So have to say, you should be doing demos for a bunch of the smaller winders. This is the exact demo the unbucker needed. ive got a tele deluxe build im in the middle of for a client, and was about certain on set of Black Dogs for it, but then earlier today I “un”forgot about these fralin’s, looked for a demo b/c it’s been a while, and low and behold this was the demo i needed to “un” black dog this tele. Excellent work!
haha thanks so much, Michael! I am happy this review could help. I'd love to do more small winder stuff, but I guess i have to learn how to solder then? Ah man, a tele deluxe! I have always wanted to play one. Hope the build goes fantastic.
and just a heads up, im putting the link to this demo on listing for the 2nd deluxe. Just people can hear how these can sound with a little care! thanks again!
Great playing / demo / production man - thanks for putting this together! This is the best Fralin demo I’ve seen. Love the tone! I just got a loaded pick guard from Fralin with the Sunbucker Blues pickups, excited to here how they compare to the Unbuckers.
So many PRS owners commenting here considering some Fralins 😂 I’m in the same boat, have a PRS S2 Mira that is my favourite guitar unplugged, but much prefer my HS MiJ Mustang plugged in for most things indie and alt that I like to play. Currently stuck between the Fralin: Unbuckers, P92 or Bareknuckle: Mules or Nantucket.
@SuperdangerStudios I have it in the neck, but don't have Fralin to compare. About Birmingham, I would say it is really great humbucker with a great clarity, but their claim about split tone is a bit overstated - it is ok, totally usable, but compared to my strat pickups Birmingham is less exciting.
I have a RW Tele with the Lindy Fralin UnBucker in the neck, and a Fralin Blues s/c in bridge. The magic happens with the Tonestyler 5 way switch. Pos 1 bridge, 2 bridge and UnBucker split, 3 Unbucker and bridge, 4 UnBucker split, 5 Humbucker. I also believe the pot values are changed between 250k and 500k depending on split or not. I had Acme Guitar Works do the mod several years ago, and it is my go to guitar for most of my gigs. It’s got and ash body, is super lightweight, and I can beat the snot out of that guitar and it never goes out of tune and keeps taking any abuse. Plus it’s a great pursuader when some drunk clown in the audience wants to impress his boyfriends by messing with our female singer. I believe Acme Guitar Works has a nice video of the system that should be out there somewhere.
That guitar sounds like a keeper for sure! Love the Fralin Pickups. Esp since lollar has gotten so expensive. I gotta check out that 5 way switch! Thanks for dropping by!
@@SuperdangerStudios Thanks it is a great guitar and a workhorse. I have a set of Lollar T’s in a cheap Affinity Tele. It cost me $139, and with those Lollars, it sounds amazing. I used to get compliments from people on how good that cheap little Affinity sounded. The pickups of course cost more than the guitar. It is cool though.
Ive been looking to upgrade my PRS SE Custom 24. I love the way that guitar feels, plays, and looks, but i really dont like the stock pickups and my electronics need replacing. Ive been heavily considering Fralin pickups. I usually gravitate towards single coils, but i do like having access to a good humbucker tone from time to time. Considering trying the P90-Humbucker in the neck then a humbucker in the bridge, or trying a set of the Pure P.A.F. The Pure P.A.F. would be a way of trying to preserve a humbucker guitar in my collection while getting a tone that i would actually like to play, but the p90 and humbucker combo would be my ideal set up. Now im considering the Unbucker. Thanks a lot for making my decision that much harder. 😋 they really do sound great. The single coil tones actually sound like a single coil. I find most coil taps or spits sounds very thin and almost piezo like, but these are nice, or at least in your guitar and rig.
Lindy Fralin out of Virginia. I did a few demos of these pickups in a Gibson Les Paul in 2016. They are still available for viewing, and it seems many people have viewed them. There are even pickup demos done by Lindy, himself.
@@SuperdangerStudios I have a pure paf also, and I much preferred the unbucker split, i have it with a 2.2 resistor ( to use some of the other coil), but still the unbucker is much better and more clarity
These are way less hot than the slash 2.0 and split much better. If you are going for hard rock, the Slash are they way to go. If you want single coil and vintage humbuckers sounds, this is the pickup!
The other Fralin humbucker to try split is the Sunbucker. I have one in the neck of my Custom 24 and it sounds great. Also check out the Gepetto Camelots. I have a set of those in my LP hollow with single/parallele/series wiring.
I’m trying to decide between unbucker or the sunbucker blues!!! Play mostly cleanish sounds and like to split a lot doing Grateful Dead tunes - torn between the two would love any suggestions or experiences 🙏🏼
That is a really cool guitar. I think I will put these in a Kiesel SC90 I have. It has lots of switches. They would be put to good use on these pickups id say
Anyone know specs on these? HOW mismatched are the coils? What magnets? I am looking to wind my own humbuckers with mismatched coils and doing the Spin-a-Split wiring setup on them. No idea how much to mismatch or what the give/take is on that. Anyone with info?
I’m thinking about ordering a prewired HSS Strat pickguard from Fralin with Vintage Hots in neck and middle and an Unbucker bridge. Would you expect that combination to work well together?
Sounds great! Haven’t played the vintage hits but heard great demos of them. I would just double check with them that the unbucker is hot enough to keep up with the vintage hots! Cheers!
He did´t show the bridge slpit because It sounds thin and useless, everything is about sell gear and cash for the adverisment. 90% of gear videos are paid ads and this is no exception. That bridge pickup sounds harsh with a strong awfull peak in the high mids, It´s overwound. If you want a set of good split coil pickups with the same covers (nickel), same 4 wire configuration, get a set of Wilkinson WVC for 50 bucks. I had this set of Fraling "unbacker" in a PRS and sold them, with the cash I bought a reverb pedal and a set of Wilkinson WVC humbackers and kept some cash for a good Wirlwind cable. Just my two cents.
The split bridge is very useful in an HH guitar for chiming single coil parts in a live context. The split bridge at home in basement or wherever soloed just isn’t going to sound exactly like a good single coil Tele or Strat pickup- but I don’t think that’s Fralin’s objective and it’s not really possible. But to make a very useful humbucker pickup with single coil and tonal options without so much output drop? Mission accomplished.
Haha I’m sorry dude. This was a 5 way switch and I didn’t have it wired to single coil bridge bc that would have been the least used option. I’m gonna change it to a 3 way with push pull so I can get it back.
@@SuperdangerStudios Oh yeah I get you, that sounds rad though! Btw, thanks for uploading this though, it was really well made and you are right, there really aren't many good quality reviews of Fralin pickups despite their excellence!
Just what I was looking for - thx a lot! what would you say the bass response is like overall? Where you able to compare them objectively with the stock pickups?
I wasn’t able to compare them back to back bc it took about a week to install everything. The Fralins had much more output and top end air. I was not able to get a good reading on the bass output though. Sorry!
So I recently bought the same guitar. I love it. My issue is the big volume drop when it goes to single coils. Did your pickup change or help with drastic drop?
Hey, Donly! Yes I remember the stock pickups had a big change in output. When I changed to the Fralins it was there but much less pronounced. I don’t think there is any practical way to completely eliminate it but the Unbuckers did help. Cheers!
I already have the 57-08 pickups in my PRS SC 245 and those are very vintage sounding. Having a modern pickup in the PRS would voice it a bit different and I would demo that for sure.
@@SuperdangerStudios thanks for your reply. You have been very inspiring. I have prs se custom 24. I am thorn between fralin unbucker and prs 58/15lt. I will wait with great anticipation for the fralin modern paf HD demo.
Great Video! I am teetering on taking the plunge with a full set of Unbuckers on a PRS SE Custom 24-08, which has two independent coil splitting switches for each pickup. This demo has me thinking yes! this would be an upgrade from the 85/15s (which sound pretty darn good split but have this weird treble spike when the volume goes above 9. ) Very tempted!
@@SuperdangerStudios thanks, yeah I have another guitar with the Frailen split top singles. Actually on the background picture on this, my RU-vid channel they sound great but the other project already has a humbucker sized rout🤷♂️
It’s an older Ibanez Jem body with the Vai humbuckers….”dark matter?” Not after that sound. I changed the neck, etc and it has a custom designed body similar to the Jem floral pattern but I used a paisley cloth, not paint like via used his moms curtains 😂. I’m more of a John Schofield Sean Costello style player