Guitarfetish site for cheap parts

[catstrat]

GFS hot strat alnico pickups

I tried a couple of sets of those and found that they really didn't give me the sound i was looking for. It wasn't GFSs problem, it was just me mis-judging what tone i was after. I heard so much hype about alnico magnet strat pickups i thought i would try them. I found them to be too clean and too much like Stevie Ray's tone ,which i don't really care for, and i was playing into a modified Peavey Triumph and they just wouldn't dirty up enough for me. If Stevie Ray tone is the tone you're looking for then these pickups should be it for you. I found the Mighty mite ceramic single coils much more to my liking. However i still have a GFS alnico in the neck position on one of my strats. To sum things up, GFS make a good pickup. You can go on Ebay and you'll find a multitude of pickups. Another pickup that i really like as far as a humbucker goes is the Guitarheads Z-bucker. I bought 2 sets of those and they are in 2 of my Les Pauls. But always remember, when buying pickups it's best to do all the homework you can and have a good understanding of the tone you're after.

[vince76]

vintage series

I know about to nothing about PU, so pardon me for the stupid question.
I have a mexico strat with (I think) original PU and I'm not happy with them.Just to explain the type they have a sort of bar under the magnets (in the part non visible).
In your opinion buying the cheap vintage strat from guitarfetish
(http://yhst-50206111187217.stores.ya...tsewhwobl.html) will traduce in improving the quality of my set up?

V.

[David Schwab]

I know about to nothing about PU, so pardon me for the stupid question.
I have a mexico strat with (I think) original PU and I'm not happy with them.Just to explain the type they have a sort of bar under the magnets (in the part non visible).
In your opinion buying the cheap vintage strat from guitarfetish
(http://yhst-50206111187217.stores.ya...tsewhwobl.html) will traduce in improving the quality of my set up?

V.

The "bar under the magnets' is a cheap ceramic magnet, and the poles are just steel rods.

I'd think the GFS pickups would be quite a bit better than the stock pickups.

[Dave Kerr]

Regarding the Mexi-Strat pickups, I've rewound a couple per Steve Kersting's site and they ended up sounding pretty good, a huge improvement over the original for very short money.

[vince76]

thank you David I supposed the thing that everything is better than my PU :-)
Dave what do you mean with very short money?

V.

[Dave Kerr]

The wire and the means to wind the wire on the bobbin is the only significant expense - the rest is a few pennies for filister head pole screws, crazy glue and the plastic inserts.

[spud1950]

"The "bar under the magnets' is a cheap ceramic magnet, and the poles are just steel rods.

I'd think the GFS pickups would be quite a bit better than the stock pickups."

I know for a fact that those "blowout" pickups in the GFS link are typical generic cheap pickups with steel pole pieces and a ceramic bar magnet under the poles,so don't expect them to really sound that much different then the ones you already have.If you want something inexpensive and more traditional Strat sounding,then consider these Alnico pickups.
http://store.guitarfetish.com/stvialstpise.html

[vince76]

wich one?

Finally I dcided to buy those PU from the site, but it would be useful to me if someone of PU gurus give me a opinion. I whish to buy the overwound rather than standard set. I think that overwound means more output, more vintage sound but little less highs. Am I missing something??

V.

[telemoxy]

Finally I dcided to buy those PU from the site, but it would be useful to me if someone of PU gurus give me a opinion. I whish to buy the overwound rather than standard set. I think that overwound means more output, more vintage sound but little less highs. Am I missing something??

V.

Vintage pickups tend to be lower output. The sound of most Classic Rock from the 60s is the sound of vintage pickups. They are good for clean, crunch and distorted sounds.

Because of manufacturing mistakes occasionally a pickup would get through with too many windings yielding higher output but less treble. This was great for distortion sounds so these guitars were valued by players seeking a heavily distorted sound. Larry Dimarzio and Seymour duncan to name two picked up on this and started deliberately making pickups with higher output which were great for distorted sounds.

Generally you have to choose the pickup that matched the sounds you are after. Pickup makers are still trying to create a pickup that is great for clean and distortion but they are fighting basic physics so it is largely a work in process.

[BrJLa]

http://store.guitarfetish.com/costupelcoki.html

Does anyone have any opinions on this package?

I've just started my first effort at messing with the electronics in my strat. I'm replacing the pickups, and I thought I'd shield it and re-wire it for star grounding while I was at it. And, for kicks, I thought I'd put in new electronic components, assuming they'd be an upgrade. I went ahead and ordered this because I saw it referred to on another forum (while reading up on shielding). But the more I've read, the more I've become worried about the purchase. The Alpha pots seem okay. But it has ceramic disk capacitors, which I've read are inferior, in addition to the .047uf value maybe being too high. And I read something else that suggested that five way switches like this, with the wiring connectors all on one side, might be cheap or inferior. It has me re-considering whether this is stuff I want to put in my guitar. Any opinions?

[LtKojak]

http://store.guitarfetish.com/costupelcoki.html

Does anyone have any opinions on this package?

Considering what you're paying for, it's a good deal.

Just be careful with your iron in that PCB. In a even better made PCB switch (Schaller), using an 40W iron almost killed it. Use a 30W max and you'll be OK.

Don't worry 'bout the cap either, the ceramic .47uf is standard in a lot of well-known guitar makers.

I use orange drops .22uf on all my guitars, just to have something to brag about, not because they sound "better". (but mostly because I got'em nearly for free)

HTH,

[catstrat]

GFS Strat control package.

I'm pretty sure that it will be of a decent quality. All the pickups they sell,even if i'm not crazy about their Alnico strat pickups, are pretty good items. Like you said using a better quality cap. will be better. I personally don't like ceramic caps due to a wide tolerance in the values. When i run across them in a mod i'm doing, i'll replace them every time. In my amp repair business i generally use Spragues, 715s,716s or 225s. There are a lot of good caps you can choose from. Some suggest the Sprague vitamin Q caps. Since i don't use my tone controls that much i'm not to concerned with cap type in my guitars. I also use a 30 watt soldering iron. It seems to me the lower wattage irons take too long to heat the parts you need to solder and i've damaged boards waiting on the thing to get hot enough. Good luck.

[Faux Hog]

Even less expensive alternative

Try the ebay store called "guitar fuel".
This appears an american distributor for ARTEC components.
Which, as I understand, is the some comany that manufactures the pickups and onboard stuff for GFS in Korea. They don't have everything that GFS has but they have a good selection of pickups plus piezo's for around 14usd.
Free shipping to boot. I haven't tried anything from them as yet but at these prices I sure I'll find an old flat top to stick a transducer in soon enough.
I like the 3 band EQ they stuck in half a P bass cover. It's got a real garage job look to it.

[vince76]

how to wire

dear friends,
The PU from guitarfetish are just arrived and as they come w/out a schem I don't know how to wire them.
the wires coming out from the PUps are

black/red
black/yellow
black/white

It seems to me that the black yellow has reversed polarity respect the other two and I expect to be the middle PU. (it rejects the other two...)
but the other tho pick ups are equivalents?
Is there a way to know wath to put in bridge position for example?
I guess higher impedence goes bridge?
For the wiring I think to follow the way the actual PU are wired... black where black is connected an so on....

Thank you, V.

[Guitarist]

I just took a GSH pickup out of my Koa superstrat. It was in the neck position but wasn't balanced to the Lynch Duncan in the bridge. They recommended it so I bought theirs. It was always too muddy and not articulate; it reads around 10K. Did the swap two days ago and dropped in some type of Fender humbucker that reads 7K. Now the highs and snap are back PLUS the single coils sounds is very woody and strat-like. For 3.5K of windings this is so surprising. Way more strat than my Bill Lawrence in single coil mode.
I was going to comment in the strat-discussion down a bit on this page, but nah.

Moral of the story, 50% (or less) of what we hear from dealers et al is hype and sales BS.

GFH bridge mini-humbuckers are working well in some of my students Jay Turser strats.

When settling on a pickup, I'd recommend resisting the "overwounds" and go the direction of vintage.