Get Fuelie equipped for $150.00

[cooljuk]

Originally Posted by fuelie

It broke my heart to cut all that wire off. Prototypes are one thing but I got to the point about 8 months ago when I could go through spools without wasting anything but the cut offs after I solder the leads.

Gotta break some heads, oh er... "eggs" to make an omelet!

I might be at the mark now where I've kept more coils than I've destroyed. Maaaaaybe. I really went through a great deal of wire while finding my own technique. Certainly enough to string a private phone line from my shop to yours and back again. Fortunately, most of those experiments were poly. Your "copper wig" is a bit more pricey of a learning experience with the PE wire.

Ya gotta admire a guy who pursues perfection at any cost. A slight improvement at a great expense is a hard thing to swallow sometimes. ...but likely best in the long run.



Hope I get to meet you and treat you to that well deserved vodka shot at some point, Kevin.

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by cooljuk

Gotta break some heads, oh er... "eggs" to make an omelet!

I might be at the mark now where I've kept more coils than I've destroyed. Maaaaaybe. I really went through a great deal of wire while finding my own technique. Certainly enough to string a private phone line from my shop to yours and back again. Fortunately, most of those experiments were poly. Your "copper wig" is a bit more pricey of a learning experience with the PE wire.

Ya gotta admire a guy who pursues perfection at any cost. A slight improvement at a great expense is a hard thing to swallow sometimes. ...but likely best in the long run.



Hope I get to meet you and treat you to that well deserved vodka shot at some point, Kevin.

Ugh, when I went through tweaking my tensioner and getting everything running well I must have wasted a couple pounds of wire.


Ya know, if we are doing shots it won't be vodka. We are doing Little beers!!!

Know of them?

If not.. They are one of the best shots ever and everyone in the world should try one.

You need two things to make up this wonderful shot.

Heavy whipping cream
Liquour 43

*Put the Liquour in the freezer and let it chill. Keep the cream in the fridge of course.

Grab a shot glass and pour the shot about 1/4" or so below the rim then SLOWLY pour a bit of heavy cream to just under the rim.

The cream will float on top and the shot will resemble a little beer with a head on it.

Enjoy!

It tastes like a vanilla shake, the cream cuts any burn and the last time I was at the bar doing these I had 18 of them on my tab.

[cooljuk]

I've never even heard of those "Little Beer" drinks, but they sound tasty!

I do believe that Bell's Kalamazoo Double Cream Stout has to be the official beer of pickup winders, though.



Is there anything more appropriate for a winder's drink that something called a "Double Cream" and made in Kalamazoo?

[Pinkie]

I just did a couple of shots of almighty 190 and I feel good!

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by cooljuk

I've never even heard of those "Little Beer" drinks, but they sound tasty!

I do believe that Bell's Kalamazoo Double Cream Stout has to be the official beer of pickup winders, though.



Is there anything more appropriate for a winder's drink that something called a "Double Cream" and made in Kalamazoo?

Do yourself a favor and try them out. Any decent store will have the 43. You will thank me later.

Wow, that's some irony and awesome at the same time.

Originally Posted by straycat

I just did a couple of shots of almighty 190 and I feel good!

Well then, to you.

It's been a while for me... I think I need to partake this weekend. Yes, that will work just fine.

[Pinkie]

Thanks Kevin one shot for you homie!

[fuelie]

Today I was doing some bridge testing on the shoot out set and felt like playing some heavy gain JCM 800 stuff with drums. Mostly to see how they did through the mix and also high gain is a little easier on my fingers today.

Man, I love being back on track and having fun with this. I am especially impressed with the A4 magnets I chose to go with this wind which came in just under 8.4k

In this clip it is only the bridge humbucker with the tone on 9 using the same Line 6 stuff. I also left the volume knobs wide open intentionally. Usually I like to roll back the volume enough to get rid of the fizz.

For this test I chose two presets and did NO tweaking at all. No EQ, no compression. Just pressing record and setting the levels. Today was a fun day.

www.fuelieguitars.com/sounds/b113-bridge-dirty.mp3

[fuelie]

If I has some time tomorrow I'll try to get some lower gain stuff before I pull them to ship.

This set turned out really nice imo.

[Pinkie]

Kevin my set arrived today and I wish to thank you for winding a set just for me.
They look fantastic And will go in my 82 Greco early next week when I can get time to install them.
They look great and the covers really top them off nicely.
Again thanks so much I really do appreciate the time and effort you put in to them.

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by straycat

Kevin my set arrived today and I wish to thank you for winding a set just for me.
They look fantastic And will go in my 82 Greco early next week when I can get time to install them.
They look great and the covers really top them off nicely.
Again thanks so much I really do appreciate the time and effort you put in to them.

Happy NPD day.

You're very welcome and I'm anxious to hear what you think. If they act any different than my testing let me know and I'll make it right.

[Pinkie]

Kevin put my Plain Jane's in tonight and I am very pleased, these sound incredible.
Very open and woody is the best way to describe the way the Greco sounds now.
Very smooth and creamy on the neck and gritty and snarly on the bridge which is just what I wanted.Together its a mix of both one does not overshadow the other at all.
Roll the vol on the bridge pick up to around 7 and its get so smooth and buttery.
I installed an RSguitarworks pot kit Jensen 015 cap for the neck and 022 for the bridge and did the 50's wiring.
Thanks for such a sweet set of vintage sounding pick ups one happy camper on this end.

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by straycat

Kevin put my Plain Jane's in tonight and I am very pleased, these sound incredible.
Very open and woody is the best way to describe the way the Greco sounds now.
Very smooth and creamy on the neck and gritty and snarly on the bridge which is just what I wanted.Together its a mix of both one does not overshadow the other at all.
Roll the vol on the bridge pick up to around 7 and its get so smooth and buttery.
I installed an RSguitarworks pot kit Jensen 015 cap for the neck and 022 for the bridge and did the 50's wiring.
Thanks for such a sweet set of vintage sounding pick ups one happy camper on this end.

Really?

Wow..........Oh....my...God..... I'm soooo stoked, and SO glad you are digging them.

Reading this post has made the last 3 or so weeks of crap worth it. I'm also happy the new baseplates are working well. Today is a damn good day.

[Pinkie]

Will do some final tweaking with the pick up heights and pole piece adjustments to find the sweet spots.
They really make the Greco sing. IMO the original screamin 82's were a bit brittle/harsh but the plain jane's give it a real nice vintage flavor.
All I can say is if you want a nice open, woody, airy well balanced sound the plain jane's deliver.
May have to break out the old Peavey Deuce combo and do some Sweet home Alabama just for shits and giggles.

[fuzzyguitars]

got my set

looking really nice.

4 conductor though, I need to know what goes to what for the standard les paul wiring without that fancy coil tapping stuff.

[cooljuk]

Originally Posted by fuzzyguitars

got my set

looking really nice.

4 conductor though, I need to know what goes to what for the standard les paul wiring without that fancy coil tapping stuff.

Check post 5 here: Pickup makers wiring diagrams.

[Pinkie]

Dialed in Kevin and sounding great thanks again!

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by straycat

Dialed in Kevin and sounding great thanks again!

Damn, you work fast.

[Pinkie]

These have started settling in and wow very PAFish.(Yes I have played PAF's before so I know what they sound like)
The sound has changed with some plying time which happens sometimes but the most awesome set of pick ups IMO.
If you watch the Joe B clips on the Duncan website you notice Joe B is on the neck pick up and my fuelie neck pick up has that chime and sparkle.
The most amazing thing to me is with my amps I can set the gain very low(2-3) and still the pick ups seem to drive the amp.Crank the gain up and the clarity is still there, with the gain around 6-8 its beefy and thick but still has clarity.
With both pick ups on the tone is outstanding thick and lush but you can hear the qualities of both pick ups one doesn't drowned out the other.
Great pick ups I am sold on the Plain Jane's.

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by straycat

These have started settling in and wow very PAFish.(Yes I have played PAF's before so I know what they sound like)
The sound has changed with some plying time which happens sometimes but the most awesome set of pick ups IMO.
If you watch the Joe B clips on the Duncan website you notice Joe B is on the neck pick up and my fuelie neck pick up has that chime and sparkle.
The most amazing thing to me is with my amps I can set the gain very low(2-3) and still the pick ups seem to drive the amp.Crank the gain up and the clarity is still there, with the gain around 6-8 its beefy and thick but still has clarity.
With both pick ups on the tone is outstanding thick and lush but you can hear the qualities of both pick ups one doesn't drowned out the other.
Great pick ups I am sold on the Plain Jane's.

I've been cleaning up my shop for a few hours getting ready to tear into my test guitar for some more upgrades and read this.

Some people argue pickups do not change. Although I try not to argue a person's beliefs but they in fact do. I have witnessed it during actual playing and while developing prototypes. I wouldn't be suprised if yours open up a little bit more and don't be suprised if they get boxy for a day or two. I have heard them sweeten up a little more even after a few months.

I know amps changes day to day but all of my initial testing is done direct to eliminate this influence. Then I move to live testing.

Man, I'm sooooo happy you are digging these. I put a lot of design work into the Plain Jane stuff with the new parts but I think it's tough to come up with a good sounding lower output pickup. The fact that you can drive the amp with low gain tells me the wind and tension I use is working rather well. Especially considering the DCR on that set. I have a few secrets in that.

Also the feel you are explaining tells me you are hearing what I hear during testing but haven't been able to capture in my recordings yet. I was confident I could build something with a good vintage flavor but being able to capture something a bit PAFish makes me happy. I know they are not hardcore reproductions like others but I wanted to capture the spirit.

Oh, one more thing. I thought the bridge was good but I kept feeling it was a tad bright. After a bunch of thought I think my ears were skewed a little from working on the Top Fuel stuff. I didn't have any other stock pickups floating around to re-bias my ears but messing around with my P90 guitar brought them back around.

I wish you lived by me so I could hear it live.

I love going to hear local guys play my stuff.

[Pinkie]

I have used about every pick up on the planet some change a bit with playing time some don't thats my experience anyway.
I find the boutique pick ups tend to do that so maybe thats due to manufacturing differences I don't know.
The amps I have tested the Plain Jane's on are a 72 Sound City 120 watt 1/2 stack.
Gain/vol about 2, bass mids and treble about 6'oclock.Rendering a slightly over driven clean tone.
The PJ's sounded clean and clear used a BB/MB preamp pedal and pushed the amp a bit and really nice gritty sound.Think Pete Townsend and a HIwatt.
Second amp a Kustom 36 coupe combo,really nice as well Low gain it had a sweet vintage growl when you attack the strings nice cleans when you play easy.
Master vol on 8 and gain on 7 holy cow punchy to say the least.Killer tone!
Amp 3 Jet City 20 watt head and Marshall 1960A cab.
Cleans sounded great with the vol around 8 and gain on 1 sort of a Fender clean IMO.
Dial the gain up to 6 and vol down 3 and the PJ's shine thick and meaty.
The bridge gets hairy if you let it but roll the vol back a notch and that goes away,nice to have the hair if you need it tho'.
Amp 4 my rack. Mesa 50/50 powered,Intellifex black face, tube driven Jackson JX-3 OD.
thru 2 4X12's heavenly is all I can say the PJ's love the Intellifex.

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by straycat

I have used about every pick up on the planet some change a bit with playing time some don't thats my experience anyway.
I find the boutique pick ups tend to do that so maybe thats due to manufacturing differences I don't know.
The amps I have tested the Plain Jane's on are a 72 Sound City 120 watt 1/2 stack.
Gain/vol about 2, bass mids and treble about 6'oclock.Rendering a slightly over driven clean tone.
The PJ's sounded clean and clear used a BB/MB preamp pedal and pushed the amp a bit and really nice gritty sound.Think Pete Townsend and a HIwatt.
Second amp a Kustom 36 coupe combo,really nice as well Low gain it had a sweet vintage growl when you attack the strings nice cleans when you play easy.
Master vol on 8 and gain on 7 holy cow punchy to say the least.Killer tone!
Amp 3 Jet City 20 watt head and Marshall 1960A cab.
Cleans sounded great with the vol around 8 and gain on 1 sort of a Fender clean IMO.
Dial the gain up to 6 and vol down 3 and the PJ's shine thick and meaty.
The bridge gets hairy if you let it but roll the vol back a notch and that goes away,nice to have the hair if you need it tho'.
Amp 4 my rack. Mesa 50/50 powered,Intellifex black face, tube driven Jackson JX-3 OD.
thru 2 4X12's heavenly is all I can say the PJ's love the Intellifex.

Another good sign. Playing through multiple amps with good results

I have my eye on a Jet City for home use. I'm putting together a list of small tube amps to have at the shop so I can do more testing here before I take to live testing. That's a really cool amp and a lot of the clips remind me of a Soldano Hot Rod 50 I had a few years that I shouldn't of got rid of....

I hope you get to play them through a Marshall. Something about Marshall and the Plain Janes make me very, very happy.

[Pinkie]

You can post that over in the pick ups section if you want Kevin.
Sat will try it thru a 2203 and a JVM and let you know the results.
So far each amp has done very well with the PJ's
The Jet City has a sound all its own I will say that and very close to a hot rod 50.
I did change tubes when I got it and went with Tung-Sol reissues and a 12AT7 in the v2 position that lowered the gain a bit and I'm really happy with it.

[fuelie]

As of today I am getting close to my sales goal for my intro pricing. Considering I have quite a bit more money in the Plain Jane series as well as other parts causing the cost to build these to rise. Most of this is a result of my stride to provide higher quality parts and adjusting some of my product to better fit the vintage market here at the MLP and throughout.

During this price increase I have left my prices the same during this as I felt it was fair.


So.....now comes the time to limit my intro sale.


Excluding the special deal on Top Fuel stuff going on right now the cut off is 10 sets of pickups.

After 10 sets the price will go to the standard MLP pricing which is yet to be determined. I can tell you right now the Plain Janes are going to be a bit more than the Pro Mod and the Top Fuel because they cost more to produce.

All of my winds are doing very well in customer hands. Straycat loves her Plain Janes and seems quite picky like me. The Top Fuel is melting faces, and the Pro Mods are doing their thing just as well.

Now is a great chance to get Fuelie equipped for a very fair price. Not too bad for a custom designed hand built pickup set in my opinion.

So, let us wind some coils and make some tone.

Kevin

[fuelie]

9 sets left at the sale price.

Another Plain Jane set going to a MLP member.

[fuelie]

Good evening party people.

In the next couple of days I will have enough stock to build 5 sets of pickups.

This inventory can include my Plain Jane (vintage PAFish) and my Pro Mod series.

I will also have a few nickel covers in raw or plated for the sets.

At this moment I was thinking of building:

2 black sets
2 reverse zebra sets (screws cream)
1 standard zebra (slugs cream)

If you would like to purchase please PM me to firm up some specs.

[fuelie]

One of my local customers called me yesterday to let me know he took one of his guitars I built a custom set for to a Luthier for a refret not long ago.

Upon picking up the guitar the Luthier commented the pickups in the guitar were "amazing"

So today feeling a little proactive I gave him a call to chat for a minute which turned into me swinging by the shop with my test guitars so he can demo some humbuckers. when I get caught up with ordes.


I love the feeling of being on to something good.

[warpedsoul]

Congrats on the success!!! I wish I had more money and more guitars to do upgrades on, as I'd buy a set. I like being different from the rest of the world on certain things, which is why I bought Rio Grande humbuckers a few months ago. They aren't really well known to some. But having a set of Fuelie's would really be different!

Would you say your Top Fuel series is best for Hard Rock and Metal?

[fuelie]

Originally Posted by warpedsoul

Congrats on the success!!! I wish I had more money and more guitars to do upgrades on, as I'd buy a set. I like being different from the rest of the world on certain things, which is why I bought Rio Grande humbuckers a few months ago. They aren't really well known to some. But having a set of Fuelie's would really be different!

Would you say your Top Fuel series is best for Hard Rock and Metal?

Hey man.

Thank you for the kind words and the interest.

The Top Fuel series can do quite a bit more than just Hard Rock and Metal depending on your rig and if I mess around with magnet changes.

Keeping the neck pickup in the 7.5k range allows a lot of versatility while the bridge cleans up well depending on your gain structure.

When testing all the prototypes it faired very well against active pickups in metal and hard rock but also did very well in crunch testing as well as 80' rock. It also breaks up the preamp very well on lower gain once you start digging in with your right hand.

The wind is very similar to my vintage / modern Pro Mod series with the exception of the magnets and the bridge being hotter.

[Pinkie]

Conformation from an outside source is always a good thing Kevin.

[trekel71]

Kevin, PM'd you with some details.