The Mojotone 44 Magnum humbucker pickup set! When you see a name like that, there is most likely one thing you have in mind:
Mojotone has something else going on. “44” is actually the wire gauge at work in these pickups. And “magnum” essentially means “containing more than the standard size”. Still, there’s a lot of force in this magnum…. see what I did there? LOL!
With that, how about we go ahead and look at the specs:
44 Magnum Bridge
Series – 22.95 K
Inductance – 12.048 H
Split – 11.473 K
Split – 11.486 K
Parallel – 5.748 K
Magnet – Ceramic
44 Magnum Neck
Series – 15.909 K
Inductance – 6.427 H
Split – 8.038 K
Split – 7.91 K
Parallel – 3.983
Magnet – Ceramic
Whoa! Those are some pretty powerful readings! Close to twice of what some garden variety vintage-hot humbuckers might have. And definitely a LOT more than most selections from the high output range. There is a fair share of other pickups on this site that also have high DC resistance. What makes the 44 Magnum different?
Might sound simple, but it’s all about how Mojotone makes the sausage. And yes, different pickup companies do tend to have their own approach to their basic tonal character. That’s why some people can generally say Brand ABC sounds this way and Brand XYZ sounds that way. It takes all the flavors to make the world go around.
For the not-so-simple consideration, think of how much wire is on those coils. There are so many factors at play that include the choice of insulation, and the tension, and the coil geometry, and more. And how all those elements factor in to the workings between results that include inductance and distributed capacitance. That’s a lot of things to be juggling.
There is a point to where pushing it too far can convey a dull-sounding result. Nobody wants that. Mojotone pickup wizard David Shepherd has some innovative philosophies on winding. He can throw a full court press at the bobbins and walk away with an amazing amount of transparency and detail. And that is what is going on here with the 44 Magnum set.
For this evaluation, I put the 44 Magnum set in a trusty double-hum test mule. Mojotone is using the triangle style mounting tabs here, so these pickups can go in just about anything I can imagine. The wiring harness on this guitar has Bourns 500k pots, a Switchcraft 12120X 3-way toggle, and Switchcraft 1/4″ jack. During the install process, I take advantage of the opportunity to hit the fretboard with Lizard Spit Fret Board Conditioner and to apply Lizard Spit Slick Nutz to relevant friction points.
Firing up the dirty amp channel, you’re gonna get hit hard between the eyes. Lots of power and a bone-crunching attitude. There is a coherence across the board with the 44 Magnum set that yields a musical quality from a transparent voicing. Plenty dirty and lots of hairy.
The bridge position is ready to pop you in the jaw without even asking for your safe word. And it gets more fun from there. You want clear-cut staccato djent? How about pummeling thrash? Or muscular hard rock? It’s all there. Adjust your playing style and maybe tweak the amp and you have the bases covered.
I am exceptionally surprised at the 44 Magnum neck in all the good ways. It is particularly functional across the entire fretboard and has loads of sustain. We’ve all had those neck pickups that are only good from the 10th or 12th fret up. This is not that. Low have clarity and highs have plenty of cut. The mids have a vocal purity that avoids getting honky or nasal.
Lead and solo work is practically effortless. Both the neck and bridge positions deliver an expressive ability to punch through. Harmonics are as easy as falling off a log in ways to make Dime and Vai happy as clams.
Clean amp channel? You’re looking at a pretty darned strong pickup with ceramic magnets. There is the chance that you might have to work some knobs on your typical clean settings. HaHa! But you should be golden by taking advantage of the 4-con lead wire and working the volume knob. For something this powerful, the 44 Magnum is capable of some nice clean tones. Once again, it’s also all in the hands. The right playing style can take these from chimey clean to edgy dirt effortlessly.
Ready for a demo?
Sweet Fancy Moses! How about that?!? Quite the polar opposite of Mojotone other recent new release, the Premium Historic Limited 59 PAF! By the way, do yourself a favor and grab a set of those Prem Historic Ltd 59s. Some of the best PAF clones I have heard! Back to the point… what’s going on in that demo? Mojotone had a healthy supply at shredders on staff!
Or how about this official Mojotone demo with Adam Tanbouz (of He Is Legend):
The 44 Magnum pickups are good for Hard Rock, Shred, Metalcore, Progressive Rock, Thrash, Extreme Metal, Punk, Djent, Grunge, Nu-Metal, Tech Metal, 80s Metal, and more.
The 44 Magnum humbuckers are available individually or as a set in standard and F-spacings. There is an assortment of covers available, as well as black, zebra, and reverse zebra bobbins.
For reference, this Mojotone 44 Magnum humbucker pickup set evaluation was conducted with a Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller. Real cabs in use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s, Classic Series G12M Greenbacks, and Heritage Series G12-65s.
