# Opinions on GFS Pickups



## JimiGuy7 (Jan 10, 2008)

Hello again everyone, its time for me to pick at the part of your brain that distinguishes between good and bad tone. What does everyone think of these GFS pickups? I recently played a Strat with the Boston Blues pickups in it and I thought they were awesome, but now I am looking for something that would be good for slide, and some dirty blues a la Gordie Johnson. So with that said I am thinking of buying the mean 90's or the dream 90's, I am leaning more towards the Dream 90's but tell me your opinion. Also, let me know nything you can about GFS. Tell me about things like quality, sound quality and customer service/support. Just tell me everything you can about GFS.


----------



## User_X (Feb 1, 2008)

I have a D90 (neck) and a M90 in the same guitar. I'd say the D is strattish and the M has a bit more mids and should be great for slide. The M strikes me as a 'better' pup.
The price makes it worth a try, even if just to learn whether you lean towards the p90 type tone.


----------



## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Funny, I've just been looking at these. I need some lipstick pickups for a Dano. Anyone tried those?


----------



## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

You can do much better if you are willing to pay a bit more.


----------



## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

I liked the idea of getting the pickps from a local maker, but with the Dano lipsticks you're sorely limited to who makes em: so far I've only found Seymour Duncan, Kent Armstrong, and GFS...


----------



## rhh7 (Mar 14, 2008)

The Frugal Guitarist has a nice article, "Guitarfetish New Product Preview"

click on articles...http://www.frugalguitarist.com/

I am thinking seriously about using JS Moore for the pickups in my new partscaster Tele.


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

dr_iggi said:


> I used to have a set of Retrotron Memphis Alnico 2 loaded on one of my guitars. Certainly okay pickups for the money, but I think you can do much better if you are willing to pay a bit more. I have replaced the GFS pickups with a set from JS Moore (http://www.tonefordays.com/), which are a very significant improvement over the GFS pickups. No idea about customer support from GFS... but I like the fact that you can talk to Jon Moore about what you are looking for and he will wind the pickups to your specs. Jon offers a smaller selection of course, but if he has what you are looking for, then you will not be disappointed.


Yup he has nailed it twice for me. Exactly what I wanted. I have a third set coming that are probably on his work bench today. Such a positive experience dealing with Jon. It kind of makes me want to build more guitars. 

BUT .. those dream 180's in the guitar that you can't afford are perfect of slide.


----------



## cknowles (Jan 29, 2008)

I personally like the GFS Pickups, my experience is with their vintage 59 humbuckers and vintage Tele pickups. Both have a nice clean tone in my
opinion. YMMV of course. Jay answers email himself and has always been
available to answer my questions. Shipping is quick and properly represented
for Canadian customs so there are no issues there.


----------



## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Ya I have had nothing but good experience with GFS as well. I love the pickups I have in my Tele (Fatbody neck + 60's Hot Alnico Bridge). 

The other thing is not only are the offering product at a good price, but in a lot of cases they are the only company selling some of the stuff. They have a very diverse selection of hardware and electronics.

Customer service has always been great too.


----------



## Buzz (May 15, 2008)

I just got a set of lipsticks for my Reverend. I havent had alot of time to try them out but they do sound good. They can be so nice and smooth, and can also rock out.


[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=170&i=img2274xc1


----------



## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


----------



## JimiGuy7 (Jan 10, 2008)

Hey, thats the best advice I think I have heard yet. I was worried they might be a little cheap and that tone probably would'nt be there. I think I am going to go with the Jon Moore pickups. From what I read at Harmony Central and from what I see here, I think I am going to like them. But we'll have to wait and see. Thanks for the good advice!


----------



## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Yes, I finally splunked for the Seymour Duncans from martinsixstringcustoms...he gave me a good price as a forumite too


----------



## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

This is a little guitar I made quite a few years ago. I recently put this GFS Pro-Tubes humbucker in it and wired it series/humbucker and I love the sound it gets (too bad I used a Dano neck and it only has 17 frets). 










In my opinion, a great product from a great company, and Jay has always answered any of my emails for wiring help personally. Definitely worth checking out...
-Mikey
P.S. Now I am on the lookout for a Hipshot Baby Grand Bridge for the guitar. Anybody have one for sale or know where I can get one cheap?


----------



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I've never used GFS pups, but I have read quite a number of threads on different forums about them in the last two years. Yours is the first post that gives them a blanket thumbs down after trying so many sets. 



YJMUJRSRV said:


> I've had the unfortunate experience of installing several sets of these for customers who thought they were saving money.
> 
> In all instances the pickups did not deliver.
> 
> ...


----------



## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

i like the ones i have- but with the caveat 'for the price'.
wont sound as good as a handwound, boutique or many, but not all of the fender ones- but they cost a lot less- hence their favourable reviews. 
i play my strats pretty clean, and i dont find them lacking in any way, i like the way they sound, good low end, not too shrill high end, nice quack, a healthy organic strat sound for sure. but then im no tone-chaser.(i have the 60s premium repros)
the set i have are easily better than the cij, mim and tex mex pickups i compared them too in the same guitar- so id say they are a good upgrade from cheap stock pups- though obviously not in the same league as more expensive ones


----------



## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

i cant say nothin bad about them i own a set of lil killer's in a strat you get a really heavy sound i also have a set of crunchy pafs pretty good as well a set of lil puncher's in my tele you get a classic rock sound i also have a couple of single coil sets in strats a set of premium overwound alnico there really nice for that srv sound also a set of overwound alnico stagger which sounds ok but the bridge pickup was way too thin :food-smiley-004::rockon2:


----------



## JimiGuy7 (Jan 10, 2008)

Wow, such mixed reviews from evryone its getting harder to decide what to do. I checked out a buddy's guitar that has a set of '59 classics and it sounded amazing, so I am up in the air as to what I should do??!!! I am looking into the Jon Moore pickups, who by the way is a real easy guy to deal with, but the GFS pickups are sooooo much cheaper. The Boston Blues also sounded quite exceptional as well, so that leaves me wondering if the rumors are true about the pickups being manufactures in Asia. But the guy from GFS and the site sais they are designed and built in the USA!!!???


----------



## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

JimiGuy7 said:


> Wow, such mixed reviews from evryone its getting harder to decide what to do. I checked out a buddy's guitar that has a set of '59 classics and it sounded amazing, so I am up in the air as to what I should do??!!! I am looking into the Jon Moore pickups, who by the way is a real easy guy to deal with, but the GFS pickups are sooooo much cheaper. The Boston Blues also sounded quite exceptional as well, so that leaves me wondering if the rumors are true about the pickups being manufactures in Asia. But the guy from GFS and the site sais they are designed and built in the USA!!!???


Designed in the US, made offshore. I've got a FAT PAF in a Les Paul JR copy and it's great, I've got a set of the Alnico II Premiums in a strat and they are fantastic. One of my jammin buddies has a Bigmouth in one of his guitars and it sounds really good too.


----------



## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

yell there designed in the US made overseas somewhere i love the strat sounds in the mid and the neck but the bridge position is just not heavy enough i curious what those neovins sound like i guess i have to wait n see


----------



## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

JimiGuy7 said:


> Wow, such mixed reviews from evryone its getting harder to decide what to do. I checked out a buddy's guitar that has a set of '59 classics and it sounded amazing, so I am up in the air as to what I should do??!!! I am looking into the Jon Moore pickups, who by the way is a real easy guy to deal with, but the GFS pickups are sooooo much cheaper. The Boston Blues also sounded quite exceptional as well, so that leaves me wondering if the rumors are true about the pickups being manufactures in Asia. But the guy from GFS and the site sais they are designed and built in the USA!!!???


GFS is a good, rather inexpensive alternative if you want to experiment a bit.


----------



## mrfiftyfour (Jun 29, 2008)

I just posted in the Tech section on this topic.
I just dropped a set of Dream 180's into a project Les Paul.
Love 'em to death. I'm not talking "not bad for $35"
I'll put them up against any boutique set.


----------

