When you think of pickups, what brands do you think of? Is it Seymour Duncan, an American classic manufacturer? The very distinctive DiMarzio? Or the British Bare Knuckle Pickups that has sprung up in recent years? But when it comes to the development history of pickups, the contribution of the guitar brand Gibson can be said to be indispensable. Whether it is the P-90 pickup that often appears on semi-hollow and hollow guitars, to the Humbucker humbucker that influenced the sound of later rock music, these The story is inseparable from Gibson.
In the past, although Gibson also sold pickups for players to replace, Gibson finally reorganized the pickup line in 2022 and established the Pickup Shop to provide a more diverse selection of tones. The Gibson Pickup Shop product line is mainly divided into three categories, which are distinguished by musicians who pursue the sound of different eras.
▲ Modern Collection is designed for the needs of modern musicians.
The first is the Modern Collection series. The design direction is mainly aimed at modern guitarists who need high output, including 496R and 500T with the largest output and Ceramic magnets (Gibson pickup R stands for Rhythm upper pickup, T stands for Treble lower pickup), Alnico 5 magnets are large The powerful 498T, and the 490R and T with Alnico 2 magnets that emphasize the creation of a modern neo-traditional style.
▲ The Original Collection series also has Mini-Humbucker size pickups.
The second is The Original Collection series, which is aimed at musicians who pursue classic sounds in the early days. It is also the most diverse series of the three production lines, such as the traditional P-90 with Dogear and Soapbar. In the 1960s In the later stage, in order to maintain the P-90 flavor but want to eliminate the noise, the Mini-Humbucker was selected.
Some choices of humbuckers are also very diverse, such as the high-output 70s Tribute and Dirty Fingers designed for the mid-1970s rock genre, and the T-Type, which is a replica of the classic T Top pickups produced from 1966 to 1979. Of course, the most eye-catching is Gibson’s attempt to reproduce the classic humbucking PAF series of pickups in the 1990s. Due to technical limitations in the early years, each legendary PAF has different timbres and outputs. Players can follow their own minds. Tone options include the ’57 Classic, Burstbucker Type 1, 2, 3 or Burstbucker Pro with Alnico 2 magnets, as well as the 60s Burstbucker with Alnico 5 magnets.
▲ Gibson Custombucker was only installed on Custom Shop factory guitars in the past, and it was sold independently for the first time this year.
The third is the Historic Collection series, which is the highest level in the series. Only Custombuckers with different shell shapes are available in the series. Since the Custombucker was only installed on the highest grade guitars such as Historic from the Gibson Custom Shop in the past, it was not sold independently, so it is also a very popular product in the second-hand market. Emphasizing the warm, sweet tone of Alnico 3 magnets, it has become the first choice for Gibson’s traditional tones in the minds of many modern people.
▲ Gibson demonstrates the sound of each series of pickups.
Written by: puppet
Image source: Gibson official website
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