Sky pickups are a line of magnetic pickups for solid and semi-hollow body electric guitars produced for Ibanez by the Sky Pickup Company. They were designed by Sky's Kent Armstrong.[1][2] They were also referred to in some cases as Skylark pickups.
The Sky pickups are retro-styled pickups which were used on higher-end models in the mid-1990s Talman series guitars. They came in two throwback styles: lipstick-style single coils and soapbar-style humbuckers.
The Skylark SLV-1 lipstick pickups featured wire wound directly on the magnet with no bobbin, similar to the original Danelectro lipsticks. However, the Skylark pickups were potted and sealed in epoxy to eliminate the noise and microphonics associated which are associated with the earlier designs.[1][3]
As the SLV-1 but reverse wound. Used as a middle pickup in a three single coil layout to offer two completely noise-free positions using the 5-way selector switch.[4]
The FBV-1 mini-humbuckers offer a tight, well-defined tone with a focused mid-range.[4] Used in a HSH configuration with STV-1 single-coil in the middle position.
The Skylark H100s are soapbar-styled pickups which take off from the 60s P90 single-coil design but add the noiseless operation of a humbucker. The result is a pickup with the bite and clarity of a traditional single-coil but with more sweetness and sustain.[5]
Sources[]
↑ 1.01.1Specht, Paul; Wright, Michael; Donahue, Jim (2005). Ibanez : the Untold Story. Bensalem, Penn.: Hoshino (U.S.A.). p. 193. ISBN 0976427702.
