Kent Armstrong MUBK-1 Motherbucker

Its a 4 coil humbucker. in fact, its 2 'strat sized humbucker' with 4 rails, like the hotrail by S.Duncan. The total impendance is around 27.5k ohms. that paired with 2 cerarmic magnets gives you lots and lots of output, if you wire it to full blast. Its not nearly as hot, though, as an active pickup like EMG's.

I put this pickup in a les paul, in the bridge AND neck position. That might seem weird or strange, but in fact, its very usefull. Because its so bloody hot, you can turn it very low, and still have nice amounts of output. When you have it high, you have just too much stringpull, but set it up low, and you get a nice, sweet, articulated tone, which doesn't cut through the mix, oh no...

it smashes it way through the band mix!

I wanted to put this pickup in my guitar, just to try it out.

The tone is balanced, and very responsive to your playing. The way I play, gives it a nice chunky tone with a lot of edge, but with others it might not cut it. Its usefull for every kind of style, as long as you use some push pull pots to control it.

I found that having the rails split apart (so only one rail on) and that one split (so you have just ONE of the 4 coils) is useless. It really doesn't sound like a 'real' singlecoil, eventhough it's got the DC's of a 'normal' one, it just sounds thin and mediocre. To have the left or right coil on, that does have huge differences in tone! the right one will sound very bright, agressive, percussive, almost like a tele. the left one will be more mellow, sweet, bit 'hollow', like a strat. both on, on full whack, just smokes. Even with my 5w tube amp I feel my trousers flapping in the wind; really balls to the walls.

The tone is so awesome, I really like it. I'd buy it again. I have to admit though, it's got the same characteristics as the Bill Lawrence L500 series, but the L500 is a bit more hifi. What I mean by that is that Bill's pickups are even more articulate, more bright (that doesnt mean shrill, just that it's precise!), and have an even wider range of tones, despite having 'just' 2 coils instead of 4.

I only play les pauls, and the amps I use are an Engl SE, and the blackstar HT5. This pickup is one of the best pickups I've ever used, but as always, it can always: get better! Bill Lawrence L500XL, L and R are in my opinion much better, cause they're a bit more hot (yes, it really can be hotter with a smaller magnet and less DC's!), more articulate, and much more versatile in tone and style.

I've rated it an 8 in this category, for the aforementioned reasons. It sounds great, with nice chunky lows, agressive mids and pushing highs, but it can be better; the DC's are just too much, and thats why its just an 8 and not a 9 or 10; with less dc's, it would be a bit more 'hifi', which I like.

* Single coil or humbucking? Active or passive? : A quad-railed passive humbucker

* Impedance or other specs? : around 27.5k

* What model guitar or bass did you install this in? : A Yamaha RGX121SJ electric guitar

* What position is it in? : Bridge

* What pickup are you replacing? : Stock

* Other pickups installed on the instrument? : A cheap ??4 single coil mid pickup that rocks hard and a stock neck

* Any artists using this pickup? : Matt Bellamy, Me, and the other guys who submitted reviews for this lol

* Reason for changing the pickup? : The stock bridge died

* What's the output level like? : This pickup is sweet ... being high resistance it is loud!! And very high gain!!!

* What amps and effects are you using it with? : I use it with an old 30 watt transistor marshall amp and a Line 6 ??BER METAL pedal

* Tone - Bassy, middy, muddy, trebly, balanced? : I like my sound to have a nice high end tone so i was pleasantly surprised by its great treble response ... it isnt too bassy and doesnt need as much gain as the stock pickups that i replaced so it cut out a lot of feedback ... it also has an awesome harmonic response too!!

* What style of music do you play? Is this a good match? : I play a style that leans towards post-2000 prog rock with a tone derived from metal ... the motherbucker pulls this off superbly!!!

* For which positions is this pickup (un)suitable? : I would think that this pickup would not be great in the neck position

* If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? : I would buy another ... i am currently building a custom guitar and this will also be rocking a MUBK-1

* What do you love about it? What do you hate? : I love the versatility ... this pickup could fill up a five way selector with just its own combo's ... add the coil tap and you got more tones than you could use!!!

* Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one? : I was looking at a few high gain pickups ... i decided early on i wanted to go passive ... i was reading up about matt bellamy's custom manson guitars and caught sight of this baby ... i looked up the spec ... then bought it cheap on ebay! lol

* Anything you wish it had? : I love this pickup just the way it is ... i think it would also look amazing in white ... those black rails would look all the sweeter!!!

* Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for <b>that</b> sound? : I think i got it already ... thank you mr armstrong!!!!!!

The MUBK-1 is a passive dual humbucker, basically two single-coil sized humbuckers on a single baseplate, so four coils in all. The overall impedance was 27.4kOhms according to specification. However, mine came in at nearer 27.1, this however is still colossal considering the Gibson PAF bridge pickup in my '97 Les Paul is around 14.5kOhms.

I fitted this pickup to an old Ibanez EX series guitar that I was renovating, the MUBK-1 went straight in at the bridge position to replace the unknown original. The wiring was something of a difficulty, there are a grand total of 10 separate wires coming from this beast. The two sections of the pickup are wired separately and have to be linked to get the maximum output, I still haven't figured out how to tap just one of the coils for a Telecaster-style tone. I chose the pickup because I'm playing a lot of thrash metal at the moment and the higher the output the more I can push the amp.

The effect of this pickup is like nothing I've ever heard before. It's an absolute beast. Upon hearing it my first thought was "why has no-one ever thought of this before?" The result is that you need much less gain dialed into the amp for the same level of distortion. Also this pickup has a party trick. Plugged into my JCM2000 TSL, on the clean channel, with the gain up, my single coil produces a warm clean tone, the neck pickup just pushes a slightly ragged sound from it. Engage the motherbucker however and with just a flick of the selector switch, you can kick out a heavily over driven blues-style tone. It's the pickup that goes to 11, like having a distortion pedal built in. Overall the tone it produces is slightly biased toward treble, but this is pretty much what you want in the bridge position It rocks!

I'd definitely buy another of these, and will probably get an extra one for my other guitar.

This pickup really is the next level, no subtlety at all, plugged into an all-valve Marshall at full-twat it's like stepping on a land mine.

If I were to change this pickup at all I'd see if it were possible to use Alnico magnets, or possibly scatter-winding like on bare knuckle pickups to give it some character.

The biggest downfall with this pickup is the wiring, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, Kent Armstrong, get some wiring diagrams sorted, you will never know how irritating it is to have to hunt around on the web just to find out what each wire does.

Pickup features: Passive 4 Rail Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: 27.5k (!?!?!)

Model of guitar or bass: Jackson PS3 Performer (Randy Rhodes V)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan PAF
Other pickups on guitar: Standard Jackson Mudpie
Artists using this pickup: Mathew Bellamy (Muse) and ME!
You musical style(s): Oldskool Thrash/Death Metal
Reason for pickup change: Needed more definition for the licks and runs, because I had to have my amp gain so high to get the tone I like

Perceived output level: This thing will burn you if you hold it for too long..... I can practise in my room on my gig rig (5150 MkII) with the post gain all the way down, and still get an output.. Harmonics leap into life, and single notes are so clear
Tone: A little less bassy than the Seymour, but it gives me so much more clarity. The mids are a little held back, but with the amount of high-end the ceramic rails pour out, I cut through in the mix brilliantly!
Sonic evaluation: Broad, saturated distortion with my pre-gain on about 4-5, this is what I've been waiting for!!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: You'd never want this at the neck, unless you're mad.

Comments: I would buy more of these guys and intall them into all my other axes, if all I played was metal. One tricky bit about it was the wiring, I needed professional help to get the config right. But the best part about it aside from the sound, it the LOOK - FOUR black ceramic rails, uhhhuhuhuhuhu

Pickup features: Humbucking passive
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: The wiring for the MUBK-1 is as follows:
Coil 1: Black = -; Red = +
Coil 2: Green = -; White = +
Coil 3: Black = -; Red = +
Coil 4: Green = -; White = +
Coil 1/2 and 3/4 -/+ wires are each grouped together in a single casing along with a ground wire.
Polarity starting and proceeding upwards from the coil above the line of holes at the bottom of the pickup is north/south/north/south.
This basic information is sufficient for anyone to wire up this pickup as desired if parallel, series, in-phase and out-of-phase concepts are understood.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments:

Pickup features: passive quad-rail humbucker with ceramic magnets
Impedence or other specs: 27.5K (!!!!)

Model of guitar or bass: Lotus (don't laugh) Les Paul copy
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: noisy stock humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: Kent Armstrong M213 PAF
Artists using this pickup: me
You musical style(s): rock
Reason for pickup change: The stock pickup actually sounded great, it had a nice classic rock sound when overdriven. Of course, like any stock humbucker on a cheap-ass guitar, it feeds back like crazy. After I ripped it out, I was amazed to see that the coils were potted...chances are the coils were poorly wound.

Perceived output level: This thing is hotter than any pickup I've ever used or played. Distorts real easy, which I like in a bridge humbucker.
Tone: The tone is slightly on the treble side (what do you expect from a ceramic magnet?) but it lets the lows and mids breathe.
Sonic evaluation: I run the guitar's signal through an old Korg AX30G that's tweaked to hell through my tubescreamer and DOD bass chorus into my Peavy 100-watt Transtube head, which feeds into a Fender 2X12. My reaction was amazement at how hot this thing was. I was expecting to have to EQ out some highs on my amp, expecting this thing to pack a little too much bite, but I was pleased to find that I could keep it EQ'd the same as my SG with an Iommi (a low/mid humbucker). The clean sound isn't that much to write home about (I use the neck position for cleans, so it doesn't bother me), but the distorted sound is gloriously heavy. Add some slight chorusing and enough distortion, and you'll get a classic metal rhythm sound.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: (I don't know why they ask twice...) I play rock, blues, and metal, and it suits me well. I wouldn't suggest putting this in the neck position, but I'm assuming that everyone knows better than that.

Comments: I've been playing around 6 years and this was my first "ceramic magnet shredbucker," and I'm very happy with it. I got this pickup when I was looking for replacements for the stock pu's on my Lotus and saw the motherbucker and it's specs and I thought "that thing is so decadent- I MUST get it." In no way do I regret that decision. This pickup sounds great, and I'll probably never take it out of the guitar it's in.
Now here's my complaint- for a novice at soldering pickups, this thing was a bastard to install. Get this, the motherbucker is basically two single-coil sized humbuckers put together. Each humbucker sends out a large wire, each having 5 smaller wires apiece (10 in total!!). The instructions they provide tell nothing, but this is where it gets cool... I emailed WD music products (the site I bought it from) about how to wire it to full capacity. As it turned out, they forwarded my inquiry to Kent Armstrong (the designer) himself. Not only did he email me and tell me how to wire it, he also gave me his home phone # if I had any further problems. That's freaking customer service. As it turned out, I had to combine and tape off four wires, send five to ground, and one to signal. It's not as messy as it sounds. I wish that you could order the pickup to be pre-configured for easier installation, since you'd need a five-way selector switch just to get all the possible wiring combinations out of the one pickup alone.