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The Gibson Burstbucker PAF-style humbucker with asymmetrical coils and an AlNiCo II magnet. The #3 variation is the 'overwound' model. When installed as the 'stock' pickup in a guitar it comes wax potted; when sold separately it is not wax potted. Gibson mostly use these in a few Artist signature models as well as some Custom Shop models, though they have been used in a couple of production guitars and even two Epiphones. I've had them in four guitars now—two Les Pauls, one Telecaster Delxue and one Telecaster Thinline—and they have become my 'default' pickup. If I either need a versatile tone or I simply don't know what tone I want, I reach for one of the guitars with a BurstBucker #3 in. Three of these guitars have the BurstBucker #3 at the bridge, where it is mostly intended for, and one uses it at the neck. In the bridge it is simply an extremely flexible humbucker. It produces more output than its specification suggests, especially clearer bass and more treble (due to the coils being mismatched). Side-by-side it roughly matches a Seymour Duncan JB in terms of plain volume, though of course the EQ balance is very different. Because it has more treble and bass than most PAF-style humbuckers, but less than very modern pickups, it can do high-gain and low tunings better than vintage-style pickups while also doing blues and country better than modern humbuckers. Though a totally clean amp with the EQ set completely flat, the BurstBucker #3 has the tonal balance of a warm and thick P90, with slightly softer attack and less compression. With low gain it sounds similar to a minibucker as found in some Les Paul Deluxe guitars. Under medium gain you can't tell the difference between it and a standard rock humbucker like a SD Custom or DM PAF Pro. With high gain the EQ balance sounds like a halfway point between a DiMarzio Super Distortion and Tone Zone, but still with more restrained output. In the neck position with a fairly cranked mid-gain amp it does a fantastic Carlos Santana impression. If you want the most bass, this is not the pickup for you. If you want the most treble, it's not for you. If you want the most mids or the least mids, it's not for you. If you want the highest or lowest output, it's not for you. If you want an all-rounder which sounds at home in any guitar and can be used for blues one night and heavy metal the next, get a BurstBucker #3.

Not to be confused with the more common 60, the 60A uses an AlNiCo magnet (EMG do not actually specify what type of AlNiCo is in the 60A, but they mostly use AlNiCo 5 in their other pickups) instead of the ceramic magnet in the regular 60, to produce a slightly softer tone with a little less output and compression. The 'X' model uses a more modern preamp which is more power-efficient and can run with full headroom on 9v, similar to the older EMG models running on 18v. The 60 and 60A are essentially 'minibuckers' in a full-size humbucker casing. The 60 is commonly found as the neck position counterpart to the popular EMG 81 and has a very bright and compressed tone, similar to a Firebird pickup. The 60A's softer attack and overall warmer tone make it sound more like a standard minibucker, similar to those found in a classic Les Paul Deluxe or the neck position of some Telecasters. Another way to think of it is as a halfway point between a humbucker and a P90 tone. I use these in both the neck and bridge position of an ESP LTD EC-401 guitar, a Telecaster Deluxe, and a hybrid Tele-LP 'parts build'. The 60AX doesn't mask the individual tone of the guitars (contrary to the reputation active pickups have) and in each case simply sounds like a really good, versatile, jack-of-all-trades light humbucker. The output is almost the same as a Seymour Duncan Jazz/Custom 5 set I have in another guitar; higher output than a vintage PAF-style humbucker but lower than typical 'hot rod' pickups like a JB or Super Distortion. The tone balance is extremely even, with just the very slightest V-shape or 'scooped' feeling as the treble and bass come through just a tiny bit stronger than the mids. These pickups retain their slightly open and airy quality from clean through to mid gain, though of course once you start using very high gain then everything becomes more compressed; that's just the nature of high gain, with any pickup. Tuning down to Drop C on a 24.75" scale guitar comes through sounding completely clear (even though I like very light strings, too), though I've not tested tuning lower than that. E Standard of course sounds faultless. I've put these in guitars where I wanted a versatile sound but wanted the tone to be just a hint more modern than the Gibson BurstBucker #3 I favour in other guitars, but also not as high-output as really 'modern' humbuckers. If you want a specific tone such as mids-heavy, bass-heavy, very high output or very vintage, or any other specific tone, then the 60AX (or plain 60A) likely won't impress you very much. If you want a pickup you can depend on to do a standard rock gig one night, a goth metal gig the next night, and then maybe even do a little bit of clean jazz afterward, this is the pickup you want.