Halcyon is the new signature humbucker set from Bare Knuckle Pickups and
Mike Stringer, guitarist from Canadian heavy metal band, Spiritbox.
The Halcyon humbuckers were born out of an intense R&D session with Mike
Stringer, Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood and Tim Mills during a stopover in the UK on
Mike’s intense Spiritbox touring schedule. The brief was to create a
humbucker set designed primarily for 7 string guitars tuned down to F# and to
embrace not only Mike’s massive driven tone, but also his unique approach to
using bridge and neck pickups together for his clean tones.

The die was cast and Mike went back on tour for some heavy beta testing. By
the end of the run all of Mike’s live guitars featured the new Halcyon pickups.
Halcyons are built on a twin blade pole design which allows for even string to
string balance, no matter the string gauge or tuning, whilst being extremely
practical for multi-scale fitment too.

The bridge is powered by a trio of custom size ceramic magnets which help to
control the bottom end response, working in conjunction with the hot wind to
deliver an incredibly dialled in mid-range and high end attack.

Utilising a more moderate wind, the neck pickup is powered by an isotropic
Alnico V magnet to increase dynamic headroom and combine with the bridge
for Mike’s ambient clean tones. Both pickups are designed to have
exceptional coil split tones and work equally well wired in parallel.
“The Halcyons suit Mike’s style and needs perfectly. The bridge is an
outrageous riff machine with unreal output, aggressive attack and
masses of taut low end that give single note riffing satisfying thickness,
while not overwhelming the clarity of the ultra-low chugs Mike is known
for. The neck lives in another sonic dimension with a woody and bright,
but not spiky voice, refined to combine with the bridge for Mike’s
signature, almost slap bass-like, clean parts.

During the R&D session with Mike we knew these were the pickups for
him when he fell about laughing with glee as he tried them… trying them
myself I could see why: the sheer power of the sound they produce is
so addictive, and hearing your playing come back at you with such
attitude and drive regardless of how low you tune is an experience you
really need to have to understand!” Nolly
“The Halcyons are everything I’ve been looking for in a set of
pickups. Working with Tim and Nolly, we’ve been able to come up with
something very special, an extremely high output pickup that almost
reacts like an active. I’ve been through many different passive, and
active, sets over and beyond the last decade, and I can confidently say
these are perfect for my needs. From crushingly heavy tones, to glassy
cleans, I get everything out of them without compromise. Playing
primarily in low tunings, I’m always aiming to get the most clear and
consistent tone, so I can sit in the mix where I need to. The Halcyons
do a lot of the heavy lifting, making it so I can run low gain on my amp,
and get the regular amount of push and clarity that lower output
pickups don’t usually provide.” Mike

Halcyon humbuckers are all hand wound and assembled by hand at the Bare
Knuckle workshops in Cornwall U.K., and are available with the full range of
Bare Knuckle humbucker colours as well as custom finishes, blade colours
and covers.