Just ordered a set of humbuckers from Ash at Oil City Pickups, to go in my Ibanez AS103 semi-acoustic. Over the last few years I've tried various brands/makers of pickups, of various types, in various guitars - it has to be said with mostly at least decent results, but occasionally not so brilliant though - it can be a bit of a maze buying pickups, and you know when it hasn't worked out.
But I have a very good feeling indeed about this one - stupidly excited to be honest. Ash is a lovely chap to deal with, it's going to be good I know. I've gone for zebra coils and gold slugs/screws to tie in with the guitar's gold hardware, but still look non-stock and a bit different. Alnico II Blitz Spirit neck and Alnico IV Nightfighter bridge, overwound to 14.5K to give a bit more mid/bass bias to things.
Just wanted to tell the world really!
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Occasionally, with some other pickup makers (who I won't mention) I've felt they were erring a bit too much on the side of telling me what I wanted, and not listening or understanding what I was saying enough (Some have been good though, to be fair). I did consider Bare Knuckles too - I'm sure they'd have been nice - but the cost is a bit high for me, and I suspect the Oil City's will be second to none.
Some customers can come to me with an idea of what sound they want, and a design they think will achieve it. Occasionally they're way off the mark (for example 'I want an alnico 2 neck humbucker of 20k resistance that is clear and chimey under 5150 gain'). For the sake of preserving reputation, we've got to draw a line somewhere and say that we're just not able to make something that'll achieve what you're after in the required specs.
I'd rather send someone away than make them a disappointing pickup - most of my sales come from word of mouth and repeat customers (which account for about 60% of my sales), so getting things right first time is very important.
We are all in the business of keeping customers happy, and we all have to make business choices about how far we are able to go to accommodate the customers wishes. Larger manufacturers by definition are less able to spend time discussing a guitarist's needs than smaller ones, that's a simple fact of doing business. Often however, they can offer better prices due to mass production, so the customer pays his money and takes his choice.
As a clarification: @Megii 's pickups are not 'customs' they are both Nightfighters from my standard range (with a slight tweak to the bridge unit), I simply gave him the help he needed to chose which of my range would suit him, and then make a small modification that should help him get the sound he hears in his head.
Sometimes we get frustrating customers, that's all part of the business, I could write a book about the odd requests I've had over the years, but they all add colour to what I consider to be the most rewarding way I know to make a living.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
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Ha ... I'm so bloody busy at the moment I can't remember orders unless I look at the order sheets Lol. Too much for a fifty plus geezer to hold in his brain at one time, and you did catch me at gin-o-clock yesterday evening :-)
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
I'll check today/tomorrow - interesting!!
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Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
My YouTube Channel
My band, Red For Dissent