True Vintage Alnico II

First there was the Single Coil and it was Good. Then there came the Humbucker..............​
With a nod to the first great humbuckers I present my take on the originals; Both Neck & Bridge have the same output and 50mm pole to pole. Both covered.
To balance the neck with the bridge it is placed lower relative to the strings, resulting in a clearer neck tone with less string pull. Sandcast Alnico II give a creamy smoothness with beautiful sweet clarity.
One for the Tone Fiends!

Both 7.6k 4.4H

£174 set

Vintage Alnico IV

With an even EQ response, these will make a good guitar sound awesome. Best on warm tone woods with hard tops, these produce that classic PAF tone and versatile enough for most genres. My recommendation.

Neck 7.2k 3.9H
Bridge 8.0k 4.8H

From £75each

Vintage Alnico III

Mellow warm tones and singing sustain. These have a woody tone in the neck and warm mellow bridge. A sultry vibe dripping with smooth. Hollow body paradise.

Neck 7.2k 3.9H
Bridge 8.0k 4.8H

From £75 each

Vintage Alnico V

Classic humbucker punch and clarity. Controlled bass with clear punch in top and scooped mids. I called it Home because you know where you are with this combo. Classic rock. At home in Maple & Mahogany.

Neck 7.2k 3.9H
Bridge 8.0k 4.8H

From £75 each

Vintage Alnico II

With a more mids and cleaner highs, these can push an amp into sweet distortion or lick up smooth vintage cleans. Versatile enough for jazz to rock. Nicely suited to brighter light woods.

Neck 7.2k 3.9H
Bridge 8.0k 4.8H

From £75 each

Vintage/Hot Alnico V

This pickup combines two different wire gauges to give a rich complex tone.
The thicker 42awg wire has the clarity of voice and articulation to be expected of a vintage style pickups. The thinner 43awg wire adds a touch of warmth and drive to the mix, resulting in a pickup with the openness of a vintage pickup with a warm powerful tone of a more modern voiced pickup.

Neck 8.3k 4.1H
Bridge 9.4k 5.0H

From £75each

Medium Alnico V

Overwound with thinner wire these are more powerful than Hot-Vintage, having more attack and power but not as crazy as modern super-hot pickups, so still versatile enough to play clean. Medium output.

Neck 10.9k 5.9H
Bridge 14.0k 8.9H

From £75 each

Hot Alnico VIII

Overwound with thin wire, these offer up-most power. Clear highs with controlled mids & bass.

Neck 14k Bridge 18k

From £75 each

Medium Alnico V

The winding recipe of the Purgatory, with the mismatched wire thickness of the Blends.
One coil of AWG 43, and one of AWG 44 wound to Medium/Hot levels.
Adds a tighter, more complex voice to the Purgatory set.

Neck 11.5k 5.3H
Bridge 16.6k 9.2H

From £75 each

Hot Ceramic

Overwound with thin wire, these offer up-most power. Unpleasant for clean tones, these will get you noticed. Clear highs, thumping bass & spongy mids.
Will accommodate extra magnets for extra madness

Neck 14k Bridge 18k

From £75 each

Hot Alnico V

Overwound with thin wire, these offer up-most power. Perhaps too attacking for clean tones, these will rip the house down. Reasonably balanced tones with thick mids

Neck 14k Bridge 18k

From £75each

Neodymium!

Is it puerile and childish to use Neodymium Rare Earth, super-strong magnets overwound to silliness?? Yes.
Not one for the vintage tone seekers
Violent & loud, like being punched in the ear, but funny.
Surprisingly dynamic & musical considering & highly addictive through a tube amp

Bridge 20k

From £75 each

Vintage to Modern Alnico V (or II, III, IV)

Can't decide which output you want! Tapped (not coil split) Humbuckers will allow you to go from one output to another - Low single coil output to Proper vintage. Or Vintage to Silly!
Two tapped coils allow fully humbucking change in power, the range to which you want is up to you. Due to space constraints, some configurations may require use of thinner wire, resulting in different tones.

Vintage to Modern

£85 each

Vintage/Hot Alnico V (or II, III, IV)

High clarity Humbucker. Similar in design to the HummerLess, this pickup replaces the large bar magnet with individual Alnico poles in place of the slugs. Six magnets to each coil of different length replacing the steel screws/slugs, creating a clearer, brighter & quicker response over a standard humbucker.
Wound with thinner wire than the HummerLess for a better mid response.
Poles are non-adjustable.

Neck 8+k, Bridge 9+k

£80 each

Vintage Alnico V (or II, III, IV)

Single voice clarity without hum. This pickup replaces the large bar magnet with individual Alnico poles in place of the slugs. Three magnets to each coil creates a clear bright & warm tone somewhere between a true single coil and a p90, without the hum, and with some of the power of a humbucker.
2 wire output only. Poles are non-adjustable & requires 3x3 cover

Neck 6.6k, Bridge 7.5k

£80 each

Vintage Alnico V (or II, III, IV)

Similar objective as the HummerLess, these have only 3 poles per bobbin. However, construction is more like a traditional humbucker or p90 in that the bar magnet is retained & steel screws are used (Yes, its a normal humbucker with screws removed).
Addition of steel to the mix results in a more p90 flavour over the Alnico pole version.
2 wire output only. Poles adjustable & requires a 3x3 cover.

Neck 7.2k, Bridge 8.0k

£77 each

From £20

AmpCloth'd

First pick your Open Cover:
Chrome, Nickel, Raw Nickel, Gold or Matt Black

Then pick your Amp Cloth:
Salt n Pepper (pictured) & F' Silverface in stock - enquire for others.

From +£12

Covered HBs

Pickups come uncovered as standard in Black, Cream or Zebra - 6 screw, 12 screw or all slugs

Covers are available in:
6 screw, 12 screw, 3x3, Slotted, H-slot, Covered & Open.

In the following finishes:
Unplated Raw Nickel, Chrome, Nickel or Gold

+£5 each

Relic'd HB

Artificially aged or Relic'd Humbucker covers available in Nickel or Gold (Chrome doesn't relic well with the method I use).
Each relic'd cover will age differently and look different.

+£15

Rail'd HB

Solid metal rails in place of slugs/screws. More steel in the pickup produces higher definition and clarity.
More suited to higher output pickups where more definition is needed at higher gain, but available for any given pickups spec.

Available as: Thin or Fat rails.
Black, Gold or Chrome Rails
Black or Cream bobbins

+£2

Sandcast HB

Standard Alnico magnets used are polished & shiny. Sand-cast magnets are available, in keeping with very early pickups, for a more genuine PAF sound. The rough surface disturbs the distribution of the magnetic field, resulting in a slight reduction of top end, to give a smoother voiced tone.

From £12

Foil'd

First pick your Open Cover:
Chrome, Nickel, Raw Nickel, Gold or Matt Black

Then pick your Aluminium foil:
Silver, Gold, Black, Blue or Pink!
or
Steel Mesh:
Chrome, Nickel, Gold or Matt Black

No extra cost

Overwound Underwound

Most Vintage wound Pickups can be Overwound to Vintage-Hot wind for more presence and for brighter guitars or just for a bit more grunt and a more modern sound.
All Pickups can be Underwound up to 10% for more clarity or for dark or hollow guitars.