GFS Humbuckers

[A1Coyote]

I have been kicking around the idea to replace the stock LP Special II Humbuckers (650R/700T) with ceramic magnets on my son's Special II. I want to focus on a reasonably priced set of pups, as the Special II is a reasonably priced guitar. From what I see on the Guitar Fetish website, all the humbuckers listed you can get for under $25 - $40 a piece (with chromed covers).

I am most interested in any Special II's that have any GFS replacement pick-ups, but I would like to hear feedback from any forum members (regardless of type of guitar) willing to share their results with and opinions of their GFS humbuckers.

So far on another thread, I heard good things regarding GFS Fat Pats & GFS Vintage 59's.

 

[rem22]

Never understood why you guys want to replace an average pup by another average pup.
Buy a used SD or Gibson, even if you buy one at a time instead of a set.

Buying cheap often cost more money than buying good thing.

You may also want to buy a used pair of Epiphone pups, the recent ones seem to be good, better than the 650/700 pair, and since they are not tagger Gibson they are way less expensive.

You read a lot of good things on anything anyway...because people usually buy things depending on you actual gear. For a pro that played 40 years, I doubt the first Gibson or Fender you see in a guitar shop is good, while for a beginner the first squier will rock. gFS sound good compared to what ? SD ? gibson ? dimarzio ?

 

[questionman]

Yup, buy quality pickups used.

GFS are cheap, good if you have a cheap beater guitar. But plenty of better options out there for the same price.

I had a set of Strat pickups a couple years ago I got through a trade, thought I would try them out. They took the life out of one of my favorite Strats. Dull and empty sounding, the pickups didnt even match together that great. Bridge was too hot, neck was too loud and middle was worthless, and I like the middle pickup.

I will suggest doing some research, particularly on how the two pickups will respond to each other. Just because it is a lower end guitar doesnt mean you settle on electronics. Make sure the pickups sound good together and that one isnt hot and steamy with the other muddy and wet.

 

[LP121]

If it were me, I'd look at replacing the the harness with quality parts before you worry much about the pickups. In a lower priced guitar that can have a profound effect on tone.

 

[A1Coyote]

If it were me, I'd look at replacing the the harness with quality parts before you worry much about the pickups. In a lower priced guitar that can have a profound effect on tone.

Thanks for the advice LP121. Definitely something to consider. Much appreciated.

Never understood why you guys want to replace an average pup by another average pup.
Buy a used SD or Gibson, even if you buy one at a time instead of a set.

Buying cheap often cost more money than buying good thing.

You may also want to buy a used pair of Epiphone pups, the recent ones seem to be good, better than the 650/700 pair, and since they are not tagger Gibson they are way less expensive.

You read a lot of good things on anything anyway...because people usually buy things depending on you actual gear. For a pro that played 40 years, I doubt the first Gibson or Fender you see in a guitar shop is good, while for a beginner the first squier will rock. gFS sound good compared to what ? SD ? gibson ? dimarzio ?

rem22, thanks for your input. Buying used is another approach that needs some consideration. As for GFS sounding good compared to what, that IS what I am attempting to find out. Somebody had brought this comparison of bridge pick-ups that was posted on YouTube between GFS Fat Pat $30, Seymour Duncan '59 $83, and the Gibson '57 Classic $130.


https://youtu.be/6UdR5dXe2CM

Unfortunately for my view point, it is not both the neck & bridge pick-ups together in that comparison. Seems like most of the comments made had the GFS Fat Pats coming out ahead of the other two.

Yup, buy quality pickups used.

I will suggest doing some research, particularly on how the two pickups will respond to each other. Just because it is a lower end guitar doesnt mean you settle on electronics. Make sure the pickups sound good together and that one isnt hot and steamy with the other muddy and wet.

Thanks for your advice questionman! Much appreciated.

 

[LP121]

 

[Clifdawg]

I've had GFS pickups in the past. I feel sure they're better than the cheapo ceramic 'buckets in the Special (though I've had a Special II before that screamed pretty good). SDs would be better, but a set of GFS pups and a wiring harness will cost you about as much as a single SD.

I've never tried them, but if you like heavier styles, I've heard some demos of the GFS Vintage Extra Hot pups that sound glorious. There aren't many manufacturers out there making 10-11K overwound PAFs on the cheap, so if you've got a low budget, they look pretty good.

 

[fry]

GFS are fine, though there are similar products from other companies that are even more affordable. Rumor has it that many of them all come from an Asian company known as Artec anyway, so there's little difference between most of them. Artec's own Giovanni probably offer the best bang for the buck in that range. Very well made, and tons of very positive reviews. I understand the dilemma, though. I've had that feeling of "do I really want to put pickups in the guitar that cost more than the guitar did?" If you are patient, you can usually stumble across a set of the bigger names, but there affordable alternatives that are worth it.

 

[A1Coyote]

I've had GFS pickups in the past. I feel sure they're better than the cheapo ceramic 'buckets in the Special (though I've had a Special II before that screamed pretty good). SDs would be better, but a set of GFS pups and a wiring harness will cost you about as much as a single SD.

I've never tried them, but if you like heavier styles, I've heard some demos of the GFS Vintage Extra Hot pups that sound glorious. There aren't many manufacturers out there making 10-11K overwound PAFs on the cheap, so if you've got a low budget, they look pretty good.

Clifdawg thank you for your input! And you definitely are re-enforcing LP121's suggestion regarding the wiring harness aspect. My ears did perk up listening to the Eddie Van Halen riffs on the GFS VEH sound file for those pick-ups.

GFS are fine, though there are similar products from other companies that are even more affordable. Rumor has it that many of them all come from an Asian company known as Artec anyway, so there's little difference between most of them. Artec's own Giovanni probably offer the best bang for the buck in that range. Very well made, and tons of very positive reviews. I understand the dilemma, though. I've had that feeling of "do I really want to put pickups in the guitar that cost more than the guitar did?" If you are patient, you can usually stumble across a set of the bigger names, but there affordable alternatives that are worth it.

Thanks for the good info fry! "I've had that feeling of "do I really want to put pickups in the guitar that cost more than the guitar did?" - that is exactly where I'm coming from.

 

[TheX]

There are some VERY good sounding GFS pickups. If your harness is in good condition, there isn't much to be gained unless you are changing pot or cap values. Alternative miring can bring *some* benefit depending on what you're looking for.

You can usually find some great deals on used pups. IMO, that's where the best value in upgrades is to be found.

 

[A1Coyote]

TheX, thanks for your response! That is all helpful info, and greatly appreciated!

 

[Al Walker]

Try the GFS Dream 90 Humbucker size P-90's. They are very nice. Have one in the neck position of my Warmoth Dragontele with a Mean 90 in the bridge position..

 

[ScottMarlowe]

The real question is what are you looking for, sound-wise? There are literally hundreds of affordable pickup options out there that sound great, but that's all subjective and personal.

I do love the people that assume expensive pickups must sound "better" than cheap ones. It's more about what you want to sound like. The cost is secondary really. I've heard plenty of expensive pickups that I thought sounded like crap, and lots of cheap ones that sounded great. It's NOT about how much money you spend, it's about how well a pickup matches the sound in your head you want to get. And often, an inexpensive pickup works FINE for that. It's not like a more expensive pickup will last longer or something.

 

[Vortex]

I just put some in a LP. Mean 90 in the neck w/ a Pro Series Alnico II in the bridge. I like the Mean 90 & the Pro is ok. I may put another Mean in the bridge though. We'll see how it goes.

 

[LP121]

In my experience, get the harness squared away first. The pots in the low end guitars are awful. You'll never really know what any pickups truly sound like with those electronics.

 

[Tazz3]

Try finding epiphone probuckers for sale they sound nice

 

[ScottMarlowe]

In my experience, get the harness squared away first. The pots in the low end guitars are awful. You'll never really know what any pickups truly sound like with those electronics.

Plus, even the best of pots are relatively cheap.

 

[Clifdawg]

ScottMarlowe is right, the cost really shouldn't be a deterrent from GFS pickups. They're cheaper, because they're made in China (or Korea, can't remember which). Really, though, a pickup is a pretty straightforward design - most of the magical mojo from a vintage PAF is from the degaussing of the magnets and the oxidizing of the pole-pieces themselves. All of the "handwound" pickups are actually spun by machines, they're just fed into the machine by hand. Those that aren't usually are made with machines that scatter the winding a bit automatically, so really, pickup quality comes to four things:

1. Magnet type. Alnico II is typically softer and warmer, tends to have chimey trebles when underwound, but can muddy up a bit when overwound (especially in the neck). Alnico III is the softest, and is typically used for Tele pickups. Alnico IV isn't common, but has a slightly more trebly quality than Alnico II, but is otherwise similar (according to my research - never owned any Alnico IV pups). Alnico V is the most common and is more powerful and brighter, though they can sometimes be harsh (especially when overwound and in the bridge position). Alnico VIII is also not very common, but is the most powerful of the Alnico magnets - metal players who want a slightly more vintage vibe tend to go for these. Ceramic mags are usually cheaper (though there are plenty of boutique ceramic pups as well), but they're as hot as fire and tend to suit heavier styles well.
2. Wire windings. Thicker wire tends to produce less resistance, which enhances clarity, but can't be overwound very much. 42 gauge wire is typically used for PAF vintage pups, and is usually would to a resistance of 7-10K. Thinner wire can produce a tighter, more powerful sound, but at a loss of brightness. 43-44 gauge wire can be wrapped to a resistance of 10-16K, and sometimes more.
3. Construction material. The magnets and pole pieces are the only things that you want to be magnetic. Cheaper brass parts can be slightly magnetic, which muddied up the tone and interferes with the pickup's ability to detect string vibrations. Nickel and silver alloy is great at reducing that intereference, which makes it the choice for baseplates. Nickel and chrome are also great for pickup covers.
4. Wax potting. Original PAFs were unpotted, and therefore were microphonic in quality. Some people claim that was potting negatively affects tone: I disagree. It just helps block out unwanted noise. As long as the wax itself does not conduct electricity in any way, it can be slathered onto a pickup with little effect on tone.

Hope that helps you wade through the massive amount of information on pickups and pickup quality. This is all from prior research and anecdotal experience, so if I'm off on any of my facts, anyone please feel free to correct me.

 

[Ermghoti]

I concur largely with the above. Fix your pots first. Then, decide what sound you're going for. I have a set of the VEH, and I think they are great pickups irrespective of their price point, but they are mid-output, truly vintage voiced types, not the louder and mid-heavier pickup that get branded as PAF style most of the time. If you want that, you'll be disappointed. The VEH are dynamic, bright, almost chimey, good articulation, and provide a good base for somebody that uses all their knobs.

 

[masterdebradwick]

I like GFS pickups. The crunchy PAT (yea the 23 dollar one lol) sounds great. Also the VEH is pretty nice. I even bought their clearance pickups. The alnico hot wound I think they are called, sound pretty good to me. In my opinion, way better than stock epi pickups. Yes they are cheap, but they are a step up from stock Epiphone pickups.