Pin-Up Custom Guitars "Patent Denied" Custom Unpotted Humbucker Pickup - Black

Eric Daw "Patent Denied" Custom Unpotted Humbucker Pickup – Black | No Limit Guitar Co, Idaho Falls

The Eric Daw "Patent Denied" Custom Humbucker is a genuinely hand-built, scatter-wound boutique pickup made to old-world standards with the finest materials available — rough-cast Alnico V bar magnets, 42 AWG plain enamel coated magnet wire, black butyrate plastic bobbins, and traditional vintage-style braided 2-conductor hookup wire, each wound by hand on a direct-drive winding device that Eric Daw built himself after studying the original pickup winding machines of the 1950s' electric guitar pioneers. No machines, no trained lackeys, no corners cut — every specification, material choice, and winding decision reflects Eric Daw's commitment to producing the highest quality, best-sounding boutique pickup available. This bridge position example was built in 2024 with an 8k output and is finished in as-new cosmetic condition, uncovered, unpotted. Warning: unpotted pickups are intentionally slightly microphonic and are not recommended for super high-gain applications.

Product Overview

The "Patent Denied" name is a nod to the history of the humbucker itself — the original Seth Lover humbucker design was submitted for patent under Gibson's name, with the patent application eventually resulting in the "Patent Applied For" stickers that appeared on original PAF humbuckers before the patent was granted, and the "Patent Number" stickers that followed. Eric Daw's "Patent Denied" branding is both a playful historical reference and a statement of intent — these pickups are not about replicating the branding and marketing of vintage gear, but about replicating the actual materials, construction methods, and sonic character of the best-sounding vintage pickups ever made.

The scatter wound coil is the most technically significant aspect of the "Patent Denied" construction — and the one that most directly contributes to its vintage tonal character. Modern machine-wound pickups lay wire in controlled, even, consistent rows across the bobbin — a process that is efficient, repeatable, and consistent, but that produces a coil with specific capacitance and inductance characteristics that differ from hand-wound coils. The hand-winding process, with wire guided by a human hand rather than a machine traverse, produces a random, scattered distribution of wire across the bobbin — this scatter wound pattern creates a more complex, irregular coil structure with lower distributed capacitance and different resonant frequency characteristics than a machine-wound equivalent. The practical result is a pickup that sounds more open, more harmonically complex, and more dynamically responsive to pick attack and playing dynamics than machine-wound equivalents with nominally identical specifications.

The rough-cast Alnico V bar magnets sourced from USA manufacturers are charged by hand using a magnet charging device of Eric Daw's own construction — a level of control over the magnetic charge applied to each pickup that production-scale manufacturers don't exercise. Alnico V is the magnet material associated with high-output, extended high-frequency response, and tight low-end character — the magnet type found in many of the most revered vintage bridge humbuckers. The 42 AWG plain enamel coated magnet wire is the same wire specification used in vintage PAF-era pickups, contributing to the period-correct tonal character the "Patent Denied" is designed to achieve. The pickup is unpotted — no wax has been applied to stabilize the coil — which preserves the pickup's natural microphonic character and tonal openness at the cost of some high-gain stability. This is an intentional and deliberate tonal choice, not a production limitation.

Ideal For

• Tone enthusiasts and boutique pickup seekers who understand the tonal significance of scatter-wound coils, rough-cast Alnico V magnets, and unpotted construction
• Blues, classic rock, jazz, and roots players who want the harmonically open, dynamically responsive tonal character that hand-wound vintage-spec pickups produce
• Guitarists who want a genuinely one-of-a-kind pickup — each "Patent Denied" is individually made by hand and cannot be exactly replicated by any machine
• Players who want the natural microphonic character and tonal openness of an unpotted pickup and operate within its recommended moderate-gain application range
• Collectors and players in Idaho Falls looking for a rare, boutique, USA-made custom humbucker with documented build specifications and genuine old-world craftsmanship

Key Features

Hand-Wound Scatter Wound Coil
Wire guided by hand on a direct-drive winding device produces a scatter wound coil pattern that cannot be replicated by any machine — lower distributed capacitance, more complex resonant character, and a harmonically open, dynamically responsive tonal quality that machine-wound coils cannot achieve.

Rough-Cast Alnico V Bar Magnets — USA Sourced
Finest USA-made rough-cast Alnico V bar magnets, charged by hand using a custom-built magnet charging device — the same magnet type and sourcing philosophy associated with the best-sounding vintage bridge humbuckers.

42 AWG Plain Enamel Coated Magnet Wire
Period-correct magnet wire specification — the same wire type used in vintage PAF-era pickups, contributing to the "Patent Denied's" authentic vintage tonal character.

Unpotted — Intentionally Microphonic
No wax potting preserves the pickup's natural microphonic character and tonal openness — a deliberate old-world construction choice that contributes to the pickup's dynamic responsiveness. Not recommended for super high-gain applications.

Black Butyrate Plastic Bobbins
Traditional butyrate plastic bobbins in classic black, uncovered — the same bobbin material used in vintage humbucker construction for period-correct structural and tonal authenticity.

Vintage-Style Braided 2-Conductor Hookup Wire
Traditional braided 2-conductor hookup wire — the vintage wiring style that matches the period-correct construction philosophy throughout the pickup.

Made in USA — 2024 Build
Every material component is USA-sourced, every construction step is performed by Eric Daw personally — a genuinely one-of-a-kind boutique pickup with no machine involvement in any stage of production.

What's Included

• Eric Daw "Patent Denied" Custom Unpotted Humbucker Pickup (Black, Bridge)
• Eric Daw Custom Guitars Presentation Tin
• Free standard shipping

Warning: Unpotted pickups are intentionally slightly microphonic. Not recommended for super high-gain applications.

Technical Specifications

Get Your Hands on This Custom Humbucker Today

This Eric Daw "Patent Denied" Custom Humbucker is available now at No Limit Guitar Co in Idaho Falls. Stop in to learn more about the build and pick it up in person, or reach out online to arrange your purchase — a genuinely one-of-a-kind, hand-wound boutique humbucker that no machine can replicate.