Seymour Duncan Announces The Joe Bonamassa "Bolin Burst" Humbucker Set!

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The Joe Bonamassa "Bolin Burst" Humbucker Set






Owning a guitar that was played by one of your musical heroes is a rare opportunity, made even more remarkable when the instrument’s sound lives up to its legacy. Joe Bonamassa has long been a fan of the late great Tommy Bolin, whose captivating solo music and work with Deep Purple, James Gang, Billy Cobham, and Zephyr influenced generations of rock & fusion guitarists.
  • Original 1960 P.A.F. humbuckers analyzed and precisely recreated by Seymour Duncan Custom Shop
  • Limited edition first run (500 sets) feature signatures from Joe Bonamassa and Seymour W. Duncan
  • Alnico 2 magnets deliver authentic vintage tonality with dynamic bridge and warm neck pickup characteristics
  • Custom aging process matches original pickups' authentic vintage appearance
  • A portion of the proceeds support Tommy Bolin's musical legacy through dedicated endowment and memorial funds

When Joe met Tommy’s late brother Johnnie, he inquired about a very special 1960 Gibson® Les Paul® that Tommy had played throughout his career. The “Bolin Burst” Les Paul was originally purchased and owned by Tommy’s friend and long-time guitar tech David Brown and became his replacement after his own Les Paul goldtop was stolen at a Zephyr gig. The guitar features a unique American flag pickguard hand-painted by Brown in the early 70s. It was meant to be an American twist on the British Invasion’s Union Jack which was so prevalent in artwork at the time. A Fender-style Bigsby® vibrato was also pulled off a Telecaster® and fixed on the Les Paul at Tommy’s request to better suit his playing style. These modifications aside, it is acknowledged that the fine tone of this instrument came to a great extent from its original pickups: a very special set of P.A.F. humbuckers.

After an extensive 10-year search, Joe was able to locate and purchase this one-of-a-kind guitar from David Brown himself. Admiring the unique sonic qualities of this particular guitar, Joe approached his friends at Seymour Duncan to to analyze in detail the P.A.F.s in order to create his newest pickup project. The Seymour Duncan Custom Shop was able to successfully recreate the iconic tone of the “Bolin Burst” pickups and Joe and the Bolin estate are now making them available to everyone.

The Joe Bonamassa “Bolin Burst” Humbucker set utilizes Alnico 2 magnets to replicate the original’s sweet vintage tonality. The bridge pickup provides a dynamic and barky sound, while the neck pickup sings with warmth and clarity - especially through your favorite overdriven amp.

Aged in the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop to match the look of the original pickups, the first 500 sets of the “Bolin Burst” Humbuckers are built with bottom plates signed by Joe and Seymour W. Duncan and are available in limited edition numbered packaging.

A portion of the proceeds from each “Bolin Burst” Humbucker set will be donated to the Tommy Bolin Endowment and Tommy Bolin Memorial Fund.​

Read more about this unique set here.

 
Hey look, yet another unobtanium "PAF" set!

Lemme guess...these are wound 0.00000000000001K higher than the last ones?!

In before the "I think they sound great anyway!" comments. Of course they do...they're "PAF"s, dontchaknow?

:nana:
 
I had a bunch of Tommy Bolin LP's back in the day, and I really liked his licks - but I will pass on these pickups.
 
i first heard of him due to billy cobhams spectrum, though i think that was a strat. great player.

i really enjoy the fact that joe and seymour put out these unique pups. there is so much variety in old pafs, subtle to some for sure, but i appreciate the effort to create those sometimes subtle differences
 
It's interesting that the neck is higher output than the bridge. I have a similar thing going on my Epi Dot with a '59 neck and Seth bridge and it works really well.
 
A lot of these Custom Shop pickups may soon be readily available, if not already. I have noticed that Sweetwater is starting to stock a lot of the CS pickups.
 
specs read like the Skinnerburst set with A2 and neck and bridge swapped. I'm sure there's more to it, but on paper anyway. But it sounds really good, either way.
 
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I've got to be honest. When I see anything with Joe Bonamassa's name on it, I immediately mentally mute it, because I know there'll be something new next week. And the week after that. Forever.
 
I suppose I feel that from Joe's marketing. Like he is trying hard to be runner up to KISS.

Joe does seem to have a solid relationship with Norman Harris and likely scores a few rare and great sounding instruments. I had serious interest in the CS Amos V pickups, but also had about 10 projects already languishing in-flight at that time.

If we avoid Joe's marketing, do we view the product as something unique? I tend to trust the Custom Shop for all things they do and that is based on my experience with the CS pickups I have.
 
His studio Deep Purple guitar was a Strat, but live he also used an LP with them. Also, an LP is all over his solo album, Teaser.

Thing is, PAF-type pickups have been designed for ages. The only way to come out with something new in that arena is actually replicate specific pickups from historically significant instruments played by rock stars. I hope SD gets ahold of more historic instruments.
 
In my opinion, we're officially in "beating a dead horse" territory when it comes to PAFs and that's a pretty steep price to pay for "subtle differences", but I can appreciate the effectiveness of Joe's and SD's marketing angle with these types of products. It's not much different from the kind of romanticized nostalgia that keeps the market alive for Strats and Les Pauls. The industry's gotta do what the industry's gotta do.
 
There's still a demand from historic pickups. Imagine a 1:1 copy of the Hendrix Woodstock Strat pickups, or Jimmy Page's Tele pickups. PAFs these days are splitting hairs, of course. But to people really into vintage tones, they hear and appreciate very subtle differences. I think most high gain pickups sound the same, and I am not their target market.
 
When I worked for a sound reinforcement company in Columbus Ohio, "Post Toastee" was thee track played to demo systems. Cranked to all hell.

P.S. Just about anything sounds good in Joe's hands. I bet he coulda made that vid with a set of 59's.
 
I find Mr Bonamassa an inspiration. He's living proof that it's possible to achieve notoriety by owning guitars rather than playing them.
 
oh he plays them too, which i appreciate. owning a 59 lp is one thing, actually bringing them on tour and playing them every night is another, and he does it. these are tools to make music and should be played
 
I find Mr Bonamassa an inspiration. He's living proof that it's possible to achieve notoriety by owning guitars rather than playing them.

I am happy some of these historic instruments are in the hands of an actual player, though.
 
I respect Bonamassa as a player and as a voice for vintage gear. He lends his name on replica/repro pickups of vintage guitars/models that have a certain meaning (at least, to him). It's a 'cheap' way to upgrade a good guitar and bring it into 1950s specs.

but the pricing... oh my. no. Hard pass.
 
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