Description
The PBF-55 neck pickup is Bartolini’s take on the humbucker tones that made vintage archtops and semi-hollows legendary — smoothed out, tightened up, and made reliable for modern stages. It comes from a collaboration between Bill Bartolini and Ed Reynolds, a veteran guitar and bass builder/repairman who cut his teeth in Chicago through the 70s and early 80s before continuing his craft in Austin, Texas, where he now focuses solely on electric guitar work.
Rather than chasing a single era, the PBF-55 is voiced to sit comfortably between jazz and rock playing, giving you rounded lows and a sweet top end without the muddiness some vintage-style humbuckers suffer from. If you’re after an earlier, more vintage-leaning humbucker character, Bartolini also offers the PBF-49/PBF-51 neck-and-bridge pairing, wound closer to 7.5K-ohm and just over 8K-ohm respectively — but the PBF-55 stands on its own as a versatile, genre-spanning voice.
Every PBF pickup is cast in epoxy, which locks the coil windings in place to kill unwanted microphonics and feedback — a must if you’re pushing gain or playing loud rooms. This particular PBF-55 wears a clean Nickel-plated cover, giving it that traditional look that works whether it’s mounted in a ’59-style Les Paul, a semi-hollow jazz box, or something heavier.
- Vintage-inspired humbucker voicing suited to jazz and rock
- Designed by Bill Bartolini and Ed Reynolds
- Epoxy-cast construction reduces feedback and microphonics
- Nickel-plated cover for a classic, understated look
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.