A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

So recently I got an incredible deal on a set of Bareknuckle Nantucket P90s (under $100 shipped), and set about finding a suitable home for them. Since I’ve always liked the idea of a blue flame PRS, and since I know the wild quality Harley Benton offers…I quickly found this brand new with tags CST24 Deluxe for $180 - they were about $330 shipped from Thomann. These are Indonesian-made like my favorite HBs (the Fusion Roasted series), and have stainless frets as well.

Just arrived and zero QC issues to be found anywhere, and it sounds great (though with the Nantuckets it'll be way better). HB never ceases to impress me…I would easily put this on par with the very best PRS SE models I have played (and in fact quite close to my buddy’s $1200 S2!). Top is of course a veneer, but very pretty and nicer than most SEs I've seen.

Added abalone knobs and an inlaid truss rod cover I had lying around that happened to fit, so just the Bareknuckles to go next weekend and it's all set.

That is an incredible deal, I can't recall ever seeing a set of used Bareknuckle pickups for less than $200.

I have a b-stock of that same HB but with humbuckers. Mine has crème plastic, though I think with that finish, the guitar looks better with black plastic (another line item added to my guitar to-do list).

And I too was impressed with the build quality of the guitar. The HBs coming out of Indonesia the last few years are amazing, and the ones I have compare extremely well to the originals that they're copying. Also, I don't think many would be disappointed with the stock pickups, I only swap them out because that's what I do.

tobijohn wrote: ↑Sun May 25, 2025 5:39 pm That is an incredible deal, I can't recall ever seeing a set of used Bareknuckle pickups for less than $200.

I have a b-stock of that same HB but with humbuckers. Mine has crème plastic, though I think with that finish, the guitar looks better with black plastic (another line item added to my guitar to-do list).

And I too was impressed with the build quality of the guitar. The HBs coming out of Indonesia the last few years are amazing, and the ones I have compare extremely well to the originals that they're copying. Also, I don't think many would be disappointed with the stock pickups, I only swap them out because that's what I do.

Nice! Yeah getting a deal on Bareknuckles these days is a tall order...they're my favorite pickup company and I pick them up whenever I find a great deal (regardless of whether I have a home for 'em or not). Back in their earlier days I was able to pick up sets for 50% off new price with some regularity (or sometimes even a bit cheaper), but in the last couple of years with their popularity growing it's gotten far tougher. This Nantucket set is typically around $275+tax new, so I grabbed these immediately when I saw them at this price.

I agree with you on the stock pickups, in fact I haven't been bummed out by any of the stock Roswell pups in my HBs. Humbuckers, P90s, single coils..they are perfectly usable and sound good, but I loaded my couple of favorite HBs with Bareknuckles and it did make a REALLY noticeable difference. When you're getting a guitar of this quality so cheap, it's not tough to convince myself into spending another $100-$200 to really make it outstanding.

Apart from this one, this is my other favorite HB - a Fusion T Roasted model. I put a set of Bareknuckle pickups in here too (that I also found for a really great price, just over $175) and it is an absolute beast of a guitar.