Iron Gear Pickups

Devil#20

Quick question. Whereabouts are Iron Gear pickups made? In the UK or elsewhere? I'd like to buy Briitsh if I can given that our economy is tanking. 

abw1989

http://www.irongear.co.uk/irongear_pickups_021.htm

"All IronGear Premier Pickups are designed and developed in the UK."

"IronGear pickups are made outside of the UK in state-of-the-art facilities"

British designed but most likely made in China...?

Brilliant pick ups none the less, I have them in a couple of my guitars and have no complaints. 

Funkfingers

Les Claypool said:

Everything nowadays is made in China. 

  

Devil#20

abw1989 said:

http://www.irongear.co.uk/irongear_pickups_021.htm

"All IronGear Premier Pickups are designed and developed in the UK."

"IronGear pickups are made outside of the UK in state-of-the-art facilities"

British designed but most likely made in China...?

Brilliant pick ups none the less, I have them in a couple of my guitars and have no complaints. 

I read that on their site too and assumed the state-of-the-art facilities would mean China on the basis that if it was the UK then they would say so. Who else apart from bare knuckle manufactures in the UK then? I have bare knuckles in one of mine but thought I'd like to try something else on a guitar I'm using as a test bed. BKP are very good though. 

CasperCaster

Devil#20 said:

Who else apart from bare knuckle manufactures in the UK then?

Mojo Pickups
Fletcher Pickups
Oil City Pickups

I'm sure other people will chip in with more suggestions. 

As for Iron Gear, great pickups at their price - Vintage 6TS Bridge and Pig Iron Middle and Neck; classic Strat without brittleness on the bridge. 

daveyh

CasperCaster said:

Devil#20 said:

Who else apart from bare knuckle manufactures in the UK then?

Mojo Pickups
Fletcher Pickups
Oil City Pickups

I'm sure other people will chip in with more suggestions. 

As for Iron Gear, great pickups at their price - Vintage 6TS Bridge and Pig Iron Middle and Neck; classic Strat without brittleness on the bridge. 

IronGear are great pickups regardless of price.

TokaiPete

CasperCaster said:

Devil#20 said:

Who else apart from bare knuckle manufactures in the UK then?

Mojo Pickups
Fletcher Pickups
Oil City Pickups

I'm sure other people will chip in with more suggestions. 

As for Iron Gear, great pickups at their price - Vintage 6TS Bridge and Pig Iron Middle and Neck; classic Strat without brittleness on the bridge. 

Bloodstone (Derby, I think) and Creamery in Manchester. But, as others have said, Iron Gear are really good.

Funkfingers

Alegree and Monty’s are two more building pickups in the UK.

Some of the UK brands have introduced budget lines. (e.g. BKP Boot Camp and Alegree Old Timer.) The origins of these products is not made clear on the respective web sites.

Kent Armstrong hand makes bespoke pickups wherever he is living at the time. His budget Sky versions were from Korea.

earwighoney

Devil#20 said:

Quick question. Whereabouts are Iron Gear pickups made? In the UK or elsewhere? I'd like to buy Briitsh if I can given that our economy is tanking. 

Even if Iron Gear pickups are excellent, I'd recommend UK made pickup makers like Oil City, Mojo, Alegree (I own things from these 3) as their quality is truly excellent, and even if it's a few quid more IMO they are worth the price tags.

I see you are in Preston. Jamie at Creamery is in Manchester which might not be a million miles from you in the grand scheme of things if you want to support a local guy.

Devil#20

earwighoney said:

Devil#20 said:

Quick question. Whereabouts are Iron Gear pickups made? In the UK or elsewhere? I'd like to buy Briitsh if I can given that our economy is tanking. 

Even if Iron Gear pickups are excellent, I'd recommend UK made pickup makers like Oil City, Mojo, Alegree (I own things from these 3) as their quality is truly excellent, and even if it's a few quid more IMO they are worth the price tags.

I see you are in Preston. Jamie at Creamery is in Manchester which might not be a million miles from you in the grand scheme of things if you want to support a local guy.

Correct. Exiled in Preston for work reasons, but I'm in Manchester a lot because that's where my family live so I'll have a look. Thanks. 

timmypix

Funkfingers said:

Alegree and Monty’s are two more building pickups in the UK.

Some of the UK brands have introduced budget lines. (e.g. BKP Boot Camp and Alegree Old Timer.) The origins of these products is not made clear on the respective web sites.

BKP Boot Camp are made on the same production line as their core range; the price reduction is due to the fact that they're not custom orders, so can be made in large batches. It's on their home page:
"Boot Camp is a focused range of handwound pickups, covering humbuckers, Strats, Teles and P90s that strips away the custom options to cut straight to the tone. All wound and built in our UK workshop"

SnazzyGeezer

Allan Price Aka Catswhisker pickups
Makes fab pickups IMHO

Jetfire

its also worth mentioning Radioshop in Neath, are Bulldog still a going affair?

Alegree

Funkfingers said:

Alegree and Monty’s are two more building pickups in the UK.

Some of the UK brands have introduced budget lines. (e.g. BKP Boot Camp and Alegree Old Timer.) The origins of these products is not made clear on the respective web sites.

Kent Armstrong hand makes bespoke pickups wherever he is living at the time. His budget Sky versions were from Korea.

Alegree branded pickups are made in the UK, Old Timers are made in Korea (many of which are designed in the UK and made to our specifications, like the previously mentioned Iron Gears)

earwighoney

SnazzyGeezer said:

Allan Price Aka Catswhisker pickups
Makes fab pickups IMHO

Yeah I forgot about his pickups!

I found a recording of myself using his pickups in and old Hagstrom straight into a JCM800 no fx and it sounded far better than I was expecting. Excellent pickups.

Funkfingers

timmypix said:

Funkfingers said:

Some of the UK brands have introduced budget lines. (e.g. BKP Boot Camp and Alegree Old Timer.) The origins of these products is not made clear on the respective web sites.

BKP Boot Camp are made on the same production line as their core range; the price reduction is due to the fact that they're not custom orders, so can be made in large batches.

Alegree said:

Alegree branded pickups are made in the UK, Old Timers are made in Korea (many of which are designed in the UK and made to our specifications, like the previously mentioned Iron Gears)

Thank you both for clarifying.

Devil#20

Alegree said:

Funkfingers said:

Alegree and Monty’s are two more building pickups in the UK.

Some of the UK brands have introduced budget lines. (e.g. BKP Boot Camp and Alegree Old Timer.) The origins of these products is not made clear on the respective web sites.

Kent Armstrong hand makes bespoke pickups wherever he is living at the time. His budget Sky versions were from Korea.

Alegree branded pickups are made in the UK, Old Timers are made in Korea (many of which are designed in the UK and made to our specifications, like the previously mentioned Iron Gears)

Wow those prices look pretty tempting for UK made pickups, particularly as many on here recommend them. So unless it says Old Timer then they are all UK made then?

earwighoney

Devil#20 said:

Wow those prices look pretty tempting for UK made pickups, particularly as many on here recommend them. So unless it says Old Timer then they are all UK made then?

I have some Alegree UK made pickups in my Tele Deluxe (HB sized P90's) and they are truly superb.

PeteC

I just used a set of Alegree cirrostratus for a Tele build Couldn’t be happier with them. 

Funkfingers

I have two Alegree pickups from his June clearance sale thread in Parts $. It took the discount to convince me to try the brand but, having done so, I reckon they are worth the full retail price.

Same story with Oil City Pickups.

Bearguitars

I’ve used Irongear a lot, really rate them, I’m sure they are manufactured in the East somewhere, but they area at least a Uk company at heart. Guy I’ve been using for a couple of builds is Ben Fletcher, great pickups, and good prices for a handwound made to order. Same for Ghost pickups, Wilf has a bunch of users, and I’ve always loved his work too. The hardest part is working out which for what tbh, I never know until I’m finishing a body what I feel is right, and I just have to go with instinct at that point. I think you need bats ears to really distinguish a choice, it’s about what feels right