Strat pickup recommendations

Lestratcaster

HAL9000 said:

Lestratcaster said:

I've said this a few times on other threads but if you like the true-Strat type tone I love my Oil City StoneTones. Not overly expensive either.

Got StoneTones on my Strat. Very pleased with them.

They're just amazing aren't they! Mind you I only have the neck and middle so I don't know what the bridge is like cos I put a JB humbucker in there (purely to play Green Day songs haha).

HAL9000

^ I've got the bridge pickup too, but with a baseplate. to give it a bit more oomph.

rossi

I use Maida Vales in my Strat  to go bout 20 quid each on Ebay .Made in the UK and to me sound good .Neck is A3 ,mid is A4 and bridge A2.They are superb clean and dirty up well .The neck is warm and jazzy .

Alegree

rossi said:

I use Maida Vales in my Strat  to go bout 20 quid each on Ebay .Made in the UK and to me sound good .Neck is A3 ,mid is A4 and bridge A2.They are superb clean and dirty up well .The neck is warm and jazzy .

£20 for a made in the UK Strat pickup delivered?
That's
£2 in ebay fees
£1 in Paypal fees
£3 in delivery fees
£4 in materials (likely higher)
£10 left for listing, customer queries, postage labour, returns, faults, sourcing parts, and building them.

I'm cynical these are made in the UK. 

rossi

Alegree said:

rossi said:

I use Maida Vales in my Strat  to go bout 20 quid each on Ebay .Made in the UK and to me sound good .Neck is A3 ,mid is A4 and bridge A2.They are superb clean and dirty up well .The neck is warm and jazzy .

£20 for a made in the UK Strat pickup delivered?
That's
£2 in ebay fees
£1 in Paypal fees
£3 in delivery fees
£4 in materials (likely higher)
£10 left for listing, customer queries, postage labour, returns, faults, sourcing parts, and building them.

I'm cynical these are made in the UK. 

who cares they sound great .Winding a pickup takes minutes if that I used to be a coil winder .we worked in seconds

Alegree

rossi said:

Alegree said:

rossi said:

I use Maida Vales in my Strat  to go bout 20 quid each on Ebay .Made in the UK and to me sound good .Neck is A3 ,mid is A4 and bridge A2.They are superb clean and dirty up well .The neck is warm and jazzy .

£20 for a made in the UK Strat pickup delivered?
That's
£2 in ebay fees
£1 in Paypal fees
£3 in delivery fees
£4 in materials (likely higher)
£10 left for listing, customer queries, postage labour, returns, faults, sourcing parts, and building them.

I'm cynical these are made in the UK. 

who cares they sound great .Winding a pickup takes minutes if that I used to be a coil winder .we worked in seconds

I think most people will feel manipulated if the description of a product is not accurate.

You're forgetting 
-bevelling the individual rods
-charging the individual rods
-setting them in the bottom flatwork
-installing the top flatwork
-lacquering the whole lot
-days to dry
-looping the coil start/end into the eyelets
-soldering the wire ends
-wax potting the pickup
-cleaning the pickup of wax
-QA
-final preparations in packaging to make the product look nice

Yes, winding is about 10% of the build.

FastEddie

Lestratcaster said:

FastEddie said:

Give Bare Knuckle a call. I did and they recommended a set which are awesome. 60's slab board. 
Buy cheap = pay twice.
I've no other direct experience with any other pup maker.
I've also got a Martyn Booth and tele with Bare Knuckle pups. Love them

I was tempted to put BKP's in mine when I had the SD everything axe set in there originally.

What ones were they? I liked the sound of the Irish Tours.

I was recommended the 63 veneer board. They sound just as I wanted with my rig. Cornell Romany, FX Plexi.
The chap was very helpful and I've not even thought of change since.

rossi

Alegree said:

rossi said:

Alegree said:

rossi said:

I use Maida Vales in my Strat  to go bout 20 quid each on Ebay .Made in the UK and to me sound good .Neck is A3 ,mid is A4 and bridge A2.They are superb clean and dirty up well .The neck is warm and jazzy .

£20 for a made in the UK Strat pickup delivered?
That's
£2 in ebay fees
£1 in Paypal fees
£3 in delivery fees
£4 in materials (likely higher)
£10 left for listing, customer queries, postage labour, returns, faults, sourcing parts, and building them.

I'm cynical these are made in the UK. 

who cares they sound great .Winding a pickup takes minutes if that I used to be a coil winder .we worked in seconds

I think most people will feel manipulated if the description of a product is not accurate.

You're forgetting 
-bevelling the individual rods
-charging the individual rods
-setting them in the bottom flatwork
-installing the top flatwork
-lacquering the whole lot
-days to dry
-looping the coil start/end into the eyelets
-soldering the wire ends
-wax potting the pickup
-cleaning the pickup of wax
-QA
-final preparations in packaging to make the product look nice

Yes, winding is about 10% of the build.

still doesnt take long .Smoke and mirriors mate .

OilCityPickups

rossi said:

Alegree said:

rossi said:

I use

Alegree said:

rossi said:

I use Maida Vales in my Strat  to go bout 20 quid each on Ebay .Made in the UK and to me sound good .Neck is A3 ,mid is A4 and bridge A2.They are superb clean and dirty up well .The neck is warm and jazzy .

£20 for a made in the UK Strat pickup delivered?
That's
£2 in ebay fees
£1 in Paypal fees
£3 in delivery fees
£4 in materials (likely higher)
£10 left for listing, customer queries, postage labour, returns, faults, sourcing parts, and building them.

I'm cynical these are made in the UK. 

in my Strat  to go bout 20 quid each on Ebay .Made in the UK and to me sound good .Neck is A3 ,mid is A4 and bridge A2.They are superb clean and dirty up well .The neck is warm and jazzy .

£20 for a made in the UK Strat pickup delivered?
That's
£2 in ebay fees
£1 in Paypal fees
£3 in delivery fees
£4 in materials (likely higher)
£10 left for listing, customer queries, postage labour, returns, faults, sourcing parts, and building them.

I'm cynical these are made in the UK. 

who cares they sound great .Winding a pickup takes minutes if that I used to be a coil winder .we worked in seconds

I absolutely think they are made in the UK, but by someone who has either no need to make a living from pickup winding: possibly someone with another job or retired. I agree with @Alegree that at that price the winder can barely break even, and in fact may be making a loss (especially with the volatile cost of copper wire at the moment). However it doesn't unduly worry me. Pickup winding as a self-financing hobby is a low entry requirement pastime ... all the relevant data is available on line to clone pretty much anything you want, and providing you can rig up a hand drill and a counter, you are good to go on your kitchen table.

Having read his listing, he is supplying without covers, and is apologising for manufacturing marks and residual wax, so he is clearly not aiming for perfection at the moment. If he does, the price will have to rise.

We've made substantial investments, in multiple high-tec winding machines to aid pickup consistency, an industrial laser cutter to produce our flat-work, and an industrial unit from which to operate, a dedicated web site from which to sell (no we wouldn't entertain using E Bay) ... so of course we have higher overheads.

Good luck to the guy ... if he want's to step up and go to the next level however ... his prices will go up.

Lestratcaster

FastEddie said:

Lestratcaster said:

FastEddie said:

Give Bare Knuckle a call. I did and they recommended a set which are awesome. 60's slab board. 
Buy cheap = pay twice.
I've no other direct experience with any other pup maker.
I've also got a Martyn Booth and tele with Bare Knuckle pups. Love them

I was tempted to put BKP's in mine when I had the SD everything axe set in there originally.

What ones were they? I liked the sound of the Irish Tours.

I was recommended the 63 veneer board. They sound just as I wanted with my rig. Cornell Romany, FX Plexi.
The chap was very helpful and I've not even thought of change since.

Ah I see so a vintage type pickup. Didn't actually realise that was in the range! The output seems quite low though, but for single coils I guess it works? My Stonetones are slightly higher but still retain that Strat like sound.

lincolnblue

p90fool said:

Measure the cutouts in the scratchplate and the distance between the mounting holes, a lot of old far Eastern guitars are quite different to Fender sizes. 

Finally got round to doing this. Do the below photos shed any light on whether I'll be able to get standard strat-sized pickups?

soma1975

I have a pickguard loaded with Bare Knuckles for sale in the Parts £ sub-forum if it's any good to you. 

lincolnblue

soma1975 said:

I have a pickguard loaded with Bare Knuckles for sale in the Parts £ sub-forum if it's any good to you. 

Thanks. I'll have a look. 

lincolnblue

Would I be able to use my pickup covers if I bought new pickups?

lincolnblue

lincolnblue said:

p90fool said:

Measure the cutouts in the scratchplate and the distance between the mounting holes, a lot of old far Eastern guitars are quite different to Fender sizes. 

Finally got round to doing this. Do the below photos shed any light on whether I'll be able to get standard strat-sized pickups?

From the measurements here would any strat pickups fit?

thegummy

lincolnblue said:

lincolnblue said:

p90fool said:

Measure the cutouts in the scratchplate and the distance between the mounting holes, a lot of old far Eastern guitars are quite different to Fender sizes. 

Finally got round to doing this. Do the below photos shed any light on whether I'll be able to get standard strat-sized pickups?

From the measurements here would any strat pickups fit?

From looking at that photo and putting a measuring tape on mine it definitely looks to be the same size as normal Strat pickups.

You can use your existing covers, they just lift off very easily.

thegummy

BTW, depending what you think of the price of course, you couldn't go wrong with @soma1975 's ones he's selling.

Canny whack Bare Knuckle.

soma1975

Cheers mate but they just sold on ebay

lincolnblue

thegummy said:

lincolnblue said:

lincolnblue said:

p90fool said:

Measure the cutouts in the scratchplate and the distance between the mounting holes, a lot of old far Eastern guitars are quite different to Fender sizes. 

Finally got round to doing this. Do the below photos shed any light on whether I'll be able to get standard strat-sized pickups?

From the measurements here would any strat pickups fit?

From looking at that photo and putting a measuring tape on mine it definitely looks to be the same size as normal Strat pickups.

You can use your existing covers, they just lift off very easily.

That's great, thanks. Will keep a look out on the selling section here to see what comes up. 

chris_john

The Fender Custom Shop 69 is my all time favourite neck pickup. Fat, yet glassy and has a vocal like quality.