Dragonfire guitar pickups

[Aj6stringsting]

I've been playing guitar since 1978, played thru many amps, guitars, pickups, pedals and multu effects.

Back in the late 00's, I wanted to try different guitar Pickups other than the usual Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, BKP or Bill Lawrence pickups.

I discovered GFS and Dragonfire pickups. I was very very surprised on the tones these companies packed in those pickups.

At the time I couldn't find any Bill Lawrence L-250's pickups to put in the neck position of my S, S, H Super Strats.
A guitar student of mine got a Dragonfire Duo Rail for his guitar, so I installed them for him .... I was very surprised.
So I ordered two.

It was like a Bill Lawrence L-250, with Dimarzio Chopper / YJM ( HS 4 ) upper mids and some PAF overtones on steroids. Back then, it was only $ 17.95 USD .

Then I got the Screamers set for only $ 24.95 very Seymour Duncan JB / w Bill Lawrence XL-500 upper mids and highs . Neck 8.4k ohms and bridge rated at 16.9k ohms on my meter.

The Vintage Alnico 5 Screamers Gold Covered bridge pickup was put in a Les Paul Custom. Rated at 16.09k ohms on my meter
Pure PAF , Dimarzio Evo / Carvin M22SD punch with balance highs .

Recently, I ordered a Modbucker humbucker pickup for the neck of my Randy Rhoads / Jackson copy.
The site said it was rated at 10.4k ohms, but on my meter it was 11.5k ohms.
Totally like a cross between a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates / SD Screamin' Demon on with upper mid muscle.

Any body else had any luck with these pickups too ?

 

[fry]

I've been playing guitar since 1978, played thru many amps, guitars, pickups, pedals and multu effects.

Back in the late 00's, I wanted to try different guitar Pickups other than the usual Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, BKP or Bill Lawrence pickups.

I discovered GFS and Dragonfire pickups. I was very very surprised on the tones these companies packed in those pickups.

At the time I couldn't find any Bill Lawrence L-250's pickups to put in the neck position of my S, S, H Super Strats.
A guitar student of mine got a Dragonfire Duo Rail for his guitar, so I installed them for him .... I was very surprised.
So I ordered two.

It was like a Bill Lawrence L-250, with Dimarzio Chopper / YJM ( HS 4 ) upper mids and some PAF overtones on steroids. Back then, it was only $ 17.95 USD .

Then I got the Screamers set for only $ 24.95 very Seymour Duncan JB / w Bill Lawrence XL-500 upper mids and highs . Neck 8.4k ohms and bridge rated at 16.9k ohms on my meter.

The Vintage Alnico 5 Screamers Gold Covered bridge pickup was put in a Les Paul Custom. Rated at 16.09k ohms on my meter
Pure PAF , Dimarzio Evo / Carvin M22SD punch with balance highs .

Recently, I ordered a Modbucker humbucker pickup for the neck of my Randy Rhoads / Jackson copy.
The site said it was rated at 10.4k ohms, but on my meter it was 11.5k ohms.
Totally like a cross between a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates / SD Screamin' Demon on with upper mid muscle.

Any body else had any luck with these pickups too ?

I tried some a few years ago, I thought they sounded very good. They look to me like standard Artec stuff from Asia. I think a lot of companies import them and slap their own name on them, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I thought the most recent ones I saw had jumped up in price quite a bit.

 

[Aj6stringsting]

From what I heard, both Dragonfire and GFS has Artec wind the pickups a certain way for customized sound.

Last month. I ordered a Modbucker ( 11.06 k ohms / 410mv ) from Dragonfire for the neck position.
It was like a Seymour Duncan Screamin' Demon with a little more upper mids, but slightly scooped.

 

[truckermde]

Maybe 10yrs ago or so, I was looking for some vintage-voiced p'ups for my strat, and was underwhelmed by the options I had tried when I stumbled upon the Dragonfire guys on ebay, and they were located near to me.

The set was dirt cheap, so I had my doubts, bur the specs and materials were good, so I gave them a shot. I believe they were clear that they were working with an overseas factory, like in Korea. I'm willing to try expensive and cheap pickups, and try to keep an open mind.

Well, those were the best sounding Strat p'ups I've ever spent time with. Staggered poles. Super-bluesy neck pick-up.

They offered a lot of cheesey stuff, IMHO, like weirdly colored humbuckers, but that Strat set kicked ass.

I would definitely try them again.

 

[truckermde]

Maybe 10yrs ago or so, I was looking for some vintage-voiced p'ups for my strat, and was underwhelmed by the options I had tried when I stumbled upon the Dragonfire guys on ebay, and they were located near to me.

The set was dirt cheap, so I had my doubts, bur the specs and materials were good, so I gave them a shot. I believe they were clear that they were working with an overseas factory, like in Korea. I'm willing to try expensive and cheap pickups, and try to keep an open mind.

Well, those were the best sounding Strat p'ups I've ever spent time with. Staggered poles. Super-bluesy neck pick-up.

They offered a lot of cheesey stuff, IMHO, like weirdly colored humbuckers, but that Strat set kicked ass.

I would definitely try them again.

FWIW, I was just scouting around for a pair of low-budget 'buckers for a little project, and noticed that Dragonfire prices have escalated, substantially. I passed on them.

They're probably still good, it's just that at that price-point, I can find used SD or DiMarzio options, which makes the future owners of my guitars more inclined to part with their money than if I chose the lowest level p'ups I could find.

I'd still check on their Strat p'ups before writing them off, should the need arise.

 

[jtees4]

I have some Guitar Madness pups in an SG and they are great. The neck in particular (59 something) is excellent. The bridge sounds the same as the original Gibson 490T. They were very cheap. I like many pickups, Duncan, Dimarzio, Gibson, others but some of the cheap ones are extremely good.

 

[fry]

I have some Guitar Madness pups in an SG and they are great. The neck in particular (59 something) is excellent. The bridge sounds the same as the original Gibson 490T. They were very cheap. I like many pickups, Duncan, Dimarzio, Gibson, others but some of the cheap ones are extremely good.

I put a set of those in an LP just to get it to 100% so I could sell it. I thought they sounded incredibly good. They used to have double cream humbuckers too, which, of course nobody else will touch.

 

[Mr French]

I put a set of those in an LP just to get it to 100% so I could sell it. I thought they sounded incredibly good. They used to have double cream humbuckers too, which, of course nobody else will touch.

I've looked at them but have yet to hear a demo. Only turn off is all the humbuckers have a high output reading and that's not my style. I'm a low output vintage style kind of guy.

 

[Aj6stringsting]

FWIW, I was just scouting around for a pair of low-budget 'buckers for a little project, and noticed that Dragonfire prices have escalated, substantially. I passed on them.

They're probably still good, it's just that at that price-point, I can find used SD or DiMarzio options, which makes the future owners of my guitars more inclined to part with their money than if I chose the lowest level p'ups I could find.

I'd still check on their Strat p'ups before writing them off, should the need arise.

I agree.
I got some Duo Rails and they sound like a Bill Lawrence L250 ( My favorite stacked humbucker ) , them they were only $ 17.95, then they went up to $ 24.95, now they're $ 38.00.

Recently, I bought a Mod Bucker from them, pretty good reminded me of SD Screamin Demon with a little more bass and more upper mids.

But you are right, they have gone up in price. They were a great bargain, world class tone, but by raising their prices , kind of ruined the best selling point .