Mojotone ’59 Clone Hot

There are many fun pickups out there, and the ’59 Clone Hot is one of them.

A prior evaluation of the regular Mojotone 59 Clone bridge humbucker is a primer for the DNA of the ’59 Clone Hot: “a nicely balanced tone.  An open vibe that remains firmly grounded.”  And then take it all up a notch.

This is the great part.  There is nothing lost or sacrificed in the process.  In so many instances, a hotter wind (or an over-wind) can lead to a plus in one column and a minus in the other.  Not so with the Hot ’59 Clone.  The balanced voice is there.  The open character is there.  Just more of it.  We will see that reflected in the specs here in just a minute.

Installation

Loading the humbucker into ye olde test guitar, the harness is 500k Bourns pots, a Switchcraft 12120X 3-way toggle, and a Pure Tone 1/4″ output jack. Strings are 09-42 with a E standard tuning.  

Evaluation

I’m going with the full pickup set approach on this one. For the neck position, Mojotone suggests the 7.4k regular ’59 Clone neck position to match with this one. If you’re feeling froggy and want to jump on the 8.2k regular ’59 Clone bridge in the neck, give it a shot. For my own tastes, I’m liking the refined lows and mids of the ’59 Clone neck in that slot.

Being a little more firm in the neck, the set affords a wide range of tonal options.  With the right amp and cab selection, the Hot ’59 Clone bridge should meet just about any need.

As with my comments on the regular ’59 Clone, the Hot version has that dedicated pursuit of the real deal PAFs.  You get versatility, clarity, sweetness, expressiveness, definition, and an airy brightness.  Working the guitar’s volume knob can take you from a snappy quack to a authoritative snarl.  Fret not (ha! a pun!) about it clocking it at about 9k.  The real deal PAFs did meter anywhere between 7.5 and 9.

Going to a high-octane high-energy high-output setting on your amp is a lot of fun with this pickup. In as much and you can totally find yourself in brown-sound territory. The clarity comes in handy when you’re dancing the night away on the mean streets.

Specs

How about some specs, alongside the regular ’59 Clone for easy comparison.  Check out how while there’s a 10% difference in the wind, the inductance stays the same and the % of coil offset is so close.  I don’t know about you, but I think that’s cool:

Demo

Here is a comparison video by Hanan Rubinstein that Mojotone approves. It demonstrates some stock pickups up against multiple sets of Mojotone pickups. Consider checking out the entire demo, but this example is cued up to the 59 Clone Hot at about 08:50:

Additionally, here is a sound clip from Mojotone’s Soundcloud:

Conclusion

The biggest surprise to me about this pickup is that it’s an easy to find and reasonably priced option that delivers a much more genuine PAF experience.  My belief is that there have been easily accessible PAF-style humbuckers that would have people thinking it should be big and beefy and boomy.  If that’s what people want, it’s out there.  For a much more refined and purist approach without breaking the bank, check it out along the rest of the ’59 Clone line.

The ’59 Clone Hot comes with nickel, aged nickel, chrome, and gold covers. Uncovered bobbin colors include zebra, reverse zebra, and double black. Do you have a specific need for short legs or 4-con lead wire? Or maybe relic bobbins for a special project. Give Mojotone a call or an e-mail and maybe they can work something out for you.

For reference, this Mojotone ’59 Clone Hot evaluation was conducted with the following: Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller.  ADA MP-1 Tube Pre-Amp loaded with Tube Amp Doctor ECC83 Premium Selected tubes, using the ADA MC-1 MIDI Controller. Fryette LX II Stereo Tube Power Amplifier. Physical cabs in use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s and Classic Series G12M Greenbacks.

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