Best option for a firebird pickup?

[ebb soul]

Doen't seem to be many choices, Duncan, Dimarzio, Armstrong?
I was hoping for a true sidewinder, why is that unavailable even after recognition that it was Lawrences best contibution to Gibson?
$200 boutique options are few, break the bank, and am still uncertain about limited disclosure about construction.
Thanx.

 

[4pickupguy]

I bet this is a pretty safe bet based on all I have purchased from Rob.
I do have a "stacked Pheonix" housed in a tele neck cover I still need a guitar for....

(link removed)

 

[Zepfan]

Cavalier and Barncaster make true spec Firebird's.

If your on a budget, you can mod a GFS ceramic Minibird with some Alnico2 Firebird magnets from Stewmac like I did for around $40 a pickup plus shipping from 2 suppliers. Although the GFS pickups are wound a little bit hotter.

 

[Golem]

Also MojoTone. Most custom winders should be able to do a firebird. My go to guy is a local winder.

 

[Bangdapoontwang]

The stock pups on my 2016 don’t sound bad to me, and there is a very cool plucky sound to muted strings I’m afraid I would loose if I change to different pickups so I think I can live with them. Lowering the height really seemed to help also.

 

[ebb soul]

Cavalier and Barncaster make true spec Firebird's.

If your on a budget, you can mod a GFS ceramic Minibird with some Alnico2 Firebird magnets from Stewmac like I did for around $40 a pickup plus shipping from 2 suppliers. Although the GFS pickups are wound a little

Not familar with 'Barncaster' pickups. Might give Rob a call thou.
Some debate on wether real bird pups (ala'63-4) were five or four alincos. 2 must have been compensation for hotter wind I guess.

 

[Golem]

Not familar with 'Barncaster' pickups. Might give Rob a call thou.
Some debate on wether real bird pups (ala'63-4) were five or four alincos. 2 must have been compensation for hotter wind I guess.

The local winder I used went with Alinco 2 using the kit from StewMac. Regardless of what people think they original magnets are, the results my winder got from that kit don't disappoint.

 

[ftbtx]

RC Pickups make true vintage spec ones too.

 

[tedtan]

I like the Lollar Firebird and mini humbucker pickups, but they fall on the expensive side ($175).

 

[John E]

I have always loved the Duncan SM-1 mini humbuckers. Great pickups. That said, Rob turned me on to the Kent Armstrongs and I always thought they sounded really good as well. I know Rob was a mini-hb fan before he started winding pickups... so if he is making a mini-hb I would bet my mortgage that it would be a great option.

 

[Jakeboy]

Aaron at Rumpel winds bird pups in the vintage style and the vintage wind. I have a set in my Hamer Artist and I do believe a good bird is the absolute perfect humbuckers. Rumpelstiltskin are reasonably priced too.

 

[gkterry]

Rob @ Cavalier pickups. No need to look anywhere else.

 

[MilwMark]

Duncan Antiquities.

 

[beyer160]

I put a Duncan SM-1/SM-3 combo in my Firebird and really dig it. I was leaning toward the Mojotones but picked up the Duncans for cheap, figuring I'd sell 'em off if they didn't work. They're not going anywhere.

 

[Chicago Matt]

I recently put a Duncan SM1-N in this partscaster. I'm really liking it so far. Sounds great with the stock 250K pots, bright and clear.

 

[Zepfan]

Not familar with 'Barncaster' pickups. Might give Rob a call thou.
Some debate on wether real bird pups (ala'63-4) were five or four alincos. 2 must have been compensation for hotter wind I guess.

Barncaster as in member on TDPRI, he winds pickups too. Rob at cavalier makes an awesome Firebird pickup(Phoenix Firebird) and has some video on his site.

The info on the internet about these pickups have been all over the place. Some say the early pickups used A2 and then changed to A5, some list A4 and A5. Probably whatever the supplier had the most of at the time was bought and used by Gibson. I used the A2's from Stewmac in my avatar guitar and I love it. The Cavalier pickup has A5's and I think Barncaster uses A5's.

 

[Zepfan]

Mojotone also makes the Johnny Winter Firebird pickups.

 

[Zepfan]

The stock pups on my 2016 don’t sound bad to me, and there is a very cool plucky sound to muted strings I’m afraid I would loose if I change to different pickups so I think I can live with them. Lowering the height really seemed to help also. View attachment 555740

These pickups have steel rail poles with a ceramic magnet slung underneath and they do sound good. If your happy with them, then all is well.
The thing about them is they don't sound like Firebird pickups(weird being in a Firebird guitar) or like the old Deluxe pickups that a lot of people love and have been drawn to minibuckers because of them.
Since they have plastic bobbins, they can be modded easy by replacing the rails with the Alnico magnets and ditching the ceramic magnet or you can keep the rail poles and just replace the ceramic bar mag with a Alnico bar magnet for more of an old Deluxe vibe.

 

[Buttered Biskit]

I bought the sm-1 for my partscaster and got 375k pots. What pots came in a firebird anyway?

 

[Chicago Matt]

I bought the sm-1 for my partscaster and got 375k pots. What pots came in a firebird anyway?

I don't know what pots came in the original. But I'd like to ask a couple of questions:
Do you like the 375k pots?
Are you using a resistor on the bridge pickup so it "sees" closer to 250k?
I'm thinking about trying the 375k in mine, mostly because of the clips I've heard of the 52 Hot Rod - it uses the SM1-N with 375k from what I understand.