Your favorite way to label/brand your pickups

[RedHouse]

... Everything else has one; your machine heads, amplifier, pedals, even your patch cord. Why not the pickups? ...

IMHO, that's precisely the problem, peoples instruments get to looking like the side of a buss anymore what with everyone wanting their name exposed on the parts they sell (customer be willing, or not)

I'm probably the oddball on this issue, but I don't take delivery on my cars with dealer license plate rings, or dealership stickers, or glued-on rear deck panel emblems, I make them take all that shit right-off-there at the dealership before taking delivery. I don't leave the stickers on my replacement Millgard thermal windows (like my neighbor who had his replaced 10 years ago), I don't leave the yard sign in my yard during or after the roofers put a new roof on, and I (personally) don't like putting guitar parts on my own instruments that have logo's on them, but as you said David, with so many doing it these days it's almost unavoidable.

As a side note, you mentioned tuning keys, to me stuff like the Grover logo which is very low-key when it's cast/stamped into the metal (as does Floyd Rose) but I was talking more about disliking stuff like the pad-print (SD) kind of thing.

I very much liked those covers you have (or had) where your logo looked moulded-in to the cover with no paint-fill or contrasting colors, that was very tasteful IMHO, and totally acceptable (also IMHO). As for me, when I sell a Rick pickup ain't NOBODY wants to see my logo on their Ric. Well except maybe Shawn Davis, he's my most enthusiastic customer using my Rick replacement pickups.

BTW, Shawn is going to be on the next Clapton Crossroads video as he was a hired gun for the Doyle Bramhall II gig
http://classicamplification.net/cust...r_GaryC-Jr.jpg

Your customers are indeed different than mine and you have to appeal to a much wider customer base with your bass pickup line.

[ken]

I logotize my pickups for a good reason... I am proud of my work. I don't know of any artisan of any kind who doesn't put their marks somewhere on their works. Otherwise, if you buy your components from the same vendors as everybody else how can you differentiate your own finished pickups from everybody else's?

The Angeltone logo is on the top of every pickup bobbin I make except for humbuckers because it's a permanent way to differentiate my pickups from other makers' pickups. You can specify our humbuckers without the logo on the top of the pickup, but all my metal parts (humbucker and P90 baseplates, Tele twang plates, and guitar neckplates) have my logo on them. I also logotize Strat, P90 and Mustang plastic pickup covers, but those are easily swapped out by the owners so it's no big deal. Some use them, some don't.

I was just curious as to how to mark the top of a nickelplated object (ex. covers) without damaging it.

ken

[big_teee]

I prefer Logos on the rear of things.
Wasn't trying to fire anyone up.
I personally wouldn't buy a Nickel plated bucker with a Logo on the Top.
I do the Same as Brad, I take all that Dealership crap off of my car, and if I'm buying it new, They can remove it before I pick it up.
I use removable stickers on the back of all the pickups I Offer.
If the Customer doesn't want it on there, they peal off easily!
T

[RedHouse]

...I was just curious as to how to mark the top of a nickelplated object (ex. covers) without damaging it...

Laser or Etch is about the only way I know of.

Michael Angelo was proud of his work too but managed to paint the ceiling w/o spamming his name/logo on there.

I'm very proud of my work, even OCD some say, but the logo thing is altogether different, and I was talking about on the visible parts, not the backs/baseplates etc.

YMMV

[ken]

Michael Angelo was proud of his work too but managed to paint the ceiling w/o spamming his name/logo on there.

I thought Michael Angelo was a second tier '80s hairband guitarist. I didn't know he did ceilings too... LOL

Anyways, the only pickups I make where you actually *have* to look at the logo on the top of the pickup is the Tele lead pickup. It isn't even noticeable from less than ten feet away since it's embossed, not painted, and actually is various shades of black if you look at it. Besides, in a weird way I find my logo to actually be a selling point. I have had new customers that found out about me because they heard my pickups at another player's show. They heard the music, slid up to the stage during the break to check out what pedals, amp, etc. the player was using, and either asked the player about the pickups or saw the logo on the front of the pickup. When they got home they web searched until they found me.

Also, the logo is a good way to authenticate my pickups. Pen marks wash off, stickers fall off, but embossing is forever. I used to have locals bring me dead pickups for rewinding under warranty all the time that they *claimed* were mine, but were not. Once I started embossing the tops of my pickups, that all stopped.

FWIW I think David should go back to his old cover logo... that pickup is stylin'.

ken

[RedHouse]

...I thought Michael Angelo was a second tier '80s hairband guitarist. I didn't know he did ceilings too...

Man thats the funniest thing I've read here in a long time! hey wasn't he the one who had that weird twirling double-(opposite)-necks guitar?

Yeah the covers David uses/used like this one are the ones I think look very tasteful:

[David Schwab]

Man thats the funniest thing I've read here in a long time! hey wasn't he the one who had that weird twirling double-(opposite)-necks guitar?

Yeah the covers David uses/used like this one are the ones I think look very tasteful:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]23776[/ATTACH]

Thanks Brad! I liked it. You can't really see it either, if the light is not the right way.

[RedHouse]

Thanks Brad! I liked it. You can't really see it either, if the light is not the right way.

Yeah thats why I like it too, it's there when you want to see it, and blends away when you don't want to see it. It doesn't ruin the look or lines of the instrument it's installed into.

Here are some examples of what I was talking about (no offense to SD or LD) of bad/loud logo-spam:









as opposed to this kind of thing:









again, this is just my personal opinion, no offense intended to anyone who likes to logo-spam their products.

[David Schwab]

I don't see a problem with the DiMarzio logo. I kind of like it.

[Steve A.]

Here are some examples of what I was talking about (no offense to SD or LD) of bad/loud logo-spam:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23780[/ATTACH]

I was under the impression that "Duncan Designed" meant that it was a crappy pickup that they designed for an OEM and was typically produced overseas. Perhaps SD insists on the prominent labeling for 2 reasons:
- advertising for his company
- to let customers know that it is not a "real" SD pickup

(BTW I am sure that the cool looking etched bottom plates cost more than plain ones.)

Just a thought...

Steve Ahola

P.S. I don't like the SD name on the top of humbucker coils since you might want to use a neck pu at the bridge or vice versa. Or turn the pickup around so the the slug coils are closer to the bridge.

[RedHouse]

...I am sure that the cool looking etched bottom plates cost more than plain ones....

They look roll-marked to me, but could be etched I suppose.

[RedHouse]

I don't see a problem with the DiMarzio logo. I kind of like it.

Yeah, you New Yorkers stick together!
(just kidding)

[lex@lacemusic]

We use a simple silver paint pen so all our pickups show they're hand made, and we add a USA sticker on the bottom. Pretty simple stuff, we are working on getting a laser engraver for engraving some cool stuff on our chrome covers.

[SkinnyWire]

I use this