44 Magnum Humbucker Pickup

I've had the set in a modded 72 Tele deluxe for several months now, and have had a chance to hear their sound in several recordings. I've tried every pickup under the sun, and the 44 magnum is my current favorite. That's saying a lot.



The first thing I'd say is, forget about the whole high output thing.. It's not about that. These match pretty well with my other favorites, I don't have to change my amp settings when switching to this guitar, even from some pretty vintage output pickup guitars.



The sound: opinions are so subjective.. I'll tell you about what I was looking for and how these fit the bill for me. I've always liked pickups that have incredible note clarity, even within a chord, and even under fair amounts of gain and distortion. The second criteria for me is a high amount of harmonic overtones, and whether they are pleasing overtones. These knocked it out of the park the first time I heard them in person. Distorted: (Friedman be-od, clean tube amp) There are a crazy amount of amazingly pleasing overtones. Too much even? No, because I can hear every note quite clearly. Finger noises on the strings are turned into pleasing croaks and squeals, incidental things that bring a performance alive. I don't know how in the world they accomplished this, but low notes are very tight, and high notes are mellow. In many ways this is the vintage paf I was after.. I thought the sd pearly gates and dimarzio paf (after swapping in a roughcast A2 magnet) got kind of close? Yes lots of harmonics, but not as much, and other tonal issues.. The sd too bassy, the dimarzio not enough lows. The 44 magnum kills them both with sheer tonal balance and clarity. Anywhere on the fretboard.



The one caveat I have is that the sheer amount of harmonic overtones.. And the clarity.. is insane. You'll hear every tiny thing your fingers do. With rainbows of tasty harmonics around it, larger than life. For me that's ideal, for some maybe not. I've been speaking solely of the bridge pickup so far, I barely use neck pickups, but I'll say that this neck pup accomplishes that roundy sound while keeping a better clarity than I usually find, and in fact I've almost been tempted to use it with distorted rock chords, where usually I'd never consider that.



I rarely write reviews. But I had to. People who are not in the market for a high output humbucker should still try this one too.. I was worried it'd be like an active, and not work for my thing, I'm so glad I gave them a chance. If you like great harmonic overtones and note clarity, you'll be blown away. This is not just a pickup for metal, don't be scared away by the high output marketing part of it. For all-around tone, it's the most remarkable pickup I've ever heard since I started as a kid in the late 1970s.. And I've been searching the whole time. I just bought my third bridge pickup btw. After hearing it on recordings it has become a pivotal part of my sound, there's just nothing else like it out there.

Put these in my LTD EC1001 with some new pots and I feel like it came alive. The active pickups were just too artificial sounding for me. I wanted something passive that would give me the sustain and output with more feel to them. I'm actually shocked at how clear and articulate these are. Don't let the specs fool you because these are really versatile pickups for metal and clean tones.