Firebird pickups

austinrocket

So I just bought a 2011 Gibson Firebird. Love how it plays but the pickup seems low output (had to turn my amp up a fair bit compared to when i use my SG) and really harsh sounding. Has anyone swapped them out to make it sound fatter and what did you go for? 
 

Corvus

They should be pretty pokey, the DCR is pretty high with the standard ones. Certainly anything but quiet - they're louder than my humbucker guitar for instance.
Some people don't like the factory ones because they're not like the originals, which are pretty bright skinny things, lower output, compared to the Gibson ceramics. I prefer them though, can do great cleans and good with dirt. But basically if they haven't been swapped out or there isn't a problem of some sort, they should be loud/hot.

Grunfeld

Funnily enough I was thinking of getting a Firebird because I can't shift a pair of EMG mini humbuckers I'd got for a Breadwinner.  (Ended up with a rebuild of the Breadwinner pickups).
However, if you want the EMGs, click below.

Andyjr1515

Oil City Winterisers are pretty darned good  

http://www.oilcitypickups.co.uk/firebirdmini.html

Funkfingers

austinrocket said:

So I just bought a 2011 Gibson Firebird. Love how it plays but the pickup seems low output (had to turn my amp up a fair bit compared to when i use my SG) and really harsh sounding. 

Vintage correct Firebird pickups should sound comparatively low output - almost Fendery. 

If the height adjustment of the neck/Rhythm position pickup looks sensible, the bridge/Treble pickup may need to be almost as far upwards as the range of adjustment allows just to obtain a volume balance. 

A well-known guitar hoarder on this forum has a Gibson Firebird that had been modified with regular-sized humbuckers. This provides more outright signal but, in my opinion, loses some of the Firebirdness.

Andyjr1515 said:

Oil City Winterizers are pretty darned good  

They sound even better after a tFB discount.

Exorcist

I put Klein firebird pickups in mine, the sounded amazing. Low gain, but they made it sound like a 'real' firebird - tele on steroids kinda sound.

TJT1979

Andyjr1515 said:

Oil City Winterizers are pretty darned good  

They sound even better after a tFB discount.

Interesting... tell me more!! About the discount I mean

I have a Zhangbucker Firebird pickup I bought whilst in the US a few years back. Vintage spec - as mentioned above almost like a thicker single-coil. Tele on steroids! They are cheap too.

In the UK, I would be looking at Creamery, Oil City or Mojo.

Funkfingers

TJT1979 said:

Interesting... tell me more!! About the discount I mean

Ash from Oil City Pickups periodically offers pickups for sale on this forum at prices too difficult to ignore. One such example was the pair of Winterizer II humbuckers reviewed by Guitar & Bass magazine. I bought those.

Crude dangle testing suggests that the pickups would give of their best in a slim-bodied, all-mahogany guitar with a fixed bridge and a Gibson-ish scale length. I am still waiting for the right host guitar to hove into view. Pre-owned PRS S2 Mira and SE Santana II models are currently the preferred candidates.

TJT1979 said:
Zhangbucker

I remember Zhang from the Seymour Duncan User Group forum. A knowledgeable bloke with a sense of humour. People who have used (or commissioned) his pickups rate them highly.

Teacherphil

I replaced mine with mini humbuckers from the creamery.