Sunbucker

PAF Tone meets Alnico Clarity

$160$320

  • Hum-Cancelling
  • Clean & Articulate
  • Traditional Appearance
  • Vintage Output

Lindy Fralin Original Design

( 27 genuine reviews)

The Fralin Sunbucker gives you 25% Humbucker tone and 75% Alnico Single Coil tone – with humbucker aesthetics. Enjoy a beefy, hum-cancelling single coil tone  – all with traditional humbucker looks. Thicker, darker, and louder than our Big Single, and clearer than our Pure P.A.F.

 

Options

Select options for our Sunbucker:

Select Options Above To Display Add-Ons

Humbucker Cover

Further customize the look of your pickups by adding a USA-Made Nickel Silver cover.

Lead Length

You may need long leads if you have an Archtop guitar, like an ES-335. Check this box below, and we’ll give you some extra lead length.

Gold Screws

Check here if you want to include Gold Pole Pieces & Mounting Screws for your pickups. Not necessary if buying gold covers.

SPEED UP YOUR ORDER

Since you're buying a single pickup, we might need more information from you. To avoid unnecessary delays in your order, please choose one of the options below:


Notice

Due to the nature of Raw Nickel, Raw Nickel may contain slight cosemetic defects or abrasions.

Recommendation

We recommend using 2-Conductor With Shield Lead when purchasing a single pickup. 2-Conductor lead allows you to reverse the phase should you have phase issues. Learn About Lead Choice

Notice

While we do our best to match double-white bobbins, there may be subtle differences in color due to different dye lots from the manufacturer.

Upgrade To A Prewired Pickguard

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PAF Tone Meets Fender® Clarity

Want to learn more about our Sunbucker? Here's all the information you'll need:

Sunbucker FEATURES:

The Fralin Sunbucker® guitar pickup is a very snappy, bright sounding humbucker with a Single Coil vibe. Based on Lindy’s original design, the Sunbucker humbucker is clean, very articulate, and clear. You can expect a spanky, snappy clean tone that’s very articulate, unlike most modern humbuckers, while offering a lot of Single Coil tone. The Sunbucker has a medium output, which is very dynamic and expressive. Lindy created this pickup to help balance out very dark sounding guitars, or for those who want a bright, snappy tone with no hum.

  • 75% Single Coil tone, 25% Humbucker
  • Clear, Clean, Articulate sounding Guitar Pickups
  • Late, smooth breakup
  • Bright wound strings, pure-sounding plain strings
  • Made by hand, one at a time.

 

Sound

Very bright, clear, and articulate. Sunbuckers will stay clean as it won’t break up as early as modern humbuckers, and you’ll find that it’s spanky and plucky. Built with AlNicCo V and 42-gauge plain enamel wire, this guitar pickup is an excellent solution to a dark-sounding humbucker in the neck position, or for those who are chasing after a single-coil tone with no hum.

When playing clean, you’ll find that this guitar pickup sounds very much like a single-coil: it’s incredibly dynamic, bright, and snappy. With distortion, you’ll find that the smooth and late, with a pronounced pick attack and pure-sounding plain strings and bright wound strings.

 

Tonal Graph For Sunbucker:

The tonal graph below for our Sunbucker features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.

HIGHS
MIDS
LOWS
OUTPUT

Attack: Bright & Sharp

Humbucker Lead Color Codes

See below for our Humbucker 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

Gibson Braided Lead
Only select Gibson Braided Lead if you install these pickups as a set into a Gibson-style instrument. Examples of a Gibson-style instrument include a Gibson Les Paul, 335, or Telecaster Deluxe, or any guitar with two Volume Pots and two Tone Pots.

Note: This lead is not intended for Telecasters with a Control Plate. If the braiding touches anything, it will short it out.

2-Conductor Lead:

Phase Reversible

2 Conductor Lead Fralin Pickups
Select 2-Conductor Lead if purchasing a single pickup or wiring this pickup to a Blade Switch (like a Fender-style instrument). 2-Conductor allows you to reverse the phase of the pickup.

Tech Specs

See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Sunbucker.

SPECIFICATION VALUE
Neck Ohm Reading:13.2K 1
Bridge Ohm Reading:13.9K 1
Neck Polarity:Reversible with 3-Conductor Lead
Bridge Polarity:Reversible with 3-Conductor Lead
Magnet Material:USA-Made Alnico 5
Wire Material:USA-Made 43-Gauge Single Poly Nylon
Baseplate Material:USA-Made Nickel Silver
Cover Material:USA-Made Nickel Silver
Pole Piece Material:USA-Made Steel
Bobbin Material:ABS Plastic
Recommended Pot Value:250K
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.


Sunbucker Dimensions:

Fralin Humbucker Dimensions

Sunbucker FAQ's

General FAQs

Here are quick answers to common questions we get:

  • What Ohm Readings does your Sunbucker have?

    Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • What pickup height do you recommend setting your Sunbuckers 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.

Pickup Pairing

Our Sunbucker pairs well with the following models:

Lindy Fralin Blues Special Tele Set

High Output Tele - Bridge

( 41)

Starting At: $ 110

Pair the Sunbucker Neck with a High Output Tele Bridge for a powerful, Fender-sounding Tele

Sound Clip Coming Soon
View Product
Fralin Matte Black Alnico Rod P90

Alnico Noiseless P90 - Humbucker - Neck

( 41)

Starting At: $ 165

The Sunbucker and our Noiseless Alnico P90 work great together!

Sound Clip Coming Soon
View Product

Get It Prewired

Get our Sunbucker prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:

Customer Reviews

27 Genuine Reviews for Sunbucker

  1. Ivan

    Verified Purchase

    Used this in a 12-string I built for a friend (which has separate volumes for each coil) – It sounds ridiculously rich. Very nice.

  2. Daniel Bellow

    Verified Purchase

    Bright clear tones, no noise. Ideal for country music in key of G.

  3. Glenn Hagerman

    Verified Purchase

    The best Neck pick-up out there. I’ve used the Sunbucker Blues also and it’s great also. The Sunbucker stays cleaner though and sounds more single coil but with the dynamics of a humbucker. Extremely musical and was exactly ?% what I was looking for. It does everything from R&B, Jazz, Rock, Country and really anything. Very touch sensitive. Ordering another Fralin for the bridge. I only use Fralin’s at this point in my musical journey. As the sound of all his pickups are just Heavenly. Thanks to the Fralin Team!

  4. Albert James

    Verified Purchase

    The only reason I can’t give this Sunbucker five stars is because of my Strat ironically. Its roasted alder body and roasted maple neck I’m afraid aren’t resonant enough tone woods for what I trust is an otherwise articulate bridge pickup, played thru my deluxe reverb anyway. That said, I’m FAR happier with this humbucker than the EVH it replaced… much, much obliged Lindy!

  5. Dan

    I’ve started with 500k pots in an LP style, but these pickups will cover a lot of ground before I’ve landed them in one guitar exclusively. The note definition is aaall there. Lindy fielded my questions personally, with unassuming tact and advice that goes beyond the purchase, like talking with a friend. There’s ear candy on the website to give you a better example than I can describe, and the only warning I have is I’m now in danger of owning more.

  6. Brad L.

    Verified Purchase

    Totally changed my Kanggs Kenai. They gave it the clarity of a single coil with the growl and bite of a Humbucker. Exactly what I was looking for.

  7. Ash

    Verified Purchase

    I bought these pick-ups for my Gibson 335. I love the shape, size and feel of that guitar but really never cared for the mushy tone the stock pick-ups provided. I really wanted something brighter with a more articulate clean tone that would also sound “right” with multiple OD pedals pushing it. Lindy actually took the time to call me himself, ask about what I was trying to achieve with the pick-ups and talk through using the right pots/caps to get to the tone I was looking for.
    These pick-ups nailed it. They sound great whether I’m playing clean or pushing them through multiple stacked ODs. The Sunbuckers have made a major difference in the tone I get from this guitar and I find myself reaching for it more than any of my other guitars now. For reference- I use Xotic RC boost- JHS modified mini-wah-Brown Protein OD, Keeley Rotten Apple- Catalinbread Topanga reverb- deLisle ABY splitter- Walrus Audio D1 delay- into a deLisle studio custom w/an AlNiCo Blue and a second deLisle loaded w/a Greenback…..
    Buy these pick-ups- they sound great and come from a great company that really cares about making sure you are getting the tone you want to hear.

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