Custom Pickups and Rewinds
Chosen
for use in custom guitars by Alex Rado/ N.I.C.E.
Guitars
Chosen
for use in custom guitars by Bill Chapin/ Chapin
Guitars
****NOTE****
*** I do NOT work on
weekends anymore which means I also do NOT reply to e-mails
on the weekends...
Most good pickup makers/companies offer a 30
day exchange guarantee. I give a 90 day "no questions asked" guarantee. If you
still do not love the pickup(s) I made for you after 3 months
I will exchange, rework, or refund, your choice.
OK, I'm not going to feed you a bunch of sales
hype and BS. I make good pickups, as good as any and better
than most. "The Best..." is going to be what suits
YOU the best, and it may not be mine (if I think that's the
case, I'll tell you so). I don't make "copies" of
vintage pickups, I can and probably should since there's a
huge market and a bunch of hype for "hand wound vintage
pickups", but it's mostly nonsense and I don't want to
promote that. If you found me it's probably due to referral
since I don't advertise or promote. I'll let the referrals,
reviews, feedback and guarantee speak for me.
In keeping with my no BS rule, I am going
to tell you my pickups are OVER PRICED... That's right, I
said it....my pickups are too expensive for what they are.
The simple fact is they are JUST PICKUPS. Most of the marketing
BS out there is pure "VODOO". That's not to say there isn't
some "vodoo" in making pickups, the question is which do
you need, if any. I'm a pretty firm believer that there is
a stock/factory pickup out there somewhere, already being
made, that will suit your needs, and that's also the problem;
trying to find "that pickup". So why buy from me? Because
I GUARANTEE you will get what you want, and I'm STILL averaging
better than 99% first try. I use all of the "vodoo" techniques
to get you what YOU WANT from YOUR GUITAR; thru YOUR RIG.
I will vary factors such as wire guage, tension, scatterwinding,
magnet gauss, potting, etc etc AS APPROPRIATE.
DO NOT expect ANY pickup to make up for using
the wrong rig/amp, a poor quality guitar or lack of playing
ability. If I were to prioritize factors/expenditures for
a player it would be practice/lessons/playing out, amp, decent/suitable
guitar and THEN pickups. In a strictly "tonal" sense
the BIGGEST factor is the amp/speaker and the volume it's
played at....
I hope that doesn't offend anyone but,
in order to spend your money wisely and get what you want/need,
you need the honest truth. Besides, I'd much rather make
pickups for a very particular/demanding customer who knows
his rig, abilities, and needs. Because if you don't know
those
things,
then I can't accurately determine what I should make for
you, and we may both end up dissapointed..I can make almost
anything you might need/want as long as we can determine
what that really is.
I have struggled very hard to keep prices
competitive with the factory
pickups,
but time/demand issues have contributed to price increases;
simply trying to cut back the demand. I hate having to
tell someone they have to wait a month.
For those unaware, being the president of,
and running, A.M.P.G.E. has
increased the demands upon my time, but it has also greatly
increased the options/makers availiable
to you, the customer... If it's a small custom pickup maker,
chances are that I have been involved in some way.....
Jeeze,
looking around at a lot of the "custom pickup makers" out
there and thier websites, I REALLY should be more of a
salesman and spend some time on this website's design/flash......
The Pickups
**Note: model name specifies only the
general construction type. The specific tonal characteristics
of the
pickup depends largely upon wire choice and output. MY PICKUPS
ARE TRULY CUSTOM WOUND. You contact me, we discuss what
you're
looking for tonally, the guitar the pickups will be installed
in, styles of music played and other gear used in order
to
determine THE OPTIMUM PICKUP DESIGN FOR YOU. Each
pickup is wound to customer spec upon order. As noted above,
I do
not make copies. The pickup I make for you may very well
end up being very similar to a 50's fender strat pickup
for instance,
but only becuase that's what suits you, not because I'm making
or selling "1950's strat singlecoils". I
do not have any pickups made up in advance; current turn-around
is aproximately 6 weeks. Time to your door would also depend
upon where you live and the resulting shipping time...
I also offer all of the traditional pickup
types not listed, and will make completely custom pickups
to spec. I can rewind/repair all types of pickups to include
"bobbinless".
"Customer
Comments"
**I've
quit addding to these. For more see the Harmony Central review
database or ask at any one of the many "guitar forums"...
S-90
: a strat pickup modified with p-90's opposing magnets, adjustable
screw polepieces, steel contact bar: Add's some p-90 character
to a strat pickup, with additional bass response. My personal
favorite for a strat. Also really good as a bridge pickup
combined with alnico pickups in neck/ middle positions.
"The
perfect rockin/ blues pickup!" "sounds more like
a P-90 than a strat pickup!" " I love this pickup!
Turn the volume down and it cleans up nicely and still retains
all it's definition!" "I've never played a pickup
that didn't turn to mud when the volume is rolled off! Makes
the neck position on my strat much more usefull!"
S-45:
most of the S-90. Leaves off the steel bar for a bit more
traditional sound, and less bass response than the S-90
T-90:
Tele pickup with the same design characteristics as the S-90
"I
have to admit, I didn't expect it to sound this good. I compared
it side by side to a Fralin Steel Pole 43 in a strat (similar
design).
It (the T-90)
has a real big tone, similar to a tele but with more of everything.
The Fralin tends to get muddy where this pickup sounds balanced
no matter where the volume knob is set. When bending strings
it delivers a nice singing tone, reminds me of a LP Jr w/
a bit of tele twang. The stock duncan squeeled horribly where
this one refused to do so......This guy knows what he's doing,
this pickup is as good as any on the market, probably better
than most....."
Alnico
5:
a traditional alnico 5 polepiece pickup w/ or without staggered
polepieces. Vintage or hot
"perfection!
The notes just seem to bloom!" "Very balanced at
any setting"
High
Output:
ceramic magnet, steel slug polepieces or adjustable screw
polepieces.
"very
pleased...none of the brittleness typical of high output pickups"
"doesn't mud out when turned down"
P-90:
just that (baseplates
are no longer used)
J-90:
a P-90 built using alnico polepieces for more clarity and
bit less bottom end (also prevents muddyness)
(baseplates are no longer used)
"A
great pickup for Jazzy comping...just a bit hotter than a
traditional jazz type pickup, exactly what I was looking for.."
HB-90:
A Humbucker sized pickup with a true P-90 bobbin
inside. underwound w/ 42, typical wind w/ 43, or overwound
w/44
upper
pickup alnico poled w/ nickel cover, lower pickup showing
coil and screw poles of typical P-90 construction.
Patent
Pending Designs
Dualtone
humbucker:
one coil uses alnico polepieces, other coil uses height adjustable
screw poles and ceramic magnets. Combined has a PAF character
to it, when cut to the alnico sounds very strat like.
"everyone
knows a cut humbucker doesn't sound like a strat single...this
one does!" "very smooth tone in humbucker mode"
Sound
Clips
Dualtone
II: similar
to the original dualtone. uses one coil w/ alnico 5 polepieces,
and one coil configured as an s-90. Where the original dualtone
is designed to cut to the alnico bobbin primarily, the Dualtone
II is designed to be used w/ a coil selector switch so you
can cut to either coil for increased versatility and tonal
options.
"this
is the coolest pickup I've ever played!" "there's
nothing this pickup won't do"
Completely
Custom Pickups: Many specialty designs
can be custom made to fit your needs.
custom made alnicoII rail Bass pickup with a custom made archtop
pickup ring of ebony.
custom
made Dualtone II to fit a P-90 soapbar cavity.
Mini
Dualtone II, a Dualtone in Gibson's mini HB size format
No Cost Options:
Singlecoils come
with vintage cloth braid wires(standard) or 2 wire plus shield.
Humbuckers come standard
w/ 4 wire plus shield, vintage Gibson single lead w/ braided
shield (shared ground wiring) is optional.
Coil wire guage is
chosen based upon the customer's desired results, as is the
output; however I will no longer wind anything with "vintage
correct" coil wire (formivar or enamel) unless it is
for the restoration of a vintage pickup. This is due to having
some of my pickups passed off as truly vintage pickups which
is fraud.
Colors Humbuckers
are availiable in black, zebra, reverse zebra or "tan".
Covers are not included
except for P-90 types. They are availiable "at cost".
So,
How Much?
**all
prices include shipping in continental US.
Rewinds
Singlecoils:
$65.00
Humbuckers
$65.00/ 1 coil, $75.00/ both coils (humbuckers
generally only require one coil rewound)
Bobbinless
pickups $100.00(i.e. DeArmond archtop
pickups etc)
"Vintage
Correct" Rewinds: $90.00/coil (**only
for vintage pickup restoration)
Pickups
(general
listing, there are simply too many options to list
them all individually)
(**prices
are for new pickups, but I will also convert a pickup you
already have at a discounted price)
Completely
Custom Designs: by quote only
Alnico2/3/4or5
Singlecoils: $100.00 (strat/tele/similar)
**60's
staggered poles availiable in alnico5 only
S-90/
T-90: $125.00 (***these
pickups are tall, occasionally requiring deepening
of the pickup routs;
it's worth it....)
P-90
w/ bar magnets $100.00
P-90
w/ alnico (2/3/4or5) polepieces $100.00
HBP-90:
$150.00 (includes nickel cover)
HBJ-90:
$150.00 (includes nickel cover)
Dualtone
Humbucker: $150.00
Dualtone
II Humbucker: $150.00
Standard
Humbucker ("PAF") types: $125.00
Mini Humbucker:
$150.00
Jazz
Bass(alnico2/3/4/5):
$100.00
P-Bass(alnico2/3/4/5):
$100.00
**Please
Note: Pickup
"type" only
indicates overall construction. Each pickup is efined and
finalized based upon the customer's desired results and their
gear. Output, coil wire, amount of "scatter",
wire tension, potting/potting material etc, is selected
based upon
those criteria. I have no hand wound pickups "in stock",
each is made to order. You can not simply
order an S-90, for instance, since the S-90's which are
best
for you are not likely the same as those that were best for
the last customer. I generally need the type of guitar,
it's
construction (woods, set/bolt neck, chambers etc.) the rest
of your rig (amps/pedals normally used) and style of music/artist
focusing on. If your rig is not solid yet please say that
as well so I can adjust for more of a "middle ground"(most
of us are always messing around w/ new amps/ pedals, but
have
our "old reliables")
