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Would recommend66% agree
Good value66% agree
Enjoyable66% agree
2 reviews
Got a super-cheap guitar? Here's a super-cheap upgrade!
First, let me explain why I only gave four stars.
• I had to trim the ends of the plastic on the face of the pickups to get them to fit cleanly through the holes in the pick guard. Otherwise they have to be finessed and/or forced through.
• The coil split function is a waste of time. While these sound great as humbuckers, they sound almost as bad as the cheapest possible single-coils when tapped. Just use the green/shield (ground) and black (hot) lines and ignore the red/white pair. (Don't cut them unless you want to bridge them at the pickup itself, because they do need to remain connected to each other.)
• They are not potted inside, and are thus quite microphonic. If you touch a pickup that is currently selected (even the plastic parts, this isn't a grounding issue), you will hear it through your amplifier. You are also likely to get feedback at extremely high volume levels, so if you intend to play metal gigs while standing directly in front of your amplifier, these are not the best choice.
Now for the good points:
• They get rid of almost all the background noise that plagues cheap single coil pickups!
• The output level is much higher than said cheap single coils, meaning the "hot" part of the name is justified.
• No permanent modifications to your guitar are necessary. These are drop-in replacements unless you want to engage the coil splits (which you really shouldn't).
• They look nice.
• THEY SOUND GOOD! Isn't that the most important point?
• For the price of one budget branded pickup, you can replace ALL THREE of your current pickups.
Be aware that you will not be able to fit a cover over these pickups, so order the color scheme you actually want to see (or you can paint them). They also are somewhat vulnerable physically, because the coils are not covered beyond a shield and a wrap of tape. They're crammed so full of wire that there is no space to do so. However, they're going to sit almost entirely below the level of the pick guard, so that should be adequate protection.Read full review...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: purestore168
Stratty and humless
A very versatile little pickup
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: purestore168