Unbucker
Unbalanced Coils For Coil Splitting
Price range: $175 through $350
The Lindy Fralin Unbucker gives you great split-coil and humbucking tones – all in one. The unbalanced Unbucker’s coils give you a stronger single coil tone when split.
Quick Links
Jump to Sound Clips and more info
Unique Humbucker Design For Coil Splitting
Want to learn more about our Unbucker? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
The Lindy Fralin Unbucker is one of our best-selling pickups. We’re known all over the world for incredible-sounding Single-Coil and Humbucker pickups. Why not combine them both and get the best of both worlds? The Unbucker provides fantastic Humbucker tones as well as Single-Coil tones. We purposely unbalance the coils to give you a stronger coil when the Unbucker is Split.
Our Stock Set includes a 7.5K Neck and 8.5K Bridge.
Features:
- Unbalanced coil turns for a stronger single-coil tone (Screw Coil)
- Scooped midrange with an emphasis on top-end clarity
- AlNiCo IV Magnets for a smooth, rich sound
- Fits any Standard Humbucker or F-Spaced Humbucker routing
- Assembled by hand, one at a time, for impeccable attention to detail
- Compensated Overwound Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
How It's Made:
Sound & Video
Bright and clear, with just the right amount of chime and an open midrange. Our Unbucker features a stronger wound screw coil that gives this pickup a unique tone. Our Unbucker has a similar vibe to our Pure P.A.F. with a more open and airy midrange and top end. Expect outstanding clarity and articulation. When you tap the slug coil, you still achieve a robust single-coil tone. When playing dirty, you’ll get a nice, sharp pick attack and excellent clarity, and a tight and punchy low end. Due to the unbalanced coils, Unbuckers won’t be 100% hum-canceling.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. Doing this gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we assemble each pickup one at a time, by hand. Hand assembling pickups allows us to achieve unbeatable attention to detail. After assembly, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Sound Samples for Unbucker:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
This is out Stock Output of Unbuckers played on an Epiphone Les Paul. Sound Clips recorded by Phil Heesen III.
Tonal Graph For Unbucker:
The tonal graph below for our Unbucker features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Dynamic & Full
Videos for Unbucker:
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Unbucker.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 7.5K 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 8.5K 1 |
| Neck Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor Lead |
| Bridge Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor Lead |
| Magnet: | USA-Made Alnico 4 |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42-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 |
| Baseplate Leg Depth: | 6mm |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 500K |
| Wax Potted: | Yes |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
Additional Technical Info:
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.
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
This is a Hum Cancelling Pickup.
If you're buying a set from us, all pickups will work together seamlessly. If you're buying a single pickup, all you need to worry about is Coil Direction.
To ensure your pickup will work, make sure you select multiple leads (2-Conductor, 3-Conductor, or 4-Conductor if available), or the 3-Wire modification so you can reverse the coil direction, if need be.
Lead Options
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
3-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
4-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Series Parallel Wiring
Coil Splitting
Pickup Dimensions
Covered Humbucker
Uncovered Humbucker
Upgrade To Prewired
Drop in, Plug in, Play.
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Prewired Les Paul Harness
Les Paul Harnesses. The Fralin Way.
Customize This product has more options. You can choose them on the product page.
Builders Love Our Unbucker
These are just some of our talented builders that use our Unbucker
Anka Custom
Anka Custom guitars are built with a balance of modern precision and hands-on craftsmanship. Each instrument is designed around the player’s needs, combining CNC accuracy with extensive hand shaping, fretting, and assembly to create guitars that are reliable, expressive, and road-ready. I choose Fralin Pickups because of their consistency, clarity, and musical response—they capture the natural voice of the instrument without masking its character, allowing every build to truly speak for itself.
Anka Custom uses our Unbucker in their guitars!
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
79 Genuine Reviews for Unbucker
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I just replaced the pickups in a third guitar, my Gibson Les Paul Standard, with Fralin pickups – specifically the Unbuckers this time. What makes the Fralin pickups I’ve installed the best for me is how clear and bright they are. You can always easily tame/darken a bright pickup with the tone knob, but you can’t brighten a pickup if needed. The Unbuckers are no different. I was a little worried about them being potted, but they are brighter and more “airy” than the unpotted pickups I replaced them with. The coil split is a great option, especially for rhythm playing on the neck pickup. My Les Paul is now even beastier than before!
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Hi everyone
I’v reached John from Frailin team quite a while ago, and explaind my needs, he recommended the Unbucker for my PRS custom 24 neck replacement – and it made wonders to my sound.
It has completely resolved the mudd issues at position 5 and gave me a proper strat neck sound in position 4.It is worth adding that I played with the hight of the PU and screws and placed the screws towards the bridge side.
This is my no.1 guitar I do everything with it and I coudn’t be more happy.
I’m now concidering replacing the bridge 59/09 as well to the Unbucker.
Thank you Lindy and John.
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I really like the detail in this pickup. I have it in my HSS Strat style guitar. It has a great sound for rock but cleans up well when needed and does a very good job when you put it into single coil and combine with the middle pickup.
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Just wanted to say I LOVE the new ’50s LP wiring harness, push/pull pots, and Unbucker pickups! I wanted to make my LP Studio more versatile, and this has certainly done that. The stock Gibson 490R/498T pickups were pretty good for classic and hard rock, but I think the Unbuckers have much more clarity and articulation. The outputs are also better balanced for my tastes. There’s virtually no hum when in single-coil mode. With the new volume pots, I have better control over level and gain. Thank you!
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Just installed the Unbucker in the bridge position of my G&L Fallout. It immediately became my favorite humbucking pickup, and brought this guitar to life. I came for the punch, but stayed for the string to string clarity and rich harmonic overtones. Split as a single coil it gives me so many more tones, when paired with the noiseless P90 in the neck, it makes this guitar so incredibly versatile. Just holding the pickup in your hands it oozes quality and passion for what they do. Top notch all around, highly recommended. You’ve done it again Lindy!
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Installed a pair of these in my ’96 Lucille. After tweaking the amp eq to bring out the chime of the single coil, I can say that they sound incredible! Great humbucker sound, and both the split and parallel tones are amazing.
Now I can pretend to be SRV and BB on the same guitar ?
Well done Lindy and crew. -
Just writing to say thank you. I just got the guitars back from the shop with the new pickups.
The Unbuckers went into a 2008 PRS Mira, and the P-92s went into a 2005 PRS Custom 24. Nothing against the original configurations, but the sound of the guitars never quite caught up with how they felt to play; always a bit difficult not to sound muddy.
With the new Fralins, they finally breathe properly. Both sets of pickups sound flawless either clean, through breakup and beyond, always retaining clarity and definition. My compliments to the chef(s).
You have gained a fan, this is the first time I’ve had the chance to play/own your pickups, but it most certainly won’t be my last.
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Just wanted to leave another review…..I’ve been tinkering around with the set up I have…the Umbucker and the overwound Vintage hot tele that I have in my Tele…The Unbucker was just missing something with the 500k pots on my guitar/amp set up…bridge pup sounded great with the 500k pots….so today I decided to install a 1 meg volume pot along with the existing 500k tone pot…the Unbucker came to life!…the slight muddiness I was getting on the wound strings disappeared…all of the upper end clarity and sparkle that I wasn’t getting came to life…and all of the snap snarl and bite I was getting with the bridge pickup was still there without being too harsh and aggressive…….every part of your guitar affects how it sounds…Don’t be afraid to experiment!…..
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The Unbucker is in a class by itself…everything you would want out of a humbucker, full, thick bottom and a nice tapered high end sparkle…the only critique I can come up with is maybe wind the slug coil a bit hotter…..
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Wow these unbuckers are so, so good! I enjoy experimenting with pickups and have tried many of the brands out there. Honestly, most of them are high quality and hard to go wrong with. But the Unbuckers are really something special. Great neck clarity. Great bark in the bridge without taking your face off… But the real star here is the split sound. I’ve truly never found a split humbucker sound that I like, but these sound great. Very, very impressive!
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not all of the parts are here it will be a mounth but i am exsited I will let everyone know thanks
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I had an initial wiring problem (That Lindy coached me through, thank you Lindy). These pickups sound great in all coil combinations and are very well balanced between them, Groovy baby!
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These were a fantastic upgrade for my Les Paul Studio, giving both a great classic humbucking sound and useful split sounds
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I decided on this pickup for an HSS 1986 Fuji-Gen Fender Strat that has a 12″ radius and 24.75″ scale. These are excellent guitars, but the original pickups and wiring are not up to today’s standards. I had done one other of these with two Blues Specials and a ’59 PAF (Fralin) and it turned out great, but I think this combination is even better: Steel pole 42/neck, Blues Special/mid and Unbucker for bridge. It sounds absolutely fantastic. If you want a slightly brighter pickup, the Unbucker is the way to go. I am going to do another with a different configuration with Fralin pickups as I know it will turn out right! Thanks, Lindy. Peter
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A la recherche de micros humbucker splittables pour ma Strandberg Boden Original NX 6, je voulais des micros avec un son plus vintage et sans perte de volume trop importante lors du passage en simple. Je me suis naturellement tourné vers ces micros. J’en suis très satisfait. Avec les micros livrés d’origine sur cette guitare (SUHR Suhr SSV Neck + Suhr SSH+ Bridge, très bons par ailleurs), les positions 2 et 4 du sélecteur entraînaient une perte drastique de volume clairement audible et handicapante. Ce problème est résolu avec les Unbucker, qui en plus sonnent très bien dans n’importe quelle configuration.
Bravo, Fralin ! -
Amazing pickups! Superbly versatile and covers a great array of sounds. The humbucker mode sounds like a real humbucker and the single coil mode sounds like a real single coil. Other great aspects is that there is practically no volume drop when coil splitting.
For me, I’m not the kind of guy that wants to have a lot of guitars; because of that, having one guitar that could be versatile, cover a lot of ground, and more-or-less do everything was very important. When played clean, all the settings of the coil splitting and switching to different pickup selections were great. From my experience thus far, these pickups can pretty much get any genre of music down no problem. From music that requires nice cleans like jazz, classical, etc to heavy distorted sounds like metal or anything in between, these pickups can handle them no problem.
My main guitar is a 61 Gibson SG and I additionally put in Seymour Duncan’s tripleshot mounting rings along with w push-pull phase switch and a master series-parallel switch so the tonal variety on my guitar is absolutely insane. Just about all of the settings of these pickups with all of these other options sound good as well. In my honest opinion, if you have reservations about these pickups because you’re thinking that there might be compromise of sound at the humbucker or the single coils, forget about it because as far as my ear can tell, they both sound like real legitimate humbuckers and single coils, respectively.
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I finally found the sound and versatility I was looking for in my Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster! It’s been modded quite a bit with dual-volumes, PTB cut controls, replaced the rhythm-circuit with treble-bleed in the slider-switch and a titanium Compton bridge. Went from the stock JM-shaped P90’s to Duncan Antiquity II’s to Creamery WRHBs before finally settling on the Unbucker set. For funsies, I initially had the Unbucker bridge on a Tele HH with a maple neck, but found it a bit too punchy. Over time, my gut said that the pickup was more suited for a more resonant guitar body with a rosewood (or alternative) neck to soften the attack. When I then tried this on my JMJM it was so perfect that I immediately ordered the Neck pickup to complete the sound which is now just glorious! Fantastic clarity and chime while also breaking up really well. As some other reviewers & guitar forum posts said there’s some P90 to the tone but more airy & open. The split single coil mode is great too. I can attest to comparing sound samples and guitar forum posts that the split coil sounds similar to the Strat Blues Special EQ-wise. Overall, it turned my JMJM into my #1 and a truly versatile platform that can do pretty much anything!
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I’m extremely please with my purchase. I did something that might not seem to have been smart, but it’s seems to have worked! I bought a very inexpensive Chinese made LP style guitar, new. I then changed most of the hardware – tuners, bridge, electronics, and last but not least, the pickups. Every upgrade made a difference, but the pickups made the most difference. Granted, I spent more on the pickups alone than I did for the brand new guitar, but I have a guitar that replaces my Gibson that looks better, dare I say, performs better, and cost a fraction of what I paid for the Gibson. The unbuckers have the sound I wish my Gibson had and I can also get single coil sounds that are legit, without a huge volume drop. Honestly, I’d go for these pickups even without the single coil sounds, but I’m extremely pleased as I have been with every Fralin pickup I’ve ever purchased!
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These Unbuckers are incredible!
Beautiful full tone. I play indie rock with kind of a post punk tilt so I’ve never shied away from regular humbuckers and their darker tone. But I’m older now and wanted something more articulate for a too dark Fender HH I have. Boy these were the perfect answer. Just incredible tone and with split coil abilities, the most diverse guitar I now have. But the sparkle ability in humbucker mode is fantastic with very low hum. They can jangle and they can snarl. Absolute perfection!
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