Interesting/unique pickup winders?

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gybe!

gybe!

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I recently discovered (and installed) Stonewall pickups who is taking a slightly different approach to making a humbuckers (larger bobbins so the overall wound section of the pickup is the size of a traditional covered humbucker) which got me thinking: who else am I missing?

So, do you have another option that goes a bit off the beaten path?

In this particular case I installed an Epic XFR in the bridge of a balaguer growler 27” baritone (and a fralin big single 42 in the neck). I still need to dial in pickup height a bit, but early returns are very favorable to me. The amount of clarity I am getting is impressive. It’s almost single coil like while still being very full…output feels a bit lower than the specs would lead you to believe (hence the pickup height comment), but on the extended range of a baritone with a fair amount of gain it is very much a great match. Planning to drop a few more of these offerings into some of my more standard fiddles
 
There are only a few ways to wrap wire around a magnet. They have all been tried by now. The traditional methods yielded the results that appealed to the vast audience, at this point, “new (retread) concepts” are to appeal to niche audiences.

If you put sautéed mushrooms and bbq sauce on a burger, you haven’t reinvented the burger, nor will you take over the industry.
 
I hate to be a broke record, but honestly the most interesting sounding pickups I’ve played have been various vintage ones of the past, my all time favorite being the ‘60’s Supertrons (unfortunately many were potted/neutered). Others are the ‘60’s Hagstrom P90’s and other single coils they made, ‘60’s Jaguar’s, ‘60’s Framus P90, some ‘60’s Vox pickups, ‘60’s Hofner’s like the staple mini-humbuckers and half blade humbuckers, Gibson S1 (Bill Lawrence design), good ‘60’s gold foils, mighty mite single coils. All incredible, unique stuff that nothing made in last 40 years or so can at all rival in rich tone quality imo and many of them have a nasty snarl that again nothing in the last I’ll say 50 years can come close to in that department
 
Not so unknown but Wade from Motor City Pickups. Sorry not sorry. Between a friend and I probably the biggest collection of custom pick up from him. He’ll pretty much do any combination of his pickups you ask.

Yeah yeah yeah he takes a bit well… it’ll be worth it.
 
Look up Instrumental Pickups on Facebook and ask him to make you a “Divebar” pickup. That’s what he suggested for my baritone and it’s NICEEEEEEEEE…
 
I recently picked up a PRS SE NF3. It comes with “deep dish narrowfield pickups”. Quite intetesting sounding pickups. Technically humbuckers but they sound more like single coils. The bridge pickup does a great Van Halen 1 and 2 tone.
 
Go check out Elysian Pickups, he also has a different approach
 
There are only a few ways to wrap wire around a magnet. They have all been tried by now. The traditional methods yielded the results that appealed to the vast audience, at this point, “new (retread) concepts” are to appeal to niche audiences.

If you put sautéed mushrooms and bbq sauce on a burger, you haven’t reinvented the burger, nor will you take over the industry.
Please elaborate? Big box pickup makers can’t even replicate the same tones from earlier versions of the same pickup. The wind is the biggest factor. The turns per layer, the pattern and the tension all play a significant role in how the pickup reacts. Anyone says they’d recreated a pickup or can recreate a pickup is simply feeding you BS.

As soon as you change machines or wire vendors, everything changes. It’s the most sensitive part of the chain

Mighty mite couldn’t do it. Gibson can’t do it and since you want to use a food analogy, people can’t event replicate McDonals fries.
 
And I have three tone nerd pups…. My favorite is the prototype that Scott gave me. It’s his take on a custom 5….
 
I really dig Lundgren pickups, not that I’m a huge aficionado of all things pickup related but they’re the punchiest/clearest pickups I’ve used. I use the M series and Black Heaven, both high output but something like 12k DCR so I’m guessing thick gauge wire and/or massive magnets.

Bill Lawrence (Wilde) are pretty cool also, I have an L500XL in a strat and it’s quite unlike many other pickups I’ve tried. Also uncommonly clear and punchy, big yet tight low end, etc. the Lundgrens I’ve tried are similar in that respect.
 
Not so unknown but Wade from Motor City Pickups. Sorry not sorry. Between a friend and I probably the biggest collection of custom pick up from him. He’ll pretty much do any combination of his pickups you ask.

Yeah yeah yeah he takes a bit well… it’ll be worth it.
Has anyone ordered from him in the new year? I hit him up on IG and over email and haven't heard back. Usually i can at least start a convo and get the order in....
 
Has anyone ordered from him in the new year? I hit him up on IG and over email and haven't heard back. Usually i can at least start a convo and get the order in....
I placed an order right before Christmas and received that order 3 weeks later. Had 3 email exchanges in that time too
 
I placed an order right before Christmas and received that order 3 weeks later. Had 3 email exchanges in that time too
Lightning fast in Wade W. terms! I can keep bugging him in different places until he responds.... I'm somewhat accustomed to the drill.

What i -really- wish for is to know all of these new pickup ideas he has, consolidated in a single place. He probably has a whole lineup of different things not listed on his website - even the last one i ordered in 2020 he called his "A5 Stinger" and was part of the Real Deal series. It smokes too.. i just need to get things covered in my F-spaced guitar now as well.

A bit curious about these new winders people are talking about on the forums, but tbh it's hard to consider anything outside of MCP. They're the best pickups available if you like quality midrange
 
Zhangbucker makes some different designs. I have a Crushbucker/Pagey set waiting to be installed, body is being painted at MJT.

The Crushbucker is not your typ humbucker. It seems like it’s 1.5x the height of a regular humbucker.

Unfortunately I have only received them and can’t comment on the tone…but he does have at least one unconventional design.
 
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