The 1955 Gibson Black Beauty
with its neck 480 (Alnico-5) Staple pickup
But now there is this Kinman Zero-Hum '580' with Alnico rod magnets.
NEWS Flash 18-August-2022: We now supply our new 'Universal' soapbar covers in genuine Gibson Cream, Warm White, Old Ivory and Black, click the option when ordering. A must for Gibson guitars!
Outstanding sonic characteristics: Expression through EXTREME Dynamics is the 3rd Dimension and this pickup has it in spades. The sound is Extreme Fender, like no Strat could ever sound like; it has that typical Fendery clang and has amazing prominent piano mid-tones in the low wound strings plus it has P90-like whack attack plus a huge warm lush and sensual bottom end and brilliant highs that have a nice sweet harmonic bloom. Mounted in an all Mahogany guitar the overall sound is a true cross of Fender (with beyond excellent note separation) -and- a P-90 (with it's airy extreme dynamic range, touch sensitivity and it's lush, sensual feel)
Matching Bridge Version: The 580 Extra is the matching bridge pickup, it sounds a little heavier than the 580 neck model and it balances perfectly volume-wise with the normal 580 in the neck position and both-on-together gives a surprising huge 'c-luck' with extreme dynamic range. Yup, a pair of these will definitely put you in Sonic Nirvana, you really should try these wonderful pickups.
Additional benefits: Both versions are highly resistant to mushing and blurring on the low wound strings when played hard, especially in chord formation.
Recommended especially for neck position of Les Pauls* and any guitar with P-90's when a bright, dynamically expressive, clean tidy sound is required -and/or- the bridge position for country or instrumental and Surf Twang. We are pretty sure it'll put a big grin on your face.
Suitable for Soap-bar covers (included) and for use under existing Dog-Ear covers. See "Covers" below in the Technical section.
Introduced July-15 / v2 upgrade introduced 18-May-2021
* Les Paul is a Trade Mark of Gibson, Inc. Kinman is not associated with Gibson,Inc.
** Alnico-K is Kinman's proprietary low strength Alnico-5 rod magnet
Upgrades: Grounded pole screws are now standard on all models as from July-2017
Signal chain requirements: Any old cable won't do. It is highly recommended to use a low capacitance cable to get the incredible performance of this pickup (or any other pickup).
The 580 is a Zero-Hum soapbar pickup. Some people will call these 'noiseless' 480 pickups but Kinman prefers to describe them correctly as 'Zero-Hum' 480 pickups. That's because there are 2 types of noise, Hum which is cancelled in the pickup.... and Buzz which can only be minimized by shielding the wiring cavities Refer to >Technical >Perfect Guitar >Shielding for newer guitars
Installation
When replacing an original Gibson 480 two new screw holes must be drilled in the floor of the cavity because our 580 has the mounting screws of a P-90. Cavity for original Gibson 480 is suitable, no modification required. We use fixed Alnico-K** rod magnets, not individually adjustable Alnico-5 blocks as the 480 has.
Consider including our optional non-magnetic mounting plate kit, it makes install fast n easy because you don't have to drill holes in the precise position for the pickups mounting screws in cavity floors. Do NOT use original Gibson mounting plates, being magnetic will dramatically compromise the hum cancelling ability of the P-90 Hx.
Epiphones
Kinman’s will bring your Epiphone to life because they achieve the maximum sonic potential of the guitar, and are easier to install than practically all other brands too because of our Easy Install Kit for f-hole guitars. Comprehensive, easy to do step-by-step instructions provided. Refer to the Overview Tab >Epiphone f-hole talk. More in Pole Spreads, next item ....
Connections
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Output Polarity:
Pot & Capacitor values
Cavity depth
Pole spreads
Hook-up cable
Mounting hardware
Covers
The 580 plays a jazzy version of Sleepwalk with finger style.
