Used to work in a food factory...same as you said about the pickups. We processed fish at the beginning of the building and at the end it went into 3 different branded boxes...same product...different name!
I bought a Fleor (Alnico 5) 14 to 15k brand new for $13.38 shipped to my door. Sounds great! Has adjustable pole's and wires for push/pull pot. Came with wiring diagram for Seymore Duncan's.
I got the same pickups on Temu that were the same price, look, and sound like the Seymour Duncan's I had in another guitar. Same wiring diagram also as the Fleor and they are Alnico 5. 15.5k bridge and 7.5k neck. I think they are made by the same people. I got the Slash / Ace Frehley sound in my affordable LP I was looking for
I'd also recommend Vanson pickups. I bought a Harley Benton HH tele with Wilkinsons which were a bit shrill sounding to be honest. I've used Wilkinsons before & always been happy with them but not in this guitar. I put a set of Vanson Alnico V 59s in and it completely transformed it... it's hot the warmth of a LP but with the top end sparkle of a bolt on guitar.
Upgrading to higher quality potentiomers, capacitor and wiring makes more of difference than changing pickups. The original pickups in a guitar or cheap ones may be fine with proper wiring. Don't get me wrong, there are bad pickups that can ruin the best guitar, but in order to hear the true sound of those pickups it requires top notch pots & wiring.
l have had them in a couple of my Epiphone guitars for the last few years... Blues Engine - Dirty Torque and Rolling Mill - Hot Slag. You can't beat them for the money and sound
The thing I like about IronGear is their use of different magnet types. Big fan of Harley Benton too, big bang for your buck.Keep doing what you do, you are on my top ten list.
The best cheapest pickups what i ever seen, the russian ARB pickups, and the chinese Oripure pickups (Especialy the Bill Lawrence "like" tone/behave versions)
I like Carvin, Seymour Duncan, and DiMarzio pups. Reasonably priced. A great sounding stock set is the Ibanez V7, S1, V8 which a lot of folks take off and replace. So you can find them used in excellent shape for cheap.
I just picked up a '78 Aria Pro ii Les Paul copy. I'm putting an overwound Rolling Mill in the bridge and a standard one in the neck. I already have a standard one in the bridge of a humbucker equipped Tele and it's brilliant for just about everything I throw at it. I appreciate the review and for the info on IronGear. Thanks!
yeah! And who has 200 squid just laying around! DOLLARS! CENTS! That's why we left the mother land,or big Island! Also ,that Iron company sucks ,try GFS ,and if you have ,what do you think! Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio are THE pick ups !
This is a BRILLIANT video. I have been using Iron gear pickups for a few years and like Dave says, they are more than great value. They are not great for the price. THEY ARE FANTASTIC AT ANY PRICE. I bought my first set as replacements in an Epi Les Paul. WOW. I now have them in my Gibson Les paul.
25 Years ago I changed the pickups in my guitar virtually every week before I found what worked for me. Great fun, you can do that stuff when you're young!
Nice, there are only so many variables , such as wire, magnets and number of winds as well as ways to make pickups, so it makes sense that you shouldn't have to pay a bunch for a nice sounding pickup. I have generally liked the pickups in my Gibson guitars but then again I have never tried anything different. As a matter of principle I always change the ones in my Stratocasters.
Thank you man, without this exact video I would have never heard of irongear. Got them finally for this Xmas. took my new tesla shark (alnico ii) bridge and blues engine neck (alnico iv) (in a vintage brand sg) out for a test rehearsal, our lead guitar player asked how come you sound so nice, what pickups are those? and man, they are great. played it through an orange th30, and I have played that amp, never liked it before. now they were absolutely amazing. and i'm a quite shitty guitar player, believe me, and these things made me sound great. amazing responsiveness to how you play, can be almost clean and gritty as f, with the same settings. switched to a marshall half way through rehearsal, just to see if it was the amp, or the pickups, sounded absolutely great on the marshall too. I have a Gibson p90, dimarzio tone zone, and some duncan designed pickups, and I love all of them, but these iron gears are just somehow more. I can't explain it. I don't usually play mid position (unless it is in order to get rid of hum with p90s), because I end up losing the character of both pickups. with the tesla shark and blues engine combo, I almost always play mid position, the two add to each other's character. unless I realize that there is too much bass or too much treble in the mix and I need to balance it out somehow, that is when I switch to just neck or just bridge. but they are amazing no matter what position. Service was superb too. Professional, helpful, friendly, quick. Just amazing, the whole experience. Treat yourselves, buy IronGear!
A few weeks ago I got some real cheap zebra humbuckers from China, they were like £8.74 for the set so I wasnt expectng much to be honest, I put them in my home built telecaster and was completely blown away when I heard what they sounded like, and to be honest, I been playing that guitar all week comparing it with my other guitars and those £8.74 pickups are way better than any of the Gibson, Fender, Iron Gear, Tonerider, Wilkinson and Roswell pickups I have in all the other guitars.
they are very good at copying things and selling cheap, thats why US/UK manufacturing is on its ass. However there is still crap coming out of there so sometimes its luck.
@@DaveBarlowGuitar He is right. And China is a communist dictatorship that really wants US dollars and enslaves and kills its people. That is hard to ignore.
Put a set of Zebra Blues Engines with original PRS wiring including coil split in my 2023 PRS SE Custom 24 after one of the original 85/15s stopped working. The guitar looks great, feels great and NOW sounds great. Pair £75 delivered from Axetec
Couldn't agree more. I fitted 'Hot Slag' pick ups in a cheap and nasty, Chinese SG copy and it sounds amazing. I now want to try out their P90 s on my next project. keep up the good work Dave.
You've gotta try the Wilkinson WVHZ pups. In 50 years of chasing tone I've never heard a better sounding low output pickup. Cleans are very.very good and when the dirt starts that's when these things get magic. All for $35 bucks.
Good video mate! I've got Wilkinson ceramic PAF style humbuckers, I'v been using them in a 338 and LP and a $1K SG and by far my favorite humbucker. Super balanced and you hear every note of a chord ring out. $80 will get you a set. I've heard Musiclily has the same ones cheaper on Amzn. They are super clear and to my ear they are more "balanced" than most stock pups like Epiphone, Firefly and other inexpensive guitars which I love and love to upgrade. Ceramic gets a bad rap but it's just a F--kin magnet. and done right they are amazing. Not thin, Not muddy, just clear and musical. That's the point aint it?
I think now it's more about amps and effects more than pickups but they're still important and a lot of it is personal preference. I've not heard or read many complaints about Wilkinson pickups, or many of the cheaper brands. I think most people complain about the cheap oem pickups that come installed in some cheap guitars.
ps - a 1/4" cable and a Multi tester lets you get readings on pickups that are still installed in the guitar - ie you can hear what you're testing or test a guitar with no amp - readings can warn if a vintage guitar has been gutted - just turn all pots to full -> -> then go thru the selector choices - - easy way to spot problems... even in the entire harness... and suss out coil tap vs coil split by ohms
I have built one of these.. Works great and handy to have with you when you go looking for a guitar and are want to know what value pickups are in it. The sales people look at you weird until they see it then they usually go "wow, that's pretty cool!"
Nice video. In my opinion, the best not too expensive pickups are 36th dimarzios. Excellent. I replaced a pair of Tom Holmes with a second hand pair of them and preferred them. May check out iron gear.
IronGear are probably worthwhile of consideration if you're in the UK where shipping (subsidised by those of us who aren't) is 'free' , but otherwise forget it. Decent product, more of a range than Wiilkinson, with some better as the should be at twice the price and then some, but the RIDICULOUS International shipping charges for such a small item even if its retail boxed make them a "forget it!" deal killer. Looking to profit off the UK export VAT reduction by jackign up the shipping charge forgetting we have to add import GST to the lot inc shipping for our landed cost.
This is true and we have big issues importing from the USA as well, I am hoping we can do some good trade deals between all our countries soon but I fear the fat cats of the corporate world may have a different idea.. :(
@@DaveBarlowGuitar That's for sure. Regardless in this case, the problem I have that stopped me pressing buy after adding to cart is with Irongear's, presumably third party, choice of International shipper. I looked at the IronGear pickups and would definitely have bought a set if I were resident in the UK. The usurous Axetec shipping killed the deal for me. £38.50p for DHLshipping!!! Thomann will ship me a three guitars or a guitar and two amps for that! And £14 for Royal Mail! WTF! They're a pair of 3"x 2" x1" pickups that weigh around 225g each in retail presentation box (just weighed a Seymour Duncan TB-14) and wouldn't weight 600g *packed* if supplied in retail presentation boxes. Thay're havin' a laff, but not at my expense. I'm familiar with UK export shipping options, costs and speed as I use it all the time. In a sentence, International shipping handler Axetec are having a generous drink on the International consumer, but not this one. Pass. I ordered Wilkinsons.
Yeah, Not sure on this, that its all about the re-seller. Ive been a re-seller trying to ship international and its not simple. your either walk to a post office every day for one offs (not practical for many) or you sign up for a collection service under contract with an international shipper on a sliding price scale who issue penalties on short volumes. Most smaller companies dont want the penalties and sign up for lower volume but much higher price scale. Yes there are one off shippers to, but still not without silly costs.
@@theblytonian3906 Ok understood, however the point is still the same in respect of costs, if they are small. Loads ok UK makers don't ship outside EU because it's so prohibitive. Not saying they arnt milking postage (I can't know) Just saying it might not be quite how it seems.
I have tried a couple of sets of cheaper pickups, (I am allergic to spending 200$ for a pickup). I was very careful about comparing the magnet type, the resistance, and the frequency response, and so far, I have had very good luck (other than waiting for 2 months for a set of strat pickups to arrive through Amazon). the pickups I have do sound much better than the ones that came on my half a grand guitar. I have an old super strat copy (humbucker at the bridge with 2 single coils) and for the humbucker, and a set of 3 strat pickups, (cheaper as a set), All of my friends prefer to play the old copy I fixed up to the big brand guitars that I have. There are good affordable pickups out there if you are willing to look, and take a risk once in a while.
Low priced pickups are great and all, but I have had a number of problems with a lot of them. Some of the problems I've had are badly waxed coils (which makes for more noise) and weak soldering. If you are trying to upgrade a cheaper guitar with cheap pickups, it's probably going to sound the same. I upgraded my HSS squire with Dimarzio Notorious pickups, and they sound nothing like any cheap pickups I've had. And there are factories that produce pickups for a number of brands, but they are for the low end guitars of big company's such as Squire or Epiphone. Aftermarket pickup company's do indeed use their own factories. Dimarzio produces in USA, Bare knuckle produces in UK and Seymour Duncan produces in the USA as well.
I have thought about these Dave but I have been on the fence. I'll have to give them a shot.Thanks for the advice. I have used GFS they also sell very decent pickups .
I use iron gear in my builds, I have installed most of them on mine and guitars for others. they are awesome. I used the hammer heads in my Last build, they sound better than the Duncan 12 gauge.
Big thank you. ... I will be buying from Iron Gear soon.. Just acquired my first set alnico. .. Roswell 63s thanks to generous seller on the bay. A bargain... threw them in to black strat Stretton Payne copy (Maple board) with new black guard and I must say with one quick test with Guitar Rig 4 Big Monster they sound great.. Am I right in thinking that little improvements like that really give you a boost ? They say the Affinity pickups are Okay but I never like using them really... or the guitar... perhaps new pickups there like Iron Gear Texas will help..
I swapped the pickups in my MiM Fender Strat with a Mighty Mite MHD-R/WH in the bridge and two Mighty MIte MMRSS-R/WHs. Totally changed the sound, of course, and the range of tones is just incredible. I'm very pleased with them.
I bought a couple of sets of BYO pups here in the States. The Eruption set and Blizzard of 59 set and they really blew me away. Really great sounding pups in the Tonerider price range.
these are very good i have several guitars with them fitted and they are every bit as good as top named pups, i have blues engines, P90's, rolling mill, and dirty torque, all fitted to gibson guitars and give much improved performance for me and my style of playing. Every word Dave has said is true, try them first (Y)
I bought 3 quad rail/coil humbuckers from Amazon to load into the custom Strat Based guitar build/mod I call the "Stellarcaster" I started with a cheap Chinese made Starcaster, Strat electric guitar By: Fender (said that right on the head stock)... these Hummers average out at 18.5 K 0hms DC resistance each they have 4 wires _start and finish for each pair of rails/coils with 3 strong ceramic 1/4 square X 3" long magnets between the rails plus a braded ground wire as well I mounted then into the custom hand made extended Brushed Stainless Steel Pick guard and wired them up like 50'd Les Paul with P/P Volume pots and another P/P pot in the bridge tone position to activate the bridge and neck P/ups together regardless of any other controls 3 pairs of potd in this monster I call the "Stellarcaste" 3 humms , 3 P/P vol. 3 tone all 500K audio taper pots it all plays together nicely and sounds interstellar a cool stars and Planets space theme paint scheme using spray cans and airbrushed detailing with silver micro glitter lightly scattered covered lightly with Dark blue spray paint also used along with black spray paint as the base a few airbrushed comets and twinkly stars for the totally cool looing custom paint job on the body and headstock.. finisher with a 2K semi gloss clearcoat... it boasts roller saddles and a full size brass trem block in the bridge roller string trees a Titanium nut and locking tuners all the knobs are 'Tele' styls chrome knobs and a chrome tip on the Fender 5-way blade selector switch, and a kill button just for more fun,, I didn't even try to count the tone variations available in this monster I have created from my own imagination and niw a reality.. a very cool beautiful, great feeling and playing guitar I designed and built to my designs and taste.. ... My "Stellarcaster" feels great in the hands plays and sounds great this C totally Custom Monster of a Guitar really rocks the Cosmos for sure........ Wanna Play???
Over here in the Colonies, we have Guitar Fetish (GFS) which seem to be fine. Putting a set in a Tele build, will let ya know! Everything I can hear on my computer speakers, they sound good. (Cute bird; you're doing all right, mate!)
I've recently found a new favorite pickup, Jalen Guitars pickups. He builds evh tone pups for all the van halen eras. He also does custom orders for design and looks. Plus the customer service is the best I've ever dealt with. Priced about $85 a pup. Want to hear demos, check out Al Estrada
i put a set of iron gears (hot slag/rolling mill ) in my epiphone lp...way better than stock...but i found in my Harley Benton SC Custom the wilkinson bridge pup was still better...but the neck wikinson in the hb was a bit muddy..so my fix was....a stock Harley benton pup (wilkinson mwchb alnico vintage style) in the bridge and a iron gear rolling mill in the neck..perfect!!!!...the epiphone may get the same setup but for now i play the HB. I then picked up a Vintage Honey Burst..in went two blues engines....thumbs up....as i didnt care for its stockers at all..
thank you for this. I recently bought a Tele copy. Nice body, 22 frets but the pickups were rubbish. I have always gone for fender pickups, which as you say cost a fortune. A local guitar fixer suggested some "cheap"ones that sounded exactly the same as the fender sounds. ( he demo'd both sounds, which were the same ). So I have taken your advice and ordered a bridge strat pickup for my green strat copy. I'll let you know how I get on. Thank you for some good advice
I bought a bunch of loaded pickguards and then a $9 multi tester - almost all the single coils read 3 ohms - one set read around 6 ohms - they seemed quieter but with richer tone - I suspect that cheap single coils read low ohms and seem loud and bright - a neat trick for a store demo but you soon get tired of the tone as you do with Duncan Design
I've used Warman pickups in most of my guitars for a few years now, they are amazing for any money. In my custom SG I spent a bit of cash and used 3 Railhammers, awesome sounding and looking pickups, but Warman continue to be my go-to brand, I have a set of Warman P-90's on order for the current SG project I'm working on,and a set of Warman Warblades in a box for the Les Paul project coming next.
I tried Belcal pups BH-20, BH-33 Metal and BS-4. About 9€ pcs (SD JB is 109€) and I was positively surprised the sound guality. They really can make those well outside US and one tenth of the price.
I couldn't agree more mate. I bought a Chibson double neck and basically gutted it when I got it. I put in two sets of Rolling Mills and after some other work it sounded fantastic. I did my last RUclips video with it and I think the tone is almost spot on. Ironstone pickups are another good brand too. Put a set in a Tele and it came to life!!
I bought a kit build LP from Hong Kong cause basically I'm rubbish at woodwork and changed out the supplied pups (tinny rubbish) for a pair of Irongear 'Hot Slags' which are absolutely brilliant! I've since then bought an Epiphone LP and although the pups are nice they're not a patch on the Irongear ones, so, I've just bought the 'Blues Engine/Dirty Torque' combo they sell at Axetec for the Epi and the Epi ones are going into my old 72 Avon Jap LP which is sounding a little low nowadays. Love the Irongear pickups, for £68 for a pair you can't go wrong. I also fitted a roller bridge which I see you like as well :)
Hi, great video as usual Dave! I got Iron Gear Hot Slags (set) in 3 of my guitars. Great high gain pickups indeed! Note that I got guitars with Tone Zones, 81/85's, etc. Do give them a try, trust Dave!
I replaced ALL of my PUs in 5 SGs. Hot Slag .... direct from Iron Gear. Don't lose the punch when you wind the volume down (unlike our Giggo friends). Not digging at PAFs, but these suits my needs. Great post mate ....
Artec actually makes a lot of the pickups for the cheaper guitars worldwide in China. most of the Seymour or Di marzio "licensed by"are made in their factory.. probably some of the more expensive pickups are probably made by them too, they actually make a wide range of decent pedals too.
I mod. the cheapest used China guitars so they visually kicks ass and feels like the beter end squiere. I strip them all the way down and build it up from scratch. My fave pup's is the cheap end Wilkinson, and they sound really good. I have not tried their high output single coil yet, but if this gets any better i would not pay three or four times mere for seymor and other brands.
Iron Gear are great. I used to buy the SD JB humbucker a lot but now would always choose an IG Dirty Torque - sounds the same if not better, nearly a third of the price.
Cool video. Long response here but well worth your time to read. Before you do anything, look to your amp to see if you can dial in the tone there. It only takes your time and your patience. If that does not do it you may want to look at your stock pickups. Many people forget that the amp can compensate for guitars and pickups. Before you buy new ones try and see if you can get the tone out of your stock pickups. Try adjusting the height of the pickup. Try playing with the screw pole pieces. You might just find the tone you want this way. Not working for you? Then you could look at swapping the magnet out. This is the least expensive way to upgrade your pickup. Find out the tone you are looking for by who is playing that tone and what they have in their guitar. Most cheap pickups will have a ceramic magnet. You can swap it out for a few dollars and there are several videos on RUclips to show you how. I like Will's Easy Guitar video for that. Please keep in mind you can damage the copper windings if you do not take your time or do a slap dash job. Many people have had great success swapping in Alnico 2s and Alnico 5s in their stock pickups. This should only cost a few dollars to do per pickup. If that does not work or only gets you part way there look at having your pickups rewound. This you want a professional to do as they have the experience and know how. This essentially gives you a custom pickup at a fraction of a boutique pickup price. Next would be getting new pickups. The materials really cost about $12-20 for the manufacturer to make. You are paying for experience and marketing. Most boutique builds are time and cost consuming. They are not making loads of them like EMG or Seymour Duncan on any given day. Keep economies of scale in mind, you pay more for a product that there are fewer units made. At the end of the day will this change your tone or be ehat you are looking for? Maybe. Talk to a reputable luthier, tell him what you think you are looking for and what he suggests. Be open to new ideas and that you may want to buy a new guitar that gets those tones. If you see the guitar on the left of my pic it is a Ibanez Artcore AK 86. I spent years getting it where I want it. I got the vintage vibrato and roller bridge that Ibanez puts on other models. I ended up putting my Gretschbuckers from my Electromatic guitar (it now has TV Jones in it) and it came out better then I originally wanted. For some reason the Gretschbuckers sound way better in this than in the Gretsch. When they were in the Gretsch I adjusted the the pickup to match a Filtertron by lowering the pickup and raising all the screws. This was a dynamic change in tone. I ended up putting the TV Jones in the Gretsch because that's what I really wanted. That was like $340 worth of pickup upgrade alone. So the cool thing was putting these extra pickups in the Ibanez saved me loads of money. I actually played it against several Gretsches including a White Falcon and it was nearly there in tone. If you are trying to emulate a player keep in mind most of their tone comes from their fingers. No amount of gear will make up for that. I would suggest finding yoir own tone by using what you have and pushing yourself as a player. One last thing. I have several guitars that I am very happy with that I did not hotrod or swap out pickups. Sometimes a diffrent string guage or tunning may open up posibilities for you. Also having them set up properly will make them feel, sound, and play better. If you not happy with it play another guitar and revisit it later on. You might appreciate it much later as is.😎
are there ways to mimic the 'baseplate' for a Strat bridge pup that has 1 or 2 ceramic magnets ? The polepieces on ceramics are inert, so can some material mimic the 'baseplate' effect for ceramic Strat pickups ? update 12/2018 .... ceramics are not magnetic like vertical polepieces in Strat pickups. So forget a 'baseplate' as for flat bottomed steel poled Strat pickups. Also, a plain humbucker (uncovered) can have the wrapping removed and carefully remove the stock magnet and insert THE SAME ORIENTATION an alnico 2,5,8, etc. one as you like. RE-wrap the tape carefully and your pickup is transformed ! alnico magnets are cheap to buy and 5 or 8 is a safe type to use. Ceramic magnets are brittle and delicate.... so will break on removal sometimes. update 1/2019 : I found that for $20 a set delivered ! H S S Strats from Guitar Madness in the USA via eBay.
I've been using Irongear pickups for over eight years and have never been disappointed, great people to deal with too. I've just put a Rolling Mill in the bridge and an Alchemist 90 in the neck on an old LP copy I picked up for peanuts, I love it. Subbed and look forward to catching up with your videos. Cheers!
Artec Alnico V as good a single coil replacement for cheap Strat copies. They sound almost as good as a modern American Strat. And they are £35 for the set neck, bridge and middle.
I've had good experiences with budget aftermarket pickups. I do like my Seymour Duncans that I put in my 7- and 8-string guitars but I don't much care for the Seymour Duncan price tag. You really CAN find high-quality aftermarket pickups at a reasonable price.
No Doubt ,,i tried and tried to keep telling myself that my prs se 24 sounded awesome,,i mean at the entry level 500 dollar se standard 24 i bought was disapponting..my volt meter was broken so instead of buying another meter to check the output i bought a really good amp..and oh yeah it make the guitar sound different but im a bridge position player and i play hard rock and some a little heavy and i just wasnt getting the punch i guess you could say so i bought a cheap volt meter and i looked everywhere for the specs on the bridge and neck outputs and couldnt find the info anywhere,,so i tested the bridge and it was a little above 8k output and 6k or so on the neck,,,so im thinking to myself hmm i bought a fleour hotrail for my strat style guitar to put in the bridge and was really happy and it was 13 dollars,,so i thought i have the knowledge and know how to solder good and this is my guitar why not try a high output bridge pickup and just see what happens,,,this listing on the humbucker i bought said 15 k + output..and this is for 21 dollars and its a match for the zebra color so i thought why not,,i recieved the pickup and before anything i tested the pickup and sure enough 15k plus,,so i replaced it all neat and tidey and WOW,,,now im feeling what i want to feel from my bridge pickup..HOT Hell Yeah,,,..and to beat it all its not even a fleour...its unbranded,,,and to think i was actually going to buy a 120 dollar name brand pickup that im not so sure would be as hot as this one...never underestimate a cheaper pickup and IM NOT ASHAMED OF REPLACING A STOCK PRS PICKUP WITH A 20 DOLLAR ONE,,,NOT WHEN IT SOUNDS AS GOOD AS MINE DOES NOW,,I AINT NO GUITAR pickup SNOB lol
I'm going to run some of the options from Guitar Fetish. The "VEH" looks impressive. As do the Fat/Crunchy Pat models. I need a more cost friendly alternative to my favorite Seymour Duncan choices.
I installed 2 Texas Hots and a Destroyer all from Warman into my Pacifica and the difference was amazing, amzing tones and great distortion when I want it. Cant praise Warman enough, quality and cheap
The Steam Hammer is a very good match to the DiMarzio SD1 fitted in the bridge of my Melody Maker I built to emulate Gary Moores MM . I know this as I have a Gibson Melody Maker finished to Gary's spec with a period DiMarzio SD1 in the bridge . Apart from the super nitro 3 tone burst refinish , its a great tribute guitar to Gary's back up to to Peter Greens LP that he generally used half way through a gig . I cant play like that man could , but n one else could either . God's greatest lead guitarist and vocals .
Wow nice recommend. Was looking for a Hot Rails type of Pup for my Strat and baulked at paying silly money for a well known brand. These from Iron Gear at a fraction of the cost are worth a punt
Bare Knuckle good a big head too quickly and started charging $800 per set of humbuckers or something ridiculous like that. The only brands I really use are GFS or Rose pickups. And sometimes seymours or di marzios depending on the application..
Right on the money - you don't have to pay exorbitant rates for decent pickups. Realistically, theres FA to a pickup. Magnets, bobbins, wire and some wax (if you want). That's it. And $200 for that? Unfortunately the bigger guys (SD, DiMarzio etc) got in on the ground floor for replacement pickups years ago. But there's plenty of others doing pickups for about $30ea that sound fantastic. I've been buying the GFS pickups for a while, trying out different pickups for projects. When replacing some pickups for Rick style guitar which I wasn't happy with the pickups, I ended up buying a few Rick type sets and changed them out to get the tone I was after. Was dirt cheap. I've also bough some artecs off ebay but haven't used them in a project - yet! They were dirt cheap so O couldn't let them go by and threw them in the parts box. Don't forget Wilkinson - I've got some of their P90's in a gold top - sound nice. I'll definitely have to try these guys out as well.
Dave Barlow I bought 18 dollar PAF-fakes no name..i gues belcat? No that's to high quality for around 20 nuts^^. I'm glad with them...but now there's a bit oxidation on them.
I played the Blues Engine (bridge), for a few hours this week, and now I'm planning to install at least another one . I didn't have the neck position, because I rarely use it, but for the bridge position it does all I need.
My favorite pickup for solid body guitars like, v's, explorers, SG's, etc. Bright, ballsy, in yer face but controllable. Neck gives you some real sweet tones, roll back the tone just a notch and listen for sweet child o mine, roll off volume halfway to three quarters and you get real old style blues. brilliant pickup which i might add is a copy of a real PAF style pickup (when new). Need old style or aged sounding pups, easy, in the blues pickups just pull out the magnet and replace them with alnico 3's. :)
swaping magnets in humbuckers is a super easy thing, so manufacturers should just add all 3 popular types of manets to every pickup a2 a5 and ceramic just for the heck of trying them out
Just put a Tesla shark in the bridge position on my prs 245 se .Blown away ! I’m a big Bareknuckle fan but these nearly as good ! at a fraction of the cost ! Result 🤘
Toneriders are probably the best value at £80 for a strat set you can’t go wrong. Paper bobbins and vintage wires. The demos sound good too. Duncan’s are too expensive.
I have some Tonerider Surfari's.....which I dont' really like. They sound too bright and unforgiving to me. I have some Wilkinson "hot vintage" strat pickups in another which I believe are ceramic but sound great. Each to their own I suppose.
I got a set of wilkinsons for an old stratt i had, they were surprisingly good, they only cost about 40 quid for the 3 sigles. I'm not sure how good they would be to me now, it was about 6 years ago, but i remember them being much better than the pick ups i had replaced and much better than I was expecting, not sure if anyone else has tried them, i just got them by going through some google search and just got them to see if cheap worked, and they did until i started getting different guitars playing heavier stuff, its really quite hard to play any metal on stratts, not impossible but it takes effort. You really struggle even more with the bridge pick up, they're so bright on stratts, and are very good for that. I much prefer humbuckers now, i have all my guitars set up with 5 way switches even when i have only 2 humbuckers, just so i have the choice to play singles, although i rarely do. I don't think I've ever found a use for the middle pick up with two humbuckers, i believe it plays a single from bridge and neck, it isn't really a great sound, it may be both humbuckers in some guitars, even so with stratts i never found a use for the middle pick up, bridge and neck were about it, rhythm and treble as the les pauls say, I'd say rhythm and lead probably, but not strictly.
Thanks for the tip - just ordered a hot slag (don't tell the wife...) and a rolling mill for an inexpensive Indonesian Ibanez S470 which plays really well.
Used to work in a food factory...same as you said about the pickups. We processed fish at the beginning of the building and at the end it went into 3 different branded boxes...same product...different name!
Same product ... different name and different value too.
@@MarcosHenrique-ms1zs exactly!
@@74dartman13 I commented on your post by accident. I never thought you would answer because this video is from the year 2016.
@@MarcosHenrique-ms1zs it came as a notification, so I thought...what the heck and responded.🙂
@@74dartman13 rsrsrsrs
This thumbnail...."One does not simply buy a cheap pickup"
This comment is underappreciated.
hahahaha this comment is fucking genius, the whole time I thought he had the Boromir look going on
Ha Ha
(Hey look Eddy's at the wrong house ha ha, ha ha, ha ha)
Chaz Michael hahahah love it!!
If yer gonna buy a cheap pickup get a Chevy S10
I bought a Fleor (Alnico 5) 14 to 15k brand new for $13.38 shipped to my door. Sounds great! Has adjustable pole's and wires for push/pull pot. Came with wiring diagram for Seymore Duncan's.
Can you comment link to them here?
I got the same pickups on Temu that were the same price, look, and sound like the Seymour Duncan's I had in another guitar. Same wiring diagram also as the Fleor and they are Alnico 5. 15.5k bridge and 7.5k neck. I think they are made by the same people. I got the Slash / Ace Frehley sound in my affordable LP I was looking for
I'd also recommend Vanson pickups. I bought a Harley Benton HH tele with Wilkinsons which were a bit shrill sounding to be honest. I've used Wilkinsons before & always been happy with them but not in this guitar. I put a set of Vanson Alnico V 59s in and it completely transformed it... it's hot the warmth of a LP but with the top end sparkle of a bolt on guitar.
Thank you. Are you still happy with the Vanson pickups?
I loaded most of my guitars with Iron Gear pickups, they are an awesome pickup, also Warman pickups are very similar in sound and quality, cheers
Just got a starcaster with humbucker at bridge. I collect guitars. In bridge position this is best sound I've ever had. Amazing sound on all levels!!!
Upgrading to higher quality potentiomers, capacitor and wiring makes more of difference than changing pickups. The original pickups in a guitar or cheap ones may be fine with proper wiring. Don't get me wrong, there are bad pickups that can ruin the best guitar, but in order to hear the true sound of those pickups it requires top notch pots & wiring.
l have had them in a couple of my Epiphone guitars for the last few years... Blues Engine - Dirty Torque and Rolling Mill - Hot Slag. You can't beat them for the money and sound
Thank-you, sir! I play like a spavined walrus but am setting up to build guitars, so this info is most welcome. More power to you.
The thing I like about IronGear is their use of different magnet types. Big fan of Harley Benton too, big bang for your buck.Keep doing what you do, you are on my top ten list.
The best cheapest pickups what i ever seen, the russian ARB pickups, and the chinese Oripure pickups (Especialy the Bill Lawrence "like" tone/behave versions)
I'm not a humbucker guy myself and I get Guitar Fetish pickups and they're great. Carvin also makes good stuff.
I like Carvin, Seymour Duncan, and DiMarzio pups. Reasonably priced. A great sounding stock set is the Ibanez V7, S1, V8 which a lot of folks take off and replace. So you can find them used in excellent shape for cheap.
I just picked up a '78 Aria Pro ii Les Paul copy. I'm putting an overwound Rolling Mill in the bridge and a standard one in the neck. I already have a standard one in the bridge of a humbucker equipped Tele and it's brilliant for just about everything I throw at it. I appreciate the review and for the info on IronGear. Thanks!
A 200 pound pickup is gonna weigh your guitar down ;)
LMAO!
there had to be someone lol
throw 'em in a les paul and you'll barely notice. ;)
paper hat!!
yeah! And who has 200 squid just laying around! DOLLARS! CENTS! That's why we left the mother land,or big Island!
Also ,that Iron company sucks ,try GFS ,and if you have ,what do you think! Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio are THE pick ups !
After watching your vid, I bought the Tesla Shark. It's given my old Ibanez a new lease of life! Thanks for the great advice.
This is a BRILLIANT video. I have been using Iron gear pickups for a few years and like Dave says, they are more than great value. They are not great for the price. THEY ARE FANTASTIC AT ANY PRICE. I bought my first set as replacements in an Epi Les Paul. WOW. I now have them in my Gibson Les paul.
Wow thats a great comment for me about to buy for LP too, Thanks.
I agree with you. Try the cheapos. I also try tone mods and pots with good soldering and sheilding. Always works.
25 Years ago I changed the pickups in my guitar virtually every week before I found what worked for me. Great fun, you can do that stuff when you're young!
Nice, there are only so many variables , such as wire, magnets and number of winds as well as ways to make pickups, so it makes sense that you shouldn't have to pay a bunch for a nice sounding pickup. I have generally liked the pickups in my Gibson guitars but then again I have never tried anything different. As a matter of principle I always change the ones in my Stratocasters.
Thank you man, without this exact video I would have never heard of irongear. Got them finally for this Xmas. took my new tesla shark (alnico ii) bridge and blues engine neck (alnico iv) (in a vintage brand sg) out for a test rehearsal, our lead guitar player asked how come you sound so nice, what pickups are those? and man, they are great. played it through an orange th30, and I have played that amp, never liked it before. now they were absolutely amazing. and i'm a quite shitty guitar player, believe me, and these things made me sound great. amazing responsiveness to how you play, can be almost clean and gritty as f, with the same settings. switched to a marshall half way through rehearsal, just to see if it was the amp, or the pickups, sounded absolutely great on the marshall too. I have a Gibson p90, dimarzio tone zone, and some duncan designed pickups, and I love all of them, but these iron gears are just somehow more. I can't explain it. I don't usually play mid position (unless it is in order to get rid of hum with p90s), because I end up losing the character of both pickups. with the tesla shark and blues engine combo, I almost always play mid position, the two add to each other's character. unless I realize that there is too much bass or too much treble in the mix and I need to balance it out somehow, that is when I switch to just neck or just bridge. but they are amazing no matter what position. Service was superb too. Professional, helpful, friendly, quick. Just amazing, the whole experience. Treat yourselves, buy IronGear!
I love em :)
A few weeks ago I got some real cheap zebra humbuckers from China, they were like £8.74 for the set so I wasnt expectng much to be honest, I put them in my home built telecaster and was completely blown away when I heard what they sounded like, and to be honest, I been playing that guitar all week comparing it with my other guitars and those £8.74 pickups are way better than any of the Gibson, Fender, Iron Gear, Tonerider, Wilkinson and Roswell pickups I have in all the other guitars.
they are very good at copying things and selling cheap, thats why US/UK manufacturing is on its ass. However there is still crap coming out of there so sometimes its luck.
@@DaveBarlowGuitar He is right. And China is a communist dictatorship that really wants US dollars and enslaves and kills its people. That is hard to ignore.
I love these pickups. Iron Gear never disappoint.
Put a set of Zebra Blues Engines with original PRS wiring including coil split in my 2023 PRS SE Custom 24 after one of the original 85/15s stopped working. The guitar looks great, feels great and NOW sounds great. Pair £75 delivered from Axetec
Couldn't agree more. I fitted 'Hot Slag' pick ups in a cheap and nasty, Chinese SG copy and it sounds amazing. I now want to try out their P90 s on my next project. keep up the good work Dave.
You've gotta try the Wilkinson WVHZ pups. In 50 years of chasing tone I've never heard a better sounding low output pickup. Cleans are very.very good and when the dirt starts that's when these things get magic. All for $35 bucks.
Wilkinson MWHZ
Good video mate! I've got Wilkinson ceramic PAF style humbuckers, I'v been using them in a 338 and LP and a $1K SG and by far my favorite humbucker. Super balanced and you hear every note of a chord ring out. $80 will get you a set. I've heard Musiclily has the same ones cheaper on Amzn. They are super clear and to my ear they are more "balanced" than most stock pups like Epiphone, Firefly and other inexpensive guitars which I love and love to upgrade. Ceramic gets a bad rap but it's just a F--kin magnet. and done right they are amazing. Not thin, Not muddy, just clear and musical. That's the point aint it?
I think now it's more about amps and effects more than pickups but they're still important and a lot of it is personal preference. I've not heard or read many complaints about Wilkinson pickups, or many of the cheaper brands. I think most people complain about the cheap oem pickups that come installed in some cheap guitars.
ps - a 1/4" cable and a Multi tester lets you get readings on pickups that are still installed in the guitar
- ie you can hear what you're testing or test a guitar with no amp - readings can warn if a vintage guitar has been gutted - just turn all pots to full -> -> then go thru the selector choices - - easy way to spot problems... even in the entire harness... and suss out coil tap vs coil split by ohms
I have built one of these.. Works great and handy to have with you when you go looking for a guitar and are want to know what value pickups are in it. The sales people look at you weird until they see it then they usually go "wow, that's pretty cool!"
The thumbnail: "One does not simply walk into Seymour"
Winters Coming LOL!
One of my favourite videos of all time and was released in my birthday carry on with the good work
I like Entwistle HDN. great tone cheap. I love finding inexpensive alternatives.
Have an Entwistle demo soon
Nice video. In my opinion, the best not too expensive pickups are 36th dimarzios. Excellent. I replaced a pair of Tom Holmes with a second hand pair of them and preferred them. May check out iron gear.
IronGear are probably worthwhile of consideration if you're in the UK where shipping (subsidised by those of us who aren't) is 'free' , but otherwise forget it. Decent product, more of a range than Wiilkinson, with some better as the should be at twice the price and then some, but the RIDICULOUS International shipping charges for such a small item even if its retail boxed make them a "forget it!" deal killer. Looking to profit off the UK export VAT reduction by jackign up the shipping charge forgetting we have to add import GST to the lot inc shipping for our landed cost.
This is true and we have big issues importing from the USA as well, I am hoping we can do some good trade deals between all our countries soon but I fear the fat cats of the corporate world may have a different idea.. :(
@@DaveBarlowGuitar That's for sure. Regardless in this case, the problem I have that stopped me pressing buy after adding to cart is with Irongear's, presumably third party, choice of International shipper. I looked at the IronGear pickups and would definitely have bought a set if I were resident in the UK.
The usurous Axetec shipping killed the deal for me. £38.50p for DHLshipping!!! Thomann will ship me a three guitars or a guitar and two amps for that! And £14 for Royal Mail! WTF! They're a pair of 3"x 2" x1" pickups that weigh around 225g each in retail presentation box (just weighed a Seymour Duncan TB-14) and wouldn't weight 600g *packed* if supplied in retail presentation boxes. Thay're havin' a laff, but not at my expense. I'm familiar with UK export shipping options, costs and speed as I use it all the time. In a sentence, International shipping handler Axetec are having a generous drink on the International consumer, but not this one. Pass. I ordered Wilkinsons.
Yeah, Not sure on this, that its all about the re-seller. Ive been a re-seller trying to ship international and its not simple. your either walk to a post office every day for one offs (not practical for many) or you sign up for a collection service under contract with an international shipper on a sliding price scale who issue penalties on short volumes. Most smaller companies dont want the penalties and sign up for lower volume but much higher price scale. Yes there are one off shippers to, but still not without silly costs.
@@aeroshack There is no reseller where IronGear pickups are concerned. They sell their product online direct.
@@theblytonian3906 Ok understood, however the point is still the same in respect of costs, if they are small. Loads ok UK makers don't ship outside EU because it's so prohibitive. Not saying they arnt milking postage (I can't know) Just saying it might not be quite how it seems.
GFS makes excellent PU's for my 175,as a ex good friend(borrowed)the PAF's and tried to replace
with EBay AWFUL's.
I have tried a couple of sets of cheaper pickups, (I am allergic to spending 200$ for a pickup). I was very careful about comparing the magnet type, the resistance, and the frequency response, and so far, I have had very good luck (other than waiting for 2 months for a set of strat pickups to arrive through Amazon). the pickups I have do sound much better than the ones that came on my half a grand guitar. I have an old super strat copy (humbucker at the bridge with 2 single coils) and for the humbucker, and a set of 3 strat pickups, (cheaper as a set), All of my friends prefer to play the old copy I fixed up to the big brand guitars that I have. There are good affordable pickups out there if you are willing to look, and take a risk once in a while.
Low priced pickups are great and all, but I have had a number of problems with a lot of them. Some of the problems I've had are badly waxed coils (which makes for more noise) and weak soldering. If you are trying to upgrade a cheaper guitar with cheap pickups, it's probably going to sound the same. I upgraded my HSS squire with Dimarzio Notorious pickups, and they sound nothing like any cheap pickups I've had. And there are factories that produce pickups for a number of brands, but they are for the low end guitars of big company's such as Squire or Epiphone. Aftermarket pickup company's do indeed use their own factories. Dimarzio produces in USA, Bare knuckle produces in UK and Seymour Duncan produces in the USA as well.
I can tell you now that Irongear are top quality, been using them for years.
Your vid convinced me to take a chance on alternate brand pickups. However I went with Warman's and I was really impressed.
I have thought about these Dave but I have been on the fence. I'll have to give them a shot.Thanks for the advice. I have used GFS they also sell very decent pickups .
I use iron gear in my builds, I have installed most of them on mine and guitars for others. they are awesome. I used the hammer heads in my Last build, they sound better than the Duncan 12 gauge.
Going to review the Tonerider OCTANE Alnico 8 Humbucker next week so stay tuned.
Big thank you. ... I will be buying from Iron Gear soon.. Just acquired my first set alnico. .. Roswell 63s thanks to generous seller on the bay. A bargain... threw them in to black strat Stretton Payne copy (Maple board) with new black guard and I must say with one quick test with Guitar Rig 4 Big Monster they sound great.. Am I right in thinking that little improvements like that really give you a boost ? They say the Affinity pickups are Okay but I never like using them really... or the guitar... perhaps new pickups there like Iron Gear Texas will help..
I swapped the pickups in my MiM Fender Strat with a Mighty Mite MHD-R/WH in the bridge and two Mighty MIte MMRSS-R/WHs. Totally changed the sound, of course, and the range of tones is just incredible. I'm very pleased with them.
I bought a couple of sets of BYO pups here in the States. The Eruption set and Blizzard of 59 set and they really blew me away. Really great sounding pups in the Tonerider price range.
these are very good i have several guitars with them fitted and they are every bit as good as top named pups, i have blues engines, P90's, rolling mill, and dirty torque, all fitted to gibson guitars and give much improved performance for me and my style of playing. Every word Dave has said is true, try them first (Y)
Thanks for the words, mate. These are some great guys to know about.
I bought 3 quad rail/coil humbuckers from Amazon to load into the custom Strat Based guitar build/mod I call the "Stellarcaster" I started with a cheap Chinese made Starcaster, Strat electric guitar By: Fender (said that right on the head stock)... these Hummers average out at 18.5 K 0hms DC resistance each they have 4 wires _start and finish for each pair of rails/coils with 3 strong ceramic 1/4 square X 3" long magnets between the rails plus a braded ground wire as well I mounted then into the custom hand made extended Brushed Stainless Steel Pick guard and wired them up like 50'd Les Paul with P/P Volume pots and another P/P pot in the bridge tone position to activate the bridge and neck P/ups together regardless of any other controls 3 pairs of potd in this monster I call the "Stellarcaste" 3 humms , 3 P/P vol. 3 tone all 500K audio taper pots it all plays together nicely and sounds interstellar a cool stars and Planets space theme paint scheme using spray cans and airbrushed detailing with silver micro glitter lightly scattered covered lightly with Dark blue spray paint also used along with black spray paint as the base a few airbrushed comets and twinkly stars for the totally cool looing custom paint job on the body and headstock.. finisher with a 2K semi gloss clearcoat... it boasts roller saddles and a full size brass trem block in the bridge roller string trees a Titanium nut and locking tuners all the knobs are 'Tele' styls chrome knobs and a chrome tip on the Fender 5-way blade selector switch, and a kill button just for more fun,, I didn't even try to count the tone variations available in this monster I have created from my own imagination and niw a reality.. a very cool beautiful, great feeling and playing guitar I designed and built to my designs and taste.. ... My "Stellarcaster" feels great in the hands plays and sounds great this C totally Custom Monster of a Guitar really rocks the Cosmos for sure........
Wanna Play???
Over here in the Colonies, we have Guitar Fetish (GFS) which seem to be fine. Putting a set in a Tele build, will let ya know! Everything I can hear on my computer speakers, they sound good. (Cute bird; you're doing all right, mate!)
I've recently found a new favorite pickup, Jalen Guitars pickups. He builds evh tone pups for all the van halen eras. He also does custom orders for design and looks. Plus the customer service is the best I've ever dealt with. Priced about $85 a pup.
Want to hear demos, check out Al Estrada
I've got a set of Iron Gear "Texas Loco" pickups in my Strat and they're a fantastic. Recommended to anyone.
Loved this vid, no messing about, super helpful. Not enough people like you on RUclips these days. Thanks
i put a set of iron gears (hot slag/rolling mill ) in my epiphone lp...way better than stock...but i found in my Harley Benton SC Custom the wilkinson bridge pup was still better...but the neck wikinson in the hb was a bit muddy..so my fix was....a stock Harley benton pup (wilkinson mwchb alnico vintage style) in the bridge and a iron gear rolling mill in the neck..perfect!!!!...the epiphone may get the same setup but for now i play the HB. I then picked up a Vintage Honey Burst..in went two blues engines....thumbs up....as i didnt care for its stockers at all..
thank you for this. I recently bought a Tele copy. Nice body, 22 frets but the pickups were rubbish. I have always gone for fender pickups, which as you say cost a fortune. A local guitar fixer suggested some "cheap"ones that sounded exactly the same as the fender sounds. ( he demo'd both sounds, which were the same ). So I have taken your advice and ordered a bridge strat pickup for my green strat copy. I'll let you know how I get on. Thank you for some good advice
we need more like you on youtube keep up the good work dave
Just bought a set of the Hot Slag pups. Looking forward to how they look and sound!!! Thank you for the review!
Have fun!
I bought a bunch of loaded pickguards and then a $9 multi tester - almost all the single coils read 3 ohms - one set read around 6 ohms - they seemed quieter but with richer tone - I suspect that cheap single coils read low ohms and seem loud and bright - a neat trick for a store demo but you soon get tired of the tone as you do with Duncan Design
I am a GFS fan, however I am in the US. But the GFS pickups are amazing also. from old school foil type to hot to active.
Love your channel Dave. You’re honest.
Thanks for watching
I've used Warman pickups in most of my guitars for a few years now, they are amazing for any money. In my custom SG I spent a bit of cash and used 3 Railhammers, awesome sounding and looking pickups, but Warman continue to be my go-to brand, I have a set of Warman P-90's on order for the current SG project I'm working on,and a set of Warman Warblades in a box for the Les Paul project coming next.
I hear good things about Warman all the time.
@@DaveBarlowGuitar They are excellent pickups, I've also got a Warman dominator in my HSS Strat, awesome pickup if you can find one!
I tried Belcal pups BH-20, BH-33 Metal and BS-4. About 9€ pcs (SD JB is 109€) and I was positively surprised the sound guality. They really can make those well outside US and one tenth of the price.
In the States we have Dragon fire and G F S both sell great pups for Low coin.I'd like to try the Iron Gear.Thanks Dave.
Yes I have heard lots of good things about them :)
Nice video,another thing a lot of folks forget,is electronics. Caps and pots make a huge difference as well.
tikka3030 Damn right.
I disconnect tone pots when testing and comparing pickups, will be doing a very interesting video on tonewoods etc soon.
Legendary video. Keep up the good work champion!
I've had some irongear pickups for a while now thanks to watching this vid. Great stuff Dave, cheers
I couldn't agree more mate.
I bought a Chibson double neck and basically gutted it when I got it. I put in two sets of Rolling Mills and after some other work it sounded fantastic. I did my last RUclips video with it and I think the tone is almost spot on.
Ironstone pickups are another good brand too. Put a set in a Tele and it came to life!!
I bought a kit build LP from Hong Kong cause basically I'm rubbish at woodwork and changed out the supplied pups (tinny rubbish) for a pair of Irongear 'Hot Slags' which are absolutely brilliant! I've since then bought an Epiphone LP and although the pups are nice they're not a patch on the Irongear ones, so, I've just bought the 'Blues Engine/Dirty Torque' combo they sell at Axetec for the Epi and the Epi ones are going into my old 72 Avon Jap LP which is sounding a little low nowadays. Love the Irongear pickups, for £68 for a pair you can't go wrong. I also fitted a roller bridge which I see you like as well :)
Tone Emporium Pickups, from Canada and John Benson Customs from New York.
John makes them personally.
the neck pickup in the stewmac les paul kit is awesome.. better than any of the boutique pickups i've tried in the recent years.. and this is true..
Great vid. I bought some Rose p94 mod USA pickups, inexpensively... they absolutely kick ass at a non Gibson price point
And my guitars soundbyte demo is still on his page i think
"Don't they make plastic teacups?" Cracked me up :P Great video!
Yes and the "Hell-O" beautiful voice and accent in the background followed by a barking dog.
Hi, great video as usual Dave! I got Iron Gear Hot Slags (set) in 3 of my guitars. Great high gain pickups indeed! Note that I got guitars with Tone Zones, 81/85's, etc. Do give them a try, trust Dave!
Please subscribe as I got lots more to share with you about this :)
Thanks! Great video and recommendation. Just what I need for my first project plus the wiring diagrams on their site have answered all my questions.
I replaced ALL of my PUs in 5 SGs. Hot Slag .... direct from Iron Gear. Don't lose the punch when you wind the volume down (unlike our Giggo friends). Not digging at PAFs, but these suits my needs. Great post mate ....
Artec actually makes a lot of the pickups for the cheaper guitars worldwide in China. most of the Seymour or Di marzio "licensed by"are made in their factory.. probably some of the more expensive pickups are probably made by them too, they actually make a wide range of decent pedals too.
I mod. the cheapest used China guitars so they visually kicks ass and feels like the beter end squiere. I strip them all the way down and build it up from scratch. My fave pup's is the cheap end Wilkinson, and they sound really good. I have not tried their high output single coil yet, but if this gets any better i would not pay three or four times mere for seymor and other brands.
Iron Gear are great. I used to buy the SD JB humbucker a lot but now would always choose an IG Dirty Torque - sounds the same if not better, nearly a third of the price.
Cool video. Long response here but well worth your time to read.
Before you do anything, look to your amp to see if you can dial in the tone there. It only takes your time and your patience. If that does not do it you may want to look at your stock pickups. Many people forget that the amp can compensate for guitars and pickups.
Before you buy new ones try and see if you can get the tone out of your stock pickups. Try adjusting the height of the pickup. Try playing with the screw pole pieces. You might just find the tone you want this way.
Not working for you? Then you could look at swapping the magnet out. This is the least expensive way to upgrade your pickup. Find out the tone you are looking for by who is playing that tone and what they have in their guitar. Most cheap pickups will have a ceramic magnet. You can swap it out for a few dollars and there are several videos on RUclips to show you how. I like Will's Easy Guitar video for that. Please keep in mind you can damage the copper windings if you do not take your time or do a slap dash job. Many people have had great success swapping in Alnico 2s and Alnico 5s in their stock pickups. This should only cost a few dollars to do per pickup.
If that does not work or only gets you part way there look at having your pickups rewound. This you want a professional to do as they have the experience and know how. This essentially gives you a custom pickup at a fraction of a boutique pickup price.
Next would be getting new pickups. The materials really cost about $12-20 for the manufacturer to make. You are paying for experience and marketing. Most boutique builds are time and cost consuming. They are not making loads of them like EMG or Seymour Duncan on any given day. Keep economies of scale in mind, you pay more for a product that there are fewer units made.
At the end of the day will this change your tone or be ehat you are looking for? Maybe. Talk to a reputable luthier, tell him what you think you are looking for and what he suggests. Be open to new ideas and that you may want to buy a new guitar that gets those tones.
If you see the guitar on the left of my pic it is a Ibanez Artcore AK 86. I spent years getting it where I want it. I got the vintage vibrato and roller bridge that Ibanez puts on other models. I ended up putting my Gretschbuckers from my Electromatic guitar (it now has TV Jones in it) and it came out better then I originally wanted. For some reason the Gretschbuckers sound way better in this than in the Gretsch.
When they were in the Gretsch I adjusted the the pickup to match a Filtertron by lowering the pickup and raising all the screws. This was a dynamic change in tone. I ended up putting the TV Jones in the Gretsch because that's what I really wanted. That was like $340 worth of pickup upgrade alone. So the cool thing was putting these extra pickups in the Ibanez saved me loads of money. I actually played it against several Gretsches including a White Falcon and it was nearly there in tone.
If you are trying to emulate a player keep in mind most of their tone comes from their fingers. No amount of gear will make up for that. I would suggest finding yoir own tone by using what you have and pushing yourself as a player.
One last thing. I have several guitars that I am very happy with that I did not hotrod or swap out pickups. Sometimes a diffrent string guage or tunning may open up posibilities for you. Also having them set up properly will make them feel, sound, and play better. If you not happy with it play another guitar and revisit it later on. You might appreciate it much later as is.😎
Tonerider is a great shout as well. I've yet to try a bad Tonerider pickup and before anyone says, I've got high end pickups too to compare
are there ways to mimic the 'baseplate' for a Strat bridge pup that has 1 or 2 ceramic magnets ? The polepieces on ceramics are inert, so can some material mimic the 'baseplate' effect for ceramic Strat pickups ?
update 12/2018 .... ceramics are not magnetic like vertical polepieces in Strat pickups. So forget a 'baseplate' as for flat bottomed steel poled Strat pickups.
Also, a plain humbucker (uncovered) can have the wrapping removed and carefully remove the stock magnet and insert THE SAME ORIENTATION an alnico 2,5,8, etc. one as you like. RE-wrap the tape carefully and your pickup is transformed ! alnico magnets are cheap to buy and 5 or 8 is a safe type to use. Ceramic magnets are brittle and delicate.... so will break on removal sometimes.
update 1/2019 : I found that for $20 a set delivered ! H S S Strats from Guitar Madness in the USA via eBay.
I have no idea, however I do know a person that can answer that question customersupport@alegree.co.uk
I've been using Irongear pickups for over eight years and have never been disappointed, great people to deal with too. I've just put a Rolling Mill in the bridge and an Alchemist 90 in the neck on an old LP copy I picked up for peanuts, I love it. Subbed and look forward to catching up with your videos. Cheers!
Artec Alnico V as good a single coil replacement for cheap Strat copies. They sound almost as good as a modern American Strat. And they are £35 for the set neck, bridge and middle.
I've had good experiences with budget aftermarket pickups. I do like my Seymour Duncans that I put in my 7- and 8-string guitars but I don't much care for the Seymour Duncan price tag. You really CAN find high-quality aftermarket pickups at a reasonable price.
No Doubt ,,i tried and tried to keep telling myself that my prs se 24 sounded awesome,,i mean at the entry level 500 dollar se standard 24 i bought was disapponting..my volt meter was broken so instead of buying another meter to check the output i bought a really good amp..and oh yeah it make the guitar sound different but im a bridge position player and i play hard rock and some a little heavy and i just wasnt getting the punch i guess you could say so i bought a cheap volt meter and i looked everywhere for the specs on the bridge and neck outputs and couldnt find the info anywhere,,so i tested the bridge and it was a little above 8k output and 6k or so on the neck,,,so im thinking to myself hmm i bought a fleour hotrail for my strat style guitar to put in the bridge and was really happy and it was 13 dollars,,so i thought i have the knowledge and know how to solder good and this is my guitar why not try a high output bridge pickup and just see what happens,,,this listing on the humbucker i bought said 15 k + output..and this is for 21 dollars and its a match for the zebra color so i thought why not,,i recieved the pickup and before anything i tested the pickup and sure enough 15k plus,,so i replaced it all neat and tidey and WOW,,,now im feeling what i want to feel from my bridge pickup..HOT Hell Yeah,,,..and to beat it all its not even a fleour...its unbranded,,,and to think i was actually going to buy a 120 dollar name brand pickup that im not so sure would be as hot as this one...never underestimate a cheaper pickup and IM NOT ASHAMED OF REPLACING A STOCK PRS PICKUP WITH A 20 DOLLAR ONE,,,NOT WHEN IT SOUNDS AS GOOD AS MINE DOES NOW,,I AINT NO GUITAR pickup SNOB lol
I'm going to run some of the options from Guitar Fetish. The "VEH" looks impressive. As do the Fat/Crunchy Pat models. I need a more cost friendly alternative to my favorite Seymour Duncan choices.
Nice vid. Few years ago I got some IronGear pickups and I'm very pleased with them even since.
Good to Know, I stumbled across them a few years ago too, great value for money.
I installed 2 Texas Hots and a Destroyer all from Warman into my Pacifica and the difference was amazing, amzing tones and great distortion when I want it. Cant praise Warman enough, quality and cheap
Yes I hear Warman are very good :)
I love the Iron Gear pickups. Neck and Bridge sound very similar in this clip. :)
Have you heard of GuitarHeads pick ups? I have a set of their Gold Rush pickups, got some nice bite to them.
thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this topic. I truly appreciate it.
When SHE walked into the vid I could SEE your thoughts on your face. They were mine exactly too! Sorry mate.
Kids. Always muggin the face. Gotta be nice, gotta get a few YT bucks from dad. Well I cleaned your frets and fed your snakes.
The Steam Hammer is a very good match to the DiMarzio SD1 fitted in the bridge of my Melody Maker I built to emulate Gary Moores MM . I know this as I have a Gibson Melody Maker finished to Gary's spec with a period DiMarzio SD1 in the bridge . Apart from the super nitro 3 tone burst refinish , its a great tribute guitar to Gary's back up to to Peter Greens LP that he generally used half way through a gig . I cant play like that man could , but n one else could either . God's greatest lead guitarist and vocals .
Wow nice recommend. Was looking for a Hot Rails type of Pup for my Strat and baulked at paying silly money for a well known brand. These from Iron Gear at a fraction of the cost are worth a punt
Bare Knuckle good a big head too quickly and started charging $800 per set of humbuckers or something ridiculous like that. The only brands I really use are GFS or Rose pickups. And sometimes seymours or di marzios depending on the application..
Right on the money - you don't have to pay exorbitant rates for decent pickups. Realistically, theres FA to a pickup. Magnets, bobbins, wire and some wax (if you want). That's it. And $200 for that? Unfortunately the bigger guys (SD, DiMarzio etc) got in on the ground floor for replacement pickups years ago. But there's plenty of others doing pickups for about $30ea that sound fantastic. I've been buying the GFS pickups for a while, trying out different pickups for projects. When replacing some pickups for Rick style guitar which I wasn't happy with the pickups, I ended up buying a few Rick type sets and changed them out to get the tone I was after. Was dirt cheap. I've also bough some artecs off ebay but haven't used them in a project - yet! They were dirt cheap so O couldn't let them go by and threw them in the parts box. Don't forget Wilkinson - I've got some of their P90's in a gold top - sound nice. I'll definitely have to try these guys out as well.
nailed it! I've got 20 bugs hummbuckers in my les paul and play them for 2 years onstage until now. and not on small concerts:)
is that 20 Bucks?
Dave Barlow I bought 18 dollar PAF-fakes no name..i gues belcat? No that's to high quality for around 20 nuts^^. I'm glad with them...but now there's a bit oxidation on them.
I played the Blues Engine (bridge), for a few hours this week, and now I'm planning to install at least another one .
I didn't have the neck position, because I rarely use it, but for the bridge position it does all I need.
My favorite pickup for solid body guitars like, v's, explorers, SG's, etc. Bright, ballsy, in yer face but controllable. Neck gives you some real sweet tones, roll back the tone just a notch and listen for sweet child o mine, roll off volume halfway to three quarters and you get real old style blues. brilliant pickup which i might add is a copy of a real PAF style pickup (when new). Need old style or aged sounding pups, easy, in the blues pickups just pull out the magnet and replace them with alnico 3's. :)
swaping magnets in humbuckers is a super easy thing, so manufacturers should just add all 3 popular types of manets to every pickup
a2 a5 and ceramic just for the heck of trying them out
But if they did they would lose revenue, however, there are other subtleties to be aware of when choosing wire to a magnet but I agree your point :)
Just put a Tesla shark in the bridge position on my prs 245 se .Blown away ! I’m a big Bareknuckle fan but these nearly as good ! at a fraction of the cost ! Result 🤘
Thanks for this video. There is a another company that makes very good pickups at low prices called dragonfire
Yes I heard they are pretty good :)
Thanks for turning me on to Irongear. That Hamer is awesome 👍🏼🤘🏼
Toneriders are probably the best value at £80 for a strat set you can’t go wrong. Paper bobbins and vintage wires. The demos sound good too. Duncan’s are too expensive.
I have some Tonerider Surfari's.....which I dont' really like. They sound too bright and unforgiving to me. I have some Wilkinson "hot vintage" strat pickups in another which I believe are ceramic but sound great.
Each to their own I suppose.
I got a set of wilkinsons for an old stratt i had, they were surprisingly good, they only cost about 40 quid for the 3 sigles. I'm not sure how good they would be to me now, it was about 6 years ago, but i remember them being much better than the pick ups i had replaced and much better than I was expecting, not sure if anyone else has tried them, i just got them by going through some google search and just got them to see if cheap worked, and they did until i started getting different guitars playing heavier stuff, its really quite hard to play any metal on stratts, not impossible but it takes effort. You really struggle even more with the bridge pick up, they're so bright on stratts, and are very good for that. I much prefer humbuckers now, i have all my guitars set up with 5 way switches even when i have only 2 humbuckers, just so i have the choice to play singles, although i rarely do. I don't think I've ever found a use for the middle pick up with two humbuckers, i believe it plays a single from bridge and neck, it isn't really a great sound, it may be both humbuckers in some guitars, even so with stratts i never found a use for the middle pick up, bridge and neck were about it, rhythm and treble as the les pauls say, I'd say rhythm and lead probably, but not strictly.
Thanks for the tip - just ordered a hot slag (don't tell the wife...) and a rolling mill for an inexpensive Indonesian Ibanez S470 which plays really well.