Kent Armstrong pickups.

[RhysP]

[quote name='Musky' post='14441' date='Jun 9 2007, 12:25 AM']They do precision pickups at quite a good price, and I've read the odd comment on various boards about how great they sound but I'm slightly worried that if they really are so good why more people aren't shouting about them.[/quote]
People don't shout about them because they haven't got the supposed kudos of a big US manufacturers name.
I've no direct experience of their bass pickups but I've used various Armstrong guitar pickups and they've all been excellent, just as good as your Duncans, Dimarzios, Fralins etc.

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Musky' post='14441' date='Jun 9 2007, 12:25 AM']They're British, so I can understand that maybe they haven't made much of a name for themselves in the US.[/quote]

are they?

Well i've tried a couple of their guitar pickups and yeah i like them, the meaty tone you get from the 20k is pretty impressive but really i've found i prefer active pickups since they're a bit tighter sounding. That's not to say they're bad pickups i think they're pretty good in fact worth the price no doubt.

[Geek99]

[quote name='RhysP' post='521846' date='Jun 23 2009, 04:45 PM']People don't shout about them because they haven't got the supposed kudos of a big US manufacturers name.
I've no direct experience of their bass pickups but I've used various Armstrong guitar pickups and they've all been excellent, just as good as your Duncans, Dimarzios, Fralins etc.[/quote]

+1

[Ken Smith]

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='45301' date='Aug 14 2007, 11:20 AM']KA designs pickups, but the bulk building of their pickups excepting custom wounds etc are made in Korea. Ken Smith pickups are designed by KA and made in Korea.[/quote]

What? Korea? No, we do not have any Pickups from Korea and the designs are by Kent and myself combined. I made the first mold masters myself with Kent in the shop. To this day we still make the Master and this has nothing to do and never did with any of our Pickups coming from Korea. These are the Pickups I am talking about; [url="http://www.kensmithbasses.com/accessories/Parts/pickups.htm"]http://www.kensmithbasses.com/accessories/Parts/pickups.htm[/url]

[BB3000S]

I've got pickups from Aaron Armstrong in two of my basses - they are amazing!

[JTUK]

Kent had an opeartion near to where I live...WD still maintain a presense in the area.. and he was up for all sorts of winds as he was building for a lot of people at the time.
I got to try out quite a few variations ...and you'll be surprised who uses his winds in certain model options..even if they aren't/weren't named as a KA pickup.
I use a pair with a John East pre and they do a great job.

If you are talking custom winds, then a chat to the maker will likely get you something very very good, IMO.

I know Kent was very good but am not sure how hands-on he remains...but his knowledge/experince is massive, IMO..and I think Aaron is worth calling.

If Wizard is along the same lines then they should be on your list. If you use their knowledge of winds and coils etc ..then I would think they could build you anything you want.

[Paul S]

Put some of the ceramic ones in my Washburn Scavenger and it was a major improvement over the stock pups, whatever they were. As JTUK did - teamed with a J-East P-Retro the bass now sounds awesome. Shame it weighs so much otherwise I'd use it all the time as it sounds sweeter and has a broader spectrum of sounds than any of my other basses.

I get the impression, maybe wrongly, that they compare to Seymour Duncans as Gotoh bridges do to Badass - better VFM but not the ones people first reach for. Is it just branding?

Edited June 12, 2011 by Paul S

[essexbasscat]

+1 to the quality of KA pickups. They make a wide range of pickups for basses and guitars to many different specs. I visited thier workshop a while ago and was made very welcome. Besides the pickups, they have a wide range of bits and pieces for guitar builders in general, from bare wood guitar bodies and necks to machine head screws, scratchplates, fret prolfiling tools etc

Never heard a bad word said about them so far

[Big_Stu]

More years ago than I care to remember I was looking for some pups for something or other- I phoned around & spoke with Kent who was incredibly helpful, he was just about to start a new business "Rainbow Pickups", which was where I eventually went. Since I haven't seen anyone mention Rainbow in this thread so far I guess this is old news?
Kent Armstrong Rainbow Pickups.
Hazeldene House, Nickley Wood Road, Shadoxhurst, Kent TN26 1LZ England Tel: +44 1223 732527

I also had an old KA P90 dogear in a guitar & sold it on along with a guitar sale. I still kick myself to this day over letting that one go.

[JTUK]

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1270787' date='Jun 15 2011, 10:46 PM']More years ago than I care to remember I was looking for some pups for something or other- I phoned around & spoke with Kent who was incredibly helpful, he was just about to start a new business "Rainbow Pickups", which was where I eventually went. Since I haven't seen anyone mention Rainbow in this thread so far I guess this is old news?
Kent Armstrong Rainbow Pickups.
Hazeldene House, Nickley Wood Road, Shadoxhurst, Kent TN26 1LZ England Tel: +44 1223 732527

I also had an old KA P90 dogear in a guitar & sold it on along with a guitar sale. I still kick myself to this day over letting that one go.[/quote]

Yes..know it well. That is where he built my pickups...and where he was winding all-sorts for all-sorts
I can't say who he was winding for at that time...in view of a few others threads here and that arrangement/business is/was between those parties.. ..but you'd know all the names.

[Wil]

I've got an Aaron Armstrong wound soapbar in the bridge position on my parts P bass (bought from Skelf so could have been destined for an ACG at some point). Sounds very full and punchy in series, and has a nice articulate top end in parallel. Nice pickup, and very well made (I really like the sealed resin casing, which is a stark contrast to the Wizard P pickup I had which fell out of the casing when I went to install it).

Edited June 16, 2011 by Wil

[Geek99]

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1270787' date='Jun 15 2011, 10:46 PM']More years ago than I care to remember I was looking for some pups for something or other- I phoned around & spoke with Kent who was incredibly helpful, he was just about to start a new business "Rainbow Pickups", which was where I eventually went. Since I haven't seen anyone mention Rainbow in this thread so far I guess this is old news?
Kent Armstrong Rainbow Pickups.
Hazeldene House, Nickley Wood Road, Shadoxhurst, Kent TN26 1LZ England Tel: +44 1223 732527

I also had an old KA P90 dogear in a guitar & sold it on along with a guitar sale. I still kick myself to this day over letting that one go.[/quote]

I actually spoke to Kent (also many years ago) at about the time Rainbow started. He made me up some Strat pickups** that were just amazing.


** I'm glad to say I moved away from the Dark Side.

[robocorpse]

I had some handwound Kents in a couple of basses I built in the early 90s, and they were absolutely bloody STUNNING.
I had mixed results with the cheaper "Sky" branded KAs from the far east, but you get what you pay for, if you can find 80s KAs, they are worth their weight in gold.