The return of the Brass Knuckle!

OilCityPickups

After over a year missing from our pickup lineup ... it's back and it's better than ever!

For those of you who have never encountered this little beast before here's a rundown:

At first sight you might mistakenly take this for a normal humbucker ... it's far more than just that.

Firstly it's custom made double height bobbins are wound with 'Heavy Formvar' wire to be fully independent single coil pickups if you split the the pickup ...with both bobbins sharing a heavy steel 'inductance plate' that gives a similar effect to a Tele base-plate: pushing the mids and output.

Run as a humbucker the bridge version it's a 13k medium output unit with a very wide tonal spectrum. The highs are crystal clear due to the individual alnico 5 magnets it uses as pole pieces (as opposed to the bar magnets used in most humbuckers) and the bottom end is fat and fast tracking.

In single coil mode you can play with wiring options and select either of the coils alone for a more 'Strat' or more 'Tele' type of sound.

Versatility wise the Brass Knuckle can handle everything from metal to country and has a unique voice subtly different to any conventional humbucker.

Because of the labour intensive hand made bobbins etc this pickup has been slotted back into the Masterwound range with all the custom options that go with our premium pickups: Clear bobbins, tapped coils ... all available.

CasperCaster

The question has to be asked - typically, how much? 

OilCityPickups

CasperCaster said:

The question has to be asked - typically, how much? 

The same as most of the other Masterwound humbuckers: £95.00 plus P&P.

If you consider a Duncan 59 is about £70 and  the average price of a Bare Knuckle single humbucker is hovering about £110.00, then a hand made (and super versatile) pickup like the Brass Knuckle is pitched about right.

Roland

I can already feel a new guitar build germinating

OilCityPickups

Roland said:

I can already feel a new guitar build germinating

The neck and bridge versions differ slightly ... the neck version has a different wire used in the windings to stop any potential muddyness due to harmonic positioning ... and has a different coil profile/aspect ratio to tune the response. 
Seven and eight string versions are going to be available, as the particularly wide harmonic response is well suited to extended range and down tuning.  

Roland

I was thinking of bridge, with a P90 in the neck position

Jeremiah

Do the double height bobbins mean it might be too tall to fit in some guitars that have a shallow pickup cavity?

Also wondering how one of these in the bridge would match with a Winterizer in the neck...

OilCityPickups

Jeremiah said:

Do the double height bobbins mean it might be too tall to fit in some guitars that have a shallow pickup cavity?

Also wondering how one of these in the bridge would match with a Winterizer in the neck...

The 'zero crank' base-plate was added to get over the pickup cavity issue. With that baseplate it's the same height as a conventional pickup. 
A Firebird  pickup will be quieter certainly ... but the neck position should offset that pretty well.

mrkb

Could it have a chrome cover? Or is it not a standard size, ah but I hadn’t considered the lack of screws in the bobbin.....

OilCityPickups

mrkb said:

Could it have a chrome cover? Or is it not a standard size, ah but I hadn’t considered the lack of screws in the bobbin.....

The bobbins are standard Gibson shape at the top ... so a cover would slide on ... but  wouldn't reach down to the baseplate ... the bobbins are too tall. Also with flush magnets the pole holes would be empty and look odd. 

Danielsguitars

i was thinking a single pickup junior type would be great for that

Danielsguitars

OilCityPickups said:

The bobbins are standard Gibson shape at the top ... so a cover would slide on ... but  wouldn't reach down to the baseplate ... the bobbins are too tall. Also with flush magnets the pole holes would be empty and look odd. 

Can you sink the pickup further in so the cover looks normal 

MikeB

Had one of these in the neck of a Jaden Rose I once had. Unique and tremendous pickup all in one. Gave some great tones with a nod to single coils.

OilCityPickups

Danielsguitars said:

OilCityPickups said:

The bobbins are standard Gibson shape at the top ... so a cover would slide on ... but  wouldn't reach down to the baseplate ... the bobbins are too tall. Also with flush magnets the pole holes would be empty and look odd. 

Can you sink the pickup further in so the cover looks normal 

For a start the poles are 5mm diameter ... so they are larger than the holes in standard humbucker covers (4.8mm). secondly the magnets are the same height as the bobbins, so they wouldn't protrude through the cover even if you fitted one, and reamed the holes larger (buggering up the plating in the process). 
You could use 'no hole covers' but then you are putting a layer of nickel over the poles and cutting back on the tone. plus on the zero crank baseplate there is nothing to solder a cover to. Plastic covers would work (like EMGs).

My policy with covers has always been: why wind a great pickup and muffle it inside a sardine can? 

OilCityPickups

For anyone interested ... the very pickup in the pic is for sale in the classifieds at the moment ... as these are a custom order the photo demo model has been sitting on the shelf taking up space ...