Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Lollar Pickups Introduces the Senn Model One Pickup

Lollar Pickups Introduces the Senn Model One Pickup

A humbucker in function, but with the voice of a single-coil pickup.

Tacoma, WA (December 1, 2016) -- “You won’t believe this is a humbucker,” says guitarist and luthier Jeff Senn. “But bend a note and hold it, or grab a slide, and get treated to a brand new experience of liveliness and sustain.” When Jeff Senn Guitars set about to design their unique Model One guitar, which pays homage to the "mail order catalog" guitars of the ‘60s, they knew that no existing pickup captured what they were looking for, so they turned to pickup guru Jason Lollar to interpret their sonic wish list and turn it into a reality. Senn says, “I wanted something that was very, very clear and open but also had unusual sustain and overtones like my vintage Guyatones, Stratotones and Teiscos.”

“I suspected we wanted a wide magnet with a thin profile to capture the sound field along with a metal cover; and Jason agreed.” From there, Lollar forged these concepts into a distinct and wonderful-sounding pickup that has an identity all its own. The Senn Model One is a humbucker in function, but the voice is that of a single-coil pickup. From huge twang to lovely overdriven tones, the Senn Model One is extremely versatile and doesn’t shy away from any genre of music. According to Jason Lollar, “I love those old guitars I grew up with, but no one’s making a pickup that really captures their tone. I really enjoy the Senn Model One for all musical styles. In fact, it even works great as a lap steel pickup.”

The Senn Model One pickups utilize alnico 5 magnets and come with nickel, chrome, or gold-plated finishes. Available in a calibrated set, the D.C. Resistance is 7.3K Ohms in the neck position and 8.2K Ohms in the bridge. One-sixteenth inch and 1/8” shims are available for top mounting. Note that the Senn Model One pickup does not retrofit most routs or mounts. It’s a unique pickup in dimension, wider than a P-90 or standard humbucker, and it may require routing to install. The Senn Model One set retails for $420 and the individual pickups are $210 each. The Senn Model One pickups are hand built in Lollar’s Tacoma workshop and are available from authorized Lollar dealers or from lollarpickups.com.

For more information:
Lollar Pickups