Musiclily Pro LP-OBLA Alnico 5 Uncovered Humbucker Neck Pickup for Electric Guitar

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!

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.

Great service and products from these guys. I decided to try this pickup, and it has great, a smooth sound, especially pushing a drive pedal and an amp like a JTM45. I love it.Definitely would love to try some more pickups from these guys to review.

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.

My husband is the guitar player, not me, so I am relaying this information second hand. He has a Strat style inexpensive guitar that he wanted to switch out the pick ups on. This seemed like a decently priced option for the replacement. The pickups include as easy to follow diagram for installation. He had no issues installing this and was thankful that there was enough length in the wiring. All parts included were present and in good condition. They look great and my husband is satisfied with the quality and sound at a good price.