Boutique Humbuckers - what's you favorite?

[shanejw]

This is going to be great!  One of my favorite things to do is try different pickups!!  Throw a set of Q tuners in there.  Bill Lawrence.  Not PAF style but hey..

 

[m4rk0]

I love my Rio Grande Humbuckers too!! BBQ/Texas!

Also, I have some really cool J Moore Pickups (tonefordays.com) they are custom made and hand built. and all for a great price. ( I think I paid 120 for a set!)

oh and yes, to throw some budget PU's just for fun would be nice!
I have a set of Rocksong humbuckers from ToneRider in my latest strat, and they sound amazing!!

 

[Orpheo]

I don't think that Kent Armstrong can be considered boutique, right? But I love his motherbucker-pickup! its awesome. I wasn't too impressed by bareknuckle, unfortunatelly. My most dearly beloved pickup is my own design (alnico8+5, asymmetrical wind), sounds kick ass! Rio grande wasn't my thing aswell, was happy to sell them  :laughing7: I also like bill lawrence's pickups, the L500 series is great, but... the motherbucker can give that tone too (just short out the inner 2 coils). dead easy.

 

[bpmorton777]

ive wanted to see a shootout between the SD 59 and the GFS 59...same specs with the GFS being wound slightly hotter but not much.

Brian

 

[MUYFUE]

ive wanted to see a shootout between the SD 59 and the GFS 59...same specs with the GFS being wound slightly hotter but not much.

Brian

I like this idea. Shoot outs and A/B contests are the best.

The Burstbuckers shouldn't be in there. They are made by a giant company and come stock.
Should be only after market or custom.
Vote NO on Prop. Burstbucker.

 

[GuitarFixation]

Hahaha... awesome.

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

I love my Seymour Duncans, but I've always wondered how the GFS pickups sound. They get rave reviews, but it's hard to tell if the reviews have compared them to higher-priced pickups.

 

[Mor Paul]

I think it would be perfectly fair to have some stock humbuckers, or standard ones, such as gibsons and SD's, for comparison.

 

[MUYFUE]

well...the title is "Boutique"
Boo-Teek.

I guess we could let the major brands in...it's not my contest :doh:

Billie Jean,"Fair is Fair!"

:rock-on:

Can Tom Anderson be considered?
The H3 is de bomb

 

[Superlizard]

Hello everyone!

I have a question for all the pickup gurus out there: we here at guitarfixation.com are working on a series of humbucker video shootouts and want to include as many smaller, boutique pickup builders as we can (we love to support the little guys and the smaller companies). So the question I have for you is this:

What is you favorite boutique humbucker?

Also,

Here is a basic article about pickups that I though you might enjoy:

http://www.guitarfixation.com/features/more/sound_science_pickup_the_pieces

Thanks!

- Paul

www.guitarfixation.com

Try to get your paws on some Tom Holmes... never owned any, don't know if he's still making
them, but I hear they're right up there with the rest of the uber-awesome, bees-knees PAF types.

Addendum:  Hell, while you're at it, try to snag a real '50s PAF if ya can and throw that into the mix.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Superlizard]

Annnd... if you're gonna include Seymour D in this, why not go
with their *true* PAF clone - the SH-55 Seth Lover?

 

[GuitarFixation]

The goal is to get as many pickups as possible. I think there is value in including PUs from bigger companies like Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio and also from very very small companies (I have found a couple of guys on Ebay that make there own Humbuckers). I think it would be useless to only focus on the big guys or just on the little guys. It is going to be a big undertaking when you consider that we are going to be installing the pickups one by one in the same guitar then recording it. But I think that the only way to really make sure the shootout is fair is to use the same guitar with the same amp and carefully document the amp settings, microphone position, and the mic preamp settings. Then it is up to everyone out there to decide!

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

you should throw GFS in there.. to see.

Ditto!!!

 

[ocguy106]

SKATTERBRANES
http://www.skatterbrane.com/

I put them in one of my warmoth builds and I love the tone.

 

[llama]

My favourite pickups - Vintage Vibe. I had mine 10% overwound for my twin humbucker telecaster.

 

[Rouse]

Maybe some Lindy Fralin, I've always wondered how they compared to others.

 

[kboman]

Maybe some Lindy Fralin, I've always wondered how they compared to others.

+1. Also Lollar Imperials, but I think they've been mentioned already.

There is great value in having the more "mainstream" makers in the test too - Gibson, SD, DiMarzio - since they're the makers most people turn to first.

 

[TBurst Std]

I have enjoyed Tim White Ed winds (Timbucker Ed A), Jim Wagner winds (Goodwood), Fralin winds as well as Zaq's winds (forum member of LPF and TFF).

 

[LooseCannon]

Hey great idea, one suggestion- make sure the pickups are all set to the same hight.

 

[deepblue]

I use Stephensdesign pickups on all my Strats. His '59 series are mind blowing. I have been trying for years to get
into the Stevie Ray Vaughan realm in regards to tone. Fenders "Texas Specials" were close, but Stephensdesign
pickups are amazing. Check them out.

http://www.sdpickups.com/