Iron Gear Pickups

maltingsaudio

I’ve spent over  a month of deliberation and berating the fact there isn’t a bricks and mortar shop within an hour of me which actually stocks a range of pickups. They can all order them in but in this day and age so can I ! 
Anyway although I couldn’t decide between spending £120 on eitherDiMarzio or Seymour Duncan which I know or Oil City or Bare Knuckle the new kids on the block However I  was forced by another piece of kit needing an expensive repair to lower my sights and bought a pair of overwound Pig Irons from Iron Gear via Axetech. 

These pickups ups cost half my original budget and so far absolutely no regrets they are punching well above their price point are clear responsive and in my opinion easily the equal of my Dimarzio and Seymour equipped guitars.

They were also delivered within 24 hours of placing the order!

TTony

That mirrors lots of comments on here, and my own experience too.

"For the money" they are unreservedly good.  Actually, "for twice the money" they're pretty much faultless.

Somehow they've managed to stick to their price point over the years too when others have been pushed ever higher by increasing materials costs, margins or whatever.  

You have to spend significantly more now to better IronGear whereas previously you had them at £30, some of the smaller good builders at around twice that, the US brands at probably 3x that, and BKPs at probably 4x.  Nowadays, there's a big gap between £30 and probably £100.  That's going to influence the decision!

Johnnyseven

I've been enjoying the Blues Engine in the neck of my Tele recently.

rich75

I agree with all of the above.

I've got a set of Tesla Sharks in my Blacktop Tele HH and they're really good. They split really nicely as well.

guitarmangler

I can recommend Entwiste pickups, too. I have a 57 set in a strat, and they sound great. Super quiet. And only £17 a pickup! 

digitalscream

Having just made an aesthetic (rather than tonal) decision on my kit-built guitar from Jaden, I have on my desk a Dirty Torque and Blues Engine, with nickel covers. My choice was Seymour Duncans at around £140-150 for a pair, or the Iron Gears for £72.95. Total no-brainer, since there's so little in it once they've been through an amp. I'm currently trying to decide whether I can fit them between finishing work and heading off to rehearsal this evening...

I'll be honest...I've got a Hot Slag in my N4, and it didn't feel like a particular step down in quality from the Bill & Becky L500XL that was in there before it. I also had a set of their rails pickups in my previous build, and there was no appreciable difference between those and the equivalent Seymour Duncans.

The only pickup I like which Iron Gear can't get close to tonally is the Lace Sensor, but I'll let them get away with that because the Lace Sensors are pretty much unique in the whole market.

Koa

Do Iron Gear do Jazz Bass pickups? Can’t see any on the site, any recommendations for those?

joetele

I might get a set of Rolling Mills for my Ibanez ARZ200. The stock 'Classic Elite' pickups sound neither classic nor elite. 

JayGee

TTony said:

That mirrors lots of comments on here, and my own experience too.

"For the money" they are unreservedly good.  Actually, "for twice the money" they're pretty much faultless.

Somehow they've managed to stick to their price point over the years too when others have been pushed ever higher by increasing materials costs, margins or whatever.  

You have to spend significantly more now to better IronGear whereas previously you had them at £30, some of the smaller good builders at around twice that, the US brands at probably 3x that, and BKPs at probably 4x.  Nowadays, there's a big gap between £30 and probably £100.  That's going to influence the decision!

I must be getting really old, I’m sure I can remember a time (like when I put a set of “Slow Hands” into my Strat about 15 years ago) when BKP actually undercut the likes of Seymour Duncan on price...

Henrytwang

I’ve installed both humbucking and single coil Iron Gear pickups on various guitars and have been very pleased with their performance. They’re well made great sounding pickups, the fact that they’re inexpensive is a bonus, I’d still use them at twice their current retail price.

poopot

I have a blues engine in one of my chuckabout strats... £35? I think?... you pays yer money and all that... not great... muddy and very lacking to be fair...

ThePrettyDamned

poopot said:

I have a blues engine in one of my chuckabout strats... £35? I think?... you pays yer money and all that... not great... muddy and very lacking to be fair...

Compared to what? I compared to some custom shop strat pickups that were a bit over wound and found them very similar. Compared to vintage style ssl-1 pickups, they're very different, but I think iron gear do similar low output jobbies.

I wish they did some 7 string models. 

jonnyburgo

I put rolling mills into a korean Tokai LP and the difference was amazing, like lifting a blanket off my amp.

TTBZ

Tempted by an overwound Rolling Mill for my SG. Used to have a normal one and it was great, loads of string definition and clarity.

axisus

I put some in my Tele, they aren't really doing it for me. I've never heard Tele pickups that I love, I'm still looking. 

rlw

axisus said:

I put some in my Tele, they aren't really doing it for me. I've never heard Tele pickups that I love, I'm still looking. 

I’m just about to try Toneriders Alnico 2 set, feeling the same as you.

PonchoGreg

axisus said:

I put some in my Tele, they aren't really doing it for me. I've never heard Tele pickups that I love, I'm still looking. 

Have you tried Alegree's? His cirrostratus set is ace, but that's on the vintage side. Keenly priced too

ThePrettyDamned

axisus said:

I put some in my Tele, they aren't really doing it for me. I've never heard Tele pickups that I love, I'm still looking. 

Have you tried uncovered neck pickup? I don't like covered ones. 

axisus

PonchoGreg said:

axisus said:

I put some in my Tele, they aren't really doing it for me. I've never heard Tele pickups that I love, I'm still looking. 

Have you tried Alegree's? His cirrostratus set is ace, but that's on the vintage side. Keenly priced too

They are top of my wish list, but I can't keep throwing money at pickups as I have several guitar builds on the go or planned and money is tight. It's not my priority at the moment.

mark123

Are tonerider and irongear rated about the same for value/quality ??

Johnnyseven

I think so, although I preferred the Irongears I had to the Tonerider equivalent - Tesla Shark neck > Alnico II Classic, Blues Engine neck > Alnico IV Classic.