The world of guitar gear is always turning but June 2026 was an especially febrile time for hot new gear. It all began with Positive Grid unveiling an AI-enabled combo that let players design “any tone imaginable” by text or even image prompt, and did not let up.

Orange Amps teamed up with Ed Sheeran for a trio of signature guitar amps designed for acoustic players to play live, and to play live anywhere. On the street, in a coffee shop, onstage, at the beach, whatever. It was a range that included “the ultimate busking amp” and was designed especially for younger players and those getting started, and maybe those players were playing Epiphone’s super-affordable version of the Gibson Hummingbird.

This was the month in which the Fender Tone Master Pro was upgraded, Eventide brought us the next-gen H9 Harmonizer, Harley Benton expanded its cheap electric guitar lineup with an $185 shred machine with a roasted maple neck, and PRS Guitars made a signature model for an anime character. There was a Gibson Victory with a Floyd, Alex Lifeson’s Epiphone ES-355, and Charvel unveiled an all-new US-made range.

JHS Pedals found a use for the circuit it released by mistake with its original Dumble-inspired NOTADÜMBLE DIY pedal kit, launching the Fumble as an $89 clean boost. The Kansas-based brand is primed to release the NOTADÜMBLE v2 DIY pedal kits. This features the officially corrected circuit, and those wanting to get their hands on the first batch (6,000 units all in) will have to wait now until July 16. Mark the date in your calendars and take yourself to the JHS Pedals website for the launch.

And the gear kept coming... There were gold Kramers, ES-330s from the Gibson Custom Shop, and Meris being Meris and throwing the kitchen sink at lo-fi signal processing with the Ottobit X.

Here, in time for pay day, we are going to try to make sense of it all, gathering all the big releases, the sleeper hits and the essential gear that was unveiled this June in one place.

We will finish with Fender's big half-year drop. There is a lot to get into there. The question is where to begin?

Perhaps that has to be with the freshest drop, and the news that Darkglass Electronics has teamed up with Sweetwater and Andertons for an Anagram amp modeller and multi-effects that is made especially for guitarists.

Amp modellers and effects

Darkglass Electronics Anagram Guitar Essentials 

Bass guitar tone got a whole lot more interesting in April 2025 after Darkglass Electronics unveiled its all-powerful Anagram Bass workstation with a hexacore DSP engine, Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) integration, heaps of preamps and effects and full control of your signal chain. In other words, all mod cons.

Well, the nature of these things is such that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and teaming up with retail giants Sweetwater and Andertons, Darkglass is now offering an Anagram designed for guitarists.

It’s still the same hardware, refinished in black, and it ships pre-loaded the Guitar Essentials plugin. And it’s still very powerful, capable of running up to 24 simultaneous effects blocks.

It’s priced £999/$1,299 and available now via Sweetwater and Andertons.

Electro-Harmonix Percolator Harmonic Saturator 

The iconic NYC stompbox brand has had a busy summer. Earlier this month it added the Pico Shimmer to its DSP lineup, and then there was the Percolator, a fuzz-drive inspired by the Interfax Harmonic Percolator favoured by the late Steve Albini.

This shares all the gnarly character of the original, has a pleasingly punk aesthetic too, but it comes with a few helpful tweaks, including a bias control and a secondary clipping mode. Given that June also saw the release of EarthQuaker Devices’ HalfLife, the latest octave fuzz in its collab with drone metal pioneers Sunn O))), this has been a good month for stompboxes for underground pursuits.

Percolator Harmonic Saturator is priced $99. Find out more at Electro-Harmonix.

Cornerstone Centurio Dual Overdrive

While our eyes are trained at our pedalboards, let’s run take a look at one of the more boutique additions to your local guitar store’s pedal cabinet. It’s from Cornerstone, it’s called the Centurio, and yes, it is another Klon-inspired overdrive pedal.

But wait. This isn’t just a straight-up Klone. Cornerstone presents it as a two-channel drive box, one a faithful clone circuit, the other a Hot mode with this second – and fully independent – gain and volume stage.

There’s also a Clip dial to give you the “full range of Klon clipping behaviour”, from the high-headroom open response of the early Klons to the tighter and more compressed of more modern units, and all points in between.

The Centurio is priced €299. Find out more over at Cornerstone.

MXR Wylde Audio Zakk Sabbath Overdrive

All the same sounds of Zakk Wylde’s signature MXR overdrive, with the same Volume, Tone and Gain control surface, now in a limited edition Black Sabbath-inspired black and purple paint job, a la the Black Label Society frontman’s Zakk Sabbath tribute band.

Find out more at Jim Dunlop.

Solar Chug Capo

Solar’s first digital guitar effects pedal is a pitch-shifting capo pedal that can move your guitar’s pitch up or down an octave, one semitone at a time, effectively acting as an actual guitar capo does as you move your tuning up, and as super low-latency pitch shifter as you tune down. Some might ask why you don’t just tune down, but this is easier, and this is a thousand times easier if you are playing a guitar with a Floyd Rose.

Find out more at Solar Guitars.

Signature guitars, pickups and plugins

Jackson Pro Series Rob Cavestany Signature

Jackson has a long history of co-creating with its artist roster. It’s a story that takes it back to the beginning, when Randy Rhoads had some ideas for an asymmetrical V shape and that led to the creation of iconic metal guitars of all time got created.

But it wasn’t just Rhoads. Rob Cavestany of seminal Bay Area thrashers Death Angel did something similar, jotting a sketch of this X-shaped electric on a napkin and Jackson just being nuts enough to put this thing into production.

This year sees the neck-thru beast refreshed in Snow White with black hardware, and it has never looked more classic. This will look great under stage lights. Key details include the EMG 81 at the bridge, EMG HA at the neck, the Floyd Rose 1000 Series vibrato, and the 12” to 16” compound radius fingerboard that typifies contemporary Jackson playability.

Find out more at Jackson.

PRS Guitars Jon Jourdan Limited

The touring guitarist for Mammoth wanted an electric guitar with no passengers. No features that he didn’t need. No Floyd Rose, no onboard Kaoss Pad, not even a second pickup. And that’s what makes his limited run (just 200 units!) signature model with PRS such an refreshing proposition.

This has a PRS Metal humbucker at the bridge, a wraparound bridge/tailpiece, and just a single volume control. Note the position of the volume. It’s where the tone pot would ordinarily be, so that Jourdan doesn’t knock it out of place in the heat of battle. It’s available in Platinum and Gunmetal metallic finishes. Each instrument comes with a signed backplate. Head over to PRS Guitars for more.

Godin 25th Anniversary Steve Stevens Signature Model ACS Multiac Guitar

The nylon-string acoustic electric hybrid guitar has been having a moment in recent years, with Polyphia’s Tim Henson and Scott LePage introducing it to a new generation of players with Playing God.

But Godin and Steve Stevens have been up to this sort of mischief now for 25 years, and have marked the occasion with this Mutliac model with a purple quilted maple top. It’s not just a cosmetic glow-up. We’ve got upgraded electronics, too.

The Billy Idol guitarist says Godin’s Multiac platform changed the way he thought about guitar.

“I wanted to merge flamenco, rock, and electronic music into something cinematic and modern,” he says. “And Godin was the first company that truly understood that vision.”

Find out more at Godin.

Seymour Duncan The Philip Sayce “Big Daddy” Stratocaster Pickup Set

We like the idea of Sayce’s signature electric guitar pickup doing premium Stratocaster tone but making it super juicy, oversized, with a tonal footprint that conjures images of a burly fella in a blue leotard throwing grown men about the ring. But the changes are that, growing up in Canada, Sayce will not have spent his childhood watching ‘80s wrestling on UK TV.

Big Daddy, as it happens, is in reference to Sayce's ’63 Sunburst Strat, a guitar that almost makes Rory Gallagher’s number one look pristine, and Seymour Duncan have duly reverse engineered its pickups so you can give your Strat a tonal makeover.

It wasn’t easy. The original bridge pickup had been worn over the years, its wire making direct contact with the Alnico V magnet. How could Seymour Duncan recreate this?

Well, the solution was a micro-capacitor soldered to the back of the pickup. “This gently shifts the resonant peak, producing the sweet treble response needed to round out this balanced set,” says the brand.

The first 630 sets come aged by the Custom Shop. Find out more at Seymour Duncan.

MixWave Yvette Young signature plugin

Yvette Young and MixWave team up for to offer the signature tones from her live rig in a guitar plugin – what’s not to like?

There are few players today with a better ear for how delay, modulation, reverb and compression can come together to create this ambient, super-textured world for the electric guitar to inhabit.

Sometimes Young’s tone can sound of the earth, organic and elemental, other times not of this world. Available now at an introductory price of $99.

See MixWave for more.

Epiphone, Orangewood, Blackstar and Two Notes

Epiphone expands Inspired By Gibson Custom Series

There is not great mystery to the Inspired By Gibson Custom range. It is what it says it is, high-end Epiphone guitars designed in partnership with Gibson’s Custom Shop, featuring Gibson USA pickups, premium appointments such as CTS pots and long neck tenons… All serious stuff, and unsurprisingly it has been a big hit for Epiphone.

New models include an IGC Les Paul Custom in Sedona Burst and Amethyst Burst, a 1963 Firebird I Reissue in Cherry, and a 1959 Les Paul Standard in Poppy Burst, while the 1960 Les Paul Special Double Cut Reissue is now available in TV Yellow, Cherry Red, and TV White.

See Epiphone for more details.

Orangewood Melrose Retro

Okay, so Orangewood is offering one slope-shouldered dreadnought, a grand concert and a parlour acoustic guitar, all with solid tops, all with LR Baggs acoustic guitar pickups, with prices starting from $545 for the Nash Retro Live parlor, $695 for the Dylan and Brooklyn. Those prices also include a gig bag. This does not sound like a bad deal.

We especially like the look of that LR Baggs M1 soundhole pickup on the Dylan and Brooklyn models. Orangewood says these are not time machine instruments per se. The goal was to create an accessible acoustic that today’s player wants to play.

“We weren’t interested in nostalgia for its own sake, or in adding modern features that overcomplicate the instrument,” says Eddie Park, co-founder of Orangewood. “The goal was something more grounded – taking familiar forms, refining what already works, and pairing them with the features today’s players actually need.”

Find out more at Orangewood.

Blackstar Fly 3 High Gain

You all know the Fly 3. It’s the tiny, take-anywhere Blackstar combo, and there have been all kinds of different versions – the Jared James Nichols and Bones signature models, the Bluetooth model, the Shell Pink model and so on.

Now for something a little meaner. Enter, the Fly 3 High Gain, the tiny, take-anywhere Blackstar combo with a newly designed Nitro channel for heavy metal freaks on the move. At £85/$99, it’s an affordable little practice option, and just the thing if you want to want to impress your office colleagues with a performance of Morbid Angel's Chapel Of Ghouls arranged for solo guitar. And which office wouldn't welcome that?

In other Blackstar news, this month it expanded its partnership with Tone3000 to bring Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) tech capture support to its Beam Solo headphone amp, allowing players to access the massive online open-source library of tones and upload NAM A2 Lite captures to their device.

See Blackstar for more.

Two Notes Genome 2

Two Notes Gemone 2.0 is an upgrade but the word upgrade feels a little insufficient. This expansion of its entire digital rig building ecosystem presents players with some truly cutting-edge tools for the studio, such as the onboard AmpNet tech.

Not only can you create static NAM captures of your hardware amplifiers, you can create multi-parametric captures, giving you a full digital presentation of how your amp sounds across irs range.

The fully integrated amp, effects and virtual cab engine is now also now available on iPad. For more details head over to Two Notes.

Fender goes big: Highlights from the Big F's big summer gear drop

No player left behind was the message from the Big F as it announced its mega-drop for the summer, an announcement that welcomed the return of Squier’s much-loved Paranormal Series, the debut of its limited run high-performance Fusion Series and a lot more.

There was fresh colour options for the American Vintage II and Player II lineups, new California Deluxe acoustics, a ’62 Deluxe tube amp combo that is bound to thrill purists, 75th Anniversary models for the Telecaster and Precision Bass respectively, and the intriguing prospect of American Professional Classic series Teles and Strats featuring Fender’s all-new Silent System – an all-passive system (no batteries included, nor are they needed) that removes the hum from single-coil pickups.

Now, take a breath, because there was more… There was a refresh for the Santa Ana Overdrive, Bends Compressor, The Pelt fuzz and Pugilist Distortion, with v2 delivering a heap of new features.

We particularly like the sound of the Octave/Chaos footswitch on The Pelt, which allows you to apply a traditional octave-up effect or this Chaos mode, which is described as an "assymetrical octave for sputtering artefacts".

Where do you start with all that?

MusicRadar was lucky enough to get hands-on with some of these guitars already, and it’s hard to look past the Paranormal Series’ return as the big headline from the drop, because these guitars are, well, kinda nuts.

That’s part of the appeal. It’s the world’s biggest guitar manufacturer creating strange hybrids, the electric guitar as a cryptid.

Take the Paranormal Strat Deluxe. This is a Strat like no other, it swaps out the boring old three single-coil configuration for a humbucker at the bridge and, wait, a Tele neck pickup at the neck, and you can split the humbucker via a push/pull on the pots. It’s a strange fish but with familiar elements; we have the the 2-point tremolo, the larger ‘70s style headstock, the amp-style knobs, and that might all feel a little familiar, but then look at that pickguard.

The Paranormal Troublemaker Telecaster Deluxe Bigsby is even more off-menu. The B50 Bigsby speaks to the aftermarket souped-up vibe, but this is a Tele with dual humbuckers, both of which are splittable, with an Adjust-o-matic bridge and the block inlays, there’s almost a Fender Custom Shop vibe with regards to how out there the specs are.

Then you have the Coronado headstock, the short Gibson-esque 24.75” scale length and the split-coils of the Electric VI offset, an the Paranormal Baritone Jazzmaster, a dual-humbucker bruiser with a 27” scale length that ships in Oxblood and Sea Foam Green. All of this is too cool, and prices start from just £449/$479.

In a sense, Fender’s Player Fusion lineup is just as radical, perhaps borrowing from Charvel for a limited edition hotrodded series that have 12” radius ebony fingerboards and black hardware as standard. The Strat comes with an HSS configuration and a 2-point vibrato.

It’s a little reminiscent of the Iron Maiden signature models for Dave Murray and Janick Gers. But for the Tele if you want a full-on shred machine; it has the Floyd Rose 1000 Series vibrato and a pair of high-output humbuckers as as standard, and it comes in Black and Aura Metallic.

Bassists are not forgotten about either. The dual-humbucker Fusion Precision Bass looks like a solid candidate for rock and metal players, while rounding out the series is the Player Fusion Jaguar Baritone Special.

At first blush, this feels like a specialist instrument exclusively for low-end riffing (it ships tuned B to B and has a 27” scale), but the ‘spin-a-split’ wiring means that those humbuckers are gradually turn into single-coils as you turn them, putting twang on the table, jangle too, and with an onboard TBX Tone circuit it could be a deceptively versatile instrument.

Okay, those looking for more traditional fare can find it in an expanded American Vintage II lineup, which brings you more colour options, as does the Player II Series, whose Strat looks neat in Rallye Orange (with a Rosewood ‘board) and Cactus Gray (with maple).

The Telecaster and Precision Bass both turn 75 this year, so we have more anniversary models to mark the occasion.

The pick of the litter for us had to be the American Vintage II 1951 Nocaster which is a tribute to the brief moment in guitar history when the decals were snipped off the headstock as Fender had to find a different name for the Broadcaster. Famously, Gretsch had the ‘Broadkaster’ name already registered. Telecaster? Well, it had a ring to it. It did not bad. Seventy-five years later, still going strong.

The 75th Anniversary Player II Baritone Telecaster continues what has been a strong year for extended range Fender, while the regular Player II anniversary Tele and Precision Bass bring us some classic finishes (Aztec Gold FTW).

These – and especially that '51 Nocaster – are sure to sound good through the '62 Deluxe, which even without onboard reverb still sounds quintessentially Fender, with a brilliant tremolo circuit.

Before we finish up, we should save a word for the revised California Series acoustics. Prices start from £259/$319, solid Sitka spruce tops are complemented by laminated mahogany back and sides, X-pattern bracing, with Fender kitting these out with Fishman's CD-1 acoustic pickup system. And they come in all shapes and sizes, with or without cutaways, and there's the California Deluxe Kingman Bass CE as well too.

See Fender for more details.

Gibson has resurrected its cult classic T-Top humbuckers, offering the electric guitar pickups with the choice of black or white bobbins – and it makes a compelling modding option for anyone who is a fan of those early ‘70s Gibson tones.

These are wound to 1968 specs. Look closely at the pictures and you’ll see how they got their name, with the letter “T’ stamped on the top of the bobbins to show who’s installing them which end is up.

For fans of Michael Schenker – especially those with a Flying V in need of a pick-me-up – these might well be worth checking out.

When Gibson launched its Murphy Lab replica of Schenker’s black-and-white 1971 Flying V, it came with a megabucks price tag that left the majority of us with our noses metaphorically pressed against the glass.

But the Nashville-based guitar giant has just offered us a workaround, because the the T-Top humbuckers from that model are a much more affordable option, priced at $149/$$229 each. In theory, you could grab yourselves a 70s Flying V in Classic White, swap out its Tribute humbuckers for a pair of T-Tops, and tone-wise – vibe-wise – you’d be halfway there (don’t ask us about how much a black-and-white refin would be).

But the T-Tops are not just a Michael Schenker pickup. As Gibson notes, they are a Randy Rhoads pickup, an Angus Young pickup. Nancy Wilson of Heart, BB King, and Peter Frampton all played electric guitars with T-Tops, too.

Produced between 1966 and 1979, the T-Top was seen as a modern update of the OG ‘Patent Applied For’ humbuckers that gave early Gibson electrics their voice.

They were designed to be similarly versatile. But given that they ran a little hotter than the PAF, it’s no surprise that the players who gravitated towards them were rock players. Pete Townshend, Tony Iommi… the list goes on and it included one of the men who started it all, Chuck Berry.

The T-Tops are based around an Alnico V design, have two-conductor wiring, and they can be fitted at the neck or bridge position, and have an average DCR reading of 7.5k. As per their vintage counterparts, they are left unpotted.

Given that anything vintage and Gibson and out of production tends to be super collectible, it is no surprise that the original T-Tops became highly sought after, and Gibson rolled out the T-Type pickups as a next-generation version of the T-Top.

It’s the T-Types that you will find in the new Jake Kiszka SG Standard, for instance, or the Jim James ES-335. Gibson sells these too, with nickel housings and they are each voiced for the neck and bridge.

Find out more over at Gibson.

Seymour Duncan continues its 50th anniversary celebrations with another limited edition electric guitar pickup drop that presents us with a Custom Shop replica of a humbucker that helped launch the sound of high-gain electric guitar, the Duncan Custom.

This ceramic humbucker has been meticulously reverse engineered, gently aged, and arrives in a set that pairs with it a hand-wound ’59. It’s one of the classic aftermarket pickup pairings; it’ll sound great in your Les Paul, in your Jackson, in any dual-humbucker guitar in need of a pick-me-up.

In today’s money, the Duncan Custom would be considered a medium-output pickup. But with a DCR rating of 14.1k, it is no slouch, and upon its launch it was one of those humbuckers that players sought out to give the front end of their guitar amp something to think about.

“Its small ceramic magnet and custom-wound coils deliver tight, focused lows, a pronounced upper-mid presence, and top end that cuts with clarity under gain while remaining articulate in clean settings,” says Seymour Duncan.

For all its extra juice, more harmonic detail, it still retains that sense of being a vintage pickup (and by all rights it is).

The set is limited to 500 units worldwide, and each pickup’s base plate is signed by Seymour W Duncan and the legend of pickup winding and head of the Custom Shop, Maricela “MJ” Juarez. It comes in a commemorative box, with original replica “Seymourized” stickers – and you can get the set with black or zebra bobbins.

The Duncan Custom is one of the originals, dating back to the ‘70s. It has evolved over the years – notably, it is bobbin design has made it more suited to wax potting. But this reproduction returns it to factory settings, using butyrate bobbins, long-leg base plates and maple spacers.

It should look like it was made in the ‘70s and kept in the box. It will still sound every bit as compelling as it did when they first started making them.

As will the the ‘59 Model at the neck. This has a slightly more scooped EQ profile, a DCR reading of 7.60k, and is hand-wound in the Custom Shop around an Alnico V magnet. This was Seymour Duncan’s “ideal” PAF-style humbucker – open, airy, three-dimensional, and over the years has been used by the likes of Trey Anastasio, Ben Harper and Paul Stanley.

The Duncan Custom Limited Edition set is available now, priced $375. See Seymour Duncan for more details.

Gibson has launched a limited edition Custom Shop replica set of the Greenybuckers, the iconic PAFs found in Greeny, the 1959 Les Paul Standard owned by the late Peter Green, then the late Gary Moore, and now Metallica’s Kirk Hammett.

These electric guitar pickups have been aged by the Murphy Lab to be exactly the same as those found in the original guitar, and have been developed in close collaboration with Hammett.

Available as a set of two, priced £/$449 and strictly limited to just 100 sets worldwide, available exclusively via Gibson, these are the exact same pickups that you would find on the mega-bucks replica of the Murphy Lab Greeny Les Paul Standard, list price $19,999.

Now, this is not the first time Gibson has launched a humbucker cloned from the original holy grail PAF blueprint created by Seth Lover in the mid ‘50s. But there’s something a little different about the Greenybuckers. There’s something different about Greeny.

It is one of the most storied electric guitars of all time, battle-scarred, modded, and one of the few vintage guitars that seems all the more valuable because it is quote/unquote player grade, with its original tuners swapped out for Sperzels, the mismatched control knobs… And all that distress to the finish.

But its magic lies in its pickups and that sui generis out-of-phase tone that comes from the neck pickup’s reverse magnetic polarity. In the middle position, it gives it a sound all its own. Speaking to MusicRadar in 2016, Hammett said it made him think of a Fender Stratocaster when he first tried it out.

“I plugged it into the vintage Marshall amp, turned it up and played it. After about 30 seconds, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this is not your standard Les Paul…’ and I went to the middle position, because, you know, that’s the revered sound and I started ripping out and I thought to myself, ‘Holy shit, this is a total contradiction.’ It sounded like an incredible Les Paul in the bridge position and in the neck position, but when you put it in the middle position it kind of sounded like a Strat through a 100‑watt Marshall stack!”

The Aged Greenybucker set is not cheap. But say you have one of the Gibson USA Greeny replicas, or even the Epiphone Greeny, and you have begun to put your own wear and tear on the finish and hardware; these could be a primo mod.

Or forget about the Greeny replicas, any Les Paul – and especially any Murphy Lab Les Paul – would be a prime candidate for these.

Under the aged nickel housings, you’ll find a pair of humbuckers with a pair of black bobbins, designed around Alnico II magnets, with two-conductor wiring, unpotted as per the originals. They have a DCR reading of 8.3k at the neck humbucker, 8.7k at the bridge, mojo off the scale.

And they’re available now. For more details, head over to Gibson. And if the price is a little steep, or if you miss out on the limited drop, fear not, the Gibson Pickup Shop still carries the regular Greenybucker Set for $299/£319.

NAMM 2026: Seymour Duncan has unveiled a multi-voiced electric guitar pickup set that gives players the tones inspired by two of its most-loved humbuckers, a “clear, articulate single-coil” voicing – and delivers an all-new voicing that promises totally brutal electric guitar tone for those occasions when you need to take your tone nuclear.

At first blush, the MortalCoil Multiple-Voiced Active humbuckers are a serious upgrade for any metal guitar. And they sure throw down the gauntlet to Fishman, whose Fluence humbucker series has established itself as the industry standard for multi-voiced pickups.

The MortalCoil’s primary tone is this all-new MC1 voicing. This is an all-new sound for a Seymour Duncan pickup, and it’s for sonic extremists. No matter how far you push the gain dial, it promises “uncompromising tightness, note separation, and cutting presence for modern metal applications, maintaining clarity and balance without fizz or nasal midrange”.

We could get down with that. It will be interesting to see how many electric guitar manufacturers agree and have these installed in their new high-performance models, the likes of ESP/LTD, Jackson et al.

The MortalCoil set is an easy, drop-in mod for those with multi-voice pickups installed. But if you’ve got a guitar with active pickups already installed this should be an achievable upgrade for those proficient in gear DIY, or your local store’s tech could help.

Versatility is one of the set’s obvious advantages. You have the MC1 voice, then you have the Seymour Duncan Jazz humbucker alternate voicing at the neck, and the JB humbucker at the bridge, both of which need little introduction. The Jazz/JB is one of the all-time great pickup pairings for rock and metal. And then you’ve got that single-coil voicing.

What many metal players will tell you, however, is that what matters is the attack. They want zero latency from their guitar amp or amp modeller, and from their pickup.

The MortalCoil pickups are designed around a a low-resistance, high-density copper coil to enhance your guitar’s attack.

And then you have the preamp. For this project, Seymour Duncan had to start from the beginning.

“Our all-new preamp utilises advanced audio op-amps that contribute gain, rich harmonic detail, and dynamic feel with extremely low distortion, while the efficient circuit design supports superior battery life for reliable performance on stage and in the studio,” says the Californian brand. “The result is crushing attack and surgical control under modern metal gain.”

The MortalCoil set is available for six or seven-string guitars, and is available now. You can hear ‘em in action at the top of the page, and see more over at Seymour Duncan.

NAMM 2026: Slash and Seymour Duncan have unveiled the latest signature electric guitar pickups in their long-standing collaboration, with the 3.0 humbuckers offering a slighter hotter take than the Guns N’ Roses guitarist’s previous pickups.

But while they’re hotter, don’t expect then to send smoke billowing from your amp. They’re tastefully hotter, raunchier without an X-rating, and they come almost three years since the 2.0 APH-2 pickup set.

“There are a little bit more output than PAFs, but they’re clear,” explains Slash. “They don’t have a lot of gain to them, and they’re very honest and true sounding to the guitar.”

Designed around an Alnico V magnet, wax-potted, available with single or four-conductor wire, and with the choice of chrome or gold coverings, or with black, white or zebra-style black and white bobbins, the 3.0 humbuckers could be the pick-me-up your Gibson Les Paul has been waiting for – or maybe you have an Epiphone guitar that you have earmarked for a US-made pickup (Seymour Duncan hand-winds its pickups in Santa Barbara, CA).

They are offered in standard widths and trembucker sizings, the latter particularly useful if you have an HSS Strat-style guitar in need of hot PAF mojo (Slash has installed them in his BC Rich Mockinbird).

“[The] 3.0 has an Alnico V magnet in it, so it’s just got a little bit more oomph to it,” he says. “You still have that same clarity and cleanliness in the actual tone, and the honesty of the sound of the guitar, but you just have a little bit more output. The 3.0 is obviously a little bit raunchier than the 2.0 regular Alnico slash pickup. It gives you that extra boost that I need in certain guitars.”

That’s exactly what Slash needed for Guns N’ Roses’ set at Back To The Beginning, the mammoth all-star farewell show for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.

“Sometimes I’ll need a pickup that has a little bit more output but without changing the overall character of the pickup sound,” says Slash. “So what we did was we did 2.0, which is an Alnico II pickup, which has a tiny bit more output, and the three is basically just one more step up from that. The SG that I had at the Ozzy gig, that guitar needed a louder pickup, but I still wanted to have that sort of true-to-life guitar sound that I like in my guitars, and so that’s where the 3.0 idea came from.”

Where the design came from was Seymour Duncan’s ace in the hole, Maricela “MJ” Juarez, manager of the Custom Shop, trusted pickup guru to the stars.

Ask Joe Bonamassa, Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, and of course Slash, who might be good friends with Seymour Duncan, having used his pickups since 1987 and the recording of GNR’s incendiary debut LP, Appetite For Destruction, but he just calls MJ direct when a project like this comes up.

“She’s an unparalleled talent when it comes to pickup wiring,” says Slash.

The Slash 3.0 humbuckers are available now, individually or as a set, and are priced from $129. See Seymour Duncan for more details.

Seymour Duncan has unveiled a new signature electric guitar pickup that it has co-designed with Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares, and to the surprise of no one the Machete is an active, high-output humbucker that could take your head off.

But wait, says Cazares, there is more than meets the eye. For a start, the Machete doesn’t even look like an active pickup.

“The Machete looks like a traditional passive pickup, but it’s actually an active pickup with a preamp hidden inside the housing, right underneath the pole pieces,” he says. “That design gives this pickup extra bite, precision, and clarity – built to cut through any mix, like a blade.”

Of course, the Machete humbucker is built for Cazare’s bread-and-butter, huge, mechanised riffs, the hyper-kinetic judder of Fear Factory’s stock-in-trade.

That, however, is only the half of it. Some active humbuckers only do one thing and one thing only. Split the atom. Pure crunch. Saturation. They have that super-compressed quality that squeezes every riff into a fist. The Machete humbuckers eat up high-gain scenarios, but they are also wound to give you sweet clean tones.

“The machete pickup is an incredibly diverse pickup,” insists Cazares. I designed it to sound great for any style that I play, and for any type of player. It delivers beautiful, open, clean tones without that heavy, active compression, but it also gives you the precise, aggressive staccato attack that I would need for Fear Factory or Divine heresy, and anything in between.

“I wanted of the best of both worlds. The open, less compressed feel of a passive pickup combined with an aggressive bite and articulation of an active preamp. It delivers the raw clarity, but still hits with the force of an active pickup.”

If you are a long-time Cazares fan and are thinking just about now, wait, you’ve heard this Machete before, it’s because technically they’ve been around for some time now, only you would need to get your hands on one of Cazare’s Ormsby signature guitars.

This is the first time they have been released as a standalone aftermarket pickup, that you could stick in whichever metal guitar you’ve got sitting around waiting for a power-up.

The Machete is designed around a ceramic magnet, and are available for six or seven-string guitars. They are handmade at Seymour Duncan's HQ, in Santa Barbara, California.

The six string humbucker is available with black, white or red bobbins, and will set you back $149 per pickup. The seven-string set comes in with black, white or zebra bobbins and is priced $159 a pickup.

For more details, head over to Seymour Duncan.

Gibson has unveiled a meticulously aged Murphy Lab replica set of its era-defining ‘Patent Applied For’ humbuckers, shipping them in a custom brown Lifton case – just like the guitars – and promising holy grail tone from its late ‘50s golden era.

The 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition Series 3 are not the first electric guitar pickups to replicate the PAF. There is no reliable data on such things, but Seth Lover’s original design has to be one of, if not the most, copied pickup design in history – it is the O.G. classic humbucker.

And if, say, you were to find a set of originals in your attic, well, it’s the guitar parts equivalent of owning a pristine “Butcher cover” copy of The Beatles’ Yesterday and Today in stereo. You would be in the money. You might want to invest in a safe.

Given that original PAFs do not grow in trees, and are more than likely not in your attic, these collector’s edition replicas from the Gibson Pickup Shop might be the next best thing.

Gibson pulled out all the stops, using 3D scans of originals and every trick in their arsenal to reverse engineer the PAF. Jared Brandon, pickup product manager at Gibson, describes them as a “time capsule” hack for your electric guitar that pushes “the boundaries of historical accuracy and tonal integrity”.

“Every detail – from the Double Vintage White butyrate bobbins to the Alnico 3 roughcast magnets – was chosen to honour the spirit and sonic magic of the original ‘Patent Applied For’ pickups,” says Brandon. “This set is not just a tribute; it’s a time capsule for tone purists and collectors alike.”

These humbuckers were developed and produced onsite at Gibson’s Nashville HQ. They feature the “double white” butyrate bobbins, Alnico III roughcast long magnets, historically accurate nickel covers, and they sit in cream M69 mounting rings.

And they don’t just sound as though they are 1959 originals. Tom Murphy’s crew has worked their magic on them to make them look like it, too.

“Every metal component – from the silver-nickel covers and baseplates to the screws and springs – has been expertly aged by the Murphy Lab team,” says Gibson. Note: those cream mounting rings have also been aged.

In an era of spiralling vintage guitar prices, most players need to box clever if they want to give their tone some golden era mojo. A quality set of aftermarket pickups can be our best hope of giving a 21st century instrument some ‘50s flavour.

For Les Paul players – or ES-335 players for that matter, or any guitar routed for a humbucker – these could be the power-up your tone has been waiting for. It would be fascinating to hear them A/B’d in a 2025 Gibson Les Paul Standard to see how they compare to today’s Burstbucker pickups.

It would be doubly fascinating to hear how they could transform the tone of an Epiphone guitar; these limited edition doozies are priced similarly, at £849/$999.

These are the third in the 1959 series. You can also get them with Alnico IV and Alnico II magnets. Get them direct from Gibson, online or in person at the Garages in Nashville and London.

• “I put the headstock on the buffing wheel. It threw it out of my hands. That day I learned how to fix a broken headstock”: Cesar Gueikian on building the SG Kirk Hammett played to honour Black Sabbath and how his designs might shape future Gibson releases

The Seymour Duncan JB humbucker is one of the all-time great electric guitar pickups – especially for rock and metal.

The JB is hot. It’s juicy. It’s rich in harmonics and designed to hit the front-end of your guitar amp hard, but not too hard – it’s versatile, excelling at gently pushed blues guitar tones. And it is now available for your Fender Telecaster’s bridge position.

Slimmed down in a single-coil footprint, with all the same output, the JB Jr For Tele will take some beating as far as Telecaster mods go. It has the same four-conductor wiring setup, putting series, parallel, and split-coil wiring options on the menu. And it takes the Seymour Duncan story back to the beginning.

As Kevin Beller, Seymour Duncan’s VP of engineering and new products, notes, the original JB humbucker was one of the pickups that put Seymour Duncan on the map.

“The JB was one of our original seven humbuckers,” says Beller. “People were still working with pretty much vintage Fenders, vintage Marshalls, and the JB offered considerably more output compared to a PAF, so it enabled players to be able to hit the front end of those amplifiers a lot harder to create more sustain. The JB was instrumental in bringing people some new tonalities.”

But those people were not Telecaster players – at least they were not those Tele players who voiced concern at the idea of rerouting the body for a humbucker.

Understandably so, that’s major surgery. And you could imagine the opprobrium these days if anyone had such sacrilegious intentions with a vintage Telecaster. So yes, the JB humbucker, hitherto been out of bounds for the Telecaster’s bridge position.

Enter, the JB Jr For Tele.

“With any replacement pickup, you’re constrained by the shape of the pickup that you’re trying to replace,” says Beller. “If you’re trying to replace a Tele [pickup], you can’t really deviate from a Tele shape very far. Basically, what we’re doing is we’re trying to fit two coils into the space where one big single coil used to occupy.”

Making the pickup to fit was one part of the equation. The other was making sure it had the same output as the regular full-sized humbucker. This required a change of the JB recipe. Where the original dual-coil JB was designed around an Alnico V magnet, Seymour Duncan is using ceramic magnets on these JB Jr models.

The DCR figures compare similarly at 16.28k for the JB Jr, 16.6k for the JB. Both have been vacuum wax-potted to cut down on the squeal… Helpful given the high-gain, high-volume environments these will be deployed.

Is this a new era for Telecaster tone? It’s certainly one of the coolest aftermarket pickup options we’ve seen for some time. Priced $129, the JB Jr For Tele is available now. See Seymour Duncan for more.

• Guitar modding: how to change pickups on a Telecaster
• “You can turn an Epiphone into the Tommy Bolin Burst!”: Seymour Duncan unveils Joe Bonamassa 1960 ‘Bolin Burst’ Les Paul Standard humbucker set

Joe Bonamassa and Seymour Duncan have unveiled a new signature humbucker set based on the very same electric guitar pickups that are in the blues guitar superstar’s 1960 Gibson ‘Bolin Burst’ Les Paul Standard.

The Bolin Burst is one of Bonamassa’s most legendary electric guitars in his collection, named for Tommy Bolin, famous for its Stars and Stripes pickguard, and kind of weird in the sense that Bolin never actually owned the instrument, and yet it was his go-to electric when playing in Zephyr, Deep Purple, James Gang, and so on.

It was Bolin’s tech, David Brown, who owned the guitar, lending it to Bolin, even going as far as to – and look away vintage purists – modify it, retrofitting a Bigbsy because, all things considered, Bolin liked vibratos on account of him favouring a Stratocaster.

What complicates this story even further is that Bolin only started borrowing this vintage doozy because his own Gold Top got stolen.

“One of the most distinctive things about this guitar is the pickguard, which was hand-painted by David in an American flag design,” explained Bonamassa in his Guitar World column. “There’s a little part of the paint that’s scratched off; when Tommy performed with Zephyr on the TV show American Bandstand, one of the producers went to Dick Clark and said, ‘Hey, that long-haired hippy guitarist has the word, Fuck on his guitar!’ So they made him scratch it off!”

Bolin passed away in 1976 following a drug overdose. The guitar returned to Moab, Utah, with Brown. It’s quite the tale; like Bonamassa says, he does not collect guitars, he collects stories.

He also takes good care of them, even if they’re on regular rotation in his stage show. When you see him playing the Bolin Burst on stage, he’s using a replica pickguard to preserve the original.

Anyway, that’s pretty cool, and because few of us can afford to enter the market for vintage electric guitars, nor do we have the connections that would help us sniff out a unicorn find such as this 1960 LP (it took Bonamassa the best part of a decade to find this one), Seymour Duncan’s Bolin Burst humbucker pairing is a good a workaround as you’ll find – and it might just be this year’s essential Les Paul mod.

As per the original Les Paul, these are modelled on Seth Lover’s PAF pickups. As per Seymour Duncan’s other PAF replicas – Billy Gibbons’ Pearly Gates pickup set springs to mind – we have Alnico II magnets for both the neck and bridge pickups. The pickups are left unpotted, using “long-leg” vintage-correct construction.

“The bridge pickup provides a dynamic and barky sound, while the neck pickup sings with warmth and clarity – especially through your favorite overdriven amp,” says Seymour Duncan.

“To be able to recreate pickups that can go into a replica that’s $500, that sound equally as good, if not somewhat better than a guitar that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can turn an Epiphone into the Tommy Bolin Burst!” says Bonamassa.

Sweet. Now, these are a custom shop deal. Bonamassa and Mr Seymour Duncan himself will sign the baseplates of the first 500 sets. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Tommy Bolin Endowment and Tommy Bolin Memorial Fund.

The Bolin Burst set is the latest in a long-standing collaboration between Bonamassa and Seymour Duncan. A non-exhaustive list of their signature pickup sets includes the Joe Bonamassa 1950 Broadcaster pickups, the “Greenburst” Stratocaster set, the Cradle Rock ’63 Strat set, the Bonnie Strat set, and the Blonde Dot 1960 PAF set, which is definitely a last but not least kind of deal because they might just be our favourites.

That right there is a lot of options for modders to soup-up the electric in their life, with these Bolin Burst humbuckers potentially giving the Epiphone guitar in your life a US Custom Shop power-up.

Priced $375, the Bolin Burst Humbucker Set is available now. See Seymour Duncan for more details.

What is it?

As Black Sabbath say goodbye, Tony Iommi's guitar story continues – and the return of his signature humbucker is great news for those of us looking for some added Ironman in our diets, without stumping up for a full-blown signature guitar.

Tony Iommi’s return as a Gibson signature artist actually came about as a result of these pickups, after the request came in for Gibson to make him some more bespoke humbuckers. Things moved on from there and restarted officially with production models based on Iommi's first "Monkey" SG Special starting in 2020.

Those models stayed authentic to the original with P-90s. But the Black Sabbath legend has previous form when it comes to signature humbucker pickups with Gibson – his was the first signature humbucker set launched back in 1997, based on a design he was using in his UK-made Jaydee guitars. Ten years later Iommi put his name to another first with the first Epiphone signature model, an ebony version of the G-400 – and its Sabbath crucifix inlays weren’t the only notable addition.

“I insisted they put my signature pickups on it,” Iommi told me in 2011. “Which were expensive really to go on that, but I didn’t want them to just put my name on the guitar and that was it. I wanted it to be at least something that I’d use. And that was my deal all along with Gibson.”

The guitarist has carried that commitment on for his return to the Gibson fold, and now players have the chance to upgrade their own SGs (other guitar models are available) with his current choice. But Iommi’s tone has undeniably changed over the years, so where do his humbucker sit as an option for other players as well as those compelled by the power of the tritone?

Specs

• Launch price: $229/£199
• Type: Alnico 2 / ceramic humbucker pickup
• Features: Four conductor wiring as standard, wax potted,
• Contact: Gibson

Build

The thoughtful folks at Gibson UK have saved me getting my trusty ol' soldering iron out by sending an Epiphone SG with the Iommi pickups preinstalled. I specifically asked for this model from the “Inspired By Gibson” Standard range rather than a full-fat Gibson SG Standard because ickups are the obvious upgrade choice for more affordable guitars. Though I’ve been mightily impressed with the stock Probuckers I’ve encountered from the Epiphone range.

With no visible polepieces like most Gibson ‘buckers, the look is more sleek and minimalist for the chrome covers – but the construction here is different too.

Under the cover is a combination of Alnico II and ceramic magnets with blades rather than pole pieces designed to offer a more consistent sound for the magnetic field when Iommi is bending strings. Something that plays a huge role in Sabbath songs such as Iron Man and Into The Void.

The other key requirements for Iommi were sustain and clarity in the high-gain scenarios he thrives in. There were also distinct needs that have been consistent through his career; “We had to make sure it worked with my light gauge strings and low tunings, but still pack a punch,” notes the man himself. “The result has got some serious output.”

With this in mind the humbucker is waxed potted and epoxied to prevent a feedback fest at high gain and volumes, and the 15.7k pickup (our reading) features four-conductor wiring for series, parallel, and split coil options if the player desires. Notably, there is no Iommi humbucker ‘set’ available to buy – the pickups I have here are the same, designed for bridge or neck positions just like Iommi has.

Sounds

Alongside the Epiphone SG Standard I have some added context with an Epiphone SG Modern and my own 2005 Faded Special (with a stock 490T humbucker in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan ‘59 I installed in the neck). I need to get around to installing a JB in the bridge, but maybe this pickup might present serious competition for the slot?

Iommi’s origins lie in the bite and punch of the P-90 from his original “Monkey” 1964/’65 SG Special, and there’s an unmistakable growl to the midrange of the bridge here that feels linked to Sabbath’s trailblazing early ‘70s era. But compared to my own SG Special and the Modern Gibson has loaned us for ProBucker comparison, the highs sound a little rolled off from the Iommi pickup and it makes for a distinct sound that is much more obviously reminiscent of Iommi’s own lead tone than even I was expecting. It’s also quite appealing for a lower gain crunch blues tone through a UA Lion '68 Plexi modelling amp pedal.

Moving back to the SG Modern's ProBuckers and the difference is stark; the Iommi is so much more focussed and articulate compared. The low end is tighter for palm muting and it’s a real upgrade to the Modern for power chord-based playing because the highs aren’t creating unwelcome transient distraction and the clarity for low note bends is undeniable.

In the neck this pickup is a notable change; neither flutey or flabby, and it’s actually an excellent clean sound to my ears. The loaner Modern sounds thinner and more jangly through a Fender Deluxe Reverb compared. There’s a mellow character from the Iommi that’s quite distinct with the mid focus, unlike the usual humbucker experience for me. Perhaps there's something in opting for a neck pickup that isn't designed for that role alone.

Verdict

With the price here on the premium side for a pair – and it should be noted the construction process of these pickups is probably unique for Gibson – only Iommi diehards will probably do the double. But even as a fan, and someone who has drifted from traditional ‘buckers towards the brighter clarity of Firebird and Wide Range options for my guitar mids, I was genuinely delighted with just how distinct and impressive Iommi’s signature humbucker is.

The real cherry on the cake was when I tuned down to drop D; even with guage 10 set of strings the sense of snarl and definition with the expected thickness was really satisfying as I rolled through some Sabbath, old Silverchair and Helmet riffs. A lot of fun! Then bringing in the bite rather than chime of the middle strings for some discordance with the low end is a real weapon to wield, while extended chords in higher gain levels don’t seem to suffer from a clash of frequencies because the highs are rolled back so judiciously.

The return of the Iommi Signature Humbucker is a welcome one. It's unlike any humbucker I've tried before, probably because the blueprint has evolved from a hum-cancelling take on a P-90 into the demands of higher gain levels as Iommi's rig has changed over the years. But the voicing is so well considered that cleans aren't overcooked with compression and those drive-drenched E string bends really do sound great. Should we have expected anything less from Iommi and Gibson?

MusicRadar rating: This humbucker is a must-try if you’re looking for an upgrade and play heavier music, or indeed just want to try something a bit different in the humbucker stable. Because just like Iommi was capable of exploring far more with Sabbath than juggernaut riffs, this is more than just a heavy metal pickup.

Hands-on videos

Sweetwater

Seymour Duncan has wound a custom shop electric guitar pickup to celebrate the release of the much-anticipated Spinal Tap sequel, and this one-of-one design might just be the most powerful active humbucker ever made.

The release of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is a momentous moment for rock history. We’re some days yet off its theatrical release on Friday 12 September, but the movie has already unveiled some awesome custom electric guitar – awesome in its original meaning, too.

How else could you describe lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel’s custom Marshall amp, a head that goes not to 11 – that’s oh so 1984 – but to infinity?

To work an amp like that, you need something to hit the front end hard, and this unique Seymour Duncan Spinal Tap humbucker is just the thing, with a “eye-watering, earth-shattering” 111k DCR reading. For reference, Seymour Duncan’s dynamic SH-8 Invader, a thoroughly weaponised take on the passive ‘bucker, clocks in at 16.6k for the bridge pickup. What will this one sound like?

Seymour Duncan is coy if we’ll ever see one in production. But it would be kind of weird the Goleta, California pickup company would go to all this bother and not plug it in, fire up a tube amp, and document the evidence for posterity.

“Our Custom Shop wound this humbucker to deliver an eye-watering, earth-shattering 111k DCR – because of course, it had to go to (one hundred and) eleven!” reads Seymour Duncan’s post on Instagram. “And yes, that means it's louder. In fact, it has one of the highest outputs of any passive humbucker, ever! This was such a fun project for our Custom Shop team, and while it’s not currently headed for production, we’d like to have a little fun with it. [Eyes emoji] So stay tuned!”

Maybe, just maybe, it is in the film. Who can say? Though judging by the picture, the sheer size of those coils would certainly suit an IMAX presentation.

If you take yourself to the cinema this weekend, you’ll find Spinal Tap engineering a comeback gig, with director Marty Di Bergi capturing all the drama in his fly-on-the-wall rockumentary style, and there will be a lot of guitars, with Tufnel playing a St Vincent’s Goldie signature guitar refinished in a Union Jack, and guitarist/vocalist David St Hubbins playing a matching James Valentine HH.

What we want to hear is this new Marshall that Tufnel has added to his backline – the JCM Infinity?

“Marshall has made for me an amplifier, the head, and if you look at the dials, it now goes to Infinity,” said Tufnel, speaking to Guitar World. “Just think about that for a moment. Think about infinity – oh, my God, that’s literally infinity.”

Tufnel has always been the maverick. But he has been living the quiet life of late, running a cheese and guitars shop in the north of England, playing the pub circuit. Maybe this reunion will sharpen his appetite for high-volume, high-gain adventure.

Certainly, you won’t find him rocking up at a Tap gig with a Line 6 or Neural DSP amp modeller. He assures Guitar World still a real guitar amp man.

“No, no. People use it in studios to make records, but I like my amplifiers,” said Tufnel. “Occasionally I’ve gone direct when I record at home. There’s something about pushing air, as they call it. I’'ve got this great Marshall at home, a Studio Marshall, and it’s hard to beat.”

It is hard to look at our pedalboards today and think anything other than we are living through a golden age for guitar effects pedals.

The past decade has been a boom time for stompbox design; from a Bigsby-style vibrato to a Peavey Decade practice amp, or from high-functioning digital delay pedals from Strymon et al to genuine spring reverb, you can get almost anything in a pedal.

But the evolution of digital modelling and profiling technology is here and it is disrupting the market, and Brian Wampler warns that pedal manufacturers are facing a Napster moment.

Speaking with Adam Wakeling for the Products of Music YouTube channel, Wampler, whose pedal company has developed signature pedals for the likes of Brad Paisley and Andy Wood, and made some of the finest dirt pedals on the market (we’re looking at you, Tumnus overdrive pedal), says the traditional business model is under threat in an era when you can “capture” a pedal or amp and use it digitally, either in a hardware unit such as a Neural DSP Quad Cortex or Kemper Profiler.

Digital might just be getting started, but Wampler says it is already eating into the pedal market – and tube amps are on the menu, too.

“I think really, everyone in the pedal market is kind of, I would say, concerned,” he says. “I think it’s going to take a big chunk of the market. I mean, it is, really. It’s not, ‘Is it going to?’ It is [already], as well as the tube amp market.”

Wampler believes pedal brands have two options; they can pretend it isn’t happening and wait for the inevitable. “You can always stick your head in the sand and ignore it and think, ‘It’s not going to happen to me. It’s not going to happen to me,’ and then wonder what happens in five or 10 years,” he says.

Or they can adapt and evolve, and work out what it is that they can create and offer players to keep them engaged with the brand. This is something he has had to for with Wampler Pedals, and has branched out into guitar plugin design. When Wampler launched the Catacombs delay and reverb pedal, it made the plugin available free with each purchase, and simultaneously releasing the plugin for $49.99. The first step is working out what to do, what to design.

“I’ll just write it out, just get everything in my brain out onto paper,” he says. “And I am looking for what are the possible pivots that I can make that might make a dent? What are the things that I can do that might be a unique spin on things to keep me, and keep others interested in my product? Or if I need to start introducing something that I don’t know how to do, how do I get to the people that know how to do that?”

Neural modelling would be a prime example of what Wampler’s talking about. He could learn how to do it, or he could hire someone who did. What Wampler doesn’t see happening is the market returning to its analogue norms. Some of the prices make it harder to compete.

“The day of buying a kit online of some pedal and selling it on Reverb, others will do it, I just think that that method is gonna be really, really much harder to sell as time goes on,” he says. “And it is now! It’s just going to be a lot tougher sell as time goes on. I mean, you can buy a $30 pedal now that’s based off a Rat, right? Or whatever you want.”

• Wampler’s Tumnus Germanium becomes the latest $500-plus pedal as the sold-out limited run overdrive commands eye-watering prices online

But Wakeling poses the real question here. What does it mean for a pedal manufacturer when someone could theoretically go into a music store, buy a bunch of distortion pedals, capture them and then take the pedals back? Or simply access those captures online?

“Well, yeah, I mean, it’s analogous to Napster, for those who remember that,” says Wampler. “Everybody had music that you just uploaded on Napster, and now no one needs to buy any more music. So, I mean, the question is, well, what do you do? Well, eventually, Spotify forms. [Laughs] You know? I mean, is that good? Not if you’re an artist.”

Hence, the Wampler plugins, the pivot. But it might eventually come down to a question of taste and player preference. Wampler is no analogue purist. That might be where his passion lies but he’s not dogmatic about it.

He argues that the differences between analogue and digital gear actually affect his playing. And there’s nothing like the direct playing experience that comes with playing with a tube amp.

“For some reason, if I’m mainly recording for a month or something, I’m just playing direct in the box, whenever I play into a tube amp, my timing is off,” he says. “And it really messes with me a lot. Maybe that’s a me being me thing. Maybe I’m just hypersensitive to that. I’ve never really heard that many people complain about that. But I definitely notice a big difference.

“If I’m mainly focussing on playing this through my plugins, then go to something that’s truly analogue, just the entire analogue signal path, it really messes up, especially with picking fast.”

Gibson has unveiled a new signature electric guitar pickup for the Godfather of Heavy Metal, Tony Iommi – or rather it has unveiled an old one, reissuing the Black Sabbath icon’s much loved signature humbucker after a number of years out of production.

Developed in the late ‘90s by JT Riboloff, Gibson’s then head of R&D Department, it was a piece of history – Gibson’s first ever signature pickup, and featured in Iommi’s signature guitars with Gibson.

Is this the ultimate aftermarket mod for anyone looking to give their electric guitar (preferably, an SG) a power-up for premier cru riff-work. Paraphrasing Tony Iommi here but it’s one to file under “You know it makes sense”.

“I’m really excited that Gibson’s bringing back my signature humbucker, they were getting pretty hard to find!” says Iommi. “This pickup came about after a lot of time spent in Nashville, just experimenting with different setups to get that perfect tone and sustain from my favourite guitars.”

He’s not exaggerating. At the launch event at the Gibson Garage London, Iommi said Riboloff had them locked in at the Nashville factory for the night. All the other staff had gone home. “Couldn’t we go and get something to eat, just to get out of here?” wondered Iommi. No, sorry. Riboloff was cooking.

But what he was cooking up was something special, a bespoke wind, inspired by Iommi's John Birch custom pickups, but reaching for something better – or at least incremental improvement, the leitmotif of Iommi's career – featuring Alnico 2 and Ceramic magnets, voiced for sustain and clarity in high-volume, high-gain scenarios. Like everything in Iommi’s rig, it was tailored to his specifications.

“We had to make sure it worked with my light gauge strings and low tunings, but still pack a punch, and the result has got some serious output,” says Iommi. “They’re on my signature guitars too, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out.”

Gibson CEO and president Cesar Gueikian is a fan of them. He has had them on his guitars for 15 years and counting.

“I was blown away with the distinct Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath sound I was able to get out of them,” he says. “They have such a great, clean look with the unique pickup cover, and we are excited to bring the Rifflord’s signature humbucker back as we continue to pay tribute to Tony.”

And Gibson is paying tribute to Iommi throughout August, with a documentary series featuring the likes of Scott Ian, Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai and Iommi’s good friend Brian May to debut on its GibsonTV YouTube channel.

“It’s great to have the first signature pickup from Gibson back, and there really isn’t a more fitting artist than Tony Iommi,” says Lee Bartram, head of commercial and marketing EMEA, Gibson. “Tony is synonymous with the Gibson SG, but now the volume, presence, and overall power he produces through his playing can be experienced in other models too, whether at home, in the studio, or on stage.

“Thanks to Tony for his continued support and trust; these pickups are the result of our constant collaboration, and we look forward to what’s next for our partnership.”

As for the specs, they are wax-potted. Back in the day, Iommi used to horrify Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward as he would wax-pot the pickups himself.

On one occasion, they were staying in a caravan in Cumbria, Iommi experimenting with wax-potting to try and reduce the noise from his Gibson SG, Laney tube amp, and Dallas Rangemaster setup. The smell was overpowering.

Well, here, Gibson has done all that work for you. Average DCR readings for these are 16k. They come in chrome housings as standard, with four-conductor wiring.

Available now, priced £199/$229, the Tony Iommi Signature Humbucker is available now. See Gibson for more details.

Monty’s Guitars has unveiled a signature electric guitar pickup set that it co-designed with the legendary Pretenders and Paul McCartney guitarist Robbie McIntosh – and it will expand the range of sounds you can get from your Telecaster.

Named for McIntosh’s long association with The Pretenders, the pickup set comprises a pair of single-coils that will fit any Telecaster. But that bridge pickup has been designed to make your momentarily forget the neck pickup is even there, giving you the sound of a Fender Esquire.

Yes, you might ask what is an Esquire if not just a single-pickup Telecaster? Fender even routed the bodies for a second pickup, and it would be one of the most common aftermarket mods for Esquire players – they would lift up the pickguard, cut it for a neck pickup and double up. But what you gain in a second pickup you lose in feel. Or as Monty’s calls it, the vibe.

“The funny thing is even though they are very close in design, Esquires do sound different than Telecasters, even when just the bridge pickup is being used,” says Monty’s. “It may be hard to believe, but the magnetic pull from the neck pickup on a Telecaster affects not only the sound of the guitar but the feel too, removing it really does do something interesting to the vibe of the guitar.”

Monty’s needed some custom-made magnets for the project. They were to have a very low magnetic field, staying out of the way as much as possible, but still sounding “vibrant and full”.

McIntosh wanted it to sound like a classic ‘50s Telecaster, with enough about it to sit in a mix.

The bridge pickup was a more straightforward proposition. It is based on the pickup on McIntosh’s favourite electric guitar, his 1953 Esquire.

“When it came to the bridge Robbie explained that the pickup in his old Esquire had a nice woody character and was really fat for a Tele,” says Monty’s. “We designed the pickup so when the volume is at ten it is plump and aggressive, but then with a slight turn of the knob, it can go full snap and twang of a classic tele bridge pickup effortlessly.”

Monty’s is offering The Pretender set with a variety of options. You can get the neck pickup in nickel, raw nickel, chrome or gold. The price is £231 per set.

It is often said about the Telecaster that Leo Fender got it right the first time. But maybe you could say that about The Pretender pickup set. The finished pickups are the same as the pair McIntosh has been road-testing for the past year. For more details, head over to Monty’s Guitars.

Strange things can happen to our gear in the heat. It can play havoc with a vintage germanium fuzz pedal. It can do all kinds of unwelcome things to our guitar’s setup. Oh, and on some occasions it do something even more drastic – like what happened to Richard Fortus just the other day.

Fortus was playing at the Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Guns N’ Roses took to the stage just after 10pm, the sun long gone over the horizon, the temperature a little more amenable to a three-hour rock concert on the Arabian Peninsula.

During the day it was a different story, with the mercury reaching 45º Celsius/113º Fahrenheit. Not all of the gear came out of the GNR truck in the same condition it went in. Fortus’ signature Gretsch Falcon looked like it needed a bit of work to get it ready.

“Well this is a first,” Fortus wrote on Instagram. “It was so hot in Saudi Arabia that the wax in my pickups melted!”

Alex Skolnick metaphorically spoke for all of us here when the Testament guitarist left an open-mouthed emoji. Horror is the only appropriate response.

Melting wax is a new one on us. Wax-potted pickups are commonplace, and for good reason. Wax potting reduces mechanical vibrations in the pickup, which in turn helps nix unwanted microphonics.

Also, just think how sweaty you get during a show. Wax potting prevents moisture getting into the pickup and corroding the pole pieces, preserving the lifespan of your pickup.

But just look at front of Fortus’ Gretsch guitar. It’s like a candle has been dripping onto the guitar’s top. The V-Stoptail looks like it could be caked in it.

The good news is that this is easily enough fixed by a qualified tech. Guns N’ Roses will have at least one or two on the payroll with them. Also, it’s rare.

Indeed, when MusicRadar spoke to Fortus in 2022 about the Falcons, he said “They’ve proven to be incredibly stable on this tour”. But then maybe a June/July run through Europe is not quite as hot as the an-Nafud desert.

The Filter’Trons you will find on Fortus’ signature guitar are not your garden variety Filter’Tron. He tried every variant before co-designing a pair with Gretsch that suited his Falcon to a tee.

“At first, we tried all the boutique Filter’Trons – Lollar, Mojotone, TV Jones… We went through everything including the Arcanes, which is what I use in my [hollowbody] Players Edition Falcons,” said Fortus. “I love the Arcanes in those guitars. They sound amazing.

“In fact, I’ve just recommended them to Charlie Starr from BlackBerry Smoke. He ended up putting them in an old White Falcon he has – like a late ‘60s model. But in the end, it was quite the process. We had the luxury of being able to wind pickups and test them in Guns N’ Roses rehearsals.

“I had several guitars on rotation and John Gaudesi was winding pickups on the spot. We were listening in fine detail through in-ears and in the control room and tweaking them as we went along until we found the perfect sound.”

Guns N’ Roses concluded the Middle East run of their tour in Abu Dhabi, UAE, yesterday and start their European run on 30 May in Georgia. They play Birmingham on 23 June and London on the 26 June. See Guns N’ Roses for full dates and ticket details.

It is a good time to be in the market for a shred-ready electric guitar with strong whiff of the ‘80s, because Kramer has just dropped a refresh of six of its most-popular models, and just looking at them would be enough to have veterans of Sunset Strip, 1984, swearing they can detect the heady scent of Aqua Net hairspray in the air.

Just look at the group pic at the top of the page. It’s a real motley crew, all right. Not pictured is the plain finished Assault single-cut, which is available as an online exclusive for 2024 in Jet Black Metallic (both right and left-handed), which might be loud enough when you consider that reverse banana headstock on a single-cut body, and is definitely loud enough in its Bumble Bee Yellow or Vice City Pink finishes. 

The Assault Figured, meanwhile, pulls focus with its Magenta Perimeter and Caribbean Blue Perimeter stained AAA flame maple veneer finishes. The fundamental recipe across all these Assault variants is relatively consistent; mahogany bodies, Kramer USA Eruption humbuckers, which were wound by Gibson’s master luthier Jim DeCola, a Floyd Rose 1000 Series vibrato and dual-volume and master tone controls.

For those of a certain age, it is remarkable to think that these are effectively vintage-inspired. Joining the Escape, we have the Richie Sambora-approved Jersey Star, in Black Pearl and While Pearl finishes, gold hardware, with a trio of Kramer USA Neptune humbuckers and a Floyd Rose 1000 Series vibrato. Star inlays on the fingerboard for the win.

It would not be a Kramer release without an updated 84. This is one of the ür-shred guitars, the hot-rodded S-style that propagated the banana headstock back in the day. That Red Satin finish certainly captures the imagination, but you can pick one up in Bumblebee Yellow, Atlas Green, and Angel White.

Key details on this include the Floyd Rose 1000 series vibrato, the rear-mounted R2 locking nut (period correct, it should be said), and the Kramer USA Eruption humbucker at the bridge. There is just a volume control on these. Who needs tone anyway? The body is alder, the neck bolted-on maple, the fingerboard maple, and the ride is fast.

Another classic S-style speedster in this drop is the Pacer Carrera. Again, we’ve got a Floyd Rose 1000 Series vibrato, but Kramer has outsourced the pickups on these, giving them a classic Seymour Duncan pairing of a JB humbucker at the bridge, and an SH-2N Jazz at the neck – one of the all-time great electric guitar pickup combinations.

We also have a Nite-V, which is very Dave Mustaine, and not very ‘80s. This was first launched in 2008. It ships in Royal Blue Metallic and Crimson Metallic finishes, with the online exclusive option Jet Black Metallic. 

These have a pair of Kramer USA Eruption humbuckers, a Tune-O-Matic bridge and string-through-body tailpiece, and a thermally aged maple neck that is bolted onto a mahogany body.  

With SlimTaper C profile necks, these were not assembled to see how few notes you can play. Maximalist styles will be rewarded. All ship in a premium gig bag. For more details – and online exclusives, after all, we nearly neglected to mention that you can get a Wild Zebra Pacer and Red Bullseye 84 direct from Kramer – head on over to Kramer.

Fender has unveiled a new line of Tim Shaw-designed Chrome Cobalt bass guitar pickups for Precision, Jazz and P/J configured bass guitars.

Just look at them. That chrome covering around the pickup looks cool, but this, says Fender, serves a purpose, helping put the squeeze on 60-cycle hum and offering players a noise-free platform for classic P and J-type tones. 

We say classic, but these are not necessarily vintage-voiced. They are simply designed to give you the archetypical tone that the Precision and Jazz Basses are known for, albeit with “added punch, hi-fi clarity and dynamic range” – all tonal qualities that are quintessentially associated with Fender. 

As Shaw explains in the demo video – which does a good job in not just selling the pickup but the bass, too – this was the goal from the outset.

To achieve this, Fender developed its own FeCrCo alloy for the magnet, the Chrome Cobalt that gives it its name. Shaw is a bona fide pickup guru. Listening to him speak about the design of the Chrome Cobalt sets is an education in both the history and evolution of bass and electric guitar pickups, and in how the choice of magnets affects tone.

“The one we are tending to use here is one that sounds a lot like Alnico V but again it can be adjusted,” explains Shaw. “The bass pickups end up using Cobalt Chrome rather than Cunife because there is an attack we get with this Cobalt Chrome that we really need for a bass pickup.”

In particular, they have what Fender basses need to sound their best, and that’s a clarity and solidity.

“Fender basses, historically, are basses that have a very, very solid attack, a really solid midrange feel, and contrasting them with pickups that were made, say, in Kalamazoo – by Seth [Lover] in fact – those had a things had a big spongey boof! attack, which ended up not suiting modern music particularly well,” continues Shaw. “So, knowing that, when I designed these bass pickups, I went with this Cobalt Chrome rather than Cunife, because it has got a lot of the same interesting timbre but it doesn’t have the woof that would have had with the Cunife.”

Once you have installed these in your bass, you can fine tune the balance by simply adjusting the pole pieces. The pickups are wax-potted and have formvar wire wrapped around those FeCrCo magnets. The Precision set comprises a single split-coil and is priced £239/$249.

The Jazz Bass set has a pair of single-coils, and is priced £289/$299, while the P/J Bass pickup set is priced £/$349. All the installation hardware you need is included in the box.

Given that the Jazz and Precision are two of the most copied bass designs ever, these should fit a wide variety of models – they'd definitely make an excellent modding option for your Squier beginner bass. For more details, see Fender.

Jason Isbell and Fender’s electric guitar pickup guru Tim Shaw have put their heads together for a set of signature pickups set to give your Telecaster a new lease of life.

Isbell is one of electric guitar’s renaissance men, a virtuoso player and singer-songwriter who keeps in shape by lifting his numerous (six!) Grammys, a bona fide connoisseur of tone and Fender signature artist, whose collaboration with the Big F yielded one of the coolest signature guitars of recent years – a Telecaster Custom in Chocolate Burst.

Well, the Jason Isbell Telecaster Pickup Set might just be the missing ingredient to give your Tele a little tone pick-me-up, and while there is no confirmation from Fender, these look very much like the same pickups you get on his signature Tele.

At the neck, we’ve got a familiar favourite, the Twisted Tele single-coil, so known because there are more twists on what is a slightly taller bobbin design. At the bridge, Shaw has cooked up something to remind us all of the bridge pickup on his 1965 Telecaster. That, says Shaw, Fender’s chief engineer of guitars, is where it all started, and it is a “duplicate” of the original with vintage specs.

“I’ve long been a fan of Jason’s playing, so it was an honor to work with him on these custom pickups,” says Shaw. “We started with the bridge pickup, which is based on one from one of Jason’s favourite guitars, a gorgeous ’65 Candy Apple Red Tele. The resulting duplicate offers classic fat, full Tele tones. For the neck, we went with a Twisted Tele – my personal favorite Tele neck pickup – which offers Stratocaster-esque sounds; the best of both worlds!”

These pickups are based around an Alnico V magnet. Shaw used plain enamel wire for the bridge pickup design, which, all things being equal, says Fender will introduce some “classic ‘60’s punch and twang” to the party. In other words, classic Tele bridge tone, and the kinds that Isbell has made great use off during his career.

For the Twisted Tele design Fender uses Formvar-coated magnet wire that makes it run a little brighter. In our experience, Shaw is on the money with the Twisted Tele. It sounds incredible and works very nicely in the mix position.

Both pickups are wax potted and like those on Isbell's signature model these have had a little of Fender’s Road Worn treatment so you can throw them into your own ’65 Telecaster and they won’t look – or sound – out of place. DCR readings for these puppies are 6.3k at the neck, 6.7k at the bridge.

All installation hardware is included. Priced £/$149, the Jason Isbell Telecaster Pickup Set is available now. See Fender for more.

Now might be just the time to give the electric guitar in your life a well-deserved mod because Seymour Duncan has just unveiled a humdinger, with its new humbucker-sized the Phat Cat Silencer.

Tonally, we are looking at a similar deal to the original Phat Cats, with all the over-sized single-coil mojo you would expect from a P-90 pickup, but, of course, without the hum. Not that a little hiss and noise was ever a dealbreaker for us when it came to P-90s. 

They are more than worth it, especially for rock ’n’ roll and punk. But having that noise housetrained just makes these all the more user-friendly, and more versatile too. You don’t have to worry about lighting sources, who’s running what along side you. Just plug in and crank up your guitar amp.

That plug-in and play vibe is a big part of the appeal of the Phat Cat profile. The humbucker-sized footprint makes them an easy mod for any guitar routed for a humbucker. Pretty much anything from the Gibson catalogue would wear one of these well.

Sold individually or as a set of two, Seymour Duncan is offering the Phat Cat Silencer bridge pickup with Vintage voicings or Hot, and with the choice of nickel covers or gold.

“They deliver a true P90 tone without the buzz, perfect for those looking to explore the feel and response of a P90 without routing out a guitar,” Seymour Duncan says. “The Phat Cat Silencer is the easiest way to achieve that thick and edgy single-coil sound that only P90s can deliver!”

These are based around a ceramic magnet design. The EQ profiles of both the neck and bridge pickups are quite similar, with a an ever-so-slightly scooped midrange and pronounced treble. Just add a fuzz pedal and a cranked tube amp and you are off to the races. 

The gold covered Phat Cat Silencer is priced $149 per pickup, and $298 for a set. The nickel version will set you back $139 per pickup, $278 for a set. Check out the demo video for an idea of how they sound, and head over to Seymour Duncan for more details.

Seymour Duncan has had a busy 2024, with high-profile releases including an Eric Gales signature single-coil set, and the alt.metal Blackout humbuckers, which “enhance the low-end tightness, along with adding top-end bite without harshness” for six and seven-string guitars tuned down so low that only the dog can hear you chug.

Who needs a new electric guitar? Well, we all want new guitars but that can get pricey. So how about investing in your existing ones first and giving them a new lease of life with an upgrade? The best way to do that is with some new guitar pickups. 

Our friends over at the Gibson Gazette have alerted us to the news that the guitar giant is extending its commitment to aftermarket pickups by widening its range with seven new additions – including options to make swapping pickups even easier. 

Gibson is adding Quick Connect options to its Original Collection Dirty Fingers and '57 Classic bridge and neck humbuckers. This is a feature that will be only be applicable to specific newer Gibson models since the mid-2000s that essentially allows you to fit pickups without the need to solder. Unlike other traditional guitar wiring systems, the control assembly is built on a circuit board. Gibson Master Luthier Jim DeCola explains more in the video below. 

The Modern Collection additions included a new set powered by hot ceramic magnets with the 496R/500T (8.4k and 15.2k, respectively). New Zebra bobbin options have also been added for the 490R Modern Classic and 498T Hot Alnico neck and bridge options. 

More info at Gibson Pickup Shop. 

Seymour Duncan has just expanded its electric guitar pickup lineup with the alt.metal Blackout, a variation on its Blackout humbucker that trains its sights on your low-end frequencies with a pickup that is designed for super-heavy tones.

We often talk about living in the golden age of the pedalboard, in which there are stompbox options to suit all tastes but, similarly, there has never been a better time to mod your electric guitar. And if your modus operandi is metal guitar and you are looking for a fresh humbucker option, well, you are spoiled for choice. 

There are aftermarket electric guitar pickups to cater for all tastes, but Seymour Duncan promises that the alt.metal Blackout humbucker might just give you a comparative advantage over everyone else when it comes to low-end riffing. 

In short, these are for those who string up with tow-rope string gauges and tune down, way down – as Ryan “Fluff” Bruce suggests in the demo video, to a Tony Iommi-approved C# and below. 

What sets the alt.metal Blackouts apart from the regular Blackouts, is that low-frequency response, which Seymour Duncan says will “enhance the low-end tightness, along with adding top-end bite without harshness” – in other words it will be rock solid on those powerhouse chords and retain the sort of clarity you need in high-gain scenarios where muddiness can often be an issue.

“The alt.metal bridge retains the energy and output of the original Blackout but emphasises the percussive quality of palm-muted notes,” says the Californian pickup brand. “The alt.metal neck ensures perfect clean tones, while transforming with aggressive mids and increased sustain under higher gain settings.”

The alt.metal Blackouts are available individually or as a set, and come in six or seven-string options – those looking to fit these onto a seven-string guitar can choose between passive and active mounts. They are only available in black, but then you wouldn’t expect a canary yellow option on a pickup named “alt.metal Blackout.”

These arrive just weeks after Seymour Duncan debuted another option that performs a similar job, with the new Corey Beaulieu Damocles Blackout set a nuclear option that’s not just for Trivium’s superfans. 

Beaulieu had been playing Blackouts since 2016, and is clearly a fan. But the Damocles adds a little certain something for his style of contemporary metal, promising more presence, more balance, more clarity. Beaulieu says the balanced EQ means they sound great for clean tones too. 

The alt.metal Blackouts are available now, priced from $129 for a single six-string pickup, to $278 for the seven-string set. Seymour Duncan recommends buying as a set. For more details, head over to Seymour Duncan  – and check out Ryan “Fluff” Bruce’s demo above for an idea of how these puppies sound in action.

If you've got an electric guitar you love to play but aren't in love with its sounds, upgrading pickups can be a game-changer. That's why I do it and the effect can be dramatic for a reasonable amount of money – I installed Sunbear P-90-size 'Soapbird' Firebird humbuckers in the Mexican Fender Player Mustang I bought on eBay and it's now my favourite guitar. Total cost: £550. 

But it took a while for me to convince myself I could change pickups in my own guitars without some calamitous damage occurring. I needn't have worried: It turns out it's logical and not actually that difficult at all if you simply follow the process and keep your soldering steady (semi-hollow guitars often being an exception to that rule because the wiring access can be fiddly). This tutorial video from Gibson Master Luthier Jim DeCola (via Gibson Gazette) is a great place to start. 

Jim is focussing on humbuckers in a Les Paul here and he's a man who knows what he's talking about. He even suggests adjusting the height of your existing pickups first before deciding to make a change because it might be that simple to improve your sound. 

Taking things step-by-step in an organised environment is crucial with any guitar work in my experience, and Jim's an expert at it. The video above really makes it all feel digestible and accessible for newcomers to pickup installation. And Jim's tip on taking a photo of the existing wiring before making any changes is a very wise one!

One thing the video doesn't go deeper on, but is a crucial skill before you get into any wiring work on electric guitars, is soldering as a skill. So I'd recommend this excellent video below from Thomann's Kris Barocsi – his Guitar Tech Tips for the German music gear retail giant is essential viewing for anyone who wants to get into their own maintenance work.  

I'd also recommend checking out our own specialist step-by-step features on changing pickups for a Les Paul-style guitar, Strat-style guitar and Telecaster. 

Bare Knuckle has unveiled the Nomad electric guitar pickup set, marking the British brand’s third signature collaboration with Rabea Massaad with a pair of single-coils that have been designed to give a dynamic, modern voicing for the Telecaster in your life.

You can buy the Nomad as a set or individually as bridge or neck pickups, with Bare Knuckle offering a typically generous array of finish and wiring options. The bridge pickup comes with green and black cloth ‘push back’ hookup by default but you can have it with aged or unaged finishes. 

The neck single-coil, meanwhile, has a cornucopia of options, from all different hues of metal – nickel, aged nickel and chrome for an old-school look, Camo Battleworn for the Call Of Duty enthusiast who has recently discovered James Burton – to Bare Knuckle's metal-ringed TVS finishes.

The Nomad set takes its lead from Massaad’s Triptych set for Stratocasters, with an Alnico III magnet on the bridge pickup, an Alnico V on the neck.

The bridge pickup has a flat magnet profile with a thick copper-plated steel baseplate as per the vintage ‘50s style, and is wound hot with 43 AWG plain enamel wire “to deliver a combination of muscular output, plus masses of dynamic headroom”.

This vintage-modern vibe was what Massaad needed from the bridge pickup – it had to be something that today’s player could use for high-gain electric guitar tones while still being identifiably a Telecaster pickup.

“That was one of the first things I wanted to address: can we have a bridge pickup that has that aggression, that grunt,” says Massaad, “but also a good dynamic range for that early ‘50s sound, but by taming that sort of ice-pick area, 3-5kHz, something like that.”

Wound to complement that hot bridge single-coil, the neck pickup similarly has a 43 AWG plain enamel wire build. Bare Knuckle promises that distinctive Fender snappiness but also a bit of meat behind single notes. 

Massaad’s sonic MO typically involves lots of gain, tight and aggressive modern progressive metal guitar sounds for rhythm parts, with the adroit deployment of various reverb and delay pedals to add space and ambience – not to mention the octave-down and synthesizer tones he teases out of his superlative Neural DSP Archetype: Rabea plugin suite.

But the Telecaster is a huge part of his sound, and can be heard across his discography.

“I’ve always loved using Telecaster tones on my recordings,” he says. “They have an aggressive mid range that just brings that extra bit of gnarliness to heavier guitar tones and they also add wonderful clarity to clean and mid-gain tones.”

“When designing the Nomads I wanted to create something more controlled and powerful that would cater to my heavier sounds just as much as the ambient and cleaner side of what I do.

“The Nomads can get super heavy without any unwanted spikiness, but also respect the original early ‘50s tele tones for all the lower gain chime and spank that I love.”

The Bare Knuckle Nomad set is priced from £261, with individual pickups starting at £134. For more details, head over to Bare Knuckle Pickups. And to hear how they sound in action, check out the demo videos featuring Massaad above.

Buying a new instrument can be a massive investment, especially in a cost-of-living crisis, so why not upgrade an existing instrument if you’re looking for a change? Fender is offering some huge discounts of 20% off across the board on officially licensed necks, prewired pickguards, and pickup sets in their latest sale. A great way to enhance your instrument or build a brand new one for less.

The sale is running from now until March 17th, so there isn’t loads of time left to pick up a great deal. It’s not often we’ve seen discounts on officially licensed necks either, so it’s a brilliant opportunity to upgrade your instrument or complete that project guitar you’ve got lying around.

We’ve upgraded a fair few guitars in our time, so we had a look at the sale and picked out some of the easier modifications that most players will be able to undertake with a minimum of fuss. As always we’d recommend doing some research before you buy, as different guitars can vary a lot in terms of size, placement of screw holes, and a myriad of other factors.

There's been a fair amount of brouhaha about Gibson's new 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition. A limited run recreation of 1000 pairs of the hallowed PAF pickups for $1,000. Collectible limited runs of everything from watches to action figures for premium prices are commonplace, but something about pickups hitting four figures had feathers ruffled. 

And I can see their point – nobody likes the feeling of being priced out. This idea of what could be the best contemporary version of Gibson's best pickups being reserved for a select group doesn't play well with some people. But when it gets to the point when people are moaning about the use of a case the expensive pickups are being packaged in, I start to zone out (you'd use it as a lunch box, obviously). But that might not be an issue anyway – some people will have bought them purely to hoard and never install them in a guitar. 

And plenty of people are buying these "most accurate recreations of the legendary Patent Applied For humbucker pickups ever made" as they become available in batches, and the good news for the rest of us is many other options are obviously available.

Epiphone installs excellent ProBuckers inspired by the PAF in guitars like its Les Paul Standard 60s that cost considerably less than the price of these pickups alone. 

And yet, like many others I wager, I continued to wonder what it would sound like if you fitted these expensive 'ultimate' PAF pickups in an affordable guitar. 

I've done my own versions of this – installing some great creations from brands like Seymour Duncan, plus UK makers Sunbear, Bare Knuckle and Monty's Guitars in my own relatively affordable electrics. These brands all offer their own takes on an 'ideal' PAF (the originals could be inconsistent). Of course, there's a lot more to upgrading the sound of a guitar than pickups alone – pots and wiring all play their parts. I've ever heard a rumour the players themselves have some influence on tone. But I digress, who bought these pickups and has anyone tried them yet?

Enter YouTuber Company Grip (AKA Ben) above, who has recently sold a guitar so happened to have the cash and opportunity to grab a set of the new Gibson pickups before they sold out. He's not here for sensationalism or to flip them on Reverb either – he's done his homework and is looking for answers about what makes a great PAF. Even noting that it's not entirely clear which components constitute one. 

His ultimate plan is to install the Gibson 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition pickups in a Les Paul, which makes sense. But until he buys a suitable candidate, he's putting them in a Relish Trinity guitar he managed to get for $400. That's a bargain price for an innovative model from a company that is now sadly out of business, and a very logical guitar design for this particular comparison as it turns out. 

Ben's also going to wire up the same guitar $500 Custombuckers from Gibson's Historic Collection and $250 Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers. The great thing about the Trinity is it allows him to make quick pickup switches so he can compare firsthand with fresher ears.

So, how do the 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition pickups fare? Well, check out the video above to hear for yourselves! 

Check out Company Grip's YouTube channel and find out more about the pickups at Gibson

NAMM 2024: LR Baggs has unveiled the HiFi Duet system, an all-in-one acoustic guitar pickup and microphone solution that can be fitted to the precious acoustic guitar in your life without worrying about damaging it.

The HiFi Duet is one of those non-invasive – and dare we say easy? – modifications that we like. You simply peel and stick the lightweight HiFi pickups and Silo microphone to the underside of your bridgeplate, mount the preamp controls discretely in the soundhole, et voila! You are off to the races. Or the local open mic night, gig, wherever.

As with all good acoustic electronics, the HiFi Duet system comes with the promise that it is not going to step all over your acoustic tone, which is music to our ears. LR Baggs says describes the pickups as “non-intrusive bridge plate sensors that provide exceptional tone, balance, definition, and dynamics”. 

And non-intrusive is the word. This evolution in the HiFi pickups series follows a similar principal, whereby the pickups are fastened to the bridgeplate rather than the soundboard, freeing up the latter to vibrate and resonate as it should.

The Silo microphone is the next part of this delicate equation. It was developed using the Californian acoustic pickup specialist’s Tru Mic technology. The Silo’s capsule has been redesigned from the ground up, with the microphone design’s tuned suspension “enhancing ambience and dimension”. 

In other words, this system isn’t just translating raw vibrations and presenting them flat and dry, and invariably a little quacky as sensors can tend to me. LR Baggs are not being shy with the Silo microphone’s quality – they say it compares favourable to studio microphones.

The signals from mic and pickups are then processed through the studio-grade preamp’s multi-pole crossover system, which blends them so that what comes out your acoustic guitar amp is your tone, straight and uncut, with plenty of feedback resistance and isolation where you need it, and scope to fine-tune your sound for the room you are in.

Preamp controls comprise volume, mix, battery check and mic level. The whole kit and caboodle includes everything you need to mount the unit. The system is powered by a 9V battery, which by LR Baggs’ estimates should give you over 180 hours of playing time. That’s a heck of a lot of playing.

There are no confirmed prices for the system yet. The original HiFi setup was priced $199 street. But expect these to start showing up for pre-order soon, shipping this summer. See LR Baggs for more details. And if you are visiting NAMM, you might be able to speak to Loyd Baggs himself, and hear the system in action. The LR Baggs booth is in Hall D, 5406.

NAMM 2024: Two things are not a secret: most of us can never afford a Custom Shop '59 reissue Les Paul, let alone a vintage original. But we can upgrade the guitars we can afford to get closer to those hallowed sounds. And pickups are the obvious way. Now Gibson wants to help us by selling what it's touting as the ultimate PAF recreation. The originals are the pickups that feature on its late '50s / '60 golden age guitars, namely the 1959 Les Paul 'Bursts you'd have to sell your house for and still need a loan to buy. 

Some would say the company is long overdue a piece of the PAF action many pickup makers have been in on for years. Seth Lover's design is up there with the very best guitar pickups of all time, and the finest examples are the best for many. Well now it's arrived and it's packing a very confident statement:

'Gibson’s original 'Patent Applied For' humbucker pickups from the 1950s are considered the holy grail of humbucking pickup tone," says the company. 'They have been highly influential, with many imitations. The originals are some of the most highly valued vintage pickups on the used market – when you can find someone willing to part with theirs. 

'Using a combination of 3D scanning, scientific analysis, reverse engineering of original examples from the late 1950s, and specifications from the Gibson archives, the Gibson Pickup Shop has developed the most accurate recreations of these acclaimed pickups ever made.'

If any company has access to the finest selection of originals, it's Gibson. So there's every reason to be very excited about this development. The bad news is there's only 1,000 sets being made, each with serialised 1959-style numbering and a Lifton presentation case (with case candy), Vintage White butyrate bobbins, Alnico 4 roughcast magnets, and vintage-accurate nickel covers. 

How much will they cost? $999, so more than most but nowhere near the thousands original PAFs shift for on sites like Reverb. We've been told the first batch has already sold out, but you can register to find out as soon as more go on sale over at Gibson.com

Seymour Duncan and Brandon Ellis of The Black Dahlia Murder have joined forces for a signature electric guitar pickup that proves that there is plenty of innovation to be had yet with passive pickup design, and that great metal guitar tone needn’t mean active pickups all of the time.

Available with nickel or gold slotted pole pieces from the Seymour Duncan custom shop, the Duncan Brandon Ellis Dyad Parallel Axis humbucker is a real hybrid design, taking elements from two Parallel Axis pickups and presenting them in one pickup.

The Dyad is comprised of the north coil of the Crazy 8 and the “hotter” south coil of a Parallel Axis Trembucker Distortion, both paired with the Alnico II magnet from Seymour Duncan’s Warren DeMartini signature ‘bucker, the RTM. 

This greatest hits remix of Seymour Duncan’s passive pickup line was just what Ellis is looking for, with the Parallel Axis’ slotted pole piece design removing unwanted distortion from the string’s vibration to enhance clarity even at – or especially in high-gain situations. The pickup’s design creates a decentralised magnetic field that also boosts sustain.

“I always want metal to have that nice old-school aggressive, sharp kind of sound in the guitars and that’s something that the Dyad does very well,” he said.

As Ellis admits in the demo video, he is an inveterate tinkerer when it comes to pickups. Having joined The Black Dahlia Murder in 2016, by the time the sessions for 2020’s Verminous came around, and Ellis was holed up at his Shred Light District studios in Morristown, New Jersey, he had assumed role of producer and engineer, and had taken to taking his pickups apart.

“I was definitely concerned with learning how pickups work,” he said. “I’ve definitely opened them up and seen how they work inside, then I started swapping magnets to see which magnets I liked best, and how I could manipulate them with the limited amount of tools at my disposal.”

Ellis’ new Dyad humbucker will go straight onto his Jackson Kelly signature guitar, but it was Jackson’s sister brand Charvel and his JB/‘59-equipped USA made San Dimas that introduced him to Seymour Duncan.

“That was the turning point for me because that nice organic round sound of that JB really turned me onto the passive pickups of Seymour Duncan’s line,” he said.

The Dyad is described as “a high output Humbucker with a sizzly bite and a super articulate pick attack”, and is especially well-suited to players who are play at standard tunings, who might need a bit more oomph across the frequency ranges to sound a little heavier.

It is available now from the Seymour Duncan custom shop, in standard humbucker or trembucker configurations, with the brand hinting that they might offer it for 7-string guitars in the future.

Priced $180, it is available now. See the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop for more details.

NAMM 2024: Aside from the fact their clients include David Gilmour, Radiohead, Pete Townshend and Pat Metheny, Cheltenham's Monty's Guitars make world-class pickups the rest of us can upgrade our guitars with. 

Founder Matt Gleeson and his talented team produce one of the greatest vintage-style PAF designs you can find anywhere and last year expanded the range with a special set inspired by Greeny. Now they've gone OverSpun and they might just have made the ultimate recipe to please players who don't want to go full vintage.

"We have been looking to release a set of PAFs that are at the hotter end of the vintage spectrum for a while," Matt tells us. "Most PAF stats fall into a fairly constant ballpark, some were a little hotter and some a little cooler, this was due to the less than accurate vintage build specifications of yesteryear. 

"Hotter PAFs are less common than an underwound PAF, and the hotter ones are often mid-heavy and lack clarity, but when a good one crops up it is a thing to cherish," explains Matt, who can deliver the consistency that vintage examples couldn't. "I have taken two individual pickups as inspiration, one from a ’58 burst and one from a ’59 355 that had all the PAF characteristics I love, the clarity and response but with added power. 

"You don’t just get more volume, there is an aggressive cut to these pickups that makes them really jump out in a mix. With your volume knob you can run the gamut from really clear, crystalline tones to roaring, throat-ripping power. We are really excited to see what people think of them!"

Don't worry single-coil faithful, Matt hasn't forgotten you either. Far from it – he's drawing from the ultimate Strat player for the other OverSpun pickups in the lineup.

 "I have always loved Strats from the late sixties, they have a different vibe from the same guitars a few years earlier," Matt says of the new OverSpun '69 Strat pickups. "Good ones have a glassiness to their tone which is simply incredible. Our ’69 Strat set has been out for a while and captures this perfectly. 

"But there is another side to Strats for this era that was highlighted by a gentleman named Jimi and defined on his Band Of Gypsys live album. I have been working on a set for years that is inspired by this sound and feel it is time to unleash it on the unsuspecting guitar community"

New year – new tones. Monty's are delivering again. We're always floored by the choice and levels of quality from pickup makers out there and Matt's team are a shining example of just how specific you can tailor your favourite electric guitar now. The only problem is choosing…

Check out the new OverSpun sets and the full range of pickups, waiting looms, pedals and components at Monty's Guitars. 

• Talking guitar upgrades: pickups, pots, maintenance and relic’ing with Monty’s Guitars’ Matt Gleeson

As brand that specialises in budget gear it should come as no surprise that Harley Benton has one of the biggest ranges for young players just getting started on the electric guitar, but the newly launched ST-Junior HSS SBK Standard Series might just be the best of the bunch.

Let’s look at the evidence. What do we need from a beginner electric guitar? Firstly, we want it to be cheap, seriously. There is always the danger that the guitar gets cast aside for another more persuasive passion. Well, at £85, that’s pretty cheap.

We also want it to be accessible. Learning to play the guitar can be a painful process as you get used to the strings – and painful in later years when you find yourself browsing fuzz pedals on Reverb at 1am, but that’s another subject for another day. 

Going by its dimensions, this ST-Junior HSS SBK looks very approachable, with a short-scale measuring in at a very compact 19.3”, with a 42mm nut width and a 13.8” fingerboard radius.

And we definitely want it to cover as many styles as possible. Beginners can’t afford to specialise; they’ve got to build their musical vocabulary, which is why an HSS pickup configuration, with the bridge humbucker complemented by single-coils at the neck and middle position makes perfect sense, offering young players a wide spectrum of electric guitar tones to play with. 

Also, the S-style double-cutaway body (in this instance, solid poplar), with a bolt-on maple neck, is a time-honoured platform for aspiring players to clock up some chords on. The fingerboard is roseacer, a form of thermally treated maple we see on a number of Harley Benton guitars as a substitute for rosewood, and it has 21 frets. 

The pickups are controlled by a five-way blade selector switch, plus volume and tone dials. The ST-Junior HSS SBK is kitted out with a set of black die-cast sealed tuners, a six-saddle hard-tail bridge that’s strung through the body, and a tortoiseshell pickguard that looks brilliant against that satin Black finish.

And that’s that. The ultimate beginner electric guitar? Well, it has all the ingredients, but this is a crowded field, and there are a number of stellar instruments from Squier, Epiphone, Yamaha and more to contend with.

The ST-Junior HSS SBK at least gets itself in the conversation, and there will always be room on the market for a stylish little short-scale electric runaround that offers plenty change from 100 bucks. Yours for £85. You’ll find it at Thomann and more info over at Harley Benton.

Manson Guitar Works has announced two new models that represent its most affordable guitars to be made in the UK. The £1,399 single-pickup MA and Verona Junior are produced at the Devon company's Ashburton workshops and feature series and parallel wiring modes and kill switches for maximum versatility from a streamlined aesthetic.

The company says the result is "a very high-spec instrument at a new entry price". The two-model Junior range features the familiar MA body shape and the "classically-styled" Verona. Both have a solid obeche body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 12-inch radius, Gotoh 510 hardware, Manson Dirty Rascal humbucker (Alnico V, 9.5k), kill button and series/parallel Mojo feature on the guitar's single push/push volume control to make the most of their single pickup configuration.

We're also really pleased to see that Manson has made left-hand models available to order from release, at no extra cost. All the Junior models include a Mono gigbag as a standard. 

Finish options are Open Pore Neon Green, Miami Blue and Neon Pink, Dry Satin Black and Vivid Mustard Yellow. The guitars will be on sale from Manson dealers and at Manson Guitar Works soon. 

Most guitar players wouldn't take a '58 Les Paul Custom out on the road, but Marcus King is not most guitar players. And the Carolina blues-rock and soul firebrand's vintage Gibson guitar isn't even like any other '58 Black Beauty either; it has a '70s neck. 

Though he has an ES-345 signature model with Gibson, Marcus added this three-pickup Bigsby-loaded wonder to his touring rig in 2022 after being inspired by using Dan Auerbach's '59 Les Paul Burst for his Young Blood album released that year.

It's the perfect platform for Marcus to demo his go-to string choice: the natural feel and bright tone of Elixir® Strings with OPTIWEB® Coating in Medium 11-49 gauge.

Marcus has now been playing Elixir® Strings for a decade, choosing the smooth feel of its NANOWEB® Phosphor Bronze strings for his acoustic guitars, and the US company's OPTIWEB® Coating for his electrics. 

During that time he even converted his father to switch to the advantages of the long-life and superlative feel of Elixir® Strings after using another string brand for many years. 

As a relentlessly hard-working touring and recording musician with a collection of treasured vintage instruments, Marcus depends on the long-lasting consistency of Elixir® Strings. 

"I like how long Elixir® Strings last," says Marcus. "They handle the heat and the cold better than any other string. I recommend them to everyone."

• Find out more about the full range at Elixir® Strings

When Mick Thomson and ESP eventually make a decision on what form his forthcoming signature guitar is going to take, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will come equipped with a set of multi-voiced Fluence humbuckers, as the Slipknot guitarist has became the latest box-office metal player to hook up with Fishman.

The artist roster at Fishman is getting increasingly crowded with modern metal guitar’s A-listers. There’s Matt Heafy from Trivium, Devin Townsend, Javier Reyes, Willie Adler, Tosin Abasi… The list goes on and on.

And although Fishman and Thomson have yet to announce a signature electric guitar pickup set yet, a variation on the Fluence format looks like it is coming soon, with Thomson saying they stand alone in today’s market.

“I’m honoured to be part of the Fishman family,” he said. “Their Fluence pickups are unlike anything else there is. The result is a punch and clarity that is much improved.”

Based around their patented core design, Fishman’s Fluence pickups offer players a multi-voiced performance via a push-pull function on either their electric guitar’s volume or tone pots, and crucially for players operating in high-gain, high-volume scenarios, they have no noise or hum. Ken Susi, brand manager for the Fluence line, says Thomson is here for the long haul.

“We’re excited to announce that we have officially signed Mick Thomson to our esteemed artist roster,” said Susi. “His exceptional talent, passion, and dedication to his craft are truly remarkable, and we’re thrilled to have him on board. We wholeheartedly believe that this collaboration marks the beginning of a long-lasting relationship.”

• “Crazy shred guitar is only enjoyed by the person playing it and the other people trying to play it!” – Mick Thomson's 5 tips for guitarists 

When will we see these? Ah… it’s going to be when this Mick Thomson ESP/LTD signature model lands, and news of that has been thin on the ground since it was first announced that Thomson had flown the Jackson coop and wound up at ESP, its rival high-performance guitar brand. 

Last we heard, Thomson had a serious case of option paralysis. Alternating between the asymmetrical V profile of the Arrow, the go-faster S-style of the Horizon and the single-cut Eclipse model you see pictured top of the page, the last leg of the Slipknot tour offered few clues. But then he did say they were working on “customs”, emphasis on plural, so it is possible there might be more than one in the pipeline.

“We are currently working on specs for some customs that I know will be killer,” said Thomson. “It’s been taking longer than expected, as deciding on a model hasn’t been easy. Too many possibilities for monster guitars. Admittedly, It’s been a great problem to have.”

Why are all these metal artists doing likewise and heading over to Fishman? Well, as Matt Heafy of Trivium told us last year, he describes them as “zero latency” pickups, and they bring out the best in his sound.

“What I like so much about the Fishmans is that it is less about Fishman and is more about accentuating what I sound like,” said Heafy. “That is why I love those pickups. Fishman pickups are technically not active pickups; they are passive pickups with active technology, which I think is a really cool way to describe it. Now, there is a quote/unquote active and a passive mode, and on my Moderns the active is obviously more modern metal, the passive is rock, heavy metal, indie, whatever you want to do.” 

For more information on their existing range, head over to Fishman pickups. 

Julian Lage has admitted that he once played a whole tour on his Fender Telecaster’s bridge pickup to prove to himself that he could handle the treble.

Lage was discussing the merits of the Telecaster as a jazz guitar on Rick Beato’s YouTube show, and explained why he typically only uses the Ron Ellis-designed Ellisonic pickup at the neck – even if some of his friends try to get him to use the snappier sounding single-coil at the bridge. Well, it is a case of been there, done that.

“I love it. I did a whole tour once almost to settle a bet, to see if I could do a whole tour on the bridge pickup with my trio,” said Lage. “And on nights one and two, I would go back to my room and my ears would be ringing. ‘This is terrible. No one asked me to do this. It’s a little bit messed up.’ 

“But then, after the first couple of days, I became obsessed, and because all these overtones were coming through these backline amplifiers, and it felt raw, and it felt beautiful.”

If you are lucky enough to catch the jazz guitar phenom live, chances are you will find him with a vintage Telecaster replica made by Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Baños of Nacho Guitars, Valencia. The rig will be simple. There will be a Black Panel Fender Deluxe Reverb, maybe a small pedalboard with a Shin-ei B1G boost pedal and a Strymon Flint reverb/tremolo pedal, too. 

Lage says he built up a resistance to the bridge pickup’s clarity but the experiment was not to be repeated. At least not onstage.

“I kind of built up some nerve around it where I thought, ‘This is great.’ When I came back I couldn’t jump off the diving board again,” he said. “I did it. I proved to myself I could do it. I think I am going to live here [neck pickup] where I have just a little bit more versatility.”

Lage has never been afraid to cut loose and experiment on the electric guitar. In 2021, he told MusicRadar that he taped a stethoscope to the back of his Telecaster because he wanted to hear everything.

“I had to play really quiet because stethoscopes are designed to pick up your heartbeat through your muscles, tissue, blood and everything,” said Lage. “But I wanted to hear what that under a microscope thing was like and it was so revealing. I could only handle it for about a day and then thought, ‘This is abusive!’”

Where some players take fright from a treble, worrying that it’s too bright, Lage makes the case for us dialing in a little more. He will practice on his Telecaster through the bridge pickup, DI’d through the computer with no reverb, no effects to take the edge off. If it sounds good like that, it’ll sound amazing when it is EQ’d.

“I feel like treble is my best friend, and it is rewarding when I use it well, and it is also very revealing – for better or worse – at other times,” he said. “Anything worth playing is worth playing bright.”

The moral of the story? Don’t be afraid of a little treble. It can help you work in a mix, and it can be a great teacher, too.

“I remember hearing Derek Trucks in an interview talking about the importance of making treble your best friend,” said Lage. “Turn it up to 10 on your Fender Twin, which we all know is very bright and loud, and study it.”

You can check out Lage’s conversation with Beato above, in which he shares a very touching story of his father making him a plywood replica of Bruce Springsteen’s Tele when he was four years old. If you are wondering how Lage sounds on a vintage Stratocaster? Well check out this footage of him demoing a 1960 Strat below.

Upgrading your pickups is one of the lowest-cost ways to significantly improve the sound of your Telecaster, without resorting to buying an entirely new guitar. As one of the most versatile guitars you can buy, the best Telecaster pickups will allow you to do everything from that renowned vintage twang to the harmonically rich roar of a PAF-style humbucker.

A Telecaster is so tonally versatile due to its juxtaposition of a very bright bridge pickup and a very dark neck pickup. This means you can get a massive range of tones from it, which is why the Tele is so popular. Whether you want to upgrade your Squier Tele to something more powerful, or you want to tame the modern tones of that hot-rodded T-type for a more vintage-era sound, we’ve got just the pickup for you.

If you’re new to upgrading pickups, then definitely check out our buying advice section at the bottom of this article as there are some common pitfalls you can make without the right knowledge. For those who are ready to twang, keep scrolling for our top picks…

Best Telecaster pickups: Our top picks

For our top pick, we’ve gone for the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Tele pickup set. They’ll drive your amp hard like a humbucker but retain that punchiness you get from a regular Tele pickup. The neck position is slightly lower output but still growls without ever getting muddy or wooly.

For those who prefer a vintage Tele tone, you’ll want to take a look at the Fender Pure Vintage ‘64 Telecaster pickup set. Perfect for upgrading a beginner or intermediate-level Tele, these great value pups have excellent presence and clarity with a lovely bite in the bridge position.

Best Telecaster pickups: Product guide

The Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Tele pickup set is a thoroughly modern pickup set that does an incredible job of matching the bite and punch of a single coil with the rich saturation and midrange cut of a humbucker.

Think of this set as the classic Tele tone on steroids. It still has that core bite from the bridge pickup and roundness of the neck position, it’s a single coil after all, but it’s beefed up and very, very angry.

They’re close to P-90 pickups in terms of growl and excel at a variety of styles but particularly those of a more modern ilk. Wax potting prevents any unwanted squeal and yes there’s a bit of noise at high gain due to the single coil design, but it’s nothing a good noise gate pedal won’t solve.

The Fender Pure Vintage ‘64 Telecaster pickup set is made to the same specifications as a genuine 60s set of Tele pups, making them the perfect choice for vintage tone lovers.

While this is a vintage set, they’re not quite as low output as the 50s-era pickups, so will suit modern player demands a lot better. They still have that excellent articulation you’d expect from a classic Tele pickup though, with a present neck position and healthy bite when you dig in on the bridge position.

If your Tele is a little too dark sounding then these will certainly brighten it up, and they’re the perfect match for a Squier or MIM Telecaster that wants something more from the stock pickups.

Normally known for their exploits in metal guitars, the Fishman Fluence Greg Koch Gristle Tone Tele pickup set offers something different from anything else on the market. Coming as a whole set complete with electrosocket style jack and control plate, this pickup set features two core sounds for ultimate versatility.

Setting one is all 50s Tele, open and airy, perfect for chicken pickin’. Sound two is that of a 60s Telecaster, more muscular and punchy with excellent sustain. Switchable via a button mounted on the control plate, this set essentially turns your guitar into two classic Telecasters.

You do have to charge them via USB which is a little weird, however, just a half an hour charge will get you a huge 300 hours of playtime. Just make sure you plug them in the night before that big show!

The Broadcaster was the original Telecaster before it got a name change in 1951 to what we know and love today. Aiming to capture that 50s vintage vibe, the Mojotone Broadcaster pickup set is perfect for classic Tele tone lovers.

The bridge position has that excellent chime, with a bell-like clarity so lauded by vintage Tele enthusiasts. The neck position is warm but still articulate, and both pickups react amazingly to overdrive, staying hum free even with a generous dollop of fuzz.

The design is unique too in that there are no extraneous electronics to get them to stay hum-free. We’re not sure how they’ve done it but everything has been kept period correct whilst still retaining noise-free performance, amazing stuff.

For Tele players who want more output and less noise, the EMG T Set is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your tone. If you spend a little extra you can also get the EMG T System with a Tele control plate and jack socket to totally replace your electronics.

On the neck pickup, you get a buttery smooth tone that’s clear when played clean and full of lovely saturation when you dirty it up. The neck pickup howls when you drive things hard, with plenty of authentic Tele twang when you clean up your tone. They probably won’t please vintage tone lovers, but for modern players, this set is a serious upgrade.

The solderless design makes them easier than others to install, however, some routing may be required to fit the battery into the control cavity. Some users also report having to do a little sanding to get the pickups to fit, but it’s definitely worth the effort for the sound upgrade.

For players who want that holy grail PAF tone in a single coil size, the Seymour Duncan Little ‘59 Tele unlocks a powerful sound with minimal modification required. Handmade in Santa Barbara, Seymour Duncan pickups offer incredible quality and value for money.

It’s got a nice even response across the spectrum, with a slight midrange scoop for that full-bodied humbucker sound. Thanks to the split coil options you can still get that Tele twang too, although it’s not quite what a vintage set of pups will offer, it’s a nice option to have.

Great for upgrading beginner and intermediate-level Telecasters, the Little ‘59 is also excellent value for money thanks to its relatively low cost. It’s a drop-in replacement on American-made Tele’s, but you may need some slight routing for MIM and far-east models.

An ultra-popular choice for upgrading your Tele, the Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Tele Pickup Set really makes your guitar shout out. Overwound coils increase output but still retain that core characteristic of a true Telecaster.

If you’re looking for just a little more bite from your Tele then this is the pickup set for you, delivering a punchy bark with plenty of bite. There’s a nice midrange here too, and they absolutely slay when paired with overdrive or pushed hard into a tube amp.

They’re darker than your average Tele pickup, so probably not the choice for those who want old-school Tele tones, but for the modern player who wants a little more oomph, these are perfect.

If you want to turn your Tele into a proper rock and metal machine, then the DiMarzio Super Distortion T will do the job. Packing the power of a humbucker into the convenience of a single coil, its high-output ceramic magnets excel at high gain.

The Super Distortion was one of the classic sounds of rock and metal in the 70s, and this pickup gives you just that in a Tele format. There’s not much sign of classic Tele twang here, but switch your distortion pedal on and it absolutely screams.

For players of post-hardcore, punk, metal, and other alternative styles this pickup is the obvious choice in lieu of buying a heavy music-specific guitar. It makes single-note lines sustain endlessly, and chords sound absolutely huge.

Best Telecaster pickups: Buying advice

How we choose the best Telecaster pickups

At MusicRadar, our team consists of experienced guitarists and gear aficionados who have extensively explored the world of electric guitar pickups. With our deep appreciation for the iconic Telecaster tone, we have rigorously tested and analyzed numerous pickups to identify the best options available.

To compile our list of top Telecaster pickups, we combine our practical expertise, meticulous research, and insightful discussions with our editorial team. We consider factors such as tonal quality, versatility, build quality, and value for money to ensure we showcase the finest pickups for Telecaster guitars.

As dedicated musicians ourselves, we understand the significance of finding the perfect pickups to enhance your Telecaster's sonic capabilities. Whether you're chasing that classic twang, seeking warm vintage tones, or exploring more modern sonic territory, our goal is to provide reliable and informed recommendations that help you discover the ideal Telecaster pickups to suit your playing style and musical preferences.

Read more about how we test music making gear and services at MusicRadar.

Related buyer's guides

• These are the best acoustic guitar pickups you should try
• Check out our guide to the best cheap electric guitars
• The best budget electric guitars
• The best electric guitars under $/£1000
• Take a look at the best pedalboards for guitarists

DiMarzio and Periphery’s Jake Bowen have returned to the drawing board to spec up a new signature set of electric guitar pickups. It’s called the Mirage, and comprises a bridge humbucker for high-clarity, high-gain chug and a double-blade Strat-style pickup at the neck.

You might ask why Bowen needs a new set of pickups. His DiMarzio Titan signature pickups have served him well over the years. But Bowen has changed as a player, and he wanted a pickup that was voiced for the evolution in his picking technique.

These pickups are passive but very much a 21st-century design – a wind that is cognisant that Bowen will be sending his electric guitar signal through plugins, amp modellers such as his trusty Fractal Axe-Fx units, and, what the heck, some real physical guitar amps built in the time-honoured traditional way.

Not that the Titans are going anywhere soon. You will still find them at the DiMarzio site and from select dealers, and they will still be the default choice on his Ibanez JBM27 and JBM7 signature guitars. But the new Mirage set fits just nicely for his new JBM9999 model.

Let’s talk neck pickup first. Fans of DiMarzio double-blade designs such as The Cruiser and Chopper will recognise the “super-saturated single-coil sound” here. Basically, it is no slouch as a bridge position fire-breather but if you’ve got a high-output humbucker at the bridge – as Bowen does here – it makes a natural bedfellow at the neck position.

It has a slightly pronounced mid-bump. It can be positioned anywhere your guitar is routed for a single-coil, and has plenty of output to complement its counterpart at the bridge.

The Mirage bridge humbucker has more output, more clarity, and more bass, middle, and treble. Like his signature Titans, this bridge ‘bucker is a ceramic magnet design. The neck pickup is neodymium. 

Again, the frequency profile shows a little more oomph in the midrange frequencies but across the board Bowen wanted a bit more from the pickup. 

DiMarzio has given the Mirage a muscle car aesthetic, using satin nickel coverings for both neck and bridge pickups, with a diamond pattern racing stripe on the bridge pickup because why not? It’s quite understated all told. 

And while there is no demo video available yet, let's remind ourselves of the best Jake Bowen x DiMarzio video content on the internet, when he and Revocation's David Davidson busted Larry DiMarzio's 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard out of storage to play chugging riffs and throw jazz shapes around the fingerboard.

The Jake Bowen Mirage signature pickups are available now, priced $150 for the bridge pickup, $122 for the neck. For more info, head over to DiMarzio.

NAMM 2023: There has rarely been a better time to be a Guns N’ Roses fan with an Epiphone Les Paul looking for an aftermarket mod to soup it up, because Slash and Seymour Duncan have just put their heads together on a new version of his signature electric guitar pickups, and they’ve just gotten hotter.

The Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 signature set comprises two humbuckers based off the top-hatted rock icon’s original signature APH-2 pickups. 

Those Alnico II ‘buckers were configured to the exact same specs as the original pickups in Slash’s legendary Derrig Les Paul, the electric guitar behind Appetite For Destruction’s gnarly and wiry sound, and, ironically given the Derrig is a copycat build, the tone that rekindled a generation of guitar players’ love for the Gibson Les Paul.

A decade or so later, it was time to update the APH-2. You will find the same tone profile with the 2.0 version. These neck ‘bucker is slightly scooped but skewed towards treble. Its counterpart at the bridge is similarly slightly scooped but with more equilibrium between bass and treble. 

• Slash tells the story of the Guns N' Roses classic Sweet Child O' Mine: “The saving grace for me was the solo section”

The clarity is still there, so all that note definition and old-school dynamics are preserved – one of the reasons Slash found himself using Seymour Duncan pickups, after a long period of trial and error, was because “they weren’t trying to do more than they needed to do”. 

But this time out Seymour Duncan has given them a hotter wind, so that when you dig into a powerchord you’ll give your guitar amp a bit more to think about. Given how hard Slash hits those strings, that could make all the difference.

“They’re just a little bit louder,” says Slash. “They are higher output but they don’t add any distortion. There’s no gain. There’s just a little bit of a higher level. For some reason, certain guitars that I have are quieter than other guitars, and I started finding that I needed a little bit louder pickup in those guitars.

Enter, Seymour Duncan. The Slash 2.0 pickups are hand-wound in California. Once more they are based around a rough cast Alnico II magnet, and have a DCR reading of 8.8k at the neck, and 9.38k at the bridge.

They are available in a variety of finish options. You can have them open-coiled with black bobbins, zebra, reverse zebra, or with black-nickel, nickel, raw nickel or gold coverings. The latter might be just the thing in a Les Paul Custom. But who doesn’t like the look of a zebra-coil set on an Iced Tea Les Paul Standard? 

For the player who has got one of the superlative Epiphone Slash Les Pauls, however, this might just be the tone upgrade they’ve been waiting for. 

The Slash 2.0 humbuckers are priced from $119 per pickup, $238 a set (there’s a premium for the metal coverings), and they are available now. See Seymour Duncan for more details.

NAMM 2023: LR Baggs has unveiled a new acoustic guitar pickup system that offers pain-free peel-and-stick installation, high-fidelity electronics for top-quality sound, and a lightweight design that doesn’t interfere with your acoustic tone.

The HiFi system is designed to be just that, to offer a true representation of your acoustic guitar whether you are playing unplugged or through an acoustic guitar amp. All of the materials used for the build and the size of the pickups reflect the ethos behind the HiFi acoustic pickup system; tread lightly and sound transparent.

The system comes with a pair of pre-wired bridge plate transducers that LR Baggs says will preserve the integrity of your bridge plate. Both of these contact sensors have been newly designed for this purpose. 

Simply unpeel the paper on them and affix the transducers to the bridge plate and then mount the studio-quality preamp is discretely through your guitar’s endpin. No glue, no damage, no fuss.

• LR Baggs' founder Lloyd Baggs 40th anniversary interview: "I had no business experience, I was just a guitar-making hippy"

Performance-wise, those bridge plate transducers will give you an accurate representation of your guitar’s string balance, feel and dynamics. 

The HiFi preamp is of course designed to complement the pickups. Its controls can be mounted out of sight on the inner lip soundhole, and offer thumbwheel control over volume and tone. LR Baggs recommends the HiFi pickup system for all styles and performance situations, and says it is has “surprising feedback rejection”. 

All in all, that’s really what you want from an acoustic guitar pickup, right? Please don’t wreck the guitar’s innards. Please don’t squeal whenever there’s lots of stage volume. And please don’t make it sound like a duck. 

The LR Baggs HiFi system is shipping from 1 May and is priced $199. It is powered by a 9V battery and one battery should last you over 700 hours, which works out in song terms as approximately 4,747 performances of Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man, assuming you adhere to the original recording tempo. More than anyone could want, surely. 

If anyone reading is wondering around the convention hall at Anaheim, California, you can always head to Hall D (5406) to hear what all this sounds like in person. Otherwise, check out the intro video at the top of the page. For more, head to LR Baggs.

NAMM 2023: As a leading manufacturer of electric guitar pickups Seymour Duncan has already got a lot of the aftermarket modding market sewn up. What more worlds are there to conquer? 

We might be forgiven for thinking product development would follow a similar pattern to that of the 20th century – all magnets, wires, windings. But then Seymour Duncan just go ahead and release a Bluetooth enabled pickup selector switch that lets you program different pickup configurations on your electric guitar.

That’s right, the HyperSwitch, a world’s first according to the company, connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and allows players to play around with their pickup configuration without having to plug a soldering iron in at the wall. No mess, no fuss… No way, right? Surely this is an April Fools.

But it’s not. The date reads 11 April on the release and the HyperSwitch is very much a thing you can buy to turn your regular old guitar with passive pickups into something you can mod in real time, on your phone, storing presets for easy recall of your favourite sounds.

This is basically rewiring your guitar via your phone. Now, there is a downside for anyone who is looking to reduce their screen time, but then that time is no doubt offset by the quick and easy mods you can make to your guitar.

Say, if you wanted to wire your bridge and neck pickups together out of phase, well, as the saying goes, there’s an app for that, and it’ll connect with your HyperSwitch and do the necessary.

The HyperSwitch is powered by a 9V battery, is compatible with most passive pickups, and aesthetically speaking it will suit any model that will suit a blade-style selector switch. Indeed, it doesn’t look so different from a regular passive switch, and yet it offers potentially 100s of different wiring options.

Out of phase, split-coils, parallel wiring, all are achievable and more. And your signal path remains 100 per cent analogue – the digital bit lies in how your smartphone communicates this information to the guitar. 

Right now, this all looks like an act of voodoo, but those videos are mighty convincing, and while many of us enjoy nothing more than whiling away a weekend swapping pickups in and out, the opportunity to switch out wiring options on the fly is nonetheless tantalising

Time will tell whether the HyperSwitch will revolutionise how we mod our guitars and think about things such as pickup selection, or whether it will go the way of the notorious Gibson Robot Guitar, but it where the latter failed because it was the solution to a problem that never really existed, the HyperSwitch is offering something altogether new. And it’s available now, priced £209 / $149. 

For more details, pop on over to Seymour Duncan.

NAMM 2023: "55s are a little brighter and have more air on top, '63s are a like a powered Strat… Stevie Ray's number 1 was a '63 and there's something to them, they're really powerful pickups," so says Joe Bonamassa about wanting to share the examples on his own Cradle Rock 1963 Strat with other players. Now the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop has made that a reality.

Limited to 1000 sets, SD used period-correct wind, aged the magnets and even colour-matched the covers to Joe's exacting standards. The originals are close to his heart as they're on the guitar he bought as a teenager in 1994 at the Philadelphia Guitar Show. When a teenage guitar prodigy could afford a '63 Strat. 

"If you're a Strat guy you'll like this version because if you have a green box and a Fender amp and you want to play Stevie Ray Vaughan kind of stuff, you'll like these pickups," says Joe. 

Find out more at Seymour Duncan 

EMG has expanded its Retro Active series with the JMaster, a new electric guitar pickup set available as a standalone pickup pairing or as an integrated pickguard system that is aimed at the six-string demographic most likely to perform an aftermarket modification to their instrument, the Jazzmaster owner.

Yes, Jazzmaster aficionados, here comes yet another option to augment your beloved offset, and EMG promises, you won’t even need to fire up the soldering iron. Shipping with Black, Ivory and White pickup covers, the JMaster pickup is a wide stacked single-coil designed around Alnico V magnetic rods. They might look familiar. And judging by the demo videos, they might even sound familiar. But that, says EMG, is the whole point. 

These single-coils are inspired by the original Jazzmaster pickups, trafficking in “a rich and balanced single coil tone”, only with their active design, powered by 9V battery, they offer a zero-hum performance – which is handy when you consider that Jazzmasters are often deployed in highly stocked pedalboard scenarios and with a generous lick from the fuzz pedal.

The JMaster pickups present players with powerful EQ controls, mounted on the pickguard in the usual location on the upper horn of the electric guitar. The SPC control can offer a mid-boost, or with a flick of the switch, you can apply a 12dB boost across all frequencies. 

The EXG control, meanwhile, applies a boost simultaneously bass and treble frequencies, “giving your instrument a liquid tone with full bottom end and enhanced highs”. 

EMG advises checking with your Jazzmaster to see whether it is compatible with the pickguard system before ordering. If not, then maybe the pickup pairing would be a better option. 

The pickguard system is offered with the option of Ivory pickup covers on a tortoiseshell ‘guard, with the Black and White pickup coverings shipped with matching ‘guards. The latter would look particularly clean and cool on a Ice Blue Metallic, but it’s certainly a tough call to make when considered alongside the classic Ivory and tortoiseshell aesthetic. 

The pickguard system arrives with EMG’s solderless install system. Inside the pickup set, you’ve got everything you need for the mod; a 25k tone pot, a 25k volume pot, battery buss, stereo output jack, I/O buss for both pickups, mounting screws, connect cables, and cables for the output and battery. An illustrated four-page instructions booklet shows you what to do and when. 

These pickups are made to order and ship between one and two weeks from purchase. The JMaster pickup pairing is priced $229. The JMaster Pickguard Set is priced $379. And they’re available to preorder now direct from EMG Pickups, shipping from the end of the March.

NAMM 2023: Fender's Cunife Wide Range humbuckers had a big comeback with Fender's American Vintage II range – and in our AV II Tele Deluxe review we were frankly dazzled by them. So imagine our delight now we can share the news that Cunife pickups are going to be available in standard Strat and Jazzmaster sets. Plus there's a brand new Cobalt Chrome set for Teles. 

And if that wasn't enough to get our guitar modding sensors tickled, Fender is also releasing its lovely Player Plus necks to buy separately.

The new Cunife pickups are the first time the magnets have been used outside of Wide Range humbuckers, themselves only returning in recent years thanks to Fender securing a factory to produced the 1979 designs. This accounts for the higher price point but based on what we heard from the latest Wide Range examples, it's worth it for those looking for something genuinely different – and very good. 

The Cunife Stratocaster Pickup Set ($349.99 USD, £319.00 GBP, €379.00 EUR, $599.00 AUD, ¥58,850JPY) is arguably Fender's boldest single-coil design since the Noiseless pickup. Fender claims they have a vintage -style voice with "deep piano-like lows, present and pleasing midrange, and sweet and sparkling highs that will invigorate your guitar playing with new life and bold dynamics."

Like the Wide Range humbuckers, these use Cunife threaded magnets with their calling cards of definition and clarity. The proposition in a single-coil Strat format has us excited and we're a little surprised we're not seeing any stock Strat models loaded with them to coincide. 

The pickups' chrome-ringed covers acts as a shield to help eliminate the dreaded 60-cycle hum.

A new Tele set does not use Cunife but another new innovation to the table with Cobalt Chrome. Voiced by Fender's pickup master Tim Shaw, these pickups use Fender's blend of a FeCrCo magnet to bring "added snap" to your Tele tone. Again, chrome rings are use to help address hum. 

The Cobalt Chrome Telecaster Pickup Set is $199.99 USD, £279 GBP, €329 EUR, $539 AUD, ¥41,800JPY. 

For the Jazzmaster owners Fender is going bigger with two set options – recognising that its offset model is being embraced by another new generation, while still beloved by established guitar tinkerers. 

There's a Cunife Wide Range set and one with a Cunife / Cobalt combo. Both will fit a standard Jazzmaster with no modifications to body of scratchplate required. 

"The Wide Range Cunife Jazzmaster pickups deliver rich bell-likehumbucking tones with full bass and clear treble," says Fender. And from our experiences with Tele models, we can concur.   

The Cunife Wide Range Jazzmaster Pickups ($399.99 USD, £369 GBP, €439 EUR, $739 AUD,¥58,850 JPY for a set) are also available individually. 

The Cunife / Cobalt Chrome Jazzmaster Pickup Set ($299.99 USD, £279.00 GBP, €329.00 EUR, $539.00AUD, ¥41,800 JPY) mixes the Wide Range experience with an edgier bring Cobalt pickup. The best of both worlds? 

Player Plus replacement necks for Strat and Tele ($349.99 USD, £339.00 GBP, €399.00 EUR, $779.00 AUD, ¥39,600 JPY) represent the highest spec aftermarket option that is currently produced by the Ensenada factory in Mexico.

These maple Player Plus necks feature rolled fingerboard edges and satin urethane backs for tactile comfort, with a 'Modern C' shape. And if you;re looking for vintage spec these are probably not going to float your tremolo as they're 12” radius with 22 medium jumbo frets.

The nuts on these necks pre-slotted with 'pilot' string location grooves to make spacing easier for filing yourself, or taking to a pro for the final fitting.

With all these new parts to fit you'll need something to work on and Fender has though of that too with its Work Mat ($69.99 USD, £66.99 GBP, €79.99 EUR, $110.00 AUD, ¥8,300 JPY) available in tweed and amp grill cloth with a neoprene pad and textured anti-slip bottom grip.

A neck cradle is also included for elevating your guitar while working. 

All these products are availble in Spring 2023 and for more info visit Fender.com

Full disclosure; we see or hear the word Shawbucker and we perk up. They're wonderfully articulate Alnico 2 humbuckers. So the prospect of a US Shawbucker in an HSS Player Plus Strat has gear acquisition syndrome kicking in for us.  

There's more to this Fender Special Run model than that, as it also features the excellent Pure Vintage '65 pickups for some Strat Spank with those defined Shawbucker tones. There's also a push-pull tone pot to split the Shawbucker, and alongside a 2-point tremolo this guitar can cover a huge array of sounds. 

The Player Plus model is a more expensive proposition than standard Players at £999 but you get some premium touches like rolled fingerboard edges (and this has a 12-inch radius) for tactile playing comfort and deluxe locking tuners alongside those USA pickups. The roasted maple neck is also an, um, plus here and those cost £329 on their own.

We love Charcoal Frost as a finish, and we're glad to see this finish trickle from outside the Fender Custom Shop now and again. Plus this model's red/black tortoiseshell tremolo plate even matches the scratchplate – these things matter! 

See and hear this Andertons exclusive model in action above, and check out the full Andertons limited edition FSR range.  

An underrated alt rock luminary, those who know David Pajo's work with Slint, Tortoise, Zwan and now Gang Of Four are well aware of what a talent he is. And it's fascinating to get a look into his guitar world with EarthQuaker Devices. Where we find out he's an electric guitar tinkerer.

We join Pajo at his guitar station where he spent lockdown working on instrument. His current projects being a Jazzmaster / Tele hybrid and a single-pickup Strat. We love how he's not too precious about vintage and chases ideas for workhorse instruments. But he does have a few old gems; namely an original 1965 Strat he's learned a lot from. 

"This sounds amazing, I don't know what's different between guitars now and then really but the pickups are really low output whereas I guess people really like high output pickups to overdrive their amp a little bit," he notes. "But these are really low output and the tone is insane – it just sounds perfect, it's the perfect Strat sound. 

"So now I go for low output pickups, whereas when I was in Slint I always used as high output as I could get. I feel like lower output pickups give you more tone, there's more headroom or something."

Food for thought there – and something we can all explore via the huge range of retro-fit guitar pickups out there from big brands and smaller companies. The '65 Fiesta Red Strat that started Pajo down this path was actually a gift by an incredibly generous admirer.

"This guy in Australia who's well to do and really nice, his name is Zal [Destur of Sydney band A Broken Sail], and he gifted it to me. I think it was his first guitar, he has so many nice guitars and he just gave it to me as a gift."

Pajo clearly treasures it; "I won't even take it out on the road because I love it so much. I just use it for recording because I know I'll just damage it."

Check out the full video above as there's plenty more guitar goodness and tones to hear, as well as a history lesson in Pajo's excellent body of musical work. 

• David Pajo’s top 5 tips for guitarists: “You don’t have to know music theory to convey an emotion”

It's all go in the business world of Rob Chapman for 2023; he's announced that in addition to Chapman Guitars, he's now the co-owner of two other brands – Californian-based Cerberus Guitars and Guitarmory Pickups.

In a New Years Instagram message, Chapman revealed the news to fans and explained the thinking behind the move. "Where Chapman kind of knocks on the door of heavy, pointy, scary guitars, Cerberus runs through that door and up the hill and continues onwards towards battle."

In addition to a US custom shop, Cerberus also has a South Korea-made Hades Line of electric guitars. 

Meanwhile, California-based pickup maker Guitarmory were featured in a video on Rob Chapman's YouTube channel last year where he retro-fitted a custom set in his first ever Chapman production model. 

"Guitarmory makes boutique custom shop, zero compromise, super high quality pickups in California," explained Chapman. 

"We can make anything – P-90s, single-coils, relic'd, aged – the whole shebang," he added, but he stressed these new acquisitions "will not distract me from my normal day to day duties at Chapman."

In other Chapman Guitars news, Rabea Massaad recently announced he was parting ways with the company owned by Rob and Lee Anderton as a signature artist. Though he was keen to stress in his announcement on Instagram that here's absolutely no bad blood involved in the decision. 

"Rob, Lee and myself have been good friends for a long time, and I’m grateful for all the good times we’ve had together at Chapman," stated Massaad. "Just to be crystal clear it’s all good for those wondering! We are still friends and there are no bad vibes between us at all. Just love and support!"

For more info check out Cerberus Guitars and Guitarmory Pickups and Chapman Guitars.

Rob Chapman: the 10 records that changed my life

Fender has expanded its J Mascis signature range with the launch of Jazzmaster electric guitar pickup set, a pair of Alnico II soapbars that in the words of the Dinosaur Jr main man promise a “sweeter more vintage sound”.

With the Fender Jazzmaster one of the most fun electric guitars to mod – the Jazzmaster bridge often the first thing to be upgraded – these will no doubt sell like hot cakes, and offer something a little different to bright snap and midrange growl of his signature Fender Telecaster.

These will sound a little bit more mellow, and just the thing for giving your offset a fresh voice for alt-rock adventures. Those who own one of those gnarly MusicRadar-approved Squier J Mascis Jazzmasters should read on, because they could be just the aftermarket power-up you've been waiting for.

As you might expect from a man with Mascis’ discography, these pickups are voiced to pair well through any manner of overdrive and fuzz pedals, eating up the gain, maintaining warmth and clarity, and playing nice with your pedalboard, but they’ll also excel at honeyed cleans, too.

• Learn to play J Mascis's riffs and solo from Dinosaur Jr's Out There

The J Mascis Jazzmaster pickups have an Alnico II rod magnets and enamel-coated magnet wire, have flush-mounted pole-pieces for an even response across each string, and are wax-potted to help cut down on noise when all around you is volume and gain. 

They have a vintage-style cloth wire and fibre bobbin build, and will be just at home turning your favourite offset into a bona-fide fire-breather, capable of the sort of tones you might hear when watching 1991: The Year Punk Broke, but also for more sedate sounds, the sort of cleans you can comp with, or send through some reverb and delay pedals for a dreamy soundscape.

• Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis: “Coming from drumming, the guitar was so one-dimensional. I had to find all these things to make it more dynamic and expressive“

But, if you are happy with your pickups – or perhaps are more of a Telecaster player and prefer that side of Mascis’ sound – there is also a cornucopia of new J Mascis signature accessories available.

Those comprise a pair of brightly coloured guitar straps in Magenta Flower and Yellow Burst respectively, a 30-ft J Mascis coiled guitar cable (in bright purple) and a signature Dinosaur Jr tin and guitar pick set.

For more information, head over to Fender.

Given that Gibson first started making electric guitar pickups in 1935 and set the table for how a humbucker should sound with the PAF, perhaps it is only appropriate that the brand has opened its own pickup shop.

Okay, we can’t promise that you’ll find an original PAF humbucker there – those are the preserve of the museum and vintage-market, and insanely expensive – but for all Gibson pickups, from its P-90s through to a range of BurstBuckers, the official Gibson Pickup Store is the place to go.

As with the guitars, Gibson arranges its pickups into different ranges. There is the Historic Collection, which gathers the period-appropriate data to offer all the Golden Era pickups. 

Here you’ll find the Custombucker in various formats, including uncovered Double Black and Zebra configurations, with Historic Nickel or Gold covers, with both pickups available individually or as a matched set. Just the thing to give your much-loved Epiphone Les Paul a refresh.

• What is the new Gibson G-Bird guitar?

The Original Collection comprises models from across Gibson’s history, from P-90 Dogear and Soapbar single-coils, through ’57 Classic humbuckers, Burstbucker Types 1 and 2, Pros and 60s Burstbuckers, and the Original Mini-Humbuckers found on classic Gibson electric guitars such as the Les Paul Deluxe.

There are some deep cuts in the Original Collection, too. Who here remembers the Dirty Fingers humbucker? Well, that fiery ‘70s p'up in all its overwound ceramic glory is now available to buy for $129.

Finally, there is the Modern Collection, which comprises the likes of the 490 and 498 humbuckers, all available with open-coils or with Gold or Chrome covers so you can find one to best match your guitar.

DCR values and specs are all offered online, and Gibson has been helpful enough to shoot a welcome video walking through the history of the brand’s pickups and the different sounds they can give your guitar. Check it out at the top of the page, and for more details on the models on offer, head over to the Gibson Pickup Shop.

Bare Knuckle Pickups has hooked up with Black Stone Cherry guitarist Chris Robertson for a signature set of electric guitar pickups. 

Robertson’s Peacemaker set comprises neck and bridge humbuckers, and are voiced for those who like a vintage accent on their electric guitar tone, but with a little more juice.

Think of these as offer five healthy dashes of Tabasco in the Bloody Mary rather than the timid two you get in some establishments – PAF recreations with added oomph. 

Well, for an idea of what they sound like and the style their best suited to, just think of Robertson’s bread-and-butter – hard rock with plenty of muscle in the rhythm tone, a little fire in the leads. Or better still, check out the demo below.

Peacemakers have isotropic Alnico V magnets, Bare Knuckle’s custom-wound coils, and there’s a peace-mandala etching on their covers available as an option upon checkout.

If DCR readings are your thing, the bridge pickup weighs in at 9.6kohms, the neck at 8kohms. Robertson says the Peacemakers’ clarity seals the deal for him.

“The thing I really love about these pickups, along with the clarity, is how round and full that the upper register notes still stay,” he says. “The higher strings, when you’re taking lead lines or even just chiming through chords, those notes stay right there and poke their chest out just as much as the lower strings. That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about Bare Knuckles is the attention to clarity on every note. I’m super excited to get these pickups out there.”

The Peacemakers are available now, priced from £358.80 for open-coil sets, with covered sets priced from £388.80, and individual pickups priced £186. 

There are options aplenty, including Radiator and TV covers, and a variety of cover finishes and bobbin colours. See Bare Knuckle Pickups for more details.

Bare Knuckle Pickups is bringing its charity Unity humbucker back for good as part of the Cornish standard series. 

The Unity was previously a special limited run in April 2022 to aid humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. The run of 20 sets featured custom etched covers, individually numbered baseplates and were hand wound by BKP founder Tim Mills.

Those sets sold out in eight hours and all proceeds were given to the Disasters Emergency Committee raising £10K for humanitarian aid. A subsequent run of limited edition Unity T-shirts raised a further £3K.

Bare Knuckle are now adding these pickups to their standard range with the profits going to disaster relief worldwide via the DEC. 

The new Unity humbuckers are available as sets and individual bridge and neck options with all the standard Bare Knuckle Pickup options available too. Their character is described by BKP as "a powerful custom ceramic powered bridge with a throaty, hot Alnico neck combining to produce a muscular high gain tone for rock and metal players."

Bare Knuckle are also adding a new finish option to its impressive range that you can see on the Unity pickups above; wood-effect etched open coil bobbins. These are available in a wide range of colours, including natural wood and stain finishes, and is available on the the whole standard and signature Bare Knuckle pickup ranges. 

For more info visit Bare Knuckle Pickups.