What is a Charlie Christian Pickup?
This was the first pickup used on Gibson Electric Spanish guitars shown in the 1935 catalog and named the ES-150. The pickup was made famous by the Jazz Guitarist Charlie Christian. The pickup was beautifully hand made using an Ivoried binding. The pickup was mounted into the hollowbody instrument by a 3 point adjustment for height and tilt adjustment. It uses a Cobalt Steel magnet that was very unstable and can loose much of it’s magnetizm through time. The pickup was designed by Guy Hart who was a designer for Gibson Guitars at the Kalamazoo, Michigan factory. The patent was applied for on February 8, 1936 and granted July 13, 1937 and given Patent # 2,087,106.
