Editorials On Your Pickups

[ken]

I have a really good question...

A magazine with a reasonably good reputation has asked me if I would send in some of my pickups to them for a 'taste test'.

What contracts or other information will I need to deal with to do this properly? Is there something I need to watch out for?

I have vetted them myself as much as I could, and it seems to be on the 'up and up'.

What do you think? If this happened to you, how did you deal with it?

Thank you,
Ken

[Possum]

....

Ask them to send the article to you to approve before they run it. Not to mention any names but there are some magazines that will take a slap at pickup makers, most of them are on the up and up. If you are running ads in that magazine have no fear :-)
Ask to have your pickups returned, or they can buy them if they like them. This happened with stuff I sent to Vintage Guitar, the reviewer bought the set, I gave him a discount. A good review will bring in more orders for the short run and also ask them if you can post a copy of the article on your website, as the stuff is copyrighted and you can't without permission.

[David King]

I've only had dealings with one music magazine and it wasn't about pickups. They did let me see the copy and allowed me to change a few things. It was a positive experience but it took 6 months from the time I sent them an instrument to the day I got it back. It directly netted me about 6-7 new orders, about $20000 worth for an initial investment of $37 in shipping. I'd make a habit of it.

In the case of pickups don't assume they know how to wire them in correctly. A clear set of instruction that you send out with every set will garner you more praise. Without it don't be surprised it they wire them out of phase and write a review based on that. They'll be nice about it but that's hardly a good first impression.

[Possum]

....

About a year ago I had a guitar magazine invite me to send pickups but they were new and had no customer base and I was too busy. Several months ago I wrote them and asked if they'd like an informative article on PAFs and some pickups to demo. No response at all. The cold hard facts are that some magazines have no interest in anything that isn't "cool." If they approached you go for it. The other sad truth is that some magazines are like guitar forums, unless you are in with their in-crowd you won't ever get written up. A sure way to get reviews and attention is to advertise with that magazine, then they can't really ignore you. Articles can boost your income but its short lived, public attention span is about 2 minutes long. Best publicity is treat you customers right, make the best products possible, be orginal, and word will spread. The internet has more reach I think than magazines do, I quit advertising when the economy went south and don't think I will run ads again in print, all my work comes from word of mouth and internet reviews. Good luck with the review and be sure to post it here when it comes out.

[David Schwab]

I've only had dealings with one music magazine and it wasn't about pickups. They did let me see the copy and allowed me to change a few things. It was a positive experience but it took 6 months from the time I sent them an instrument to the day I got it back. It directly netted me about 6-7 new orders, about $20000 worth for an initial investment of $37 in shipping. I'd make a habit of it.

Was that in Bass Player? I have that issue. The photos of the bass were very nice.

I emailed them about sending in pickups for a review but never heard back from them.

I think it's a great idea to get your stuff reviewed.

[Joe Gwinn]

In the case of pickups don't assume they know how to wire them in correctly. A clear set of instruction that you send out with every set will garner you more praise. Without it don't be surprised it they wire them out of phase and write a review based on that. They'll be nice about it but that's hardly a good first impression.

It would be useful if the instructions included a simple test to tell if the pickups are correctly phased, a test that does not require musical interpretation to perform reliably.

[ken]

Thank you for the great advice!

I was thinking about wiring them into a sample pickguard assembly, so all they would have to do is attach the jack. This way it would be impossible to wire them wrong.

Is there any specific forms/waivers I need to look out for?

Thank you,
Ken

[Possum]

......

Another bit of advice... Personally test the pickups you send in a real guitar before they go out to make sure they're what you want them to be. I flubbed this one with with one magazine; what happened was MWS 42 gauge wire suddenly changed what they had been sending before, the wire got fatter in diameter and noticeably more clear sounding. I told this mag take a listen and tell me what you think, I don't want a review just your opinion. He wrote back the bridge is shrill and the neck muddy. WHAT???? I know thats not what they were, so got 'em back and f*ck the bridge was spitting out treble frequencies that shouldn't be there, so he adjusted his amp for the bridge which of course made the neck sound muddy. Finally figured out the wire diameter change had pretty much wrecked it, if I had just taken the time to listen to them in a guitar beforehand I would have caught it. I religiously mic my wire now on every spool and before every wind :-)