Artec Vintage Humbucker

4 wire plus shielding so they can be coil tapped. i haven't measured the impedance but they seem quite similar in terms of volume to the burstbuckers on my les paul.

installed in neck and bridge position in a les paul/prs single cut copy i made, mahogany body, sycamore top, mahogany/sycamore five piece through neck and ebony board.
the pickups are mounted with heavy springs under them and with 4mm bolts going through the lugs and into brass bushes set in the through neck. the guitar sustains forever.

i play mainly classic rock and blues through a fender cyber deluxe with a dunlop crybaby in front. as i said the output seems similar to my 2004 les paul standard. the bass doesn't quite have the same definition as the gibson but otherwise there isn't that much difference. i took the guitar to a friend of mine who's a professional musican and he recond that with the coil taps engaged that the guitar did a fair impression of a tele with quite a bit of spank, he even offered to buy it!

i bought these pickups from ebay for about 24 GBP the pair to fit in a project guitar. i chose them because they were the most affordable pups that i could find new or used that i could coil tap. when i build the next guitar i will definately consider using artecs again.

Humbucking , 5 conductor IIRc, Passive Alnico 5 (I checked) .
Was originally measuring around 8 K-ohm,but was wrongly wired in parallel.Rewired to Series it is 16+ K.

The 5 wires give nice wiring choices. It's a bridge position. Steel bassplate,which is also good. I have it coil tapped as well. I think the model number is HB160.

Put in the bridge of a Vintage VS6 SG copy.
Replacing the Stock Wilkinson Hummer, which I put in the middle. This Sg copy is now an SG custom ripoff. It's got a Covered Dean neck pickup, The mid is The Covered Wilkinson, Bridge is this uncovered Artec. All the pickups on this are very "hot" 10k neck, 14k mid, 16k Bridge.They're all tapped and it gives me a wide range of tones,although i mostly record so would'nt like to say how the feedback or noise would be playing through a 30w plus valve amp in a pub .Pups all seem a lttle mcrophonic,which is my fault.

It does a very fair copy of a Gibson [although a compressor helps with that] and when tapped it'll get almost into trebly telecaster territory.

I've heard better but i've had and played much worse [Ibanez powersound,Psnd, anybody?]. I bought this on ebay for around ??8.50 delivered. Tone is fairly balanced not as detailed as a Gibson,Kent Armstrong, or mid priced replaecement,but,it works for me in this guitar.

Fantastic value,not the ultimate tone monster pup,for me that would be a Burstbucker or Custom Custom. It's avery fair cheap humbucker,and,unlike some so called boutique pups,its got a steel base,Al5 Bar,adjustable screws and 5 core conductor. For ??8.50 it's cheaper than a Stewmac Pickup kit so if you don't like it you could rewind it or have it rewound for you.

Pickup features: Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Yamaha Pacifica 111
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: 2 x Artec single coils
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, blues
Reason for pickup change: Stock pickups were all thin sounding and I was looking for a low cost upgrade. I agree with the good review of the single coils from a previous reviewer.

Perceived output level: Output seems slightly lower than the stock pickup, This was also true of the single coils.
Tone: A nice creamy sound, more bite if if needed when used alongside the middle single coil.
Sonic evaluation: I play a Yamaha Pacifica 112 through a Marshall MG15CDR. I like a clean sound with a touch of reverb and a bit of overdrive (I use a Boss OD3)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I 'm into blues and rock and also have a very nice Mexican Strat. Although the action on the Strat is nicer I can coax a wider range of sounds out of the Yamaha with the new pickups.

Comments: My pickup came without a wiring diagram so I contacted Artec. They told me that the red/white wire is the series link; the black is ground and the green is hot.