Mini Humbuckers offer you the best of both worlds; they are humbucking (i.e. no 60-cycle hum), they are capable of great chime and clarity when you play clean, and when you use a lot of drive, they sound fantiastic. They will never sound quite the same as a full-sized humbucker, but they have a fullness and grit all their own. You really have to experiment and find the ones that are best for you, but it is worth the effort.

Every time I look at a Firebird, I have to laugh. Gibson was so desperate to catch up with Fender back in the early ’60s, they hired a car designer to help them come up with something more hip. Personally, think the guy was on cat-nip. What a nutty looking guitar. But I have always loved it and think it is nothing short of hipster-doofus-genius.

This is a celebration of my favorite pickups. The title may seem a bit much, but it is true; these pickups absolutely changed my playing style as well as my tone. I am a bit of a pickup nut. At one point I owned over 100 different pickups, but had only about a dozen or so in a guitar. This is a pretty clear indication of obsessive compulsive disorder. But, at the same time, it’s much better than spending your money on beer : – ). In all seriousness, I have spent the last 30 years in search of the holy grail.