Big Single®
A Lindy Fralin original design! The Big Single is a Humbucker that has a big, round single-coil sound with no hum. It’s beefier than our Twangmaster but cleaner and more articulate than our Hum-Cancelling P-90. We offer two versions: The Big Single 42, and the Big Single 43.
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All Single Coil Tone, No Hum.
Want to learn more about our Big Single®? Here's all the information you'll need:
Big Single® FEATURES:
The Big Single is one of Lindy Fralin’s original designs. Based on his desire to improve the tone of a Mini-Humbucker, Lindy’s innovation led to the Big Single. Lindy was pleased with this new design so much, that he worked it into a standard Humbucker cover. With this design, you’ll get a dynamic, round single-coil tone – with no hum. We pack all this fat tone by hand into a great looking No-Hole Humbucker Cover.
- Hum-Cancelling Thick Single Coil Tone, in a Humbucker Cover
- Very versatile – can cover a wide array of styles, outputs, and tones
- Lindy Fralin Original Design
- 2-Coil design with a bar magnet for silent, huge tone
- A dynamic, rich, warm tone
- Hand-carved bar magnet can accommodate up to 2 1/4 string spacing
- 10 Year Warranty against manufacturing defects
Sound
The Big Single is one of our best-selling guitar pickups – for a good reason. Clean, warm and vibrant, this unique design is directly in-between the tone of our Fralin P-92 and our Fralin Twangmaster. It has a beefier, bolder tone than our Twangmaster, but cleaner and more ‘Fender-like’ than our P-92. Treble strings sound warm and fat, and wound strings sound bright and clear, like all Fender-style pickups. This design comes in two models: the Big Single 42, and the Big Single 43.
The Big Single 42 will sound cleaner and brighter, and work well with 250K Pots. The Big Single 43 will seem thicker and darker and can work well with 500K pots. In either case, each model features a bouncy, rich, and full midrange and top-end. Great for either clean playing or distortion, this pickup will break up a little earlier than our Twangmaster, and is excellent for anyone looking for beefy, rich single-coil sound, with no hum.
Big Single 42
Big Single 43
Tech Specs
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Big Single®.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 8.7K (42) | 12.2K (43)* |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 10K (42) | 15.2K (43)* |
| Neck Polarity: | Hum Cancelling - Use 2-Conductor Lead when Buying a Single |
| Bridge Polarity: | Hum Cancelling - Use 2-Conductor Lead when Buying a Single |
| Magnet: | Flexible Ferrite Magnet |
| Coil: | USA-Made 42 / 43 Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 250K (42) | 500K(43) |
| Cover Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
| Baseplate Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
| Recommended Cap Value**: | 0.02mfd |
**We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
Sizing
Lead Color Codes
See below for our Lead color codes. For help with matching to other manufacturers, check out this resource here.
Gibson Braided Lead:
2-Conductor Lead:
Big Single® Questions And Answers:
Notice:
Have a question about our Big Single®? Ask it here. Your Question will be publically visible. If you want to ask a Private Question, please contact us through our Contact Us Form.
If you have multiple questions, please call us at (804) 358-2699.
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#1) If I combine a Big Single 42 neck pup with a humbucker bridge pup and keep the 500k v pot, what kind of tones will I get out of the Big Single? #2) If I go with the aforementioned setup and change the v pot to a 250k, what will happen to the cool tones of humbucker bridge pup and how can I form a perfect marriage of these two pups? Thank you.
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Q #1) If I combine a Big Single 42 neck pup with a humbucker bridge pup and keep the 500k v pot, wh...... Read moreA
Hey Craigorio, thanks for your question and patience while we get back to you! The Big Single 42 will have a touch more "air" to it on 500K and will have a bit more of the "breathiness" that's expected on Fender Pickups. On 250K, the Humbucker might sound a bit wooly and dark, lacking some top-end.
Hey! I have 500k pots in my guitar so by your instructions i’d get the 43 gauge pickups but when answering other questions you’ve said that the 43 gauge causes more of a p90 sound but i’d much rather get a more fender sound. My question is do i still get the 42 gauge pickups even though i have 500k pots for a strat/tele sound? I’m planning on changing the pots too so i can get 250k pots and go with the 42 gauge, but i may also change this...
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Q Hey! I have 500k pots in my guitar so by your instructions i’d get the 43 gauge pickups but when ...... Read moreA
Hey Eray, if you're looking for the Fender Strat / Tele tone, select the Big Single 42 and change your volume pots to 250K.
Hello! I have a PRS SE semi hollow 22 (hum-p90-hum) but i would like to do something like single-single-hum. I already have the the humbucker bit i dont know what to choose for the single-single sound. The bridge pickup is the prs 57/08 what would the best option for me? The single-single are humbucker size. I would like to try the p90 alnico but what would be the recommendation?
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Q Hello! I have a PRS SE semi hollow 22 (hum-p90-hum) but i would like to do something like single-...... Read moreA
Hey Elias, this is a good question. Can you please send some photos of your guitar to [email protected] so we can make some recommendations?
Are these tapped, or can they be tapped, for coil splitting?
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Q Are these tapped, or can they be tapped, for coil splitting?A
Hey Brian, we can do it...but we don't recommend it. The Big Single already sounds like a single coil.
Will the 43 still work ok with a 250k pot? I have a single neck pickup archtop guitar
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Q Will the 43 still work ok with a 250k pot? I have a single neck pickup archtop guitarA
Hey Nic, yes - it will be warm and a touch dark. If you're looking for a jazz tone, I believe you'll be happy with the result.
Note:
Asking a question here will be public to all users of this siteHey!
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As per my discussion with Lindy, I would like a mid-focused, slightly dark pickup which is capable of breaking up a bit. This is for an electric 12-string instrument.
Perfection!
The perfect balance of clarity and power. Kinda reminds me of a gold-foil, but it’s really its own thing. I put this pickup in the bridge position of my PRS Vela and haven’t looked back…
I bought my set of Big Singles probably 6 years ago. I ordered them for a PRS Starla. I think of the Starla as PRS’s take on an SG with a Bigsby, except the stock pickups were horrible. I don’t know what they were going for, but they sounded grainy harsh and just bad with any kind of overdrive. I was about to sell the guitar….. but then I talked to Lindy. I told him that I really wanted the guitar to be versatile, with a big round clean sound (not harsh or too edgy) and a smooth break-up. He recommended the Big Singles with 7k/8k turns. I believe this is the 43 gauge set. These pickups really delivered. They’re super smooth and round sounding and have a really sweet overdriven tone. I’ve owned 7 or 8 PRS guitars over the years. I always love the way they look, but never really dig the sound, and I always dis-like their pickups…. too overwound / hot / harsh sounding. The Starla has been the only PRS guitar that I have held on to, and it’s because these pickups brought it to life. It sounds great acoustically, but the stock pickups were really bad, in my opinion. If you’re looking for something that’s a little bit unique in that it doesn’t sound like a PAF or a Strat Pickup, but very versatile, try the Big Singles. I’m really glad I did and I think you will be too.
I put this in the neck of my telecaster. It is combined with a blues special in the bridge which was already there. I talked to Lindy at length about what a good hum bucking pick up would be in the neck. I didn’t want to over power the bridge. We opted with the big single, 42 ga, 6000 winds. It is still slightly more output than the bridge but not massively so.
I absolutely love the sound of this pickup. It is fat and warm like a traditional humbucker but still has that single coil clarity. I love it for blues and jazzy chords. I still get all the tele twang and snap with by bridge pickup. Also, when I combine them in the middle position I get a nice warm, complex sound. Very nice. Also, dead quiet. (it is actually dead quiet in all positions. The bridge of the blues special has a base plate which really quiets it down. When I had the humbucker installed I also shielded the guitar. So that combination of shielding and pickups makes the guitar quiet in all pickup positions)
This combination gives the guitar a tremendous amount of versatility. I have two pretty nice Strats in addition to this guitar. A Jeff Beck with Kinman pickups and a Roadhouse with Texas Specials. Both are very wonderful sounding guitars. But I find myself reaching for this guitar first most of the time.
Neck Big Single, Installed in my Tele. Very satisfied.
Better than expectations (were already high), clear, bold, round, warm, soft, not as conventional Gibson type humbucker nor shrill; would say a very personal and sophisticated sound. Have a solid state amp, so the impressions are basically in the clean mode.
The right sound! I have a project guitar that just didn’t quite have the “right” sound. I had used the Big Single in another project a couple of years ago and was impressed with it. After listening to all the YouTube videos, I decided to give it a try in this project. It is the right sound. Think if it as clean with body. No mud, articulate and strong!
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This pickup has become a standard on my guitars. Players looking for sensitivity, responsiveness, and expression fall in love with it.
The guys worked with me to find a pickup that would help get my PRS S2 Starla in more of the Americana/country vibe. I got the 42 gauge standard 6800/6000 wind set with Raw Nickel covers. I’m completely satisfied with the results. Clarity & snap increased. I’ve used the guitar live & for recording since the change and it works great for Americana, blues & country. I put together a quick demo of the original sounds & then the big singles: https://youtu.be/buS3Z1RgTi8
I put a set of Lindy Fralin Big Singles in my Ibanez AS73 Tobacco Burst guitar about 6 months ago. The stock pickups were ok, but not amazing. The Big Singles brought it to life. I’ve always liked single coils better than humbuckers, but single coil noise has always driven me crazy. It was always been worth dealing with the noise, but still annoying. Mr. Fralin had rewound a dead 1969 Telecaster neck pickup for me about 20 years ago and that has been my favorite all along. I have other Fralin’s in a Strat and like them as well. When I heard about the Big Singles I knew they would be worth a try.
I got the 42 gauge standard 6800/6000 wind set with Gibson braided shield and Raw Nickel covers. They look great and sound incredible!
I had previously modded the 500k pots in the Ibanez with a treble bleed cap and resistor to try to retain the highs as I rolled off the volume. I was going to remove these and put in 250k pots as recommended but, I figured there was no point changing something that may not need it. I’m glad I didn’t. I love the 500k with these pickups. For the first time ever, I have full control over my tone! Super bright to full mud if I want it and everything on between. Tonal possibilities are endless with just the three way switch, tone, and volume controls on the guitar. Forget about a bunch of pedals when all you need is a decent guitar good amp and these pickups.
USE YOUR TONE AND VOLUME CONTROLS!!!
Without a doubt, these are hands down my FAVORITE pickups.
All of the tone of single coils and NONE OF THE NOISE! Lindy Fralin is THE Best Pickup Winder on the planet!!!!
For those who care, I’ve been playing for over 40 years. I have many guitars, amps, pedals, etc. from vintage to modern. Enjoy and play most types of music. And I RARELY write reviews, especially long ones. I have no affiliation with Fralin Pickups or any other company.