Aero Instrument Level 3 Humbucker

Pickup features: see previous review
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass:
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level:
Tone:
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: This is a follow up. This pickup displays a sonic charecter that is what seperates a real good pickup from a mediocre one. It has a tone that you'll miss, if you heard it from your guitar before, and you put a different pickup in, as I often do. I make tapes and label them as to what pickup I was using. I do this so I can reference what sounded best in whatever guitar. Of all the remarkable pickups, The Aero Instrument Humbucker is one of them. Of course, it's in use in my Les Paul.

Pickup features: Double coil, zebra bobbins. Passive.
Impedence or other specs: Maybe 9K

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson Les Paul
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Lindy Fralin Humbucker 7.79k
Other pickups on guitar: Lindy Fralin Humbucker, modded with a ceramic magnet, 8.65k
Artists using this pickup: Me.
You musical style(s): Rock, blues, metal, fusion.
Reason for pickup change: I'm a highly proficient guitar player, and I need a pickup that sounds good and doesn't get in the way. I had a couple of Custom Duncans in the guitar that I had replaced with a pair of Fralin HBs. The Fralin wasn't cutting it in the neck position. Too dull and dark. Great for old jazz. No definition or tone for hard rock or gritty blues even, so it had to go. I figured I give the Aero pickups a try.

Perceived output level: It's a hot pickup. It does have a clean sound, it's not a distortion pickup. Works good in the bridge and the neck.
Tone: The tone is open and balanced. The bass is good, the treble full. Nice, but not obtrusive, resonance on the wound strings.It gets a good sparkle on the top end. The notes sustain and slowly slip over into the harmonics as the note wears on. The pickups tone is classic, like a great sounding Les Paul on a old 70s hard rock album. It's not vintageand it's not harsh either. It is a good pickup, like the Fralins and the Harmonic Designs and the other expensive pickups, like the Holmes..etc.
Sonic evaluation: Les Paul into a Soldano Lucky 13. 2x12 ported cab. I also had this pickup in the bridge of a Jackson Soloist. It had a great and expressive sound, but I had another pickup more suited for that guitar, and I needed a more defined low end, like a Bill Lawrence L-500 or Evans Eliminator provides, to go with that axe. In other words, I needed a pickup designed for metal in the Jackson. In the LP it's a different story. The guitars have different unplugged tone, and the greater tonal definition found in the Les Paul creates a good relationship with the Aero humbucker.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is excellent for everything but real fast metal on spongy amps, like the Lucky 13. It sounds good clean, and sounds good distorted.

Comments: This is a good pickup. I like a neck pickup that allows one to hear all the strings in a chord, and allow me to be able play solos and comp rhythms without getting muddy or lost. I get great harmonics with this pickup too. If it were lost, well I'd replace it. I've been playing over 20 years. I own more gear than would fit, if listed, on this page. I chose this one because I wanted to see how Aero pickups were. I compared it to the Harmonic Design pickups and others.
I'm happier with this pickup in the neck of my Les Paul than I was with the Fralin. My Les Paul sounds great on either, or both, pickups whether playing rhythm of lead. I'm happy with it's sound. It's what I want to hear from the neck position. I give it a 9. A 10 is an honorary rating awarded posthumously.