ibanez_ownz Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 ive saw some hotrail humbuckers on ebay and i wanted then for a project but then i noticed alot the other no name pickups on there and then it thought is it relly worth saving money on cheap pickups and them being tat or are no name pickups just as good without the name and the heafty price tag please if anyone has and info or feedback on this please respond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldG Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Check out [url="http://www.guitarfetish.com/Humbucker-Sized-Guitar-Pickups_c_26.html"]GFS pickups[/url] - cheap but definitely not nasty.... I've used several in guitars and have always been impressed.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Well something like a Seymour Duncan or Bart pickup might cost you twice that if you shop around but twice not very much is still not very much. After your strings, the pickup is the biggest factor in defining the sound of your bass so I would say make savings elsewhere and put the money where it really counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Kent Armstrong are about £30 a pop and are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibanez_ownz Posted August 20, 2011 Author Share Posted August 20, 2011 [quote name='OldG' post='1346056' date='Aug 20 2011, 08:05 AM']Check out [url="http://www.guitarfetish.com/Humbucker-Sized-Guitar-Pickups_c_26.html"]GFS pickups[/url] - cheap but definitely not nasty.... I've used several in guitars and have always been impressed..[/quote] thaks fir the heads up those gfs pickuos look beast lets just hope the ship to england and it dont cost me a arm and a leg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldG Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Shipping is not as bad as you might think - work it out on GFS site, it calculates the shipping for you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I've found cheap upgrade aftermarket pickups to still be an upgrade to the stock pickups on real cheap guitars. I don't think pickups are very complicated pieces of equipment, there is really limited scope to spending money on making them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1346575' date='Aug 20 2011, 06:07 PM']I've found cheap upgrade aftermarket pickups to still be an upgrade to the stock pickups on real cheap guitars. I don't think pickups are very complicated pieces of equipment, there is really limited scope to spending money on making them.[/quote] Yeah there's definitely a law of diminishing returns on these things. I've seen some truly bizarre cost cutting measures on some not so very cheap stock guitar pickups - I guess on a ninety quid bass the pickups must count for only a fraction of that but ultimately there's only so much you can do with magnets, bobbins and copper wire. You could also look at second hand pickups - you can get more for your money that way and at least it'll be a known quantity. There are always a few on the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I have consistently been disappointed by the cheaper pickups, with the exception of Toneraiders (humbuckers for guitar). I bought an alnico MM type from GFS. It was not bad, but it was nothing special. The Seymour Duncan equivalent was more expensive but tonally light years away. And I tried also the Nordstrand MM4.2 and it didn't move me terribly... so money is not the only parameter to consider. After wasting money on cheaper versions, I now tend to try only the ones that seem to attract consistently good reviews. And not of the type "great for the money", but simply "great". Once someone says "for the money", I'm suspicious. Kent Armstrong, Wizard, Toneraiders seem less expensive than other bigger brands, yet generally deliver good results, in my opinion. But I'd stay away of truly "noname" pickups unless you have had the chance to try them. The noname pickups in my Westfield Jazz sound good to me... but I would not buy them untested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 If you can't tell the difference between good and bad sounding pickups base your decision on the price. If you can tell, get the best sounding pickups you can afford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 [quote name='chris_b' post='1350917' date='Aug 25 2011, 12:21 AM']If you can't tell the difference between good and bad sounding pickups base your decision on the price. If you can tell, get the best sounding pickups you can afford.[/quote] Sound advice if you can hear the pickups before you buy them, or at least a review. With no-names, that's probably not going to be an option. I'm assuming that it is possible that no-name pickups could be as good or better than a branded known quantity, though I guess some people would think that unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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