HANDMADE LARGE HUMBUCKER FIREBIRD
ALNICO 5 MAGNETS
NICKEL AND GOLD COVERS AVAILABLE
HANDMADE IN OUR WORKSHOPS HERE IN MELBOURNE
THIS IS A CALIBRATED SET DESIGNED TO TO BE TIGHT AND PUNCHY WITHOUT BEING TOO TOPPY
THEIR DESIGN IS BASED ON THE ORIGINAL 1963 FIREBIRD PICKUPS USING ALNICO V BLADES AND A SPECIALLY DESIGNED MAGNETIC CIRCUIT TO ACHIEVE THE CLASSIC FIREBIRD TONE. I HAVE BEEFED THEM UP A LITTLE BUT STILL RETAIN THE CHARACTER OF THE CLASSIC FIREBIRD PUP.
IN THE LARGE HUMBUCKER FORMAT, YOU CAN NOW GET FIREBIRD TONES IN YOUR LES PAUL, 335, OR EVEN 2H STRAT
I HAVE PERSONALLY BEEN USING THESE PUPS IN MY OWN GUITARS AND GIGGED THEM EXTENSIVELY AND AM EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THE TONE AND PERFORMANCE FOR CLASSIC ROCK AND BLUES. THEY SPLIT VERY WELL AND HAVE A GREAT SINGLE COIL CHIME
NECK PICKUP IS NASTY, CHIMEY AND CLEAR WITHOUT BEING TOO BRIGHT, BOTTOM END IS TIGHT
BRIDGE PICKUP HAS A TELE-LIKE VIBE WITH BALLS….KIND OF LIKE A CROSS BETWEEN A TELE PICKUP AND A P-90
SPECS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
HAND MAGNETISED ALNICO V MAGNETS
SLIGHTLY HOTTER THAN VINTAGE
NECK 10.4K
BRIDGE 11.9K
UNPOTTED FOR EXTRA CHARACTER
GERMAN NICKEL SILVER BASEPLATE
CHROME COVER
PICKUP COVERS ARE DAMPENED TO REDUCE MICROPHONICS
4 WIRE CONDUCTOR FOR FLEXIBLE WIRING OPTIONS
THESE PICKUPS COME AS SET
ONE SET CONSISTS OF A CALIBRATED SET OF TWO PICKUPS WITH SCREWS AND SPRINGS
PUSH PUSH 500K POTS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE IN STORE FOR PHASE REVERSAL WITHOUT MODDING YOUR GUITAR
THESE ARE TOTALLY HAND MADE AND UNIQUE TO US, AND YOU WILL NOT GET THESE ANYWHERE ELSE.
Paul Ed –
I have recently had one of these installed on the neck of my Yamaha RS620. WOW what a difference it’s brilliant and does everything I could and and more it has transformed my guitar into a different beast what a brilliant Pup. I’ll be back for more!
Greg –
I tried the Trons (Filtertron style) and love them, but I was still curious enough to gamble on the Big Birds for another guitar. Like the Trons, the Big Birds are brighter and have more clarity, but the different construction of Firebird pickups gives a unique tone. When you do bass runs on the E and A strings with the neck pickup, the notes are more tight and full. The neck is the best neck pickup I’ve ever heard, especially for clean tones. The bridge is more bright than I usually want, so I roll off the tone knob a bit. Clean and overdriven they sound great, just not as smooth as the Trons. The Big Birds are like 4k high definition. The magnets are right up by the strings instead of under the coils, and you can instantly hear the difference. Great for finger picking….they nail those Jeff Beck style tones. Strat style single coils have always sounded too thin to me. These are like single coils but with more punch and no hum. I wish I’d found these pickups a few decades ago!
Chuck (verified owner) –
I replaced the stock bridge pickup in my PRS Vela with a Big Bird bridge pickup to go with the K-Line Firebird pickup that I had already replaced the neck pickup with. The Big Bird is a great sounding pickup, it definitely has the essential Firebird character to it but it’s significantly hotter than the Lollar Firebird pickup that my buddy has in his guitar. Compared to the Lollar (and the K-line), the Big Bird is noticeably thicker sounding, a bit more compressed, with warmer highs (still plenty of highs though, it’s not what I would call a dark pickup by any means). It’s not as open and airy and not quite as chimey as the Lollar, but it’s way clearer and more open sounding than what I’ve heard of the modern Gibson Firebird pickups. I’d recommend the Big Bird to anyone looking for a slightly thicker Firebird tone that drives your amp harder than a vintage-style Firebird pickup without getting muddy or losing the essential Firebird character, or someone looking for something with a different flavor than a typical humbucker. 4 stars only because it’s not quite what I was expecting but it’s a killer pickup nonetheless.
J. Boyle (verified owner) –
TLDR: Buy these pickups.
Full review: I’ve installed great pickups from all of the great winders around the globe into guitars, and these Big Birds from Mr. Fabulous are the most underrated pickups I’ve run across.
How are they underrated? Well aside from the amazing tone, they’re versatile as heck. I used a set in a Les Paul with LP Deluxe wiring and they were so good i sold that guitar because i got sick of people offering to buy it. I wired them into a custom HSH Strat i made with a vintage USA Washburn single coil in the middle position. I put a push/pull to split the Big Birds’ coils, a treble bleed, and a 7 way switch. It was the most incredible sounding Strat i’ve made. The Big Birds coil split perfectly for great strat tones. Buddies would play that strat and ask me about the pickups and i told them they were Big Birds and they’d laugh because we have this show called Sesame street, and one of the stars of that show (who also happens to be one of the most iconic children’s show characters in the U.S. ever) is named Bid Bird. i also put one of these in a LP jr style guitar i made and coil tapped it, phase switched it, and it took that simple single pickup guitar and made it into a must-have.
It’s not just how versatile they are from one type of guitar to another, it’s how versatile they are for any type of music. That HSH strat went to a metal player. That LP went to a blues/rock player. The LP jr style went to a studio. These are the pickups for the job.
I just purchased another Big bird for the neck position of a tele i’m making. it’s a unique tele in that i’m using a neck made from one solid piece of rosewood, and a body that’s a wild-grained piece of light-weight palownia. It’s gonna have a top-load Babicz bridge with another Mr Fabulous pickup in it. My new pickups just arrived and i can’t wait to get this thing finished up. I’ve sold all of the guitars i’ve made with Big Birds, and I miss them. I promised myself i’m not gonna sell this one haha.