Budget Pickups from Guitar Part Resource

[m4rk0]

so does anybody know if these are any good for budget projects?
I know, you get what you pay for, but are they comparable if not the same as the ones offered by Guitar Fetish / Artec?

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/pickups_other.htm

 

[TroubledTreble]

I believe these come from the same source or similar source as GF. It is a Asian source. I have the link for that catalog somewhere... I have heard that for the money they aren't terrible. All GF does is has this company wind to his specs (or not) then ships them over by the boat load.

 

[Cagey]

so does anybody know if these are any good for budget projects?
I know, you get what you pay for, but are they comparable if not the same as the ones offered by Guitar Fetish / Artec?

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/pickups_other.htm

I suspect they're great for not only budget projects, but serious ones as well. When you get right down to it, there really isn't a whole lot to pickups. It's a coil of wire wound around some pole pieces with a magnet on the bottom. They don't cost jack to make. AlNiCo magnets cost a bit more than ceramics, but we're talking maybe a buck or two. So, price isn't really an indicator of quality. The things are practically commodities.

That's not to say they don't all have characteristic sound qualities. Add or subtract a few winds of wire, and the pickup produces more or less output. Change the magnet type or strength, and change the response curve or frequency response. Change the pole pieces and change the response of individual strings. But, none of those things really change the cost of manufacturing much, so don't be afraid of low-cost parts. They just don't have as much marketing cost or profit margin.

 

[stubhead]

I know, you get what you pay for,

I'm not sure how you "know" this. I've had great luck with $50 Lawrences and "regular" grade Dimarzio's and all, so I agree that pickups just ain't that hard... it's been well-known for thirty years or so how to make HB's and single coils to duplicate the "old ones", and most of them available now are far better consistency than the pickups that were used by the Big Stars to record the Big Hits. And, it seems like very few of the top tonehounds use really expensive boutique pickups. Fralins, Duncans, DiMarzios are it. It seems like it's mostly their guitar techs who futz around with this stuff out of boredom, Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks & Brad Paisley claim to not even know what's in one guitar from one night to the next. 

There's a huge compensatory aspect to tone, there's gotta be at least a dozen ways to tame excessive treble, just for example. Good guitarists spend an awful lot of time figuring out how to make new gear sound just like their old gear..... :toothy12:

 

[DangerousR6]

I have some of the Hex humbuckers from GF, and for the price($39) set, they're pretty good.... :dontknow:

 

[m4rk0]

I know, you get what you pay for,

I'm not sure how you "know" this. I've had great luck with $50 Lawrences and "regular" grade Dimarzio's and all, so I agree that pickups just ain't that hard... it's been well-known for thirty years or so how to make HB's and single coils to duplicate the "old ones", and most of them available now are far better consistency than the pickups that were used by the Big Stars to record the Big Hits. And, it seems like very few of the top tonehounds use really expensive boutique pickups. Fralins, Duncans, DiMarzios are it. It seems like it's mostly their guitar techs who futz around with this stuff out of boredom, Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks & Brad Paisley claim to not even know what's in one guitar from one night to the next.   

There's a huge compensatory aspect to tone, there's gotta be at least a dozen ways to tame excessive treble, just for example. Good guitarists spend an awful lot of time figuring out how to make new gear sound just like their old gear..... :toothy12:

haha, I actually agree, I just put it in there to avoid those comments. I once put GFS Lil Killers in my guitar as a "temporary" solution, and liked them so much that I put them in another. Luke liked them so much, he put them in his strat too.
same with IronGear (kind of the GFS of England) I love their stacked Tele pickups and Hot Slags.. I also ordered their hotrails, and will let y'all know how they are.

oh, and I really like my GFS loudmouth, I think that is the one Doug has in his Billy Bob

 

[tfarny]

For budget I would not forget about good old Bill Lawrence, if he makes something that appeals to you. No worries about quality there, and the prices are about the same as GFS. I would also want to try troubled treble's Roadhouse pickups. If I ever build another tele, I'm going to have to give those a shot. Finally, search Ebay for used duncan and dimarzios, I just picked up a cool rails for my new lap steel for $40.

 

[DangerousR6]

I know, you get what you pay for,

I'm not sure how you "know" this. I've had great luck with $50 Lawrences and "regular" grade Dimarzio's and all, so I agree that pickups just ain't that hard... it's been well-known for thirty years or so how to make HB's and single coils to duplicate the "old ones", and most of them available now are far better consistency than the pickups that were used by the Big Stars to record the Big Hits. And, it seems like very few of the top tonehounds use really expensive boutique pickups. Fralins, Duncans, DiMarzios are it. It seems like it's mostly their guitar techs who futz around with this stuff out of boredom, Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks & Brad Paisley claim to not even know what's in one guitar from one night to the next.  

There's a huge compensatory aspect to tone, there's gotta be at least a dozen ways to tame excessive treble, just for example. Good guitarists spend an awful lot of time figuring out how to make new gear sound just like their old gear..... :toothy12:

haha, I actually agree, I just put it in there to avoid those comments. I once put GFS Lil Killers in my guitar as a "temporary" solution, and liked them so much that I put them in another. Luke liked them so much, he put them in his strat too.
same with IronGear (kind of the GFS of England) I love their stacked Tele pickups and Hot Slags.. I also ordered their hotrails, and will let y'all know how they are.

oh, and I really like my GFS loudmouth, I think that is the one Doug has in his Billy Bob

Yes, I have the loudmouths for "Billy Bo", not Billy Bob.... :doh:

 

[m4rk0]

I know, you get what you pay for,

I'm not sure how you "know" this. I've had great luck with $50 Lawrences and "regular" grade Dimarzio's and all, so I agree that pickups just ain't that hard... it's been well-known for thirty years or so how to make HB's and single coils to duplicate the "old ones", and most of them available now are far better consistency than the pickups that were used by the Big Stars to record the Big Hits. And, it seems like very few of the top tonehounds use really expensive boutique pickups. Fralins, Duncans, DiMarzios are it. It seems like it's mostly their guitar techs who futz around with this stuff out of boredom, Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks & Brad Paisley claim to not even know what's in one guitar from one night to the next.  

There's a huge compensatory aspect to tone, there's gotta be at least a dozen ways to tame excessive treble, just for example. Good guitarists spend an awful lot of time figuring out how to make new gear sound just like their old gear..... :toothy12:

haha, I actually agree, I just put it in there to avoid those comments. I once put GFS Lil Killers in my guitar as a "temporary" solution, and liked them so much that I put them in another. Luke liked them so much, he put them in his strat too.
same with IronGear (kind of the GFS of England) I love their stacked Tele pickups and Hot Slags.. I also ordered their hotrails, and will let y'all know how they are.

oh, and I really like my GFS loudmouth, I think that is the one Doug has in his Billy Bob

Yes, I have the loudmouths for "Billy Bo", not Billy Bob.... :doh:

DOH!! sorry bout that!