The Bird
Item #: 10-404-3
Ratings Snapshot
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Would recommend this product.
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$200.00
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Product Details
The Bird offers our popular mini-humbucker-size Firebird pickup in a larger enclosure, making it suitable as a drop-in replacement for most guitars equipped with PAF-size humbuckers such as our Imperial. Compared with most humbuckers, players will find a brighter, snappier sound with a tight low end, encased in a no-hole cover to keep the classic Firebird vibe. The Bird is percussive and articulate and truly takes flight in darker-sounding instruments, or to provide variety and versatility when combined with other pickup types, especially P-90s.
Avg. DC: Neck 6.1k, Bridge 7.4k (Read about DC resistance)
Recommended Potentiometers: 500k
Recommended Capacitor: 0.022μF
Despite the Bird pickups being humbuckers, the bridge position pickup uses an inductance plate to raise the output and treble, which introduces a small amount of 60-cycle hum back into the signal. This is true of the original Firebird pickups as well, which is what the Bird is designed to replicate. However, we have left the inductance plate off the neck position to provide a set of pickups with a better volume balance between positions. The neck position will have a lower noise floor like other, more common humbucker designs, where the bridge will have a small amount of 60-cycle hum introduced like a single coil pickup.
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Pickup Dimensions
Lollar Firebird Style Pickups
The Bird
In the Sonic Explorations video below, see how The Bird pickup in the bridge position is used, along with a Lollar Low Wind Novel 90 pickup in the neck to approximate tones often associated with Neil Young playing his Old Black Les Paul guitar.
Covers
No-hole Chrome
No-hole Nickel
No-hole Gold
No-hole Black Chrome
Lightly-aged No-hole Chrome
Lightly-aged No-hole Nickel
Lightly-aged No-hole Gold
No-hole Satin Gold
No-hole Satin Nickel
Colors shown here may vary slightly from actual colors due to differences in computer monitors.
What They Are Saying
Ratings Snapshot
out of 5
5
(3)
4
(0)
3
(0)
2
(0)
1
(0)
Would recommend this product.
100%
out of 5
5
(3)
4
(0)
3
(0)
2
(0)
1
(0)
Would recommend this product.
100%
3 Total Reviews
Ridiculously good in a Gibson SG
Steve
Location:
Date: January 28, 2026
I wanted something with more single coil flavor in the SG's neck instead of the stock Gibson humbucker (60's BB). The stock humbuckers were fine but not amazing and not super versatile as they can kind of mud/fuzz out with gain...and I like to be able to switch between bridge and neck without changing gain. I tried a SD Duncan Silencer Phat Cat that was good but not great. I tried a Fralin Alnico P90 that was cool too but didn't vibe with my guitar and lacked warmth, their P92 would have been a better option I think there.
Then I installed The Bird into the neck of my SG...and it's fantastic. It's kind of like a hotter Jazzmaster or Jaguar pickup, tho a bit brighter (depending on the JM pickup) with more attack. It also takes gain better but with this cool compression that it does in the lower half (not mudding out tho). The breakup is awesome. So yeah it absolutely has some Fender jangle/spank to it but still has its own unique vibe that is awesome and still built for the Gibson family guitars to a degree. In the end, it's just one of those pickups where you pickup a SG and flick to neck just because that's what you want...and that's not normal for a humbucker Gibson. Normally it's the bridge of course that is the absolute highlight...but now it's both, and that's what I was hoping for.
Recommended
Why has no one thought of these until now?
Chris
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Date: July 8, 2024
I've been searching a while for a good set of pickups for my 'other' SG. I have a 61 reissue with 57 classics that sounds great, but wanted something with a totally different sound for my 2nd SG... These are definitely it! They're clear with a bite, and have a single coil sound that's somewhere between a tele and P90. These are definitely my new go-to sound for when I'm wanting to get out of doing the same thing all the time. Strongly recommend for anyone looking to refresh their tone and style.
Recommended
The Bird(s) in an '89 Gibson Les Paul Standard
Rick Fass
Location: Bradenton, Florida
Date: March 28, 2023
I have two Strat plus's a '95 and '90 with a trio of Lollar Firebirds..The guitars sound incredible in full coil, single coil, in parallel/series, and in/out of phase. I put a set of "The Birds" in my '89 Gibson Les Paul. Amazing response, harmonic structure, sustain, and rich tones! I don't know why I waited so long!
Recommended
3 Total Reviews