High end luthiers and pickups

[garybaldy]

A recent thread about a weak high E string when plugged in prompted me to pose this question.
It seems to me that well respected luthiers very often use high end pickups but tend to negotiate a specific design with the winders for their particular guitars.
Don't these high end winders already produce perfectly acceptable pickups within there range without having to alter them?

[nyc chaz]

In my opinion it's all marketing.They sell you are getting someting unique and special.The whole boutique pickup thing has kind of gotten out of hand.I played a Harley Benton last year and it's stock pickup sounded good enough.Was it as good as a Seymour Duncan,no,but i bet in a loud band environment it would be hard to tell the difference.

[WahmBomAh]

I respect the builder when they express a preference.
I love a certain pickup but it might be too bright for a build.
The pickup can have an EQ curve that that could be great or not so great for a certain box and for the players imagined tone.
I don`t think it odd if a certain builder has a preference for the way HE or SHE hears it.
They could even work with a winder to develop a certain pickup that they feel brings out the best in their quest.
After all, that`s what we do as players 24/7 ....they should too.

Given that ...no problem with swapping with whatever is out there if it doesn't hit YOU in the sweet spot.

[garybaldy]

I respect the builder when they express a preference.
I love a certain pickup but it might be too bright for a build.
The pickup can have an EQ curve that that could be great or not so great for a certain box and for the players imagined tone.
I don`t think it odd if a certain builder has a preference for the way HE or SHE hears it.
They could even work with a winder to develop a certain pickup that they feel brings out the best in their quest.
After all, that`s what we do as players 24/7 ....they should too.

Given that ...no problem with swapping with whatever is out there if it doesn't hit YOU in the sweet spot.

If we are talking about fine tuning tone, and a builder builds several guitars of the same type, and bearing in mind they will inherently all sound different, if he buys a job lot of the same 'custom wound' pickup from a winder he's not going to know what the exact outcome is going to be. Isn't it just guess work?

[WahmBomAh]

If we are talking about fine tuning tone, and a builder builds several guitars of the same type, and bearing in mind they will inherently all sound different, if he buys a job lot of the same 'custom wound' pickup from a winder he's not going to know what the exact outcome is going to be. Isn't it just guess work?

maybe educated guesswork
Not starting from scratch.
Certain things are learned from experience both player and builder.

[garybaldy]

In my opinion it's all marketing.They sell you are getting someting unique and special.The whole boutique pickup thing has kind of gotten out of hand.I played a Harley Benton last year and it's stock pickup sounded good enough.Was it as good as a Seymour Duncan,no,but i bet in a loud band environment it would be hard to tell the difference.

I think I'm with you on this. Seymour Duncan for example produce a huge range of quality stock pickups to choose from. That is a mind bogling task in itself. And then you get people saying ' I like this one and I like that one but I need a bit less of this and a bit more of that'!! And in reality that may still not scratch the itch.

[WahmBomAh]

I think I'm with you on this. Seymour Duncan for example produce a huge range of quality stock pickups to choose from. That is a mind bogling task in itself. And then you get people saying ' I like this one and I like that one but I need a bit less of this and a bit more of that'!! And in reality that may still not scratch the itch.

I bought about 6 pairs of HB’s for my Koll build before it was ready.
Bought only those used and at fair price to not lose money on the experiment.
When I got it and spent a day swapping …I found a clear preference.
Later on I stumbled on a pair of 60’s Guild antihums which went above and beyond for me in this guitar in my hands.
No guesswork was involved.

[garybaldy]

I bought about 6 pairs of HB’s for my Koll build before it was ready.
Bought only those used and at fair price to not lose money on the experiment.
When I got it and spent a day swapping …I found a clear preference.
Later on I stumbled on a pair of 60’s Guild antihums which went above and beyond for me in this guitar in my hands.
No guesswork was involved.

I need to look up Koll and antihums!
Unless you can tell me something about the pickups.
When you say there was no guesswork do you mean you knew the antihums were what was needed in the Koll?

[AllanAllen]

In my opinion it's all marketing.They sell you are getting someting unique and special.The whole boutique pickup thing has kind of gotten out of hand.I played a Harley Benton last year and it's stock pickup sounded good enough.Was it as good as a Seymour Duncan,no,but i bet in a loud band environment it would be hard to tell the difference.

I've been saying this for at least 25 years. If the audience needs earplugs because the band is so damn loud, then you don't actually care about tone.

[WahmBomAh]

I need to look up Koll and antihums!
Unless you can tell me something about the pickups.
When you say there was no guesswork do you mean you knew the antihums were what was needed in the Koll?

I wrote no guesswork because I went through the process to test about 7 pairs of pickups. The results were based on actual evidence and not guesses.
I realize not everyone is that commited.
The Antihum is that minihumbucker found in the 60’s Guilds …especially Starfires.
I find them like a hifi P 90 tone. Great for jazz …and no hum!
Here is a link dialed in warm through a Henriksen Bud. Dark but still articulate

Paul Ricci with Art Hirahara at Arturo's "You Do Something To Me" - YouTube

[Rickco]

I wrote no guesswork because I went through the process to test about 7 pairs of pickups. The results were based on actual evidence and not guesses.
I realize not everyone is that commited.
The Antihum is that minihumbucker found in the 60’s Guilds …especially Starfires.
I find them like a hifi P 90 tone. Great for jazz …and no hum!
Here is a link dialed in warm through a Henriksen Bud. Dark but still articulate

Paul Ricci with Art Hirahara at Arturo's "You Do Something To Me" - YouTube

Nice job on a great tune, especially liked the short caxixi player! I wanted to comment that as Im reading and listening to this Im playing a '60 starfire III with LBs, I feel the same way you do about them. To that end Im also playing a '23 "ltd" black starfire III with LBs from Korea. There may be some that dont want to hear this but not only is there very little difference, I prefer the new one. So the good news is that guild is supplying a fantastic pickup on a relatively inexpensive guitar. Great video really enjoyed also one of my favorite tunes.

[gitman]

I recently added an "Empress Parametric EQ Deluxe" pedal to my rig and this in combination with the EQ on my BUD amp put an end to the recurring pickup-GAS when reading one of these glowing reviews ... It does take a little effort and patience and HARD listening before one learns how to use a complex EQ machine like this one and get the desired results but it pays off : a little tweak , a boost or cut-off at the "right" frequency and the old pickup sounds like a new one. OK, an EQ cannot alter the way a pickup compresses the tone and surely a few other artifacts unique to a certain pickup will be un-attainable but still, it's a very effective and practical way of dialing in a specific sound without resorting to more extreme measures.
Another VERY effective and cheap method is this : experiment with different pot-values and adding a resistor (also of varying value) within the wiring - this will also change the sound of any pickup, sometimes even drastically.
Lindy Fralin has put together a very informative and extensive website that covers a lot of ground :

Essential Reads - Fralin Pickups