While not much louder than the standard P90, this pickup has a huge sound with a broad flat midrange that is just plain fat everywhere in the response curve. But this is no dark and murky sounding pickup: Just lots of power that easily pushed our test amp -- a Dr. Z Remedy -- into mild crunch with very little coaxing. Best of all, this pickup turns down nicely revealing a clean crisp top end, especially if your guitar uses the "vintage" wiring schematic employed by Gibson® in their Historic and VOS guitars (an easy mod too). I don't know how Rio Grande does it, but if you live at "the bridge" this is your pickup. 12.5K resistance, Alnico V bar magnets with steel base plate, includes hardware and wiring instructions.