OTPG -what is that?

[kevinT]

So OTPG is a gentleman living in the UK who is in not that great of health. He makes PAF replicas that are pretty good. He's not in the business directly but does wind occassionally because of high demand for his product. His pickups can be purchased via various representatives for $750 or less.

So is this the gist of it?

[MacLoud]

Gentlemen

Some facts and just a little speculation.

Fact; SLG said "OTPG old friend of Sam" Sam also said "Buy direct from Spense" BIG CLUE here.

Fact; Spense said; "OTPG was a name I coined for him" and also "SLG told you where to get them direct". BIG CLUE here.

Fact; Spense has a web site where one may purchase very nice looking humbuckers, complete with PAF stickers. They get excellent reviews. They look correct to my untrained eye.

Fact; JGundry said "OTPG is possibly two guys"

So just a little speculation.

OTPG is a violin maker, luthier and maker of all kinds of clever things, who is now not in full health and therefore is passing on his expertise to others who make pickups and replica Pauls?

There is a name associated with OTPG in guitar shops in the UK. Go into several of the more "pro" shops in London and ask the question. You will be given the same name, it is no great secret here. BK.

However one last question comes to mind. Does OTPG actually exist or is he a very clever prank/marketing exercise.

I have played a replica Les Paul ostensibly made by OTPG and the owner had put SD Antiquities in it. Nice guitar, sounded great.

[nhall]

Cor Blimey Gov...

See this OTPG has been so many people ... I think what has actually happened is that a few different people cottoned onto his great reputation, and so decided to ride it for what they could get from it ... only served to muddy the field .... bt, hey-ho .. what's it really matter, as long as those that want something particular, actually get it, and not get ripped off by others in the process ... you know by following the thread who can lead you there..

BTW David ... my journalistic style probably lends itself more to Jacque Derrida!, and I'm sure you were being a tinsey bit mistchievious back there, because all those involved in art / design / fashion know too well that tere simply is no right and wrong, simply different combinations and arrangements that make up different flavours ... these are then filtered by an evolving culture, or cultures, to determine boundaries ... but, it is those who break through the boundaries who'create' or discover more ... or who become the leaders of the new..whatever!

[David Schwab]

There see ... don't we all feel so much better after all that, and, yes, I really did have faith that our esteemed moderator would come to our rescue in the end ... bravely re-entering the arena and bringing us all back down to earth! (just one exclamation this time)..

I was unable to read your possibly witty tirade because of the formatting. it was a mash of letters and dots. My attention span is too short these days.

You you want to communicate to people clearly you have to make an effort. I for one am a lousy speller, but I make sure things are fairly intelligible before I post for all the world to see. Everything you post on the internet will be there for a very long time.

only thing we need to do is stop talking about other (current) people and thier pickups ... all sorted then! (only one there again Dave)..

No, here we always get off onto a tangent.

So we have pretty much figured that Spence makes the pickups and OTPG probably does the aging. So buy some pickups from Spence and be done with it already.

[MacLoud]

Sir
I think you may be referring to Jacques Derrida, or perhaps he was also known for misspelling other people's names, as well as "mischievous" and "there". Journalistic style eh? or perhap just the vagaries of fashion.

MacLoud

[Burny123]

A word from the man himself?

Found this:
Best ? PAF Clone ??? - Page 2 - Music Gear Forums

Forget about all the bullshit, but midpage there is a thread by " Overthepond" or?

[LtKojak]

midpage there is a thread by " Overthepond" or?

He introduces himself as the person in charge of creation of the parts... it looks like Gundry was right it was more than one person after all.

[David Schwab]

He introduces himself as the person in charge of creation of the parts... it looks like Gundry was right it was more than one person after all.

I vote Spence!

[RedHouse]

... plus a waiting line of over six months...

Reminds me of the over-hyped Timbuckers on the LPF, a years wait for humbuckers that were nothing like the tone or response of PAFs/PATs when they arrived.

They were hyped-up as the best thing since real PAF's, and IIRC they were something like an "EdA wind" which was a member over there that had some real PAF's or something and sent/loaned one to Tim White to duplicate, then the member (EdA) made and posted sound clips which sounded really good.

Timbuckers had a 1-year waiting list when we got on it, which grew into a 2-year list when he threw in the towel. I ordered a couple to install in a friends R9, we were both very disappointed after that year long wait.

The Timbuckers sounded good as pickups, but didn't sound PAF-like in his R9, no Zepp tones, no Greeney, no Duane, they sounded much better in solid state stuff than DI into real tube amps which made us both curious as to whether most of the raving threads on the LPF were bedroom rock stars.

I took the opportunity as a challenge to wound him a set (took me 6 try's) of pickups that would get him the tone and response he wanted out of his R9, he sold those Timbuckers on eBay next day.
(and got his money back from the next poor unsuspecting bloke).

That was when I curbed my surfing over on the LPF, was finally getting tired of the weekly waves of what's-hot-n-what's-not, the hype factor at the LPF is just off-the-scale specially when it come to that forums pickup's-de-jour.

[jonson]

I was sent a link to this page, and thought I should introduce myself.
I am responsible for making the "over the pond" parts, and have been since
1982. These include the pickups,


That's not the way I read it as it says "include the pickups"
No doubt Spence will reply.

[RedHouse]

...'cereal disser's'...

WTF?

I see no mention here in this thread that Captain Crunch or Fruit Loops are crap, where is this cereal diss'ing going on?

...20 years from now people will be into something else. It's just one tone out of many you can get from a guitar....

So true, in fact I'll call that tune and raise you one ...it's already happening!

Need convincing? go on down to the local music store where decent players hang, you'll see two things first the non-PAF loaded instruments out number the PAF loaded instruments 100-1, also notice the players who are there ...in most stores, the blues and classic rock PAF players are outnumbered 20-1 in most stores. Getting locked-in to the PAF thing is narrow minded and keeps one from fully exploiting ones skills as a winder/maker.
(no offense intended to any members here)

...you should never have come back, and never have entered this arena!!..

Funny thing, when I read your posts in this thread I was thinking the same about you nhall.

Why so antagonistic? you certainly do seem to be having a knee-jerk reaction to anyone who posts an opinion contrary to yours, what's the problem?. You have some kind of vested interest in OTPG?.

...This pickupmaker forum, that why I say to Madialex, make your own! Most maker here want to sell more and not understand that this guy not want to sell more but many many people want to buy more...

Another funny thing, you know this "guy", has same alias naming convention, Over The Pond Guy, Sam Lee Guy, what's up with that?

[nhall]

Hi Jonson,
Good to see you're prepared to hold one hand up, the good one that is!
You know I've also read articles by Les Paul where he claimed to have invented the electric guitar! Historians have other takes on that too. I wonder what the Historians will say about OTPG? Maybe it actually stands for something other than 'Over The Pond Guy' (clue) . And for those wondering about the use of 'Guy' everywhere, I shouldn't get too hung up on that, its a term much used in certain areas in England (nod-nod, wink-wink).

[RedHouse]

... (nod-nod, wink-wink)...

Geez man, nod-nod, wink-wink, blah-blah, yadda yadda, ...d'ya got something to say?

Sounds more like just another "I know what you don't", handshake/wink/nod, "I know so-n-so and you don't", secret PAF society wank-fest to me.

After reading all that dialog and actually gaining nothing from the contribution to the thread I just have to wonder if you've really got something to say besides wink-wink hint-hint?
(no offence intended)

[Spence]

I was unable to read your possibly witty tirade because of the formatting. it was a mash of letters and dots. My attention span is too short these days.

You you want to communicate to people clearly you have to make an effort. I for one am a lousy speller, but I make sure things are fairly intelligible before I post for all the world to see. Everything you post on the internet will be there for a very long time.



No, here we always get off onto a tangent.

So we have pretty much figured that Spence makes the pickups and OTPG probably does the aging. So buy some pickups from Spence and be done with it already.

Well, I'll tell you what's what. I don't make them. The guy who does has shared a lot of info with me and we are friends.
Now, some time ago we both decided to submit some pickups as a charity giveaway for the my Les Paul forum. Tim Mills at Bare Knuckle pickups kindly supplied '59 spec parts for these sets.
I will say at this point that all of the parts BK were using were developed by a tooling engineer and OTPG using genuine vintage parts as reference. The parts tooling was funded by BK and OTPG.
Anyway, OTPG wasn't trading these pickups for mass consumption and didn't want people hassling him directly. Remember, he's got enough work on without messing about making pickups all day.
Anyway, I suggested OTPG as a name because quite a few people in the US hadd been talking about mystical guitars and parts coming from over the pond.
Check back on that MLP thread and you'll find pictures of both sets packaged in my plastic boxes and with my hand written labels on the lids.
Anyway, there was a considerable interest in the OTPG set and Bobbo saw a good opportunity to distribute these under the OTPG name. I don't think anyone expected them to be labelled as exclusively distributed by Bobbo and to be fair, the price is bound to raise eyebrows.
Anyway, OTPG has had a couple of mild strokes over the last few years which is a bit of a health issue in anyone's book and remember, he has enough work on without fiddling with pickups.
Anyway, we had a conversation about supplying the OTPG sets to Bobbo. He said he wasn't really in a position to supply Bobbo with the health problems and asked me if I could make them using supplied parts. I agreed to do this providing I had everyone concerned's blessing. The supply of parts had to be with the permission of BK pickups, and the tool makers. Having obtained permission with the proviso that I never use some of the specific parts for my own products, the proposition was put to Bobbo. He declined.
So, I don't make them and never have I'm sorry to say.
However, I must point out that there is no legally binding exclusivity regarding distribution of these and I will also point out that the OTP rings are not made by OTPG or me.

[RedHouse]

Well, I'll tell you what's what. I don't make them. The guy who does has shared a lot of info with me and we are friends.
Now, some time ago we both decided to submit some pickups as a charity giveaway for the my Les Paul forum. Tim Mills at Bare Knuckle pickups kindly supplied '59 spec parts for these sets.
I will say at this point that all of the parts BK were using were developed by a tooling engineer and OTPG using genuine vintage parts as reference. The parts tooling was funded by BK and OTPG.
Anyway, OTPG wasn't trading these pickups for mass consumption and didn't want people hassling him directly. Remember, he's got enough work on without messing about making pickups all day.
Anyway, I suggested OTPG as a name because quite a few people in the US hadd been talking about mystical guitars and parts coming from over the pond.
Check back on that MLP thread and you'll find pictures of both sets packaged in my plastic boxes and with my hand written labels on the lids.
Anyway, there was a considerable interest in the OTPG set and Bobbo saw a good opportunity to distribute these under the OTPG name. I don't think anyone expected them to be labelled as exclusively distributed by Bobbo and to be fair, the price is bound to raise eyebrows.
Anyway, OTPG has had a couple of mild strokes over the last few years which is a bit of a health issue in anyone's book and remember, he has enough work on without fiddling with pickups.
Anyway, we had a conversation about supplying the OTPG sets to Bobbo. He said he wasn't really in a position to supply Bobbo with the health problems and asked me if I could make them using supplied parts. I agreed to do this providing I had everyone concerned's blessing. The supply of parts had to be with the permission of BK pickups, and the tool makers. Having obtained permission with the proviso that I never use some of the specific parts for my own products, the proposition was put to Bobbo. He declined.
So, I don't make them and never have I'm sorry to say.
However, I must point out that there is no legally binding exclusivity regarding distribution of these and I will also point out that the OTP rings are not made by OTPG or me.

Now that's what I call having something to say! (and contribute to the forum) thanks Spence.