About

ZUZUbuckers

It’s hard to imagine improving upon the humbucker, one of the greatest innovations in electric guitar history. But ZUZUbuckers aren’t about refining a classic. 

ZUZUbuckers are about opening a sonic door to a tonal palette you don’t associate with humbuckers: rich, shimmering clarity with a splash of spank. One strum and you’ll hear the difference as patent-pending ZUZUbuckers — a passive, no-batteries-required solution for virtually any guitar that can accommodate humbuckers — add gleam to every note up and down the neck. Highs are bright but never shrieky...midrange is untangled...bass is rich, round, and throaty. And yet they snarl when overdriven.

ZUZU-S for S-guitars

Want something similar to classic S-tones, but bolder? A loaded ZUZU-S pickguard will do the trick. And that look!

Exploiting modern H-S-S routing in many stock S guitars, ZUZU-S pickguards add dimensionality, sheen, and spank to that classic S arsenal of tones. Outfit your S-guitar with a ZUZU-S loaded pickguard and it’ll be hard to go back to stock. Start by dialing up the “gotta-have” traditional spank in positions 2 and 4, and Neck pickup richness. Create a whole new story in the Middle and Bridge positions, where you’ll hear greater dimension without ice-picking shriek. And let all five switch positions deliver untangled midrange and bass that’s round and throaty. Put it all together and your listeners will wonder what sort of effect has been added to the chain. And it’s hard to take your eyes off their patent-pending ‘tweed look’ covers. This 1-sheet shows covers that I’ve developed and can use on your ZUZU-S loaded pickguard.

The 3-ply, modern 11-screw pickguard is designed to fit contemporary HSS bodies. A nonstandard .0047 capacitor for the Tone pots makes for a snarly, honking quality when overdriven, especially in the Bridge position.

ZUZU pickup covers for S-guitars. Love your own pickups but want the patent-pending ZUZU-S tweed-look pickup covers? Now you can buy the covers and swap them into your own guitar!

ZUZU T-guitars

Looking for a fresh alternative to classic twang? Check out my customized T guitars.

Maybe you love T tone and a want a new sonic take…or you want to love a T, but all that T-twang is just too much. A customized T-guitar brings ZUZU sheen and dimensionality to the T arsenal of sounds. Think of it as a way to preserve a lot of what’s distinctive about a T but with more richness and detail, and buffed-down high end.

What’s the secret?

Their patented design is unlike anything else you’ve ever played. 

  • No batteries or charging required. These are “passive pickups”. Just wire them up and blast off.

  • ZUZUbuckers are an easy drop-in replacement for virtually any standard humbucker and slip into standard rectangular pickup rings. ZUZU-S loaded pickguards are designed to fit modern H-S-S body routs and use standard 11-screw pickguards.

  • Connect them via simple ‘hot and ground’ wiring.

About me. A player since age 14 — which was quite a while ago — I began experimenting with pickup construction in 2006. One thing led to another and I got my first patent in 2018. Several others have followed.

I am not interested in replicating the work of other pickup manufacturers, awesome though their designs may be. Rather, I want to give you new sonic option that make your guitar sound so exciting – so right – that you just can’t put it down. For me, ZUZUbuckers are the first humbucker I’ve ever wanted to play clean; I never touch my stock S guitar now that I have one equipped with ZUZU-S; and my ZUZU-for-T takes me places that a stock T just cannot. The only stomp box I ever use now is for distortion, because the raw sound of my ZUZU pickups is so captivating.

As for the manufacturing process, ZUZU pickups are made by me, by hand, one at a time, in my Pennsylvania workshop. Each pickup is tested five times: when it’s wound; when it’s potted; when it’s assembled; when it’s sealed; and when it’s shipped. But I understand and accept that in life and in pickups, things can go wrong. Nothing means more to me than your satisfaction with my pickups, so please let me know of any issues. I want ZUZU pickups to become a new tonal standard for players in all genres. Thanks.

Chris