Firebird
Classic Firebird Tone, Upgraded
$160 – $320
Feel your Firebird like never before with Firebird Pickups by Lindy Fralin – clearer, more articulate, and full of power. Lindy optimized the original design for a quieter performance and a sweeter tone while featuring six new cover finishes to either match your guitar’s aesthetic or make it stand out. Featuring a versatile, hum-free tone that’s a bit thicker-sounding than our Mini Humbuckers, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch sooner.
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Firebird Info:
Want to learn more about our Firebird? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features:
We designed our Firebird replacements to work with both original and re-issue models. These pickups are renowned for their rich tone and precise articulation, offering unmatched versatility across musical styles. Crafted with 100% USA-made parts, our Firebird pickups are a testament to our commitment to quality and durability. They significantly improve the original design, featuring a slightly thicker midrange than our Mini Humbuckers.
Features:
- Compensated Output And Tone with a Stock Neck and +4% Bridge
- Six USA-made Cover finishes – create something unique
- USA-Made AlNiCo 5 Bar Magnets for a smooth, full-range tone
- Built with all USA-made parts in Richmond, VA
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Sound
Our Firebird pickups are the perfect solution to escape a shrill-sounding guitar. Our Firebirds sound full, with extended range and excellent articulation, clarity, and dynamics. The lows are bouncy and rich, whereas the highs are round and clear.
We also feature three outputs – Stock, +4%, and +8%, depending on your music style. Our overwound set, a +4% Neck and an +8% Bridge, will get even dirtier quicker and features a darker tone that’s also thicker in the midrange than our Stock set.
Outputs:
Our recommended setup is a Stock Neck and a +4% Bridge. This set features a clear and clean Neck tone with a balanced Bridge tone in terms of output, highs, mids, and lows.
You can opt for an overwound set with a +4% Neck and a +8% Bridge. This yields more power and midrange and will certainly break up quicker and easier than our stock set.
Of course, if you wanted a traditional Vintage Firebird tone, you can go with a Stock Output Neck and a Stock Output Bridge. Both pickups will have the same output and might yield a brighter, snappier tone from the bridge.
Sound Samples for Firebird:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Firebird:
The tonal graph below for our Firebird features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Stock Firebird:
Attack: Bright & Sharp
+4 Firebird:
Attack: Dynamic & Full
+8% Firebird:
Attack: Soft & Round
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:
Gibson-Style instruments
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
2-Conductor Lead:
Phase Reversible
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Firebird.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Stock Ohm Reading: | 6.8K* 1 |
| +4% Ohm Reading: | 10K* 1 |
| +8% Ohm Reading: | 11K* 1 |
| Magnet Wire Material: | USA-Made 42 / 43 Single Poly Nylon Wire |
| Magnet Material: | USA-Made Alnico 5 |
| Baseplate Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
| String Spacing: | 2.1" (53mm) |
| Cover Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
| Polarity: | Reversible with 2-Conductor Lead |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
More Information:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 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.
* Ohm readings are approximate and can vary.
Firebird Dimensions:
Firebird Dimensions:
Firebird Dimensions:
Firebird FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your Firebird have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
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Will this pickup fit my instrument?
Check our "Sizing" tab for the size of the pickup. No Sizing tab? Check under the product image gallery for dimensions.
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Is your Lead Time of 3-4 Weeks accurate?
It really depends on the shop capacity at the moment, and the size of your order. Feel free to give us a call for an accurate lead time. We always try to underpromise and overdeliver.
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What pickup height do you recommend setting your Firebirds to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. Measure by holding the corresponding side down at its highest fret and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Product FAQ's
These are frequently asked questions about our Firebird. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask A Question" in the Quick Links section above.
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What outputs should I choose?
While you can choose Stock output on both pickups for a vintage Gibson Tone, we recommend a Stock output Neck and a +4% Bridge. Our recommended set gives you more balance in the Neck and Bridge.
If you’re looking for more output and a thicker tone, our +4% Neck and +8% Bridge are available. This set is much quicker to get dirty and has a thicker midrange.
Customer Reviews
25 Genuine Reviews for Firebird
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I am truly amazed! I have been building guitars for 10 years and I have never found a pickup that I liked better than these. They have a slightly strat-type sound but with more fullness. They are rich and still cut through the mix. I am completely satisfied with these pickups!
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I swapped in firebird minis (+4%/+8% overwind) into my Gibson 135 routed for p90s. Full transparency, the woodmounted ring for the firebird was a super snug fit, so my tech did sand the cavity out just a bit to make for easier install.
Well worth it!
I am stunned how great this decision was. In a wild turn, these firebirds have altered how I play – with the clarity and sensitivity of these, I am encouraged to be way more relaxed with my right hand. No need to dig out for the tones. Kind of like driving a manual car vs auto, I feel like I have complete control over my tone.
I’ve never been so ecstatic with the performance on a bridge pup! Mind-blowing.
If you are unsatisfied with P90 tones, and want a solution without rerouting, the firebirds are a fantastic option! You won’t get the typical humbucker experience. You will get a beautifully colored tone, mud free, with ultra clarity or grit depending on your style.
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I bought a +8% overwind Firebird bridge pickup for my 2016 custom shop VOS Firebird I. Wow! What a massive improvement this is over the blurry, raspy stock ceramic/20k pickup that the guitar came with from Gibson. The Fralin version is beautifully made and does exactly what the description says. I’m new to Firebirds, though, and evidently still struggling a bit with the design of a proper Firebird pickup. The Fralin alnico 5 version is very very bright. I mean stinging. More so than a Tele, but without the low end. The mounting position of the pickup just a hair away from the bridge probably also emphasizes the highs. I imagine it might not be cost-effective for Fralin to mill other magnet options and offer them in this pickup – like alnico 2 or 6, maybe. But I would love to try something like that. Some kind of move to tame the high highs a bit.
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I replaced the stock pickups in my 2016 Gibson Firebird with a set of Fralin’s, 4% overwound neck and 8% overwound bridge. The stock pick ups, although powerful, were both harsh and muddy. My Fralin’s are clear and full, bright but not harsh, with a lower output. I love them. The old pick ups were a detail I never stopped compensating for. The Fralin’s sound great right away. They allow me to stop thinking about pick ups and just play the guitar. I can go from one of my other guitars to my Thunderbird without getting tripped up by the tone, she fits right into the family now.
Support was excellent while I was shopping. They handled my questions promptly and patiently. -
I went with the recommended 8% overwound bridge and standard neck pickups. I thought I’d have to set the bridge low, but the two pickups balance well together. The sound has a bright midrange snarl that isn’t glassy and brittle like the stock Gibson FB pickups. I’m glad I made the upgrade to Fralin.
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Stellar Firebird pup!
Lindy is not only one of the best custom builders of pickups anywhere, his commitment to the customer is impressive! I received a personal call from him before he wound my Firebird bridge pu, to help clear up my muddled understanding on my order. He will see you get what you want & in the end we all want the best available! Thanks Fralin crew!
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These Firebirds Brought my Melody Maker alive ….crisp…bright …responsive …..nothing against P90’s but a whole different ballgame …awesome
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I bought a set of Lindy’s Firebird pickups for a 2015 G Firebird. The stock set had an ok, brighter P90 kind of sound. I got Lindy’s stock neck and 8% over bridge, and they sound very matched in output and thickness, as Lindy states. As he also says, they have little more Gibson like sound. With your tone knob all up, they have a lot of brightness and cut. Back it off and you can get a little more of that humbucker character. If your wanting a little more of a Fendery sound, you might want to try his mini humbucker or big single. His Firebirds underwound could maybe achieve that as well? Once I played the guitar with these Fralins, it sounded much more like the Firebird sound I’ve always heard on those Traffic, J Winter, Roxy Music records. This is my first time with this kind of guitar and PUs, btw. I have four sets of Lindy’s pickups and I’m as fully satisfied with the tone on these as the others I have. The output on these, seems a little above his tele blues specials and definately a bit less than an old Epiphone casino, with original P90s, I was playing beside it. Lindy’s always have the best tone i could imagine. As long as you research all his pickups and listen to what he says, you can usually nail down exactly what you want on the first try. Good luck!
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My Novo Serus T had a Fralin P45 in the neck position, sounded great but I was dreaming of having a firebird neck pickup in a Tele-style guitar. Now it’s just perfect!
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Fantastic pickups
I bought an over wound set of firebird pickups for a les paul that had p90s in it. Whoa Nelly. They have a lot of clarity and a really nice top sparkle. They are really responsive with gain when I use the volume knob, and have a broad tonal range so that I actually use my tone knobs. All the way up, they have a nice bark, which is round and throaty, not sharp and ice picky, but still really articulate and clear
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I received my Firebird set (Stock A5 neck; 4% over A6 bridge) and man, what a difference compared to the stock Gibsons! Especially the neck pickup sound so much sweeter and clearer. Almost like a single coil, just like Lindy described it on the phone.
Thanks!
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Definitely sounds clearer across the board. I had previously purchased an FB pickup clone from Eastern Europe. It was very good. This one is clearer. Wish I had purchased this one first. That said, it’s not night and day, just better.
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Customer added no additional comments
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Excellent pickup! 10/10 would buy again. Purchased an overwound bridge pickup for an Epiphone firebird. Swapped the pickups out and the guitar really sings. The highs are a lot more articulate and the notes really hold together a lot better. Definitely going to be buying a few more in the future!
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Always the best pickups ever.
I built a Tele hybrid Firebird bridge and a p90 noiseless neck. This is wired straight to the vol knob only out to amp. This is a very interesting combo Everyone wants that Neil young guitar thing but its hard to do. I will say this combo surprised me in a weird way what I like about it is you get a Tele bridge sound from the bridge clean firebird which is way more treble oriented and on the neck pickup is very typical midrange p90 the cool thing was on each pickup you get what you would expect. But blended together I got an Amazing weird combo that is very different and I loved it. They complement each other clean and dirty with a unique sound.
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These Pickups Rock!
I absolutely love these pickups! They really rock with distortion and sound amazing clean. I’m glad I went with Lindy Fralin
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I had a pair of these put in my 2016 Firebird and the improvement over the stock pickups was huge! Both pickups are more articulate, snappier and brighter – like if a humbucker and a Tele pickup had a baby. They cut through wonderfully in a band mix. My search for the right pickup ended once I found these.
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Jay Moss and vincent allen kirk Hollo! Can you record some video with little review of this pickup’s and sent a link? i want to hear how this pickups sound like, becouse i can’t find any reviewor demo of this set anywhere. thanks a lot!
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These pickups are great! I’m a single coil guy but these Firebirds are a joy to play. They have the sparkle and clarity I love but with a lovely fullness underneath. The neck pickup is especially gorgeous clean. It is plucky and juicy. I’m looking forward to playing them more!
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This will be my first Fralin pickup. Although I’ve heard friends that sound great! It’s going in a Neil Young “old Black” replica guitar.
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