The Good & The Bad
Between you, me and the fence post — I’m more of an engineer than a salesman. So, while I have to write the usual “Hey, this pickup’s great! Play rock or blues? This one’s for you!” stuff (you know the type), I also feel a bit of a duty to balance the scales. That means talking about what they aren’t great at too. And since this part isn’t front and centre, I get to be a bit more technical about it. Who knows — maybe I’ll even manage to explain what all those lovely buzzwords actually mean.
Worth saying as well: while I’m writing all this with Axesrus pickups in mind, it’s true across the board. Whether you’re buying from us or not, this stuff applies. Every pickup has strengths and weaknesses. There’s no such thing as a perfect pickup — just the right one for what you need.
So, here we go — the Bourbon City. “A pickup for guitar music.” If that doesn’t set the hook, I don’t know what will. Gutsy and biting, practically begging to be pushed, but with just enough headroom to avoid turning into a wall of mush when things get hot and heavy. Here’s the hows, whens, and whys.
42 AWG Coils
The Good
When we talk about "vintage" humbuckers, what we’re really talking about is wire gauge — and that has to be 42 AWG (American Wire Gauge). In humbuckers, this wire typically runs to somewhere between 7k and 8.5k ohms, and tonally, it’s the heart of the vintage humbucker sound.
It’s what gives us that roomy, open quality, but with real clarity and authority. High resonant peak, tight Q factor — that’s where you get the snap and twang, that airy feeling that makes a pickup sound uncompressed and alive, but never weak or shrill.
In short, it’s the voice of every guitar you grew up loving.
The Bad
Let’s not sugar-coat it: 42 AWG is expensive. Painfully so. But it’s also essential.
It’s based on the imperial measurement system and has a diameter of 0.0635mm. It was the standard wire for pickups in the '50s and '60s, especially in the U.S., and it’s what wound up in nearly every classic Gibson® and Fender®.
But as manufacturing went global, most industries moved to metric. In that world, wire is measured in millimetres, not gauges — and most use 0.06mm wire instead. It’s nearly identical in diameter, and in most applications (like tiny electric motors), the difference is negligible.
But for guitar pickups? That difference matters.
Why That Matters
In pickups, the wire isn’t just a delivery mechanism — it is the tone.
And that tiny 0.0035mm difference between 42 AWG and 0.06mm affects everything. Resonant peak shifts. Q factor broadens. The output drops slightly. You lose some of that crispness, the sparkle, the "breath" that good 42 AWG pickups have.
42 AWG sounds like every record from 1950 onward. It’s burned into our brains. It’s the reference point. Even if you've never picked up a guitar before, you've heard it. It’s what your brain expects a guitar to sound like.
So when cheap pickups are wound with 0.06mm wire? They’re close — but not quite. They’ll still sound like a guitar, and they’ll do a perfectly serviceable job. But they don’t quite hit the same. That edge, that feel — it’s missing.
The Problem
Cheap pickups almost always use metric wire. It’s dirt cheap, and it technically works. So why haven’t we all switched? Because the tone changes, and we can hear it.
Even worse, some manufacturers pass off 0.06mm wire as 42 AWG. Some even invent strange in-betweens like “42.5 AWG” to explain the difference. And sure, on paper, it looks close enough. But in reality, it’s the difference between "good for the money" and "actually good."
All because of 0.0035mm.
So when you see pickups that cost £15 and sound pretty good, and others at £250 that sound unbelievably good? That’s why.
So What Do We Do?
We use real 42 AWG — and yes, it costs. But the tone is worth it.
It’s not just about output. True 42 AWG has less internal compression, more headroom, and more immediacy. It’s clean, snappy, and articulate. If you're chasing that expressive, uncompressed vintage feel, there’s no substitute.
Now, if you want a pickup with more punch and chew, something tighter and hotter, built for metal rather than blues or classic rock? You’re probably not chasing 42 AWG. You’re looking for 43 AWG, where things get a bit denser and gutsier — that’s where our Model 24 lives.
But if you’ve read this far into a deep-dive about vintage humbucker wire specs, I’m guessing you're in the right place.
Alnico 2 Magnet
The Good — While it’s true that the coils in a humbucker do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to tone, the magnet choice still plays a subtle yet vital role in shaping the final sound. Alnico 2 magnets, being slightly weaker than other Alnicos, bring a delicate balance to the Bourbon pickup’s voice. Their lower magnetic pull allows the coils to breathe more freely, which translates into a warmer, rounder low end without sacrificing clarity. This warmth gently counterbalances the snap and brightness in the top end, resulting in that signature vintage humbucker character — open, expressive, and full of dynamic response.
Put simply, Alnico 2 is part of what gives the Bourbon its “vintage mojo.” It’s not a dramatic overhaul of the tone, but a carefully calibrated piece of the puzzle that helps deliver the warmth and musicality associated with classic pickups. The fact is, nearly every vintage-style humbucker worth its salt used Alnico 2 magnets — and for good reason. It’s this combination of coil and magnet that makes the pickup feel alive and responsive, perfect for the styles where nuance and feel are everything.
The Bad — That said, Alnico 2 isn’t without its quirks. Because it adds a touch more low-end warmth, it can sometimes make a pickup feel a little “over warm” if paired with hotter coils that already push the bass frequencies forward. This isn’t a deal-breaker by any means — after all, we’ve been making Bourbons with Alnico 2 magnets almost unchanged for 15 years — but if you’re hunting for the razor-edge clarity or a more aggressive tone, you might find it a bit too mellow.
For example, players like Eddie Van Halen or Santana tended to use pickups with stronger magnets, which tightened up the lows and added a sharper edge to their sound. If that kind of biting, slightly brittle tone is what you’re after, a Bourbon with Alnico 8 or a ceramic magnet might be more your speed.
But as the default? Alnico 2 is a solid, proven choice — delivering warmth and depth without sacrificing definition or punch. It’s a magnet that keeps the pickup balanced, musical, and true to that vintage vibe. And if you have a particular preference? I’m always happy to swap magnets — it’s a simple tweak that can really tailor your tone without the headache of juggling dozens of product variations.
4-Core Hookup Wire
The Good – We only offer this pickup with 4-core hookup, and that's a very deliberate choice. It gives you full access to everything the pickup is capable of—series, parallel, coil splits, out-of-phase options—the whole toolkit. Even if you’ve no plans to go digging into wiring mods right now, it’s a bit like future-proofing your guitar. Want to keep things vintage and simple? No problem—just wire it up like a traditional humbucker. Want to experiment with coil splits or fancy switching down the line? You’ve already got the right pickup to do it.
Tonally, there’s no real compromise. The extra cores don’t dull or colour the sound in any noticeable way, and the shielding is just as robust as any vintage braided cable. It’s just a neater, more flexible way to wire up a modern humbucker.
The Bad – There’s not really a downside, other than that little bit of extra complexity during installation. If you’re not into soldering, or you’re just swapping out a vintage-style pickup, the colour coding might look a bit much at first glance. But it’s easy enough once you’ve got a wiring diagram in front of you, and you only need to use as many wires as your setup requires. For a lot of players, it’s plug, play, and forget.
So yes, 4-core might look like overkill—but in practice, it’s just a smarter, more flexible way of building pickups. It’s one of those details that doesn’t make the tone on its own—but it makes sure you can get every last drop out of what the pickup is already doing.
Nickel Silver Baseplate
The Good – There’s a lot of mythology that swirls around baseplate materials in humbuckers, and while some of it has a grain of truth (we’ll get to that), the real reason every serious pickup maker uses nickel silver? It solders cleanly, reliably, and doesn’t corrode like steel or brass. That’s it. That’s the big one. It’s predictable, consistent, and when you’re dealing with critical connections—ground loops and cover joints specifically —you want something that isn’t going to flake off, soak up heat, or randomly let go five years down the line.
From a maker’s perspective, that’s huge. It means fewer returns, fewer headaches, and better longevity across the board. And from a player’s point of view? You never think about it again. You just plug in and play. Exactly how it should be.
That said, there’s a tonal footnote worth mentioning. Nickel silver has a very low conductivity to magnetic flux, which means it doesn't get in the way of the pickup doing its job. So while the baseplate doesn’t shape the tone per se, it’s at least not interfering with it—especially compared to steel or brass, which can bleed off energy in strange ways.
So yeah—it’s not a "tone wood", it’s not magic, but it’s smart, dependable, and it makes your pickup tougher and cleaner to work with. Think of it like using stainless bolts instead of mild steel on a trem block—not glamorous, but absolutely the right choice.
The Bad – Honestly? Not a lot to complain about. It’s a little pricier than brass or steel, and it’s harder to source in small runs—but that’s not your problem. If there’s any real downside, it’s that some players get it confused with the more dramatic effects of nickel silver covers, which do shape tone noticeably (and often negatively, depending on thickness, plating and solder technique). So let’s be clear—baseplates ≠ covers. If you’re going down rabbit holes, make sure it’s the right one!
Avoiding Extremes (and Failing Anyway)
This bit isn’t really about good or bad pickups — so I’ll break from the usual format as I wrap things up.
With humbuckers, especially vintage ones like the Bourbon, Classic, or True 50s, there's always the temptation to speak in huge, dramatic terms. And, admittedly, I’ve probably fallen into that trap in the rest of this write-up. So let me just say it plainly:
Vintage humbuckers all sound pretty similar.
Well — more precisely — all vintage humbuckers wound with 42 AWG plain enamel wire, six fillister head screws, six 3/16" slugs, reading somewhere between 7k and 8.5k resistance, and inducing between 4.5 and 5.5 Henries… sound pretty similar.
You knew it wasn’t going to be that simple, right?
To boil it down to something you could actually put on the back of your guitar case:
“All good vintage humbuckers sound pretty similar.”
So when I say the Bourbon City is a "snorting, bucking bronco with a blistering top end and a warm, sultry low," or that the Classics have a "full, rich bass with a crystalline shimmer that’ll make you weep on the first chord" — well, yes, those things are true… but what I really mean is getting a bit lost beneath the flowery language that’s part of the job. We’ve all got to eat, right?
The Bourbons are livelier. They’re hotter. They misbehave a little more. They love being pushed. But really? They’re not worlds apart. The differences are real — but small. Electrically, tonally, musically, these pickups are doing broadly similar things. They live in the same tonal postcode.
The specs vary slightly, and that does translate into tonal character — but please, for the sake of the engineer in me, don’t get too caught up in the marketing spin. The differences matter, but they’re not seismic. Definitely not worth losing sleep over.
And if exaggeration is the curse of guitar marketing, then when it comes to pickups, it’s on full-blown Necronomicon levels. We all speak in mad, over-the-top metaphors, and I wish we didn’t have to — but it’s the world we live in. I’ll stop when everyone else does. Deal?
So, to bring it back to Earth:
A Bourbon City is hotter than a Classic, which is hotter than a True 50.
They’ll all do a fantastic job on country, blues, rock, pop, and even the odd bit of acid jazz.
They’ll struggle, however, with full-on saturation and square-wave distortion.
The general rule? The hotter the pickup, the more low end it produces, and the harder it hits the amp. It’s not strictly accurate — far from it — but as a quick guide, it helps cut through the noise.
A Bourbon isn’t going to blow your windows out any more than a Classic will. But in that last 2% — that bit between “this is good” and “this is perfect” — all that flowery language starts to help. Both the Bourbon and the Classic can do hard rock. Both have the right characteristics. But if you're chasing something specific? The Bourbon will get you there more easily.
So yes — as much of a cop-out as it may sound, and as much as I cringe writing the poetic stuff — you should put some stock in it. It’s not entirely true, but it does offer some artistic guidance when choosing between similar pickups.
If you’re torn between a Bourbon and a Classic? Relax. They’re both excellent. They’ll both do the job. They’re only slightly different — don’t overthink it.
Just remember: this only holds true for good vintage-style pickups.
Once we break away from 42 AWG, or go outside that 7k–8.5k resistance range, or compare something wound with 0.06mm wire to a high-spec boutique wind, then the differences become far more significant. You’ll see real changes in signal output, EQ shape, response — and those extreme descriptions suddenly start to make a lot more sense.
In fact, it almost makes the language we use to describe subtle differences between vintage models a bit laughable. If I call the Bourbon City rich and thumping with a fiery top end — how on earth do I describe something like the Hot Iron at 14.5k and 43 AWG? That thing’s got more bass in the trunk than a boy racer’s Vauxhall Corsa.
So, what am I really saying?
Know what you’re looking at. If I describe a vintage humbucker as having “huge bass” and “blistering aggression,” keep in mind — that’s all relative. It’s not actually that bassy or aggressive. Likewise, if I say a high-output pickup has “tight, defined low end,” that’s in the context of high-output pickups. It’ll still hit hard — just with a little more shape and control than usual.
Matched Set?
The Bourbon is a humbucker that covers an awful lot of ground - so this might get a little long winded, so, to keep it brief, there aren't many pickups we make that you couldn't match with them, but, i'll try to keep this a little more focused, so if your mixing and matching, your going to really get the best out of the set.
That classic combination of a 5H/8.2K/alnico 2, mounted to a standard humbucker base, is capable of working in a Strat®, a Tele®, A Les Paul®, an SG®... prety much anywhere you'd find a humbucker, this is going to fit, and electrically, its going to play well with most pickup specs too, so, the first thing to remember - dont fear the Bourbon! Its about as easy going as it gets when it comes to humbuckers.
However, its certainly got "a style" - its wide reaching,(and i'd probably have an easier time writng the list of things that DONT work with them!) but lets keep that "this is a sleazy, spicy, vintage humbucker" in mind when we're talking matched sets.
Humbuckers
Bourbon City - Traditionally, Humbucker guitars have "truly matched sets" - and, frankly, i think it works best. So, obviously, if your fitting a Bourbon City in the neck, having one in the bridge is going to give you "the full experience" - and thats a very traditional setup, very focused on blues and rock, the bridge will be capable of chords and lead work without feeling too specialist - a good, normal, versitile setup!
Model 24 - There will be situations where you want "more" from your bridge pickup, and whilst the Bourbon is a great option in its own right, you do, occasionally, find situations where your treading the fine lne between Rock and Metal - and in those situations, the Model 24 makes an ideal companion pickup for a Bourbon neck - its more rounded, more muscullar, a little more capable, a little happier whendistorted and has more natural compresion - HOWEVER - its not my first choice for a neck pickup, so, if your considering a M24 bridge, the Bourbon works great to give you a smoother, sweeter counter point to what is, really, quite an aggressive, expressive humbucker.
Telecaster®
With the "Humbucker Neck" Telecaster® being a pretty popular modification nowadays, i'll keep this one as "to the point" as i can, but i do have to get bogged down a little into the science side of it.
Most Tele® models will, 99% of the time, have a single coil in the bridge, and that single coil will most defnately want 250k pots.
Fitting a humbucker in the neck slot, means you'll probably want 500k pots (to retain top end from the humbucker)
Further more, single coils, traditionally, dont induce the same strength signal as humbuckers - in simple terms, they're not as loud - so, whilst we can account for 500k vs. 250k pots (a 470k resistor wired in parallel with the single coil will sort it! Like this loom.) - we've still got to work with the pickups inductance/volume - and to do that, you've got to have slightly hotter bridge pickups in this setup - trying to match an out and out vintage bridge pickup with ANY humbucker, is going to leave you very disappointed when you hear how weak the bridge pickup is compared to the neck!
These, however, are safe bets for all vintage humbuckers, and work well with the Bourbon City.
Yorkshire Jack - Great little pickup - what i'd call a "modern tone" for a Telecaster (which means 1990s onward) - its not as twangy as you'd hear from a 50s/60s affair, but its much happier under a little gain or distortion. It feels, weirdly, like a Humbucker - its a big more "spiky", with that twang you'd expect, but its in the ball park of humbuckers like the Bourbon, which means its going to play well on the same amp settings, and, frankly, it'll even do a decent job on 500k pots thanks to its higher industance! Cant go wrong with a Yorkshire Jack/Bourbon Combo for me.
T90 - If the Yorkshire Jack is humbucker adjacent, the T90 is a P90 in sheeps clothing - its HUGE, wound up with 42 AWG, inducing up around 6H, its a fantastic pickup. It retains alot of the headroom you'd expect from 42 AWG, its got a very throaty "twang" rather then the slightly waspish "brrrrring" you get with "very vintage" pickups, and again, its perfectly at home on 500ks. Big and Muscullar, but happier on cleans/slightly dirty because its much roomier then the YJ, and that lack of compression does guide you more towards cleans with a touh of diirt more then "chain saw" distortion.
A WARNING - remember, when your working with Humbucker Neck Tele® guitars - unless you can find an ingenius way of coil splitting the humbucker when the switch is in "neck + bridge in parallel" - your going to get an awful lot of phase cancellation (with one coil from the humbucker wiping out the bridge pickup - most never bother to fix it, and accept that pos 2 is "something weird", but...) to get it to work "properly" you're going to need to do something very clever with the wiring!
Stratocaster®
Strings Ransom - originally designed as the companion pickup, specifically for the Bourbon in HSS and HSH guitars! Built around Alnico 2 poles rather then the traditional alnico 5s, giving them a more rounded, slightly dirty feel, with a stronger bass and not as much "snap" as a traditional Strat®, a little chewier, a little grubbier, a little more forgiving if you throw them about. Great for, pretty much, everything you'd expect from the Bourbon City frankly.
And the pickups we pair with the BC on the HSS assembly!
Texas Blues - Much more traditional, much more "this is what a Strat should sound like" - raw and rasping and raunchy, plenty of snap, backed up with alot of body. A great option if your wanting "Gibson and Fender" in the same guitar. Pairing with a Bourbon wont give you as much of a "dedicated blues rocker" but they'll give you alot of versitility.
TB754S - A bit left field, and whilst they'll work, i cant think that a SSH and HSH guitar really NEEDS a TB754 myself - they're a fairly specialist pickup, wound "as hot as you can go" with 42 AWG, so they're bit and biting and roomy, but also, quite dark and brooding - a Strat pickup without the razor blades. Not for me personally, atleast in a reverse HSS or HSH, but, never have it said i'm the best judge of taste!
A WARNING - just like on the Tele, you want to be finding a way to coil split the humbucker whenever its "on" with a single coil, otherwise, the 3 coils will phase cancel out, and it'll sound like you've got a bridge single coil in pos 2. Thankfully, plenty of ways to do that, even with standard 5 way switches! If in doubt, get in touch and i'll talk you through it. (obviously, "tech support within reason" - i'm not here to fix your guitar, i'm here to support Axesrus parts)
