# Local Canadian guitar parts makers... amazing talent!



## iamthehub (Sep 21, 2016)

Hi everyone

I thought I'd start a thread where we can discuss local Canadian luthiers, and other parts makers.

For the record, I'm not affiliated in any way with the following companies, I am just a happy customer that wants to help spread the word of these great local talent 

There are two such companies I've had great experience and would love to share.. 

The first was a set of custom hand-wound tele pickups from a guy out of Kitchener, ON. His company is called JD Custom. (web: Index)

I bought a set of his "Baby Boom!" tele pickups which according to the site are 50's spec, sharp and clear, classic punchy tele sound. I love them. They've made my MIM tele sound better than my friends MIA (of course that is subjective, although even he agrees the guitar sounds fantastic). 


The second thing I bought were these custom leather guitar straps. They were created by a gentleman named Chris Murden, he's been selling these straps on Kijiji, and that's where I found him. He can basically create any design, I had him create the "Trinity" strap from a concept that I came up with. The RCAF one was a design that he had already created, but allowed me to change things a bit.

I know that finding someone to create a custom guitar strap is a rather difficult, as I had been looking for a while. He doesn't have a website, but he could be contacted at: chrismurdenleatherwork[at]gmail.com











Again, I'm not affiliated with either companies...


So... Does anyone else have any good experience with purchases of local gear?


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Great looking straps


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## Judas68fr (Feb 5, 2013)

I love local Canadian stuff! We do have lots of talented guys in our corner of the world! 

I've bought on this very forum a fat Tele maple neck built by Hansen Kustom, great neck, finish and quality are top notch!

Then I have a hand built Tele made by Ken Francis (with only canadian woods, all metal parts are handmade, and pickups are from another canadian guy, the Pickup Wizard). 










Finally, I have JS Moore pick ups in my Strat and Vineham pick ups in my SG!

I will give these straps a shot, they look amazing and I need one!


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## blueshores_guy (Apr 8, 2007)

I recently bought a set of "38 Special" pickups, wound by Mark Atkinson of Oakville, ON. (Mark Atkinson Guitar Repair is his company name.)
They now reside in my Heritage H155, replacing Seth Lovers. They look like this:



They're absolutely crystal clear, and sound like this going into a Quilter 101 Mini-Head and Vox 2x12. Carbon Copy Analog Delay is up front, Quilter tone controls flat.


__
https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fuser-433381886%2F38-special-pickups


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

blueshores_guy said:


> I recently bought a set of "38 Special" pickups, wound by Mark Atkinson of Oakville, ON. (Mark Atkinson Guitar Repair is his company name.)
> They now reside in my Heritage H155, replacing Seth Lovers. They look like this:


Are these Mark Atkinson's version of a P90 that drops into a standard humbucker ring?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

The straps look great and nice and wide with I really like. They would probable solve a lot of neck dive problems.


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## blueshores_guy (Apr 8, 2007)

greco said:


> Are these Mark Atkinson's version of a P90 that drops into a standard humbucker ring?


Mark calls them his version of an old Charlie Christian pickup. They're single coil, but yes, they fit into humbucker rings. Wound with 38 gauge wire, therefore the name.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

blueshores_guy said:


> Mark calls them his version of an old Charlie Christian pickup. They're single coil, but yes, they fit into humbucker rings. Wound with 38 gauge wire, therefore the name.


Thanks for the info. I couldn't find anything on his FB page and his website is not available.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Love the RCAF strap!


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## Fox Rox (Aug 9, 2009)

*Judas69fr *that is one of the most unique Teles I have seen. What a great looking guitar!


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

Steadfastly said:


> The straps look great and nice and wide with I really like. They would probably bunch up your shirt in the back if your guitar neck-dives.


fixed that for you, n/c


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## iamthehub (Sep 21, 2016)

knight_yyz said:


> Love the RCAF strap!


Thx. Chris already had designed and made other RCAF straps. It was that design that prompted me to contact him. Since each strap is custom hand made, he let me choose the letters and numbers to make it very personal for me.


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## iamthehub (Sep 21, 2016)

Judas68fr said:


> I love local Canadian stuff! We do have lots of talented guys in our corner of the world!
> 
> I've bought on this very forum a fat Tele maple neck built by Hansen Kustom, great neck, finish and quality are top notch!
> 
> ...


That's a beautiful tele  

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk


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## lovetoplay (Nov 8, 2013)

iamthehub said:


> The first was a set of custom hand-wound tele pickups from a guy out of Kitchener, ON. His company is called JD Custom. (web: Index)


Not much chance of me buying pickups from a company that compares himself to "Loller".


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## Judas68fr (Feb 5, 2013)

@Fox Rox and Iamthehub: thanks guys!

A little more eye candy:


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2016)

Never noticed the penny topped knobs before.
Cool.
Did he build that in '87? (year on the pennies)


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Judas68fr said:


> @Fox Rox and Iamthehub: thanks guys!
> 
> A little more eye candy:


Spectacular tele. Love the binding on the neck and body. Well, that's my 2 cents worth anyways.


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## Judas68fr (Feb 5, 2013)

@laristotle: '87 is my birth year, he made those especially for me. Knobs are pretty cool eh?

@High/Deaf: thanks! Though technically it's not really a binding. Body is cherry with flamed maple cap, the edges of the top haven't been tinted. As for the neck, it's a quarter sawn flame maple neck with a cherry fingerboard (that is "inserted" in the maple to cover the truss road cavity). I fell in love with the guitar the first time I picked it up, but didn't have the $$ to get it at the time..


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## iamthehub (Sep 21, 2016)

lovetoplay said:


> Not much chance of me buying pickups from a company that thinks compares himself to "Loller".


Lol, he's a super nice guy though, and the pickups do sound nice. 

Maybe his pickups are to be compared not to Lollar, but to Loller, the chinese knock-off brand  

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## iamthehub (Sep 21, 2016)

@Judas68fr, what material is that pickguard? With that imprint design, reminds me of leather.

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## Judas68fr (Feb 5, 2013)

that's copper


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

hey this thread is a good idea...here are a couple I have dealt with


-JS MOORE is a great pickup winder in Hamilton...I have a few of his Humbuckers, and he made me a custom set of Firebird pickups as well that I love

J S Moore Custom Guitar Pickups - Home

"tone for days" indeed!!


-ROBINSON GUITARS in Waterdown, builds great guitars & is also a leather worker: straps, bags, motorcycle seats etc

Guitars

He did leather binding & a pickguard for this guitar he built for me, which I call "El Cabron"










the top & back is wood from the walls of an old tobacco drying room, it was stained that colour over years


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## Judas68fr (Feb 5, 2013)

holy crap this is a gorgeous instrument!!!

man, I'm saving for an amp, you're not helping!


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

ha...well thanks for the props everybody who liked it...I am digging it, too

also the TV Jones pickups are new to me, they are a bit lower output than a humbucker ( they do make a stronger set: I got the classics ) but they sure sound sweet

neck is mahagony, carved to '59 les paul specs. ebony fretboard

Cheers!


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

bolero said:


> hey this thread is a good idea...here are a couple I have dealt with
> 
> 
> -JS MOORE is a great pickup winder in Hamilton...I have a few of his Humbuckers, and he made me a custom set of Firebird pickups as well that I love
> ...


Noice. I've got some hardware & a Korina Explorer body that needs a neck, methinks I should call Mr. Robinson to complete that project.


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## Murden Leatherworks (Oct 16, 2016)

Appreciate the plug !!! Finally got a minute to sign up , amazing stuff in here!!!


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