The solderless connector setup includes a circuit board loaded with all the favourite USA grade electronics (Switchcraft jack, Switchcraft switch, CTS potentiometers, Orange drop capacitor). This circuit board simply drops into your Gibson style control layout, then you plug in the connectors we've added to the end of the pickup leads into the circuit board. The humbucker setup comes with default 500k potentiometers, 3 way toggle switch and 0.022uf capacitors.
These are available in both import (long shaft pots, short frame switch), USA (long shaft pots, long frame switch), or right angle (short shaft pots, right angle toggle switch) formats. (ONLY) Gibson Les Pauls will use USA. Epiphones and other import models will use the import format. SGs and similar will use the right angle format. Import models Les Pauls typically use short shaft potentiometers, but we've found through experimentation that due to the nature of the way that the pots are seated at different heights in the cavity, short shaft pots will not work effectively. Long shaft pots are used by shimming the shaft to the correct length with the second nut inside the cavity.
No soldering is required at all, making the installation job take about 10 minutes in total!
Utilising a resistor and capacitor network, tone shaping similar to that done in the preamp of an active pickup is achieved, resulting in the feel and EQ users of active pickups will be familiar with. This flat, clinical articulation lends itself beautifully to monstrous distortion and colossal riffs.
When people say that it's impossible to get the feel and tone of an active pickup in a passive pickup, they're not entirely wrong. It's impossible to get the combination of feel, tone and output of an active pickup in a passive. These are a little bit tamer in output than your standard actives. They're still hot by passive standards, but they won't slam the front end of your preamp quite as hard. This is the sacrifice we've made to get the most authentic active feel and tone, it'd be easy to make them just as hot - but the active characteristics would be lost.
The compression, articulation and flat response of these pickups make them (our my opinion) the most suitable pickups in the catalogue for drop tuned metal. We're very happy with the way they perform in drop C, and have no doubt they'd still be excellent in even lower tunings.
Covered options come with 12 hole covers.
Specifications (neck/bridge):
Magnet: ceramic/ ceramic
Spacing: 50mm/52mm
Lead wire: 4 conductor + shield
Base plate: short legged nickel silver
Wax potted
Supplied with mounting screws & springs.
Important note: these pickups are very sensitive to height adjustment. To achieve the most accurate active tones these should be set quite low.