different flavours, including the historic Blackguard sets; the Flat ’50s have been powering this writer’s Tele for the past few years.
“I wanted to create something more controlled and powerful that would cater to my heavier sounds just as much as the ambient and cleaner side of what I do,” states Rabea. Like his Triptych set for S-style guitars, the Nomads use a different magnet blend.
“In order to make them synergistic with the Triptych set, I decided on a similar approach,” says Bare Knuckle founder, Tim Mills.
“I opted for Alnico III magnets in the bridge coil and Alnico V in the neck. Alnico III has the lowest pull of any of the Alnicos used in guitar pickups and this, paired with a relatively hot wind of 43 AWG plain enamel wire, allows for the high-end to really breathe and for plenty of extension in the bottom-end.
“It puts all of the dynamic headroom at the player’s control, either by rolling back the volume or digging in more with the pick to push the signal harder.”
Both pickups are well crafted, and the bridge uses what looks like a traditional copper-plated steel baseplate. Tim tells us it’s actually “a much thicker 1950-style baseplate that would have been zinc-plated, but we decided copper-plating would be a nice touch to change things up.
(Image credit: Future / Olly Curtis)
“The thicker steel alters the inductance of the coil, delivering more solid high-end response with plenty of weight behind each note. More of every frequency – but most players particularly feel it in the high-end where it removes any hint of spikiness and really fattens up single-note lead work.”
The neck pickup plays with the recipe, too. “It features a taller coil than normal,” says Tim, “and slightly narrower-diameter magnetic poles – though our vintage-correct full drop Tele neck covers, which are made from pure nickel silver with our own tooling, still fit!
The taller coil allows me to use a hotter wind than I would usually go for while sticking with a 43AWG plain enamel wire, which maintains the balance with the bridge, and the narrower-diameter magnets keep the bottom-end under control with plenty of snap in the upper mids and highs.”
Bare Knuckle Nomads Set: Specs
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(Image credit: Future / Olly Curtis)
(Image credit: Future / Olly Curtis)
Launch price: From £261.60 (£276.60 as reviewed) / approx $335 Type: Single-coil pickups for Telecaster and T-style electric guitars Origin: UK Mounting type: Standard Polepiece spacing/style: 55mm/flush pole (bridge); covered (neck) Hook-up wire: Vintage-style push-back cloth-covered single conductor Magnet type: Alnico III (bridge), Alnico V (neck) Coil Wire/Wind: 43 AWG plain enamel/scatter-wound Potting: Yes DCR (kohms):10.4 (bridge); 7.2 (neck) Options: Nomads etch on neck pickup cover (as reviewed) adds £15. Plenty of cover options; RW/RW and four-way mod Contact: Bare Knuckle Pickups
Bare Knuckle Nomads Set: Usability and sounds
(Image credit: Future / Olly Curtis)
One thing that impressed us about the Triptych set was the apparent balance between positions – and that’s evident here. These pickups are designed to play well for traditional Tele-like tones and also under much higher gains.
Starting clean and loud, the bridge isn’t ferociously bright, but it’s certainly a Tele with gnarly honk, very present depth and clear highs without that eyebrow-raising treble many of us will have experienced.
For funk or jangle fans, the mix is deliciously widescreen, combining depth and sparkle; it’s extremely musical. It’s little surprise that these Nomads record really well
At the neck, it’s more Strat-y to our ears, with well-tuned clarity, depth and percussive bounce. For funk or jangle fans, the mix is deliciously widescreen, combining depth and sparkle; it’s extremely musical. It’s little surprise that these Nomads record really well.
Edging up the gain you begin to notice how well that bridge pickup especially responds to pick attack and dynamics, while the neck puts on a Texas bluesman’s hat. Running through a variety of dirt pedals, the Nomads lap them up.
Unlike on so many Teles we’ve wrestled with over the years, our right hand isn’t constantly riding the tone control to pull back the sharp highs, and we’re not wishing for more clarity at the neck. Balance is the keyword: a T-style voice for sure, full of rootsy character but without the sharp ’n’ dark bits.
Bare Knuckle Nomads Set: Verdict
(Image credit: Bare Knuckle Pickups)
If there were a MasterChef for pickup makers, Tim Mills would have won it countless times over the past 21 years.
If there were a MasterChef for pickup makers, Tim Mills would have won it countless times over the past 21 years
On the one hand, these Nomads are just another set of pickups for a Telecaster, but those decades of listening – not least to players such as Rabea – have not only satisfied the artist but created a recipe that has all the taste of this classic plank with a very seasoned, musical flavour.
Is this just another take on a Broadcaster set? “Kind of,” concludes Tim, “but I’ve introduced enough changes to bring it forward to the 21st century and turn what was already a sledgehammer pickup into a dynamic battering ram.” Anyone with a troublesome Tele, whatever style you play in, needs to hear these.
Bare Knuckle Nomads Set: Hands-on videos
Rabea Massaad
The Best Tele Tones I’ve Ever Had | Nomads Tele Coils - YouTube
Dave Burrluck is one of the world’s most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitarist’s The Mod Squad.
