1975-78 Hi-A (Bartolini) 1B Pickups

For your consideration, Garrett Park Guitars presents these Hi-A 1B pickups.

The 1B pickup was designed by the late Bill Bartolini and produced under the Hi-A label between 1975 and 1978. These days, Hi-A's are hard to come by -- and it's harder still to find specs and other info. According to a representative for Bartolini Pickups & Electronics, which succeeded Hi-A: "Record keeping was not a priority and many of what records were kept are in looseleaf notebooks buried in one of several storage units in Livermore somewhere. Serial numbers were not assigned to any products so positively dating these pickups is impossible."

The Bartolini rep was, however, able to identify these pickups as 1B's, or "Beasts" as they came to be known, which are unique for their tonal versatility. Thanks to eight pins on the underside of each pickup, they can be wired and rewired -- in series, parallel, out of phase, and as single coils -- for a number of sounds.