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Anyone who aspires to have a line of commercial products will need two very important things:
1) a way to produce reliably consistent copies of their own products,
2) a way to either obtain remarkably patient and monied clients, or a way to produce product with as little time and labour invested as possible, so as to be able to offer greater availability and cheaper prices.
So, unless we're talking individual boutique makers who do custom orders only, a mechanized system that lets you stick bobbins and wire spools on a machine that you don't have to watch every second, and provide identical copies, is the only option for something one could call a "business" (as opposed to a hobby that occasionally pays for itself, but little more than that).
Not only is the market saturated with folks offering new stuff, but pickups aren't the sort of thing that really wears out easily or gets easily damaged. Your pickguard may get worn, your pots may need changing, your frets may need replacing, and your strings will definitely need changing, but unless you have a habit of taking it in the shower with you, your pickups will be humming along just fine, 5, 10, 20 years from now.
Five years from now, there will also be all the re-purposed pickups of all those busy boutique makers...and maybe even 2nd hand Duncan Zephyr pickups on Craigslist, in addition to all those loaded Strat pickguards you can buy for peanuts at Guitar Fetish. Anyone who hopes to make a go of it and pay their rent and living costs with pickups better damn well have a tight grip on a big niche market, or something truly revolutionary that creates a market, or else a day job will be imperative.
Someone suggested catering to the local market where you live. I think that's a terrific idea. And I also think that's a great reason to plan around other primary revenue streams and treat pickup-making as a little thing you might do on the side for beer money and buddies. On the other hand, if you win a lottery and don't have to worry about rent or mortgage ever again, have at it.
1) a way to produce reliably consistent copies of their own products,
2) a way to either obtain remarkably patient and monied clients, or a way to produce product with as little time and labour invested as possible, so as to be able to offer greater availability and cheaper prices.
So, unless we're talking individual boutique makers who do custom orders only, a mechanized system that lets you stick bobbins and wire spools on a machine that you don't have to watch every second, and provide identical copies, is the only option for something one could call a "business" (as opposed to a hobby that occasionally pays for itself, but little more than that).
Not only is the market saturated with folks offering new stuff, but pickups aren't the sort of thing that really wears out easily or gets easily damaged. Your pickguard may get worn, your pots may need changing, your frets may need replacing, and your strings will definitely need changing, but unless you have a habit of taking it in the shower with you, your pickups will be humming along just fine, 5, 10, 20 years from now.
Five years from now, there will also be all the re-purposed pickups of all those busy boutique makers...and maybe even 2nd hand Duncan Zephyr pickups on Craigslist, in addition to all those loaded Strat pickguards you can buy for peanuts at Guitar Fetish. Anyone who hopes to make a go of it and pay their rent and living costs with pickups better damn well have a tight grip on a big niche market, or something truly revolutionary that creates a market, or else a day job will be imperative.
Someone suggested catering to the local market where you live. I think that's a terrific idea. And I also think that's a great reason to plan around other primary revenue streams and treat pickup-making as a little thing you might do on the side for beer money and buddies. On the other hand, if you win a lottery and don't have to worry about rent or mortgage ever again, have at it.
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