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MSRP:
$62.95 for the set
Company Website: www.guitarfetish.com
Pickup upate:
I've played a lot with these pickups recently and I'm
convinced that if you are trying to nail the Stevie
Ray Vaughn sound, these pickups will take you there.
I've come to love the sound and am considering buying
a set for my #1 Strat. They are simmply awesome!
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GFS
has a reputation of providing high quality pickups at a very
low cost. Their new Premium Texas Strat Hot Bridge Set re-affirms
this and it’s just as good as the others that I’ve
seen and heard.
At
such a low price, you would something to be missing or needing
improvement. Nope. Not here. These pickups were packaged in
a nice branded box with pickups springs, screws, and one of
the best color-coded wiring diagrams you will ever find!
 The
pickups were a vision of top quality beauty. Fiber bobbins
that were wax potted, Alnico poles, and cloth covered wires.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
As
far as installation, they install pretty much the same as
other Stat pickups, but they pre-cut the wires to an intelligent
length for you. Not too long, not too short for the position..
I was able to install them without cutting the wires and still
have a clean looking wiring job!
They
also sent me three Alpha brand pots, a CRL switch, and Sprague
Orange Drop capacitor. I’ve personally only used CTS
pots when upgrading the numerous guitars I’ve worked
on.  At
the low price that they sell these pots for, I was a bit skeptical
about the quality. However after using them, I discovered
that quality is also top notch. The turning resistance is
just right and they’re not too hard or too loose. I
have no problem using them in any guitar now.
After
installing the pickups, it was time to play them. My first
test was to play them clean and see how they sounded. The
first thing I noticed was the low end. It has it! So many
Strat pickups that I've tested just don’t have much
low end, but that’s not a problem with these! In fact,
the low end sounds so good, you can even play in that “Jazz
Zone” and give the guys with Gibson PAFs a run for their
money.
As
far as high end and midrange, they dabble a bit in the vintage
world. It’s just enough to be recognizable, but not
enough to be too jingly which is a great combination, in my
mind.
 The
stagger is a bit different than a normal. The bass poles are
a bit lower than a classic Fender stagger, but I suspect that
it’s done this way for better string-to-string balance.
The classic Fender stagger was setup years ago for vintage
strings, but I’d assume this stagger pattern works better
for modern strings.
What
about overdriven? Oh my goodness! Once you overdrive these
things, you may stay there the rest of your life. Depending
on how your settings are, you can get a really super smooth
overdriven sound, or that super gritty, Texas blues sound.
I tend to prefer what would be considered a “rude sound”,
so these pickups are right up my alley!
I
do a lot of recording and staring at wave forms for hours.
If you do this long enough, you start to be able to recognize
wave forms of different types of guitars just by looking at
them. In the case of these pickups, overdriven, the wave form
looks much more like a Humbucker wave form. Smooth, consistent
and saturated. I tend to prefer my humbucker-based guitars
for more radical music, but these pickups sure give them a
run for the money!
So
if your looking for a set of Texas pickups at a minuscule
price, these pickups are for you!
Basic
Specifications:
Bridge Pickup HOT 9.4K
Middle Pickup 5.5K
Neck Pickup 5.35K
50's style black fiberboard bobbin
Alnico 5 Magnets
Vintage style Beveled polepieces
Cloth covered leads
Wound on the hot side to really drive an amp
Accurate Formvar plain enamel wire
Potted in real Beeswax |
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