Tele Neck Pickup Routing

[Patrick from Davis]

Looks like the GFS people have cloned the basic Fender/Lawrence idea - it doesn't take long these days! And they probably work just as good. I'm pretty much appalled by people who have actually let advertisements (and secret forum "knowledge") physically rewire their ear->brain connection to run through their bank accounts and/or credit cards - they can actually hear the difference between $50 pickups and $250 pickups! As long as it's one at a time, and not in an actual dirty underhanded comparison format (communists, you know...)  There must be FIFTY companies/people who can make a pickup with better materials, better tolerances and far more consistency that anything Gibson or Fender were able to luck into during the wild wacky 1950's when Abigail Whozit at Fender had the secret magic Mexican housewife fingers that imparted the shimmering pineapplesque-yet-filthy boingity-rumdedum nahnahnah... it's an electric component, how many collectable hand-made, "scatterwound" computer motherboards do you see up on Ebay? Mojo.....

For the most part I agree, but there are some things that the smaller guys do better.  And it costs money.  The WRHB pickups are the most glaring example.  Magnetic pole pieces in a humbucker sound different than a bar magnet underneath.  Fender Repos are a bar magnet, and the small shop ones are not.  Just a whole different beast.  Ken does something goofy with his pickups, and I am guessing that the patent office has heard from him.  And they sound different.  First strum out of the gate, and you notice.  But for the more straight ahead stuff, I agree with you.  Especially the magic touch stuff.  For a new process, okay I'll bite, but because someone has digits that are blessed?  Not really interested.
Patrick