Metropoulos Forum

Man, just looking through the lastest issue of Vintage Guitar and GP it looks like everybody and their mother are winding pickups. And, of course theirs is the best!

I've been thinking that same thing lately. If they all charged 65 bucks a piece like Jeff at High Order then I would be willing to try a few of the more popular ones out. But at $325 a set, I'll have to pass.

I was willing to take a chance on the High Orders and I was not disappointed.

Are they the best out there? I cannot say. Are they a damn nice pickup and help give me the sound I want. Yes.

All mine are pretty much stock/vintage PUs in my axes. Can't say that I don't like 'em!

But I have wondered the same thing. I actually have a couple oddballs that were rewound that sound like crap. One of the local "rewinders" isn't all he's cracked up to be.

- WOT

NY Chief wrote:Man, just looking through the lastest issue of Vintage Guitar and GP it looks like everybody and their mother are winding pickups. And, of course theirs is the best!

So you even read the same mags as me...
I think its kinda like when amp builders realized that mass produced amps werent cutting it for discriminating players. Guys like George, Germino, Roccaforte, etc started building specialized stuff and players could hear the difference.
I think pickup winders realized the same thing, and jumped on the bandwagon. Duncans and DiMarzio's sound "ok", but anybody with half an ear can hear the diff between them and a Lollar, or a WCR.
I for one dont mind paying the extra coin for something special, and IMO thats what you get with hand-built equipment, cause there's definitely more care going into the end product.

fillmore nyc wrote:[So you even read the same mags as me...

Well, I didn't say I "read" them! The pictures are sure purty though!!! Too funny, Bro. You sure we didn't have the same mailman??

I agree with paying for better quality but it just seems like there are so many more now to choose from and you sure can't count on GP reviews to be objective...

NY Chief wrote:Well, I didn't say I "read" them! The pictures are sure purty though!!!

I aint learned ta read yet m'self, Chiefy... but I SHUUR do like me dem photy-graphs!! 'Specially dem nekkid ones. Dey beez REEEL purty!!

I kinda agree with WOT, I haven't heard better sounding pups than the old Fender's including pre CBS jaguar's I can't do comparison tests between a '66 loaded pup set with a hotter 6.12 neck pup to another lower output '66 pup set that soundslike a 66 should but I'm expecting the articulation to be similair and slight sonic changes. The '66 set is better than the CP60 2006 set which I considered good. I did get a MB AY 54 set that is wound on the alnico3's I'm waiting to try them.
I don't really like to make a final opinion until I try them thru a slew of different amps

wide slide wrote:I kinda agree with WOT, I haven't heard better sounding pups than the old Fender's including pre CBS jaguar's I can't do comparison tests between a '66 loaded pup set with a hotter 6.12 neck pup to another lower output '66 pup set that soundslike a 66 should but I'm expecting the articulation to be similair and slight sonic changes. The '66 set is better than the CP60 2006 set which I considered good. I did get a MB AY 54 set that is wound on the alnico3's I'm waiting to try them.
I don't really like to make a final opinion until I try them thru a slew of different amps

I would agree with that too, WS, if a truly vintage tone is what a player is after. One way or the other, its kinda hard to beat a *good* original old pickup. The only negative thing that can be said about them is that they tend to be inconsistent. I have definitely heard shitty Strat pup's and PAF's for that matter. Tele's seem to be the most inconsistent of all, IMO. Some sound "ok", and some sound so friggin' good its ridiculous.
Some of the boutique-y stuff is really, really good, but again, "better" than a really good original?? I dunno about that.

Yeah, I too think that the whole pu thing is getting overdone, and like many here, I havent got th money to try out everything. Over the years, I have only really tried out the biggies(S.Duncan,Dimarzio,EMG) in terms of how many of the construction variables change the tone. I am sure that these 'boutique' guy's can whip out a better pu, like Fillmore has said. The Fralin single coils I got 11 yr ago, which I parted with, were amazing.

Zoso wrote:
I was willing to take a chance on the High Orders and I was not disappointed.

Are they the best out there? I cannot say. Are they a damn nice pickup and help give me the sound I want. Yes.

Same here, Jeff's great prices made me think "what the hell, I might as well give it a shot", and I didn't even dislike the stock pickups in my R8. I just asked if the specs I was thinking were reasonable, and he delivered. Now I'm VERY happy that I took the plunge, these things are incredible. They are so clear you can make the les paul sound like an aocustic, if you want to.

He's very flexible too, I asked for low output unpotted paf styled pickups with PE wire. I would recommend him to anyone.

I want to try the Dave Stephens (http://www.sdpickups.com) but have not got aroud to it yet ...

Chief, everybody and his monkey is now winding pickups..
Can't beat the real thing, though one day I plan a project Washburn with the SD RTM Warren DeMartini pickup!
yngwie'gauss'308