Anyone use GFS Pickups?

[Grand Pappy in Chandler]

I put a GFS Alnico V mini HB in th neck position of a MIM Tele.
Sounds pretty good for the price.

[likea45]

I replaced all my stock gibson pups with different GFS pup configs, all sound exactly like the description. These things really SHINE at high volume though, really nice on a tube amp with little to no extra feedback.

The only one that can get a little loud is the high output PAF's but it's wound at something like 14k, and still is quieter then a duncan distortion or the like.

And lets not even talk price, its a non-issue. These are recession pups - buy em worst case you can ebay them if you dont like em, you will though.

[Toogy]

I like the Mean90 I have in the neck of my LP Studio

[snaredrum]

i've used the retrotron nashvilles and the dream 90s. i was very happy with both

[JoeCeffus]

Installed two Vintage 59s in my '99 Epi dot and that turned it into a great sounding guitar, compares well tonewise with Gibson and PRS humbuckers.

[LesPauI+SG=Win]

I have the crunchy pats in my SG with coil split and they sound killer.

[dane999]

I tried the Fat Alnico Mini's in a Epi Firebird. ($35 each) Better than the stock Epis. I eventually put a Seymour Dunc SM B3 ($80) in the bridge - whoa massive difference. The SD was much more fuller and fatter, and i put a GFS ceramic hot mini in the neck. Seems to sound better than the Fat Mini.

I Put a set of Fat Paf Boutiques in Epi LP. Again better than stock Epi, but when you compare to higher grade (more$$) pups, the GFS's just sound a little thinner, a touch harsher or brighter, not as much depth. I would replace them when I've got the $$.

Overall they are good for the price, no complaints, but i think you'd prob end up replacing them, so I think better to save a bit more for a higher grade Pup. Once you start upgrading, it's an addiction that takes over and you have to keep feeding it, so rather than step higher and higher each upgrade - losing money in the process -, just go for the best you can afford straight off.

[Brynner]

I just swapped a GFS Classic II (Alnico II) into my Edwards LP neck position. Previously I had a Giovanni GVH-1 there and swapped because I was interesting in getting the softness and articulation of an Alnico II pickup in that position. The guitar originally came with a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck, which was a nice pickup, but not nearly as articulate or even well balanced as the GFS Classic II or the Giovanni GVH-1.

Overall, I'm very happy with the sound and articulation of the GFS Classic II. In terms of dynamics and responsiveness I'd put it ahead of the Giovanni GVH-1 by a nose, but the Giovanni was a bit better balanced tonally (at least in this guitar). The GFS Classic II has "softer" highs and the GVH-1 a shade brighter. I think these difference are explained largely by the fact that the GFS has an Alnico II magnet whereas the GVH-1 uses Alnico V, giving the GVH-1 a brighter attack, but less "delicacy". The Classic II is very warm, responsive and with combed back highs - has excellent pick response and bite when you dig in though, outstanding in that regard. It responds to the pick incredibly well, going from gentle to stinging with just a flick of the pick. Exactly what I was looking for - a very expressive and emotive pickup, let's the guitarist really express himself through his fingers. I'm curious as to what the Giovanni GVH-1 would be like with an Alnico II magnet, so I might swap one in. I also might pick up a Giovanni Alnico III-based pickup (GVH-2). This is just curiousity speaking, the Classic II is really a damn good pickup and I have no desire to replace it - better than the Seymour Duncan '59 or the Gibson 490R.

As far as I know, GFS pickups are made by Artec in Korea, as are Giovanni pickups - both get their higher end materials and manufacturing. Commonly, they also have the standard boutique ingredients like the various Alnico magnets, formvar or enamel coated 42 or 43 gauge wiring, cloth leads (vintage single coils), silver base plates, etc. There's really no difference materially in them and the more expensive pickups other than the fact that Korean labour costs are cheaper than American, and on the very high-end boutique pickups you might get hand-winding rather than computer-controlled machines. As far as mass produced pickups go, I think the higher-end Artec pickups (Giovanni and apparently GFS) are as good, often better, than their Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, etc, counterparts. In fact, I have a Giovanni single coil (GCS-1) that came out none-the-worse-for-wear when I extensively A/B'ed it with my Lindy Fralin Blues Specials.

Don't let "names" and price cloud your judgement in these cases. Ideally, go by sound, but we can't usually try pickups before we buy, so in that case go by materials and specs. Learn the characteristics of different magnets, wire gauges and coatings, DC resistance, resonant peak, etc. With that knowledge you can make informed choices regardless of the name brand ...and you just might find that the $25 pickup can sometimes be the "best" one.

[emoney]

i've never used them myself, however my very, very trusted guitar tech is highly
against them. i never mentioned the name, yet when we were talking about putting
P90s in my Melody Maker, he jumped out of the chute saying, "Do NOT buy GFS"..."they're made in china and they're junk".....oddly enough he's not normally the type of guys who 'care's' if you know what I mean. he doesn't order my parts, so there's no 'markup issue' going on, I know???

[brianugly]

I haven't had any GFS pickups that I didn't like.

[Brynner]

Actually, after installing the GFS Classic II in the bridge position of that same guitar I have to say that the set is not very well balanced - in order to get the bridge pickup to the right warmth tonally you have to make the neck muddy and in order to get the neck un-muddied you end up making the bridge too bright. Both pickups are fine when dialed in, but don't gel well as a pair. Interestingly, my GFS Classic II bridge pickup is wound to the same dc resistance as the neck pickup - both 7.9k. The neck is supposed to be 7.8k and the bridge 8.2k. I think the underwinding of the bridge pickup as opposed to the spec is making it a shade brighter than it should be to go with the neck pickup. Having said that, I think the neck pickup is the one that should be brighter - perhaps underwound to 7.2-7.5k rather than the 7.9k that it actually is. A little underwinding on the neck and the correct spec on the bridge and they'd probably both be much better pickups. But with all that said, both are actually nice pickups for what they're supposed to be when the amp is dialed in properly for each individual one.

However, I'm getting the suspicion that GFS pickups are inconsistent.

P.S. I have a Neovin NAL9 that is utter crap - the output is so low that it's barely audible even compared to 5.6k single coils in the same guitar.

In my experience, even though they're off the market in the U.S. were that Giovannis are a vastly better choice than GFS - they also don't match their advertised specs, but they do match their tone and descriptions and go well together in pairs - though everything might have been my "luck of the draw" to an extent.

[exactopposite]

I have only used the single coils but i have tried a few sets. I have a set of the '64 stagger grey bottoms in a MIM standard strat. They sound fantastic in that guitar, but I didn't like them at all in my squier strat. I also had a set of the vintage alnico staggers. They were too thin for my taste in both of my strats, so i got rid of them. I'm usre there are plenty of people who would like the sound of them, but they weren't for me. I also had a set of the dream 90's (humbucker sized single coil) in my Santana SE for a long time until I decided that I wanted a traditional humbucker sound. I really liked those pickups in it. I kept them in that guitar for 3-4 years.

They definitely make some good pickups and they have a lot to choose from. As it stands right now I have giovanni pickups on three of my gutiars and gfs on one.

[Ermghoti]

Originally Posted by Brynner

P.S. I have a Neovin NAL9 that is utter crap - the output is so low that it's barely audible even compared to 5.6k single coils in the same guitar.

Neovins are intended to be used with 1meg pots. It is highly unlikely they would ever work well paired with standard single-coils and 250k pots. There could still be something wrong with the Neovin, fortunately, GFS is good with exchanges on faulty gear.

[Brynner]

Originally Posted by Ermghoti

Neovins are intended to be used with 1meg pots. It is highly unlikely they would ever work well paired with standard single-coils and 250k pots. There could still be something wrong with the Neovin, fortunately, GFS is good with exchanges on faulty gear.

I was using it with a 500k pot IIRC, perhaps that influenced it. But it was ridiculously quiet to the point of being useless - I don't think a 1M pot would have cured it. The NAL9 pickup uses an Alnico magnet instead of neodymium like the other neovins, perhaps that's the problem with it's output - I suspect the Alnico doesn't take enough "charge" to power it. I could have simply gotten a defective pickup though, I guess.

[Ermghoti]

Hm, could have been bad, you should get it replaced. They might work with you if you're past the usual return period.