Monty's Guitars pickups opinions?

Loobs

Saw an interview with Bill Steer from Carcass, who has two of Monty's humbuckers installed in his Melody Maker. Sounds great, even though I don't play with nearly that much gain. 

So, I started to check out his pickups and the Full Monty sounds like it could work well for me. I like PAF tones with a bit more oomph and nice top end cut but chime on the neck pickup. Any opinions? They're not cheap, and their price puts them in the same price range as Bare Knuckle, which have been my go to. 

markj

I had a set in my Les Paul a bit ago. There’s some forum members like them I wasn’t that keen.
 I changed for a set of Sunbear 59 PAF set and was more than happy, I’ve got a 57 set in my 345 and the 59 set in my Les Paul, and Stuart Robinson the owner can tweak them to exactly what you want.
Neil Ivison off Ivison guitars uses them exclusively in his guitars.

timmypix

Phenomenal pickups, having tried many of @nacnudnai 's collection (I think he has all the humbuckers now), I think they're about as good as pickups can get, at least for my tastes. Like you, Bare Knuckle have always been my go-to, and still are even after having played Wizz, Throbak, OX4 etc, but Monty's match them for my tastes. They have a similar feel/character, for want of a better phrase, to Bare Knuckle's vintage output sets; a smoothness to the midrange, incredible clarity and presence without being shrill... just bloody good pickups.

The Full Monties are a wonderful set. PAF character with a touch more kick, but not to the point that they feel like they're bursting at the seams like some other overwound PAF designs. Enough output and tightness to take gain well, but not to the point where it feels compressed or boxy or narrowly voiced - balanced with balls and clarity in the right places.

RaymondLin

I got mine about 3 years ago now for my SE One.

https://www.montysguitars.com/collections/p90/products/54-p90-pickup

Excellent open vintage sound, I haven’t done any A/B testing besides comparing what came stock but I prefer it over the stock pickup. Which was very bright.

Loobs

cheers fellas

Gassage

Ben,

I haven't tried them personally, but Tom, my bestie, absolutely adores them and he's a tone fiend of the highest nerdery.

dazzajl

Have had the 54 P90s and some Dynas. Both were absolutely excellent. As was the service. 

Can’t comment on the Humbuckers but I’d certainly try with confidence. 

dazzajl

Hang on, strike that. The Dynas were from Mojo. Another builder I’d have complete confidence in. 

willo

Have the broadcasters in my tele and they are fantastic. Have a full monty p90 in an LPS (bridge) and that is excellent too.

TheMarlin

I have the 54 P90’s (dog-ear). My favourite P90’s ever!

They’re excellent. I was going to put them on my T64v, but they don’t fit. Neck pickup is slightly too tall for a casino style guitar. I’ll save them for an LP. 

Loobs

Pretty glowing reviews. Curious to try a set. 

Choivert

I have an under wound PAF in the neck position and a broadcaster Tele bridge pickup and they are really wonderful. Balance pretty well too which is often an issue with neck HB teles! Would recommend.

MSedg

I’ve previously had the Full Monty’s HB set, as well as a Broadcaster bridge pickup. I still have a set of his PAFs in my Les Paul. All excellent in their own ways (the others were in guitars I’ve since sold due to downsizing). Definitely recommend.

nacnudnai

As @timmypix said, I have the lot! The Full Montys are a very good set, but I would also consider the Overspuns - they are two quite different sets though.

To me, the Full Monty is a modern pickup with an EQ tilted towards what we think of as a "PAF". Deals with gain brilliantly, and is a great rock pickup, but if I had to be slightly critical I don't think it handles the cleans in the same way as the standard PAF set or the Overspuns. The bridge pickup is middy (not in a JB way), a bit of a screamer, and works great for those things whilst maintaining some PAFy cut and high end.

The Overspuns. When I bought these, I was kind of expecting an overly warm, fat and potentially wooly thing (common experience with quite high wind PAFs). Quite the opposite. They definitely have balls, but they are bright and cut really well and sound just as "PAFy" as the Montys PAF set. It's a different flavour being A4 (the standard set is A2/A5 and a bit brittle on the high end), but I absolutely love them. The neck pickup is particularly good.

I would recommend either set tbh, but I do really love those Overspuns.

StuartMac290

I've had a few different sets of PAF-types in my main 335 over the years, and in all honesty I'd have been as well sticking with the original Classic 57s...until I got my Monty's PAFs. They're absolutely outstanding. I like them considerably more than I liked the Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays in that guitar. I did like the BKs but the Monty's were more of everything I was looking for.

Epsilon

The Montys PAFs in my LP standard are very nice. Incredible clarity, perhaps bordering on harsh at times. Just means I find myself working the tone knob a bit more. 

I got a good deal on them second-hand and I'm not sure I'd pay full whack for them. Same goes for all the big boutique brands though. I've loved BKP since the early days but have had to start limiting myself to sourcing their stuff used at this point.

mburekenge

I replaced the burst buckers in my R7 with his PAFs. They were a noticeable improvement....

That is a pretty low bar to be fair.

Loobs

Right now I have a BKP Black Dog in the bridge of my LP custom and it sounds phenomenal, just wondering if there's something else out there. 

theatreanchor

If it sounds phenomenal - why change it?

timmypix

Loobs said:

Right now I have a BKP Black Dog in the bridge of my LP custom and it sounds phenomenal, just wondering if there's something else out there. 

The Full Monty is definitely the closest Monty's pickup in vibe to the Black Dog, but they have their differences (I also love the Black Dog very much). 

Both do the vintage/modern hybrid thing, but I'd say the Full Monty is... well, fuller, leans more on its PAF characteristics, doesn't have quite as much headroom, is generally a bit raunchier out of the gate, as Ian said above. 

The Black Dog always feels underwound for its design to me, and I mean that in a good way; it feels like it could take way more power than it has and still be comfortable. It's got PAFish smoothness and presence but much more modern qualities in its attack and overall voicing, tight bass. I tend to think of it as "low-output modern" with hints of PAF rather than a hot PAF or "vintage hot". It cleans up more nicely than the FM, but will still be raunchy if you want it to; it's just not its default character.

Loobs

That's really informative. Thanks. Sometimes I wish the BD had a bit more firepower, but just a bit. I also totally agree with your description. Actually, I think it was you who first recommended that pickup to me. It can almost do metal, but again needs a bit more oomph for that. I have the BKP Boot Camp True Grit in another LP and that does it better but is overall much less musical and versatile. I should try the FM!