Only reason it gets a 4.5 is because the mids are slightly less than what you would find on a real '59 humbucker. It's a very nice sounding pickup. It has a deep, yet not boomy low end. Treble response is fine to me. It won't get shrill and you really can go from a real mellow to fairly sharp tone depending on where your pole pieces are , your tone and volume on the guitar are, and where the treble is on your amp. At first I didn't like mine, but after working with it, I found what I wanted. The coil split works fairly well, though it's nothing like a Strat. Certainly a different tone from the full bucker however. Mine is set in a mahogany body/mahogany neck instrument. If you go to alder or ash, you'll probably notice it being a bit brighter. I still don't think it would be overbearing in any of those woods. I would recommend this. It might take you a while to find your tone though, but all you need is some patience.

Pickup has a good, warm sound to it. Sounds really good for classic rock styles. Not as hot as Gibson's reisue pickup(496R)