# Looking for good Canadian pickups



## Lagocaster (Sep 15, 2018)

Hey guys! I’m interested in changeing the pickups on my Gibson Les Paul Signature T. I currently have the Seymour Duncan Slash set in it at the moment. I don’t mind the bridge pickup but I really don’t like the neck pickup. It’s too muddy or muffled and dark sounding. So I planned on getting a new set for it. I’m looking for a nice PAF set. I bought a Seymour Duncan 59 for the neck but didn’t put it in yet to try... I mostly got it cause it was on sale for a real good price and knew I could have use for it eventually regardless. So I was thinking it would be cool to find some good Canadian pickup creators to look at and hear and eventually pick a set. I was hopeing you guys could list some good company’s for me to check out! I figured a lot of others here would be interested and seeing some Canadian companies too. I also plan on getting a set of single coils for a strat in the near future too and I think it would be cool to Canadian up these American guitars. Lol


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Vineham Sweet V59s. They were awesome in my Trad.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

^ beat me to it (linky > Home)

Good pickups and very well priced. Never used any of his PAFs or full size humbuckers, but I have had a few of his Tele pups and Firebird minihumbuckers, and they were ace.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

I've tried the Vivid Humbucker in the neck of my Tele and it has a sweet sound, too. On top of that, I have his Nocaster Tele pickups in my Tele right now, plus I've tried the Broadcaster in combo with the Vivid and also with a Firebird style mini in the neck. All sounded really good. It's tough to go wrong with Craig's pickups, in my experience.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Vineham for sure


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## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

Also try Mike Smyth at MJS Custom Pickups in Mississauga, Ontario. But be warned... he loves to talk! Set aside an hour. 

ps his main endorsee is Rik Emmett of Triumph fame. So, the guy KNOWS how to do humbuckers for a Les Paul!


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## Vally (Aug 18, 2016)

Vineham


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## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

I also hear nothing but good about the Pickup Wizard in Ontario. Sorry I don't know how he is with humbuckers, but his tele pickups are considered top notch.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Vineham here too. I swear every set Craig builds me is even more amazing than the last set.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Talk to Dave at Sigil pickups. He’s on the forum @CheopisIV

I’ve had a couple of his pickups in a few of my guitars. I told him the sound I was after and he got me that sound.

Sigil Pickups | Hand Crafted Tone


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## Lagocaster (Sep 15, 2018)

I didn’t know Sigil was Canadian and I hear a lot of good things about their pickups... I was looking on their site and what’s the difference between their session pickups and the vintage ones besides price? I really like what I’ve been reading on vineham pickups so far too. I’m gonna start checking threw some of the other brands mentioned now. This is a big help and plus it could be cool to have a list of some Canadian companies!


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I have rebuilt Casino pickups by Craig Vineham. I really like them.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

J S Moore - J S Moore Custom Guitar Pickups - Home - has been around a long time. I bought a set of P90s from him 10 years ago. They very good replacements for the overpowered Seymour Duncans that were in the Hamer P90 Special I had at the time.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I’ve never used the session pickups. Here’s what web site says.

Bluesman Session Series | Sigil Pickups

Depending on how much I’d be willing to spend I’d have no qualms about going with the sessions. Talk to Dave. Tell him what you have, what you like, and what you don’t. I’ve used the Chicago Bluesman and the Lips Signature set. The Chicago Bluesman nailed the dirty blues sound I was looking for. I put them in an Explorer. The Lips Signature are the most versatile pickups I’ve used. They react really well to adjustments of the guitar volume and tone. I mostly play in open jams so I never know what songs and genres I’ll be playing. They handle it all with aplomb. I’ve had them in a V, an SG, an Epiphone Les Paul, and right now in an Epiphone Dot. They are absolutely awesome in the Dot although the bridge needs the tone backed off to five or it’s a little shrill. They really react well to high gain. There is a reason they have been in a few guitars. I like them so well that I won’t let them go.

All that said I had a Slash Signature Les Paul. I really liked the Slash SDs. Have you tried adjusting the pickup height? The Slash SDs are some of the nicest sounding pickups I’ve tried.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

The 59 is an A5 magnet vs. the A2 in the slash, so it should be brighter. 

Captain Obvious here, but have you tried lowering the neck pickup? That should improve the clarity somewhat. You can also adjust the polepieces for string-to-string balance.

Also make sure you have 500k pots in there.


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## Private Hudson (Jan 27, 2018)

jdto said:


> Vineham Sweet V59s. They were awesome in my Trad.


Vineham Sweet V59s. They are awesome in my Trad too.


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## Lagocaster (Sep 15, 2018)

I’ve tried adjusting pickup height and that a while ago and it did help them out.. but to be honest when I do adjust height I always have a trickier time with the neck pickup for some reason.. so I might give it another try to be honest. Like I said the bridge pickup I like but i usually like getting matching sets and plus It’s not a 4 conductor either and am considering the jimmy page wiring for some extra versatility.


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

OP, you're not alone. I have the exact same problem with my Slash Pups in my Standard.., I find the bridge to sounds great but the neck is too muddy and overpowering. I've tried lowering the pup and raising the bridge but I still can't even them out. 

I contacted Craig at Vineham and actually just received a Vivid PAF Clone from him. He recommended that pickup for the neck to brighten it up a bit. I won't have time to put it in the guitar for a while but I hope it's the cure I'm looking for. Check out his site, Craig is top notch, I've ordered several pickups from him and they all sound amazing!


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

I have to put a plug in for Vineham. The 59's I have are great pickups.


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

Before you replace pickups try this... invert your thinking.

With neck pickup selected, dial
In your amp/pedal tone with the clarity you desire with the neck pickup. After achieving that, select the bridge pickup and roll back the tone knob on the guitar for the bridge pickup to bleed away the extraneous treble dialed in to favour the neck pickup. You’ll end up clarity on the neck pickup and a fatter bridge tone as bonus.

Clueing in to this was a major revelation for me and halted my pursuit to find a neck pickup that isn’t muddy.

If one insists on running their volume and tone controls on “10” and favouring their amp/pedal tone to the bridge pickup, you’ll always end up with a muddy neck pickup... so save your cash.


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## VHTO (Feb 19, 2016)

There are many great choices in Canadian pickup winders, and I'll echo many of the same posts above.

Vineham - can't go wrong. He wound me a set of his 'Womanizer' PAFs for my vintage 335 Clapton tribute and they are incredible

MJS - aka 'Smitty' -- again, great guy, knows his stuff, very high quality products with great tone

Romain Pickups -- based in London, Ontario. Haven't tried their PAFs but I have a few sets of their Firecaster pickups for Tele and they're simply lovely. Clear, responsive, zero harshness, zero mud


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Lagocaster said:


> I didn’t know Sigil was Canadian and I hear a lot of good things about their pickups... I was looking on their site and what’s the difference between their session pickups and the vintage ones besides price? I really like what I’ve been reading on vineham pickups so far too. I’m gonna start checking threw some of the other brands mentioned now. This is a big help and plus it could be cool to have a list of some Canadian companies!


I play the sessions, and they sound incredible. I'd never bother to pay the extra for the high end ones.


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## Lagocaster (Sep 15, 2018)

Yamariv said:


> OP, you're not alone. I have the exact same problem with my Slash Pups in my Standard.., I find the bridge to sounds great but the neck is too muddy and overpowering. I've tried lowering the pup and raising the bridge but I still can't even them out.
> 
> I contacted Craig at Vineham and actually just received a Vivid PAF Clone from him. He recommended that pickup for the neck to brighten it up a bit. I won't have time to put it in the guitar for a while but I hope it's the cure I'm looking for. Check out his site, Craig is top notch, I've ordered several pickups from him and they all sound amazing!


I couldn’t have said it any better.. you described it perfectly especially with the evening them out part! I’m going to try to play with the neck pickup again today. When I do get pickups I plan on keeping the bridge pickup around just incase I decide to go back to it. I’m glad to hear I’m not alone I was starting to wonder if I was unlucky and just got a bad set.


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## Lagocaster (Sep 15, 2018)

cboutilier said:


> I play the sessions, and they sound incredible. I'd never bother to pay the extra for the high end ones.


Really? That sounds great because I noticed you can pick your set to be vintage built or session built... I was thinking the vintage ones were probably made with some better grade parts etc. Plus the sessions are better priced for me at the moment. The Vineham pickups are priced really well too and wheather or not I get their pafs I will deffently end up eventually getting a set of their strat pickups! I’m loving the recommendations guys and I’m sure others are probably checking this out too!


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Lagocaster said:


> Really? That sounds great because I noticed you can pick your set to be vintage built or session built... I was thinking the vintage ones were probably made with some better grade parts etc. Plus the sessions are better priced for me at the moment. The Vineham pickups are priced really well too and wheather or not I get their pafs I will deffently end up eventually getting a set of their strat pickups! I’m loving the recommendations guys and I’m sure others are probably checking this out too!


Not so much better parts, as they are vintage correct (more expensive) parts. The sessions are a vintage approximation as opposed to vintage correct reproductions.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I have a set of JS Moore PAFS in a singlecut and it's my best sounding guitar. I plan to try vinehams for a build I've got in the works.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I'd like to try one of their P90's but I can't find sound clips. Type Rabid dog on you tube. LOL


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## DavidP (Mar 7, 2006)

Surprised that Reilander has not been mentioned (yet!) I've heard his P90s (excellent) but no direct experience with the HBs...


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## Vally (Aug 18, 2016)

knight_yyz said:


> I'd like to try one of their P90's but I can't find sound clips. Type Rabid dog on you tube. LOL


I have a Rabid dog in my DC build from Craig, love it


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

knight_yyz said:


> I'd like to try one of their P90's but I can't find sound clips. Type Rabid dog on you tube. LOL


I made some basic sound samples for someone a while ago when I had my Amplifire 3. The SG samples are Rabid Dog P90s.



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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fuser-754935117%2Fsg-p90-rd-clean-twin


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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fuser-754935117%2Fsg-p90-rd-plexi-crunch


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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fuser-754935117%2Fsg-p90-rd-ultimate-plexi


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

+1 for JS Moore: I have some of his humbuckers and a firebird set too, excellent!

we are lucky there is such variety in aftermarket pups these days


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Someone here turned me on to Tone Emporium pickups. I’m quite happy with them and the price is very reasonable


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

jdto said:


> Vineham Sweet V59s. They were awesome in my Trad.



I've only tried his Tele pickups, but they are outstanding.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

colchar said:


> I've only tried his Tele pickups, but they are outstanding.


I’ve tried the Broadcaster bridge and the Nocaster set and they both rock.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

jdto said:


> I’ve tried the Broadcaster bridge and the Nocaster set and they both rock.



I have a set of his Classic T pickups in my Tele - just superb, truly superb.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Scotty said:


> Someone here turned me on to Tone Emporium pickups. I’m quite happy with them and the price is very reasonable


They’re actually wound in China & only repackaged here.


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## pedalboss (Mar 16, 2018)

Lagocaster said:


> Hey guys! I’m interested in changeing the pickups on my Gibson Les Paul Signature T. I currently have the Seymour Duncan Slash set in it at the moment. I don’t mind the bridge pickup but I really don’t like the neck pickup. It’s too muddy or muffled and dark sounding. So I planned on getting a new set for it. I’m looking for a nice PAF set. I bought a Seymour Duncan 59 for the neck but didn’t put it in yet to try... I mostly got it cause it was on sale for a real good price and knew I could have use for it eventually regardless. So I was thinking it would be cool to find some good Canadian pickup creators to look at and hear and eventually pick a set. I was hopeing you guys could list some good company’s for me to check out! I figured a lot of others here would be interested and seeing some Canadian companies too. I also plan on getting a set of single coils for a strat in the near future too and I think it would be cool to Canadian up these American guitars. Lol


I think you're going to be pleased with Romain Pickups (Romain Pickups – Hand Crafted Guitar Tone Generators) . Canadian, (London ON) excellent product, fairly priced. Killer tones.


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Scotty said:


> Someone here turned me on to Tone Emporium pickups. I’m quite happy with them and the price is very reasonable


Somebody mentioned that these were Chinese pickups rebranded as Canadian, but that comment is gone. Wondering if this is actually true?


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Edit

Sorry, double post


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Scotty said:


> Somebody mentioned that these were Chinese pickups rebranded as Canadian, but that comment is gone. Wondering if this is actually true?


If they are priced like gfs, it probably is.

I will be trying vineham nocaster pickups thanks to this thread. @jdto this is on you


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## Lagocaster (Sep 15, 2018)

So far I am really digging the Vineham, especially at that price! Reading this thread over and seeing people’s recomendatilns I think I’m not going with the Page wiring anymore and going to do a 50s wiring instead since it still got the original wiring. I figure this will help me get more out of the volume and tone controls. I was thinking maybe doing a parrellel thing but I’m not sure on that yet. I still gotta check out Romain pickups and Reilender still! But god dame I like them Vineham! Lol


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Scotty said:


> Somebody mentioned that these were Chinese pickups rebranded as Canadian, but that comment is gone. Wondering if this is actually true?


Re: Tone Emporium that was me. The price was good but the tone was disappointing.


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