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SKU: GS20327
Gibson’s classic double-coil pickup. All of Fralin’s humbuckers, with the exception of his High Output models, are wound with 42-gauge Plain Enamel wire like the old PAFs, and are available with black/black or black/cream coils, or with nickel or gold covers. Vintage Guitar Magazine compared Lindy's humbuckers to Tom Holmes humbuckers and Gibson PAFs (both old and new - '63 humbuckers; '78 reissue PAFs; and '57 Classic and Classic Plus PAFs), and had this to say:
"All of these pickups are pretty cool, and each has it's own personality. The old Gibsons were great for reference, but believe it or not the panel preferred most of the new pickups to the old ones. This may sound unbelievable, but the opinions of the panel were very consistent and differences in the pickups were very substantial. This is what we heard... Grand Prize: Lindy Fralin PAF in a unanimous decision. This pickup had the most output, most character, and most pleasant compression. It has smooth response and great overdriven tones. Biggest and smoothest, hands down. This was the obvious favorite. Double fat!"
As with all pickups, more turns of wire gives more power, thicker mids, and less highs. When ordering a set, we recommend a stronger bridge pickup (for instance, 8K neck / 9K bridge). All models are designed to be hum-canceling when the tapped humbucker is combined with a Strat RWRP middle (Single-Single-Hum or Hum-Single-Hum). We order all our Fralin humbuckers with 4-conductor leads so they can be tapped. Black, zebra, or with nickel or gold covers. more information »
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SKU: GS20441
Calibrated Set: 6.9K - 7.6K. Alnico 5 flat poles, scatter wound, greater output, fatter/thicker sound. RWRP for hum-canceling operation in positions 2 and 4.
White pickup covers included, along with mounting hardware. more information »
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SKU: GS20381
Fralin's hottest conventional single coil for Teles, this pickup adds even more mids, to help attenuate that bridge-pickup bite that Teles are famous for. 10% overwound (stocked) or 15% overwound (special order).
About Magnet Staggers
We carry Fralin's Tele bridges with a stock stagger or hybrid stagger. The stock stagger is conventional, the magnet heights are staggered per Fender's '50s specs. The hybrid stagger is flat with a raised D. Fralin feels this is the more appropriate choice for many modern guitars that have a flatter radius than the original 7.25" radius used on vintage Fender guitars and vintage reissues. Additionally, the original stagger was optimized for guitars with a wound G string. Because plain G strings are the norm today, some players (Fralin included) feel that the stock stagger doesn't provide as good a string-to-string balance as the hybrid stagger. A third stagger (Broadcaster - all poles flat) is available. We don't stock these because they're so similar to the hybrid stagger, but will happily special order them for you. If you want this option, please order the pickup with a stock stagger, and include a comment that you want us to substitute the Broadcaster stagger (lead time will be approximately 4 weeks). more information »
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SKU: GS20440
Calibrated Set: 4.7K - 5.5K. Alnico 2 flat poles, scatter wound. Voiced for most Tweed amps. Smooth top end with lower output, very clean. RWRP for hum-canceling operation in positions 2 and 4. White pickup covers included, along with mounting hardware. more information »
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SKU: GS20520
Please note: Van Zandt doesn't supply covers with their Tele neck pickups, so you'll need to add a cover or tape the coil. Or, you can take your chances with the exposed coil wire, but we wouldn't if it was us. more information »
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SKU: GS20406
Great for any humbucker-equipped guitar, and Strat-style guitars with a single-single-hum or hum-single-hum configuration. We have also sold these to Tele players who like a humbucker in the neck. Fralin has devised a humbucker that looks normal but sounds brighter on the wound strings than two single coil Pups side by side.
Fralin Unbuckers have their two coils wound with different amounts of wire. While a typical 8K humbucker would have each coil wound to 4K, an 8K Unbucker would have a 3K coil and a 5K coil. This makes the pickup brighter. A typical 8K humbucker would have one of its 4K coils combined with the single coil, typically closer to 6K. There is somewhat of a mismatch between the two pickups, with the 4K humbucker coil being thinner sounding than the 6K single coil. If an 8K Unbucker is used instead of an 8K humbucker, the Unbucker would have its 5K coil combined with the 6K middle pickup. This is a much better match, and more closely approximates the sound of two single coils combined.
The second benefit of the Unbucker is that some people think they sound better when used as a humbucker (when both coils are on in series). Lindy is in this group. He says that his personal PRS McCarty never sounded so good as when he replaced the stock humbuckers with a pair of his Unbuckers. He thinks that the mismatch between the coils yields a more complex humbucking tone than two matched coils provides. So the Unbucker is not just for use in a Fender-style guitar where a humbucker is being used in conjunction with a single coil, they are also a great upgrade for any guitar that uses humbuckers.
Downside: the hum-canceling is slightly compromised. While an Unbucker is still hum-canceling to a large extent, it is a little noisier than conventional humbuckers.
Available models:
Gibson pole spacing - black, zebra, nickel, gold
Fender pole spacing - black, white more information »
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SKU: GS20416
Great for any humbucker-equipped guitar, and Strat-style guitars with a single-single-hum or hum-single-hum configuration. We have also sold these to Tele players who like a humbucker in the neck. Fralin has devised a humbucker that looks normal but sounds brighter on the wound strings than two single coil Pups side by side.
Fralin Unbuckers have their two coils wound with different amounts of wire. While a typical 8K humbucker would have each coil wound to 4K, an 8K Unbucker would have a 3K coil and a 5K coil. This makes the pickup brighter. A typical 8K humbucker would have one of its 4K coils combined with the single coil, typically closer to 6K. There is somewhat of a mismatch between the two pickups, with the 4K humbucker coil being thinner sounding than the 6K single coil. If an 8K Unbucker is used instead of an 8K humbucker, the Unbucker would have its 5K coil combined with the 6K middle pickup. This is a much better match, and more closely approximates the sound of two single coils combined.
The second benefit of the Unbucker is that some people think they sound better when used as a humbucker (when both coils are on in series). Lindy is in this group. He says that his personal PRS McCarty never sounded so good as when he replaced the stock humbuckers with a pair of his Unbuckers. He thinks that the mismatch between the coils yields a more complex humbucking tone than two matched coils provides. So the Unbucker is not just for use in a Fender-style guitar where a humbucker is being used in conjunction with a single coil, they are also a great upgrade for any guitar that uses humbuckers.
Downside: the hum-canceling is slightly compromised. While an Unbucker is still hum-canceling to a large extent, it is a little noisier than conventional humbuckers.
Available models:
Gibson pole spacing - black, zebra, nickel, gold
Fender pole spacing - black, white more information »
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SKU: GS20378
Wound with 42-gauge Polynylon for a slightly more solid (and darker) than stock sound, these are perhaps Fralin's most popular Tele pickups.
About Magnet Staggers
We carry Fralin's Tele bridges with a stock stagger or hybrid stagger. The stock stagger is conventional, the magnet heights are staggered per Fender's '50s specs. The hybrid stagger is flat with a raised D. Fralin feels this is the more appropriate choice for many modern guitars that have a flatter radius than the original 7.25" radius used on vintage Fender guitars and vintage reissues. Additionally, the original stagger was optimized for guitars with a wound G string. Because plain G strings are the norm today, some players (Fralin included) feel that the stock stagger doesn't provide as good a string-to-string balance as the hybrid stagger. A third stagger (Broadcaster - all poles flat) is available. We don't stock these because they're so similar to the hybrid stagger, but will happily special order them for you. If you want this option, please order the pickup with a stock stagger, and include a comment that you want us to substitute the Broadcaster stagger (lead time will be approximately 4 weeks). more information »
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SKU: GS20431
Fender Basses have defined the electric bass since its invention. Fralin’s Jazz Bass and P-Bass replacement pickups offer a loud, clear, and even response to four string bass players. Using Alnico 5 magnets and 42 gauge Heavy Formvar wire, they are all hand wound to vintage specifications. Under or over winding is available upon request (special order) as is a steel-poled version of either pickup (special order). 4-string pickups available as well.
Here's what Bass Player Magazine had to say about Lindy's Jazz pickups:
"We got the Jazz Bass ready for our test by slapping on a fresh set of stainless steel round wounds (.040-.100) and plugging it into our reference rig with everything set flat. The original pickups, while exhibiting plenty of punch and growl for which Jazz Basses are noted, left something to be desired in the low end, requiring an EQ boost to round out the sound. And they were microphonic. With the Fralin pickups, the change in the tone of the bass was striking - and entirely positive. The Fralins had all of the mid-range punch of the stock set, but they provided considerably more warmth on the bottom, more clarity and "sparkle" in the high end, and more output. They were evenly balanced across the strings - and they weren't microphonic. In short, with the Fralin pickups the '65 Jazz Bass retained it's vintage character but became even more lively and musical." more information »
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SKU: GS20490
New! Strat pickups designed with Mike Landau and Kirk Fletcher.
Per Ed Yoon at Suhr: "What does FL stand for? Friggin' Loud! Actually, it stands for Fletcher-Landau as they've put a LOT of time into the development of these pickups and they're very happy with the results."
"FYI, the new FL single-coil pickups are a completely new design that we've been tweaking intensively with Mike and Kirk. These are now the hottest single-coil pickups we make but retain the clarity and the sparkle of the lower-output V54 and V60 pickups. As Mike likes to say, these are juicy and spicy but still clear and transparent. We didn't want to call them V60HP (high-peak) as John feels that this design is a complete departure from the V60s and V60LPs."
So there you have it. Consummate players, and tone hounds, have tweaked these pickups. Fletcher is a formidable talent, and Landau, of course, is The Second Coming of Hendrix, and praise doesn't get any higher than that. more information »
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SKU: GS20503
Calibrated set of killer Strat pickups from the legendary John Suhr, creator of the renowned Pensa-Suhr guitars built for the likes of Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Lou Reed, and many others.
Hand wound winding technique is reproduced on a computerized winder for consistent hand wound tone of the early '60s, using heavy Formvar wire. The V60-LP pickups are very popular and work the best of Suhr's pickups with overdrive and fuzz pedals. They've been used by Mike Landau and Scott Henderson, so you'll be keeping good company. They have more of a vintage vibe than Suhr's regular V60s (which are more modern sounding, being a little brighter and louder). Alnico 5 magnets, with a typical DC resistance ranging from 6.4K (neck) to 7.3K (bridge). Suhr has sourced his Alnico magnet rods from the same vendor that Fender used in the '50s and '60s.
All Suhr Strat sets have a RWRP middle pickup for hum-canceling in the 2 and 4 positions. If you want to use the set with Suhr's BPSSC system, please select the non-RWRP option at checkout. This will substitute a second neck pickup in place of the RWRP middle (no additional charge).
White pickup covers are included, along with mounting hardware. more information »
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