Rick Norman Pickups Unburst

8.2k bridge and 7.6k neck humbucker pickups

Installed in a 2007 54 Reissue Oxblood Les Paul (similar model now offered as the Jeff Beck 54 Oxblood)
Replaced a burstbucker 2 and 3

I sent this guitar to Rick and had him blueprint the guitar, where he polished the frets, adjusted the neck, and replaced the PUs, pots and caps.

These are moderate output pickups, and for my money, very flexible in sound. They have a great warm clean sound, reminiscent of a mid 50s PAF tone, but also can be pushed into a somewhat more modern tone. The neck is clear and glassy, while the bridge has a hollow sound at lower output but can be gritty when pushed. And for me, the best sound is the middle position, where combinations of volume and tone can create a wide palette of sounds.

I use a Bogner Shiva, a Bruno Cowtipper 45 and a Swart SpaceTone Tweed with an assortment of pedals, for a range of musical styles from jazz to classic rock and blues, no metal. I've been playing nearly 10years, and was previously a pro drummer and percussionist, so I think that I have a good ear.

I had many conversations with Rick. This guitar is the recreation of a guitar bought by Jeff Beck that had P90s replaced by humbuckers. Due to the difference in PU size, the bridge humbucker is placed closer to the wraparound tailpiece than would be the case for a guitar built originally with humbuckers and a wraparound bridge. Rick chose magnets for the bridge pickup to make up for this. Other PU makers that I spoke with did not see any impact from the close bridge, so I went with Rick.

I talked extensively with Rick about the sounds of Les Pauls from the 50s and 60s. The pickups varied widely in guitars made within the same year, and across years, but there are some attributes that I was looking for. Namely more of what many think of as a mid to late 50s sound that can have the twang of early goldtops while still retaining the warmth and fullness of a glassy clean sound. My point of view is that you can drive a full-sounding pickup harder to create good overdriven tones, but you can't get a good clean sound out of a higher-wound pickup. Others will no doubt disagree.

The point is that Rick has heard lots of 50s and 60s Les Pauls, and can talk intelligently about the range of sounds possible. You can't get everything, so the choices are important. All in all, he was great to work with and produced a great product. I have single coil and humbbuckers from some of today's great winders in a host of other guitars, and these pickups rate very highly.

7.9 and 7.5k humbucking

Put in both positions of an R9 Les Paul replacing the stock Burstbuckers
Tried these pickups because I know Rick from forums.

Why did I replace them? I bought into the hype.

I have three sets of the original Dr. Vintage pickups made by Wolfetone, so I thought I'd give these "Rick Norman" pickups by "Dr. Vintage" a try since they collaborated on the original pickups. And I can say that the new "Dr. Vintage" is an expensive cheap imitation - these pickups suck by comparison to the original Dr. Vintage pickups. Construction quality is nowhere near the Wolfetones, and they're microphonic as hell. Thin, weak sounding, and they just didn't ring out very well.
I don't know if Rick is having these pickups ghost built for him or not, but if he is, he'd better pick a bone with his winder. If he's not, he's got a lot to learn before striking out on his own and ruining the Dr. Vintage name that Wolfetone made famous back in 2006. I'm too embarrassed to tell Rick in person what I think of his product, and too ashamed to admit I bought into the hype.

Buy the original Wolfetone Dr. Vintage pickups and save yourself the headache of dealing with someone who's new on the block, thinks he's all that and more, and talks a big game. The guy might know what good tone is, but he doesn't know how to MAKE tone. Rick has no business using the Dr. Vintage name.