Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Why are your pickups so expensive? The parts are like 2 dollars, right?!

    Our pickups are set at a price that makes running a business profitable for us. 90% of our parts are custom made to our own specifications (we even draw them up in CAD ourselves) and are not cheap imported parts that you find in many pickup “kits”. This means the parts are not only higher quality, but also more expensive. To top it off, we have to meet minimums of manufacturers in order to even place an order. This means we may have to spend thousands up front for parts that will take us some years to get through. We have no interest in low part quality/cost and high yield. We build the highest quality pickups possible and take our time doing it.

  2. Will you make me a custom pickup based on the specs I give you? Or the tone I describe in my head? Or tweak one of your stock models?

    Sorry, but no. We have spent over a decade trying to meet our customers needs by taking most custom requests and it has been a difficult road. We will no longer be making pickups to request. Please simply enjoy the chefs creations rather than trying to change the recipe when you order.

  3. There is a tiny pin hole in the magnet(s) of my pickup. It’s defective and I’d like to return it.

    Firstly, the pickup is not defective. The small pin hole or “inclusion” that you see is what happens commonly in magnets that are made the old fashioned way as they were in the vintage days at Fender. One of the foundries we use was an original supplier to Pre-CBS Fender and uses the same factory, equipment and sand casting methods they did way back then. Inclusions occur all throughout magnets that are cast in this fashion. They appear when they are cut into during the grinding process, leaving a small hole. These exist throughout the magnets and just happen to be visible in some instances. You can see these commonly in earlier Pre-CBS Fender pickups.

    Sorry. We don’t accept returns for small cosmetic reasons.

  4. I would like to sound like (insert famous guitar player here). Which set will give me his tone?

    Actually, none of them will. We don’t sell “tone in a can” here. Pickups are just one part of a tone chain. If you want the sound of Hendrix at Monterey and you play through a Tweed Champ, it doesn’t matter what guitar or pickups you have, it ain’t happening. Please understand that pickups are an important part of a tone chain, but by far just a part. Your string gauge and type plays a big role, the guitar, and mostly the amp! If you want Hendrix, you better get yourself some big Marshall’s if you are going to nail that sound.

  5. Will you customize the polarity of your pickups in my order to match existing ones?

    Sorry, we will no longer be accommodating this request. It’s inevitable that these pickups will end up in circulation or be returned to me because “there isn’t enough firmness to the 2k range” or something like that. Then we are stuck with non standard winding direction pickups that I can’t do anything with. Worse yet, the customer may sell these pickups on the used market and now someone has a non standard polarity and winding direction pickup. They order another pickup from me to complete the set and lo and behold they are out of phase and we look incompetent. Just because my pickups are being ordered to compliment an existing set doesn’t mean we should have to change my polarity and winding standard.

  6. Hey sorry, I just received my pickups but I decided to quit playing guitar/I sold the guitar. Can I have a refund?

    NO. We aren’t responsible for your decisions to play/quit guitar or sell the guitar you have already received your hand made pickups for. In case you are wondering, yes we have actually received both of these refund requests.