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Pickup Sets
Sometimes it seems like there is a bewildering choice of models - that's why many manufacturers put together recommended sets of pickups to suit particular applications.
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Humbuckers
Designed to 'buck-the-hum' or eradicate the noise problems encountered in traditional single coil designs, Seth Lover's humbucker set the standards for electric guitar pick-up design. We carry a broad range of humbuckers to 'juice-'up' your guitar or to install in custom guitars. Gibson's newer designs aim to recapture the magic of the original PAFs but there is a broad range of boutique pick-ups which can help you tailor your sound the way you want to.
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Pickups for 7-String Guitars
The solid-body electric sevenstring guitar first entered production in 1990, with the introduction of Steve Vai's Ibanez signature model, the Ibanez Universe. At the time, Vai was heavily into numerology, and in particular was drawn to the number 7. Apparently unaware of prior experimentation with additonal strings in the jazz world, Vai was drawn to the idea for much the same reasons seven string jazz players were - the extended range the additonal string offered. After initial experimentation with a high A, a low B was added as the high A proved to be too prone to breaking . Vai began touring with Whitesnake with a seven string prototype, and then used the guitars heavily on what is considered to be a landmark instrumental rock album, his 1990 release "Passion and Warfare."
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P90s
The P90 was Gibson's first big selling pick-up fitted to the Les Paul range. Ever since it has seen service in Gibson's Special and Junior models. These pickups are powerful and a little brighter than humbuckers but traditional models can pick up stray hum. There are now stacked, humbucking P90s which are much quieter. Additionally, there are now P90s in a humbucker package which allow you to try out the P90 sound in a humbucker equipped guitar. The metal packaging has the benefit of reducing extraneous noise.
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Mini-humbuckers
Mini-humbuckers first saw action in Epiphone guitars in the early 60s. They were designed, again, by Seth Lover and were specified by Epiphone's parent, Gibson, as a way of differentiating the two ranges. Slightly less powerful and brighter than a full sized pickup they later saw action on the Les Paul Deluxe, which was the archetypal Les Paul of the late 60s and 70s. Gibson simply mounted the Epiphone mini-humbucker (by now chrome plated like the rest of the range) in a modified cream P90 cover - voila! For the Firebird range, launched in 1963, a new variant of the Minihumbucker was developed, without polepieces. This is even less powerful and more trebly than the polepiece variant. The main professional application for the Firebird was by Motown - that 'kerchink' sound on Supremes records - nuff said! Johnny Winter used several original reverse Firebirds but modified with large humbuckers. To get a more powerful sound out of an original or reissue Firebird try switching to the hotter Seymour Duncan Firebird replacement models, without resorting to butchery!.
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Strat
Launched in 1952 the Fender Telecaster was the first volume selling solid guitar and was followed by the Stratocaster in 1954. Both guitars set many standards that other manufacturers have had to follow. Their single coil pick-ups have defined the sound heard on countless records. Like every other guitar there are variations down through the years and whatever era you would like to recapture we have the pick-ups to do the job.
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Tele
The world's first volume production electric guitar was what we know today as the Telecaster. Over 50 years on the Telecaster is still used on countless records.
The archetypal Tele sound is the clean, twangy one heard on so many Country & Western records and made popular by guitarists like Steve Cropper and Albert Lee. However, the edgey, screaming solo on Stairway to Heaven was reputedly played on a Tele by Jimmy Page, rather than a Les Paul as one would expect. These versatile instruments can cover many bases and our pickups will let you push the envelope further.
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Mustang, Duosonic, Jaguar and Jazzmaster
Although not as popular as the big selling Stratocaster and Telecaster models, Fender has made a range of really cool guitars that enjoy enduring appeal. The short-scale Mustang and Duosonic guitars were the student guitars of yesteryear and the Jaguar and Jazzmaster were intended to top off the range. They all still have their fans.
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Jazz Guitar Pickups
Jazz pickups are designed to fit arch-top jazz guitars and can either be floating - mounted to the end of the fingerboard or the scratchplate so that they do not interfere with the natural vibrations of the guitar's top - or fixed. Fixed humbuckers are voiced to reproduce the round, plummy sound found at the neck position on a classic arch-top. We can supply both types from a variety of manufacturers.
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Active Pickups
Active pickups, such as EMGs, are low impedance; they have a lower DC resistance than standard high impedance, passive magnetic pickups. The coil windings of a low impedance pickup are typically thicker gauge wire, which gives a lower DC resistance, greater dynamic range and wider frequency response (just like a low impedance microphone). A preamp is built into the pickup to boost the weaker signal and provide adequate gain. Because of the preamp, an active pickup can have a higher output voltage than a traditional magnetic pickup. Also, the boosted pickup doesn't suffer from signal degradation and high frequency loss when longer guitar cables are used. If the guitar's signal is being sent through several processors and effects, active pickups are ideal, because the signal is clean, quiet and balanced.
Active pickups are often preferred for their low noise and wide frequency response. The magnets used in active pickups are typically weaker than their high impedance counterparts. This requires the pickups to be adjusted closer to the strings, increasing the sensitivity to the nuances of a wide range of playing techniques, from intricate phrases to full power chords. “High output” active humbucker models are capable of driving amplifiers quite hard, for heavy distortion and sustain while retaining string definition and balance.
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Bass Guitar Pickups
Fifty years on and the P-Bass is still an industry standard. Despite a proliferation of bass guitar designs, the P-Bass and its brother the J-Bass are the archetypes that have spawned a whole industry of clones. Other classics are the Rickenbacker 4001 and the Music Man Stingray Bass. We offer pickups for these instruments to improve an older guitar, replace a defunct pickup or upgrade one of the clones.
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Specialty PickUps
Need a new pickup for a Gretsch, or perhaps a Danelectro ? We have a selection of the more esoteric designs here.
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Acoustic Guitar Pickups and Pre-Amps
If you already own an acoustic guitar or are thinking about buying one an acoustic transducer is the perfect way to mike it up for stage or studio use.
Many modern acoustic guitars come equipped with built in electronics but ask yourself this - how often does electronic equipment get updated? Every 6 or 12 months? But what about that new Taylor that you saved for, for what seems like forever, which was meant to last you for years. If you buy a pure acoustic guitar you will be able to update the pickup or transducer as new technology becomes available without any damage to your precious guitar. That is very difficult if not impossible to do with factory installed pickups.
Check out our range.
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Acoustic Instrument Pickups
In an amplified band setting acoustic instrument players often need to be amplified as well to make their performances heard. We supply pickups to fit a wide range of acoustic instruments.
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