Sidewynder Pickups

Deijavoo

Considering some new pickups for my Les Paul. The ones in just now are a bit, well, not quite what I'm after.

Anyways, I was visiting a mate and we were talking about BKP Miracle Man pickups being my likely choice and he suggested trying some Sidewynder. Heard of them and tried a superstrat with them in which sounded great but I'm just curious if anyone had much experience of them in a similar set up?

I noticed from the stockist list that they had (as they now seem to no longer exist) that @ICBM may have had some experience of them.

Deijavoo

Maybe not. No matter, getting a bridge one stuck in it tonight, so will know more myself after Monday night jam.

ICBM

They were pretty good, although maybe not very 'vintage' sounding if that's what you're after for a Les Paul. They had an interestingly slightly different approach to winding which gave very powerful pickups but without the mud normally associated with overwound humbuckers.

They were marketed extremely poorly though - they were an offshoot of a larger company that makes high-precision industrial windings. One of their managers was a guitar enthusiast and (correctly) thought that a company that makes that sort of windings can make pickups. But unfortunately as far as I understand it, once it was all set up, the main company's marketing department then took over, and since they hadn't the slightest clue about rock music, ran it into the ground.

If you want to know how bad it was, their first ad strapline boasted of "maximum output without distortion"… how *not* to sell a pickup to rock guitarists! They then changed it to "maximum output without feedback" which was only marginally better. Sad, considering the pickups were actually very good-sounding.

Deijavoo

Cool. Sounds good, less known, powerful, no mud and not vintage.

Could be right up my street. 

Deijavoo

Gone with a Death Adder in the bridge and a Hognose in the neck. Really powerful and really clear. Right up my street!

Really happy with them, however it does pose a question about what pickups were in that guitar. No marking just a "Patent Applied For" sticker on each.