Guitar World Reviews BKP's Halcyon
14th November 2025
Guitar World Reviews the Halcyon Humbucker
It was great to see Guitar World reviewing our newest signature humbucker, created with Mike Stringer from Spiritbox. You know you've got something right when you are warned to stick the kids next door.
“I’m just gonna warn you — these are the LOUDEST pickups I’ve ever heard in a guitar. Make sure you put the dogs and kids in another room before plugging it in.”
Reviewer Paul Riario openly admits we have changed his mind when it comes to rail pickups: "Right now, the dual-bladed Halcyons look absolutely killer in my Charvel."
Guitar World were especially impressed with the way the neck and bridge worked so well apart, and also together.
"Surprisingly, despite that intentional contrast between the Halcyon’s individual builds, there is no discernible output drop as you switch between the neck and bridge, or engaging coil-tapping, which allows you to summon an array of dynamic tonal colors without sacrificing balance."
The twin-blade pole design was praised for its ability to maintain even string balance across various gauges and tunings, which they said make the pickups "particularly effective for drop tunings and in use on multi‑ or extended-scale instruments."
Reviewer Paul had his tech install the pickups, who said that these were the loudest pickups he'd ever put in a guitar. On his advice, Paul started the Halcyons on a clean channel. He said "the bridge pickup has a massive output unlike anything I’ve ever heard. You can hear a colossal wall of rounded lows and weighted mids, but thankfully, no excessive “boom” on its bottom end."
"You can gather from this clean state that it’s the kind of humbucker primed for utmost saturation."
Switching to the neck, he is amazed by the clarity of the sound, without it clashing with the bridge: "The Halcyon neck wastes no time pulling punches; it still hits hard, but it’s all about firmly detailing its crystalline voice that doesn’t clash with the bridge."
You can read the full article here.
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.
We offer a range of different finishes for our humbuckers, and the Halcyon is included in this. We offer a variety of covers and radiators, blade colors, and certain custom finishes. This pickup typically comes with 4-conductor wiring, which allows for versatile coil-splitting options, but is also available in braided 2-conductor wiring. Head on over to the Halcyon page to find out how to buy and build your own custom Halcyon set. We also now offer pastel shades for your humbuckers, so head on over now to see what you can build!
"Bare Knuckle consistently brings something unique to the table, and here, the Halcyon is a powerful humbucker imbued with an aggressive nature that doesn’t sacrifice clarity. The Halcyons are uncompromising, high-performance pickups specifically designed for modern, drop-tuned, progressive, and industrial metal genres."
