Report on Custom Shop 69' Pickups
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:34 pm
Guys I decided today to upgrade my current strat for a few reasons. Its a good base to start with and whenever I put it up against other higher end pickups mine sound like they have a blanket over them. I just wanted to get bang for the buck and if I bought a mexi 50's strat, itd just need upgrades. I've already refretted this one and put a bone nut on, so why not finish her up.
Went out and bought some 69's today for 159 bucks. They have the Abigail initials on them and are dated july of 08.
Installation was a MASSIVE bitch. For some reason the screws would not want to thread into the grey fiber bobbin, let alone even match up to where the screws were was hard in itself. It took me about 2 hours to do this. I've never done it before and I have no experience really soldering much. But still, I about lost all patience with those damn grey fiber bobbins!
Onto the sound.....
Plugged it in and fired it up, I was afraid of getting shocked or something blowing up haha. But no, they work great.
Am I floored by them? no, but its an improvement for sure. Theyre much warmer than I expected. I really was worried about them sounding thin and plasticy given theyre a lower output than my standard strat pickups. They actually sound just as warm. The difference is on top - they have more clarity. Thats the biggest message with these pickups is clarity. Its not brightness. They just picked up where the old ones left off. Its balanced well, warm and clear. 2 and 4 are more quacky.
Ive had them in for less than a half hour so we'll see how it goes down the road but to me, they seem solid.
Next on the list is callaham saddles and a block.
Went out and bought some 69's today for 159 bucks. They have the Abigail initials on them and are dated july of 08.
Installation was a MASSIVE bitch. For some reason the screws would not want to thread into the grey fiber bobbin, let alone even match up to where the screws were was hard in itself. It took me about 2 hours to do this. I've never done it before and I have no experience really soldering much. But still, I about lost all patience with those damn grey fiber bobbins!
Onto the sound.....
Plugged it in and fired it up, I was afraid of getting shocked or something blowing up haha. But no, they work great.
Am I floored by them? no, but its an improvement for sure. Theyre much warmer than I expected. I really was worried about them sounding thin and plasticy given theyre a lower output than my standard strat pickups. They actually sound just as warm. The difference is on top - they have more clarity. Thats the biggest message with these pickups is clarity. Its not brightness. They just picked up where the old ones left off. Its balanced well, warm and clear. 2 and 4 are more quacky.
Ive had them in for less than a half hour so we'll see how it goes down the road but to me, they seem solid.
Next on the list is callaham saddles and a block.
!