apl
Stand Up Comity
Not Fender HM Strats.
OK, I meant the original classic Strat. Is there a terminology to make the distinction?
S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
You remind me of this prick...
why don't you just STFU and go away!
you probably never even used GF pickups
besides that you are a retailer and cant make
a profit on them otherwise you would probably be giving them high praises.
I know exactly what you pay wholesale on the brands you recommend and your profit margin I also know how much you gouge the customer to install them.
so I guess ya from your standpoint GFS pickups are real pieces of shit
Wow, Roguetitan, not pulling your punches today, are you? But yeah, Light is a bit, (ahem) "opinionated," isn't he?
apl
Stand Up Comity
Yeah he is, lol. He's usually right though. But not on those pickups.
apl
Stand Up Comity
Roguetitan
New member
Steve
not only is he opinionated he is condescending, arrogant and rude and i really don't like having to suffer his superiority complex in exchange for any of his "expertise advice"
Ya I probably shouldn't have said what I said but man that dude really crawls under my skin, i can only listen to so much of his horse poop until I have to explode
when I see so much BS I have to call BS.
Light
New member
I never said a thing about those pickups. Most of the pickups we install are brought in by the customer - they buy them either at other stores or online, as we are not much of a retailer, mostly just a repair shop, and have a fairly small selection of pickups - and we've seen quite a few GF pickups, but I couldn't begin to tell you which ones. Their pickups have all been OK, but never great, or even all that good.
My actual comment is more directed at their other hardware, and is NOT an opinion, but a fact. Every bridge/etc. I've seen from them has been a bit off. Supposedly direct replacement bridges which require plugging and redrilling mounting holes, pickguards which aren't quite the right shape, stuff like that. Mostly, one guesses, a result of bad translations from SAE to metric.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
apl
Stand Up Comity
True enough. I was thrown off by this thread being about pickups.
L said:
Well, Lt Bob loves his. And he plays more gigs in a week than I've played in my entire life.
L said:
OK, that might be. A lot of the hardware (not the bridge) on Lt Bob's guitar was GF and it was OK, not great, mostly cosmetic stuff like in the chrome and stuff. They've got some name brand electronic components at good prices.
I'll also comment that I cannot find enough variables in the construction of single coil alnico pickups to account for the alleged differences between something like a GFS and a Lindy made from the same components. Mostly, one guesses, a result of reputation. I'm not saying they don't sound different, I'm just saying I can't figure why they'd sound all that different.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
yup ...... basically I can have absolutely anything I want since it's how I earn my living.
And I have had plenty of big money stuff. But for gigging I don't care anymore as long as I can get good performance for less since I play a LOT of beach gigs and the salt tears shit up right away.
Out of all my guitars (14 of 'em) ..... right now the one I like the best specifically for its' sound is my apl strat with GF overwounds. The website describes them as being "as hot as they can make them while still having a 'strat' sound."
I think that's a fair description. They're about the hottest strat p/ups I've ever used although I don't claim to have tried hundreds of p/ups. But I have owned quite a few strats and these are WAY hotter ..... getting close to humbuckers actually. And they have a wonderful 'stratty' sound that cuts thru well and you can get nice 'singing' sustain out of them.
yeah ..... the hardware is ok .... certainly acceptable. It doesn't have that 'jewell-like' finish of the expensive stuff but for me, 5 and 6 gigs a week will beat up anything so I don't really care. None of my stuff stays new looking for more than a year or so so what difference does it make?
But the GF stuff is certainly functional and does the job ..... no more, but no less.
Roguetitan
New member
LOL Isnt it funny how that works...
out of all my expensive bass guitars, 2 Warrior Isabellas' 1 Ric 4001 and MIA American Standard Jazz My most favorite to play is a $250.00 double cut hollow body Jay Turser lol
E
ermghoti
New member
You may well be seeing the Blowout pickups bought from GFS, and not GFS pickups. Those remainder buy-outs, the $15 sets of strat pickups, are as you describe. The GFS branded pickups I have, probably a half-dozen different sets, are at least OK-to-Good on the lowest end, and excellent on the better samples.
S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
Well, people (you know I am peturbed with you folks when I use that word...), it would be rather foolish to confuse a set of pups that GF sells for under $15, and says, right up front that they are a manufacturer's overstock, with a set that they are much more proud of in many ways...
ch2os7
New member
right
GF does say that these $15 pups are manufacturer's overstock. I wasn't confused about that. However, I still say that these are worth way more than $15. That's just crazy cheap and they actually sound nice.
The stock pups in my Squire sounded ok. It played nice but it sounded like every other strat copy I've played. It was unremarkable. These overwounds have pumped new life into this guitar.
I don't claim to have any expertise on this topic but I've been playing guitar for over 40 years. I've learned a little bit about what sounds good, what sounds ok and what sucks.
The fact that these are cheap is not the issue with me. After all, I put em in a Squire Strat not a vintage high end collector's strat. If I sold this guitar tomorrow, I wouldn't take em out and I wouldn't feel like I had to ask more for it either...even though it is a better sounding guitar than it was with the stock pickups. It was a very small gamble but in this case it paid off. If it plays good and sounds good that's all I'm after.
Again I stress, my comparison is only between the stock Squire pups (in my guitar) and the overwounds.
GF does say that these $15 pups are manufacturer's overstock. I wasn't confused about that. However, I still say that these are worth way more than $15. That's just crazy cheap and they actually sound nice.
The stock pups in my Squire sounded ok. It played nice but it sounded like every other strat copy I've played. It was unremarkable. These overwounds have pumped new life into this guitar.
I don't claim to have any expertise on this topic but I've been playing guitar for over 40 years. I've learned a little bit about what sounds good, what sounds ok and what sucks.
The fact that these are cheap is not the issue with me. After all, I put em in a Squire Strat not a vintage high end collector's strat. If I sold this guitar tomorrow, I wouldn't take em out and I wouldn't feel like I had to ask more for it either...even though it is a better sounding guitar than it was with the stock pickups. It was a very small gamble but in this case it paid off. If it plays good and sounds good that's all I'm after.
Again I stress, my comparison is only between the stock Squire pups (in my guitar) and the overwounds.
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apl
Stand Up Comity
LOL, if all of apl CUSTOM Guitar customers had that attitude I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about building guitars. Maybe I should just relic everything I sell.
Was it Light or Muttley that had the guy come in in a panic about damaging the finish on his reliced something or other and wanting it fixed. LOL! That's hilarious!
S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
Yeah, well, the relec'ed finish on Fenders are all EXACTLY THE SAME. Every nick and scrape on every guitar (within a line, at least) is in EXACTLY THE SAME PLACE. Obviously done by machine.
That market is the stupidest trend in guitar building, ever.
That market is the stupidest trend in guitar building, ever.
Light
New member
More of a philisophical comment about what I consider to be a very questionable business practice - i.e., bait and switch. A "direct replacement" bridge for an electric guitar should not require any woodworking.
Well, first of all, they DON'T all use the same materials. Different people use different alloys for their wire, and different insulating materials, etc. Also, the pattern you use to wind a pickup matters quite a bit. Hand wound pickups are "scatter wound," i.e., the pattern is not as regular as with a machine wound pickup. It makes a difference. I've never really understood why, as I'm not a pickup designer, but I can sure hear it.
Yup, most ridiculous phone call I've ever taken. Easily. By a factor of, well, many, MANY times.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Roguetitan
New member
with mass guitar manufacturers after the design prototype of the neck and body is built to the specs they want the dimensions are scanned then cut out with CNC mills
so ya I am sure the same process is similar with the road worns.
even back when I was working for Gibson in the 80' they were using a machine that duplicated the original body with a radial arm and the arm would trace around the body and a high speed router attached to another arm would cut out a duplicate body identical to the one that was traced
it is far more advanced now