Rabea Massaad has been a long-time fan of Bare Knuckle Pickups, having used the British company's Warpig, Aftermath and Crawler humbuckers – and now Massaad joins the likes of Misha Mansoor in having his own signature set.
Named Silo, and available in a variety of finish options, including the custom ‘Bea’ etchings, Massaad's pickups were designed by Bare Knuckle MD Tim Mills, with input from Massaad himself and fellow tone fiend Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood.
The Silo humbuckers are wound for power, weight, clarity and note separation for downtuned, overdriven chord work – essential for Massaad's sound – with clean and split-coil tones that are "pure, warm, and full-bodied, responding extremely well to pick dynamics and changes on the volume pot."
The pickups' construction features twin screw coils, Alnico V magnets with a 44AWG wound bridge pickup complementing the 42AWG wound neck pickup.
Massaad says that he "couldn't be happier" with Silo's ability to balance high-gain and clarity.
‘I need a pickup with the ability to create glassy, ambient leads and warm, clear chord tones," he says. "Equally I need it to sound crushingly heavy and aggressive."
The Bare Knuckle Silo humbuckers are available now in the usual variety of six, seven, and eight-string versions, and you can select your preference and choose your pickup finish on Bare Knuckle's online pickup builder.
They are priced from £139 for a single pickup, £265 for a set of two.
See Bare Knuckle Pickups for more information.
