WTB: Firebird pickups

daveyh · February 2023

A bit undecided atm so tell me what you’ve got and I’ll look them up.

Cheers!

Funkfingers · February 2023

What is your budget?

Oil City Pickups' Winterizer would be my choice. Mojo and others offer them too.

daveyh · February 2023

Funkfingers said:

What is your budget?

Oil City Pickups' Winterizer would be my choice. Mojo and others offer them too.

At this point I’ve not set a budget.

I’m not a fan of the Winterizer from what I’ve seen, and Mojo don’t show FBs

victorludorum · February 2023

daveyh said:

Funkfingers said:

What is your budget?

Oil City Pickups' Winterizer would be my choice. Mojo and others offer them too.

At this point I’ve not set a budget.

I’m not a fan of the Winterizer from what I’ve seen, and Mojo don’t show FBs

What don't you like about the Winterizers?

victorludorum · February 2023

This guy in France is selling something that is pretty interesting:

https://www.zikinf.com/annonces/annonce-2136171

The price is good for the pair, but personally I would check with the Creamery that they actually made these. This guy makes his own pickups, so they could be a prototype that he's made himself. I would have snagged them myself, but the output is quite beefy if the Creamery stickers on the back are to be believed.

JasonW · February 2023

I had this guy wind me some T-tops for my Epiphone Les Paul and they are fantastic. Nice guy to deal with too.

https://www.fletcherpickups.co.uk/firebirds

daveyh · February 2023

victorludorum said:

daveyh said:

Funkfingers said:

What is your budget?

Oil City Pickups' Winterizer would be my choice. Mojo and others offer them too.

At this point I’ve not set a budget.

I’m not a fan of the Winterizer from what I’ve seen, and Mojo don’t show FBs

What don't you like about the Winterizers?

On the vids I’ve seen there’s a ‘honky’ quality to the tone I don’t like, which I’m also hearing in the Mojo Johnny Winters which isn’t surprising! Of course it’s always difficult to make a proper judgment online but you’ve got to start somewhere.

Current favourites seem to be Lollar and somewhat surprisingly the USA made FB720s they put in the Epi Bonanassa Firebirds

Funkfingers · February 2023

That "honk" is what proper old Firebirds do. Small wonder that JW, Sonny Landreth and others used them for slide. IMO, it is vital to run Firebird pickups via individual volume pots. That way, they can be blended to achieve an ideal slide tone.

UK maker, Fraser Guitars, winds 'bird pickups in assorted flavours from peaky to warm via goldfoil. Check out their website for details.

daveyh · February 2023

Funkfingers said:

That "honk" is what proper old Firebirds do. Small wonder that JW, Sonny Landreth and others used them for slide. IMO, it is vital to run Firebird pickups via individual volume pots. That way, they can be blended to achieve an ideal slide tone.

UK maker, Fraser Guitars, winds 'bird pickups in assorted flavours from peaky to warm via goldfoil. Check out their website for details.

I agree there’s a ‘honk’ to Firebirds but the quality that’s there in those pickups is something I don’t like compared to other birds I’ve heard.

Blending is exactly how I do it myself but I want a certain base to start with.

pluckedout · February 2023

I have some SD antiquity Firebird pups that I'm planning to let go, they're currently installed in something so I'd need to remove them but this might be the excuse I need if you're interested

Exorcist · February 2023

FWIW I had some Klein firebird pickups and they sounded absolutely amazing. I didn't keep the firebird they were in, but I really wish I had kept the pickups. Worth a look if you can find any...

impmann · February 2023

Sounds like you want Mini-Humbuckers rather than Firebird pickups if you want less 'honk'...

bbill335 · February 2023

fwiw i have an oil city firebird set that never made their way into a guitar (discovered that i love p90s after i got them!). would be quite happy to move them on.

SteveRobinson · February 2023

I like the Monty's Retro Winds I have in one of my guitars. They're bell-like in their clarity, not like anything else I have.

victorludorum · March 2023

bbill335 said:

fwiw i have an oil city firebird set that never made their way into a guitar (discovered that i love p90s after i got them!). would be quite happy to move them on.

He doesn't like Winterizers, but I'm sure they get snapped up quickly if you put them up for sale as they rarely come up.

Cirrus · March 2023

JasonW said:

I had this guy wind me some T-tops for my Epiphone Les Paul and they are fantastic. Nice guy to deal with too.

https://www.fletcherpickups.co.uk/firebirds

Nice, I've got alnico 3 t-top style pickups from him in my gretsch, absolutely love them.

re; the Oil City winterizers... if they have a distinct honk, it's almost definitely coming from the resonances of the guitar they're installed in, or something in the signal chain/ amp/ recording setup. I've never met a pickup that so totally takes on the character of the guitar it's being put in. My bridge Winterizer variously has been tried in a Strat (spanky, scooped, bright), Explorer (Full, low middy, "chewy*") Les Paul (Lacked balls, too snappy with the maple top) and Gretsch (same, but had added 800hz bloat that I didn't like). The pickups themselves are pretty transparent to the sound of the instrument, for better or worse.

daveyh · March 2023

impmann said:

Sounds like you want Mini-Humbuckers rather than Firebird pickups if you want less 'honk'...

I thought that previously which is why I’ve got mini hums in there atm, excellent pickups but not enough of the Firebird character is in there.

daveyh · March 2023

Cirrus said:

JasonW said:

I had this guy wind me some T-tops for my Epiphone Les Paul and they are fantastic. Nice guy to deal with too.

https://www.fletcherpickups.co.uk/firebirds

re; the Oil City winterizers... if they have a distinct honk, it's almost definitely coming from the resonances of the guitar they're installed in, or something in the signal chain/ amp/ recording setup. I've never met a pickup that so totally takes on the character of the guitar it's being put in. My bridge Winterizer variously has been tried in a Strat (spanky, scooped, bright), Explorer (Full, low middy, "chewy*") Les Paul (Lacked balls, too snappy with the maple top) and Gretsch (same, but had added 800hz bloat that I didn't like). The pickups themselves are pretty transparent to the sound of the instrument, for better or worse.

That’s an interesting angle the resonance, I hadn’t considered that. Serious food for thought, cheers

Mojopickups · March 2023

daveyh said:

victorludorum said:

daveyh said:

Funkfingers said:

What is your budget?

Oil City Pickups' Winterizer would be my choice. Mojo and others offer them too.

At this point I’ve not set a budget.

I’m not a fan of the Winterizer from what I’ve seen, and Mojo don’t show FBs

What don't you like about the Winterizers?

On the vids I’ve seen there’s a ‘honky’ quality to the tone I don’t like, which I’m also hearing in the Mojo Johnny Winters which isn’t surprising! Of course it’s always difficult to make a proper judgment online but you’ve got to start somewhere.

Current favourites seem to be Lollar and somewhat surprisingly the USA made FB720s they put in the Epi Bonanassa Firebirds

The Johnny Winter pickups are by Mojotone, I don't make them.

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WTB: Firebird pickups

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