Musiclily Pro LP-OBLA Alnico 5 Uncovered Humbucker Neck Bridge Pickups Set 7.5K/8.8K for Electric Guitar

I've been wanting to swap out the 70's DiMarzios I installed in my 70's Ibanez Artist way back then (during my initial infatuation with Al DiMeola's RTF distortion - he endorsed the pickups if I recall).I still appreciate Al's playing but long ago grew out of that heavily-saturated tone and replaced it with that "just on the edge of breakup" sweet spot so many players chase today. I'll stick the DiMarzios in a Les Paul for special situations. The original Ibanez humbuckers were too dull for my taste (in retrospect I wonder if they're Alnico 2's or comparable?). I still want some bite along with more clarity from the 335-style Artist.These alnico-5's are open like the DiMarzios (they were cream, these are black, there was a time I really cared about things like that, now it's more about sound.Immediately I noticed the crisp cleans that stayed that way at levels where the DiMarzios began to crunch. I tend to experiment with pole piece screws (I know some people think that's bogus, but I know what I hear). With these set generally on the close side, there's noticeably more gain coming into the amp. Manipulating the amp gain let's me get close to that elusive breakup spot.My default tone is the neck pickup and I usually roll back quite a bit of volume and a touch of tone tp get a warm jazz tone that's very workable for quieter chordal backup. Cranking the volume gives me enough definition for solo lines and louder chord textures.The bridge pickup is quite hot and bright. When I do use it, I like to roll off the tone, boost the mids on the amp and get a nice western swing/takeoff tone.Bottom Line: I'm going to keep these in my Ibanez and see if I stay excited about them.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good these pickups sound. The neck is warm and smooth with nice clarity, and the bridge has a sweet bite without being harsh. They brought my guitar to life and gave it a real humbucker feel at a fraction of the cost of big brands.Installation was straightforward, and they even included specs like inductance, which I appreciate. The zebra style looks amazing too. Perfect for a budget upgrade, a project guitar, or anyone wanting better tone without overspending.Highly recommend!

As a general rule I prefer "hotter" humbuckers in the bridge (12-15k), but for those looking for a "vintage" PAF sound, this should fit the bill nicely. It's a four-wire pickup, so you can add coil splitting and phase if you so desire. Clarity is pretty good for an inexpensive pickup, and it has the warm Alnico 5 tone. With a clean boost it will drive my amp enough for a good modern rock/metal sound.

I got these pickups for a Explorer style guitar, and they are a nice upgrade in sound quality from what I had in there, plus they match my all black guitar. They were easy to install, soldering was quick and simple. I may choose to use the coil split feature in the future, but for now using them as full humbucker, and they're a mix of vintage tones with good sustain under distortion. The humbuckers fit my factory rings using the included hardware. These pickups are functionally different from my old ones which just had a signal and ground wire, these will give me the option to coil split. These pickups are much clearer and have a blooming clear quality over the muffled ceramic pickups. I find the Musiclily pro pickups to be of good quality for the cost, but there can be other good options out there for similar or better value.

I think they sound very good