Kingtone Bluebird J1 Pickups — Jesse Davey
The best Stratocaster pickups I've ever played — and a full demo of the KingTone ecosystem in one video. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the KingTone Blue Bird J1 Pickups take center stage in the Nash S63, alongside the KingTone SRV Switch installed in the secondary tone position and a dedicated mini pedalboard of KingTone pedals — Vintage Fuzz, Vibe 1968, and The Duellist v1 — all into the Benson Amps Monarch.
KingTone Guitar is the work of Jesse Davey out of Canada. Jesse has devoted his career to designing the ultimate vintage Stratocaster pickup and the boutique pedals that complement it. The BlueBird J1s were designed in 2006 and have maintained precise, exacting specifications throughout production — meticulously designed to get as close to the Stevie Ray Vaughan tone as possible.
Specs: Neck 5.8k / Middle 5.7k / Bridge 5.6k. Staggered Alnico V magnets. Vintage spec Heavy Formvar 42 AWG wire. Scatter wound on custom winding machines. Hand-bevelled pole pieces. The bridge pickup is voiced specifically to deliver full, playable tone without the harshness associated with overwound pickups — bright without ice-pick, extended in the low end without mud.
The Vintage Fuzz features four transistors — both AC128 and NKT275 Germanium transistors accessible via two switches, selectable and mix-and-matchable across the two gain stages. AC128 for smooth, softer fuzz with lower gain; NKT275 for brighter, more aggressive fuzz. External bias adjustment. Battery simulator for DC power supply.
The Vibe 1968 is a dual-channel Uni-Vibe with independent Rate and Depth on each side, switchable between Chorus and Vibrato modes, with an A/B channel footswitch.
The Duellist v1 is Jesse's two-channel overdrive — one side is String Singer (Dumble-voiced), the other is Heavy Hand (Bluesbreaker-voiced) — explored here both independently and stacked.
The KingTone SRV Switch replaces the secondary tone control and provides six additional tonal positions for treble bleed and filter configurations voiced specifically for the BlueBird J1 pickups.
🎸 KingTone BlueBird J1 Pickups: https://www.kingtoneguitar.com/product/bluebird-j1-guitar-pickups/
🎸 Nash Guitars S63: https://nashguitarsusa.com
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
Subscribe for more boutique tone explorations.
🎸 Nash S63 | KingTone BlueBird J1 Pickups | KingTone SRV Switch
🎛️ KingTone Vintage Fuzz (NKT275/AC128) → KingTone Vibe 1968 → KingTone Duellist v1
🔊 Benson Amps Monarch
