Choose Your Language / Location
English
English / India
Español
USA:
1-800-4GIBSON
Europe:
00+8004GIBSON1
History
Talk 2 Us
Gibson Guitartowns
Gibson Foundation
Careers
Min-ETune™
Electric Guitars
Acoustic Instruments
Pro Audio
Gear & Accessories
Pianos
Jukeboxes
Learn & Master Guitar
Gear
Hardware
Historic
Instrument Care
Lifestyle
Pickups and Electronics
Robot Parts
Features
News
Beginners
Battle of the Fans
Gear & Tech
Gibson Insider
Events
Extras
Blogs
Contests
Gibson's Skills House
Arlen Roth Lessons
Forums
Talk to Henry
Facebook
Gibson App
Events Calendar
Twitter
RSS Feeds
YouTube
Dealers
Acoustic Five-Star Dealers
Online-Dealers
International Distributors
Become A Dealer
Repair and Restoration
FAQ
FAQ-Tonewoods
Report Counterfeits
Warranty
Warranty Service Centers
Serial Number Search
How To Buy A Guitar
Tech Support
Tech Tips
Schematics
Products
Store
News-Lifestyle
Lessons
Community
24/7 Support
Products
Electric Guitars
Les Paul
Gibson Custom
Don Felder "Hotel California" 1959 Les Paul
Home
Features
Specs
Buy Now
Product Features
Body and Finish
Neck and Headstock
Hardware
Pickups and Electronics
Accessories
Related Stories
Don Felder "Hotel California" EDS-1275
The Gibson Interview: Don Felder
The Eagles A to Z
Pickups
Pickups Model
The Don Felder "Hotel California" 1959 Les Paul is equipped with a pair of Gibson's popular BurstBucker humbucking pickups, a BurstBucker 2 in the neck position and a BurstBucker 1 in the bridge. Gibson's BurstBuckers are widely regarded as the most accurate reproductions of original PAF humbuckers available today, and even go so far as to reproduce some of the inconsistencies that are credited with contributing a certain magic to original Gibson humbuckers from 1957-'62.
BurstBuckers are made with unpolished Alnico II magnets and coils that are wound to slightly different numbers of turns, like the originals. Using two slightly mismatched coils gives these pickups a little more edge – a sound that you could even say comes a little closer to single-coil bite – than can be achieved with perfectly balanced coils. Furthermore, BurstBuckers in the Don Felder "Hotel California" 1959 Les Paul are wax potted to combat microphonic squeal at high volume levels.
Magnet Material
Gibson's BurstBuckers use unpolished Alnico II bar magnets, just like many of the most prized original PAF humbuckers.
Tonal Characteristics
The BurstBucker 1 and 2 accurately translate all the warmth, depth, and clarity of this guitar's woods and construction into a tone that is instantly recognizable as "that ‘Hotel California' sound."
Electronics
Volume Controls
Just like the original, the Don Felder "Hotel California" 1959 Les Paul uses an independent Volume control for each pickup, which consists of a quality CTS 500k audio-taper potentiometer for a smooth, natural volume roll-off.
Tone Controls
Individual CTS 500k audio-taper potentiometers with accurate .022mF "bumble bee" tone capacitors provide independent tone controls for each pickup.
Toggle Switch
The Don Felder "Hotel California" 1959 Les Paul features the classic three-way Switchcraft toggle switch with cream plastic tip. In the down position this selects the bridge pickup, in the up position the neck pickup, and in the middle it selects both pickups together.
Output Jack
The guitar features a 1⁄4" output jack made by Switchcraft, for years of trouble-free service.