Re: Firebird pickup question
Heres what I read:
Gibson Les Paul Ol' Black
From Gibson Guitars on Neil's Les Paul Ol' Black:
The Firebird mini-humbucker appears outwardly like the mini-humbucker used on other Gibson guitars such as the Les Paul Deluxe, except for its solid cover. Underneath, however, critical differences are revealed. Whereas the standard, Epiphone-derived mini-humbucker is designed like a PAF-type humbucker but narrower, with a bar magnet placed beneath the two coils and in contact with the individual steel pole pieces running through them, the Firebird pickup is constructed with two alnico bar magnets, positioned one each within the two coils, in a dual-blade-styled design. Using magnetic material within the coil helps to increase a pickup's definition and treble response; the Firebird pickup is, therefore, a little weaker than the standard PAF-style humbucker or mini-humbucker, and also a lot brighter than either. As heard in Young's playing, it's also a very lively pickup, with a certain amount of microphony contributing to the dimension of the sound, and also easing the way to feedback, a tool that Young exploits like few other players. (For a shortcut to Neil Young's feedback zone, check out the 1991 release Arc, a montage of feedback segments at the beginnings and ends of songs from the Ragged Glory tour, the full songs themselves released on the live Weld album.)
