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.
Quick Links:
Jump to Sound Clips and Product Info:
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.
-
#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.
-
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...
Read more
-
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?
-
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?
-
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
-
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!
Did you already ask a question on our Contact Us Form? Don't ask it again here. Please be patient while we get back to you.-
- 1
- 2
-
Incredible. I dropped the Big Single 42 into the neck position of my Epiphone Dot at the beginning of 2018 and it’s the only guitar I’ve used since(I also have a Tele, a Custom Les Paul, Standard Les Paul and a Fender Jaguar). I play it through a custom “LABAMBA” Verellen Amplifier. I generally grab the guitar that is best suited for the genre and now I just default to this combo as it sounds great everywhere. The combo of the humbucker and the Big Single is a dream come true. It has that bright tele, single coil tone but wipes away the noise. Which is tough with a semi-hollow body guitar. Can’t recommend this pick-up enough.
I had these installed in my Music Man Albert Lee HH, which had very hot pickups that lacked tonal depth and clarity when using clean settings. I wanted pickups in my guitar that were closer to the spank and sparkle of my Fender Jaguar pickups but housed inside the awesome Music Man guitar design. The Big Singles delivered. They were better than I anticipated. My guitar finally has great tone that sounds like an overwound single coil but without the hum. These pickups are fat and colorful, they are not dull or sterile like my previous stock pickups. The Fralins also increased my guitar’s touch sensitivity. I bought the 42 gauge and use my guitar’s stock 500k pots and it sounds great and balanced. Not too dark and definitely not shrill or overly bright; PERFECT!
Big Single, bridge – unique and versatile pickup.
Immediately after installing this bridge pickup and testing it out both clean and with numerous types of dirt, it was apparent that this was everything Lindy Fralin stated in his product description was true. Combined with 50s wiring it provided many pleasing and usable sweet spots and even blended well with the gold foil in the neck position. If it can put a smile on Joe Gore’s face ( see his YouTube review) then it must be something special. In short harmonically rich with plenty of output……..a tad sweeter than a P90.
Absolutely incredible! I put the Big Single in the bridge of my 2014 Ernie Ball Silhouette Special (strat-style axe if you’re not familiar), and the sparkle and thickness is exactly as described. ULTRA sparkly but not harsh or too bright. Really sweet and thrilled to death with it. Get it.
Pickups are great and exceed my expectations. I changed the SUHR pickup. BIG SINGLE is the perfect tone for TELE in my heart. I used a 500K POT and have not tried 250K. ? Used in conjunction with Split Steel Poled Tele, they match perfectly
thank you very much. I will keep it forever
Great all rounder
I got the 42 bridge, to match a Strat Neck. I was pleasantly surprised at how great the match is, in every position. It is a colorful pickup with just enough bite and compression to sing, while staying snappy like a single coil. It is an inspiring little device that makes me want to play more.
I replaced my Gibson Dickey Betts SG custom bucker to a Big Single humbucker. This pickup is the best.
Success! Beautiful creamy sound. Paired very well with a PATB-3 in the bridge.
I love the Big Single pickup, it seems to pair perfectly with my guitars. Lindy and Tyler worked with me to create a custom Big Single to fit a P90 route. All-around great pick up and customer service :-). Thanks guys!!
Beautiful and Harmonically Rich
The Big Single is a huge improvement over my previous Wilkinson neck pickup. It’s very clear and clean sounding, with a warm and pleasant lower midrange. It sounds great with fuzz and tube OD as well. 10/10