Sunbucker Blues®
Brighter, Scooped Mids PAF Tone
$175 – $350
The Sunbucker Blues is perfect for those who want a traditional humbucking tone, except we magnetize one coil of the Sunbucker Blues stronger than the other coil to give this Humbucker a bright, scooped mid-range tone. This is great for those looking for a brighter, more single-coil sounding humbucker, with a perfect balance of traditional Humbucker tones.
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Polite PAF Tone
Want to learn more about our Sunbucker Blues®? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
The Sunbucker Blues by Lindy Fralin is a cleaner-sounding humbucker with scooped mids. This pickup is based on the specifications of the original 50’s Gibson® P.A.F. pickups, with a few minor tweaks to give this pickup a unique sound. The Sunbucker Blues will give you a vintage, clean tone that’s more articulate than our Pure P.A.F., while leaning slightly towards a Single Coil tone.
Lindy designed the Sunbucker Blues to solve the problem created by a dark-sounding pickup in the neck position of a guitar. To give this pickup its unique tone, we magnetize the screw side of the pickup stronger than the slug side. Building the model this way scoops some midrange and gives you a clearer, more articulate and cleaner tone than traditional humbucker designs.
Features:
- Clear, Clean, Articulate Humbucker Tone
- One coil magnetized stronger than the other, giving it a scooped midrange tone
- Late, smooth breakup
- Bright wound strings, pure-sounding plain strings
- Compensated Overwound Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Sound
Clean and articulate. The Sunbucker Blues will stay clear as it won’t break up as early as modern humbuckers, and you’ll find that it has a tight bottom end and a shimmery top end. Built with AlNicCo V and 42-gauge plain enamel wire, the Sunbucker Blues is an instant solution to a dark-sounding humbucker in the Neck position.
When playing clean, you’ll find that this pickup sings what you put into it: it’s incredibly dynamic and warm. With distortion, you’ll find that the breakup is smooth and late, with a pronounced pick attack and pure-sounding plain strings and bright wound strings. Furthermore, we find that you’ll be able to get some sweet blues and clean tones out of this pickup.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. Doing this gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone.
Finally, we assemble each pickup one at a time by hand. Hand assembling pickups allows us to achieve unbeatable attention to detail. After assembly, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Sound Samples for Sunbucker Blues®:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Sunbucker Blues®:
The tonal graph below for our Sunbucker Blues® features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Dynamic & Full
Videos for Sunbucker Blues®:
Humbucker Lead Color Codes
Gibson Braided Lead
Gibson-Style instruments
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
3-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
4-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Series Parallel Wiring
Coil Splitting
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Sunbucker Blues®.
SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
---|---|
Neck Ohm Reading: | 8.2K 1 |
Bridge Ohm Reading : | 9K 1 |
Neck Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor Lead |
Bridge Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor Lead |
Magnet Material: | USA-Made Alnico 5 |
Wire Material: | USA-Made 42 Gauge Plain Enamel |
Baseplate Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
Cover Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
Pole Piece Material: | USA-Made Steel |
Bobbin Material: | ABS Plastic |
Baseplate Leg Depth: | 6mm |
Recommended Pot Value: | 500K |
Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
Additional Technical Info:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
If you're buying a set from us, all pickups will work together seamlessly. If you're buying a single pickup, all you need to worry about is Coil Direction.
To ensure your pickup will work, make sure you select multiple leads (2-Conductor, 3-Conductor, or 4-Conductor if available), or the 3-Wire modification so you can reverse the coil direction, if need be.
Covered Humbucker
Uncovered Humbucker
Sunbucker Blues® FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your Sunbucker Blues® have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
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Will this pickup fit my instrument?
Check our "Sizing" tab for the size of the pickup. No Sizing tab? Check under the product image gallery for dimensions.
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Is your Lead Time of 2 Weeks accurate?
It depends on the shop capacity at the moment, and the size of your order. Feel free to give us a call for an accurate lead time. We always try to beat our estimated Lead Times.
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What pickup height do you recommend setting your Sunbucker Blues®s to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. To measure, hold the correct side down at its highest fret. Then, measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Sunbucker Blues®. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask" in the Quick Links section above.
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Can you overwind or underwind this pickup?
While we can discuss options, we don’t recommend underwinding the Sunbucker Blues. This pickup already sounds like a Vintage PAF, and underwinding it even further would make it a bit too clean.
Regarding overwinding, we can discuss options! Give us a call to discuss.
Get It Prewired
Get our Sunbucker Blues® prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
22 Genuine Reviews for Sunbucker Blues®
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Exactly what I was looking for. A pure sound that,for me at least, gives a full clear tone. Apart from that , Fralin gives a unique customer service that others should emulate.
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I love my Sunbucker Blues pickups!! They replaced the original pickups in my Randy Rhoads Custom Shop Les Paul and they SMOKED those dark, weak pickups hands down. These pickups have the punch and clarity that I have come to always expect from Fralin pickups. It doesn’t matter if I’m on any of the 3 switch positions, clean or dirty these pickups can handle it all. When I needed a quick turn around on the pickups Tyler at Fralin gave me the executive simonize and got me the pickups in record time. Thanks Tyler!!! But you know what’s the coolest? Calling the shop and talking pickups with Lindy. Where can you get that!!??!! Nowhere else except at Fralin pickups!!! Love my Fralin’s!!!!
Warm Regards,
Billy
PS-My next pickups are going to be a set of Fralin’Trons. Look out!!!!
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