Anyone bought from guitar fetish?

benvall

Not sure if this is the correct place but has anyone used guitar fetish in America to buy parts?

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Strat-Style-Bodies_c_75.html

The prices seem cheap, I guess it'll be you get what you pay for.

randomhandclaps

The prices do seem a bit 'unbelievable'.  It's funny because if theywere three times the price I would think "That's not bad, I might take a chance.".

usedtobe

I bought a pair of buckers, years ago. Ok, if memory serves. .

Megii

I bought a "Surf 90" neck pickup from them a month or 2 back - actually really impressed with that one, pickup sounds great, and appears very nicely made. Service was good and quick too, the pickup arrived well packaged, and actually took less than a week to arrive from the States. So, admittedly just on that one experience, I'd have to give them a positive review.

impmann

Their stuff is good, their prices are better but the shipping cost are a bit steep.

DeeTee

Plus you're going to get bitten for import tax, depending on the value of your purchase.

benvall

Thanks @Megii. It's actually all your fault. Your walnut strat has made me want to have a go

Megii

benvall said:

Thanks @Megii. It's actually all your fault. Your walnut strat has made me want to have a go

Oops, sorry about that! To be fair, I don't know if I'd be as keen to buy the larger parts like those strat bodies from GF. That's just a personal thing I guess. Also, as others have mentioned, things like import duty, VAT, processing charges etc. could happen. My personal experience (about three times now, buying pickups) is that smaller, low cost things tend to get through without this happening, but that you should still be prepared to take the hit if it happens. And I really can't speak for the quality of everything GF sell, I've only ever bought the one pickup from them!

Jez6345789

Hi GFS

Are solid and reliable its worth noting that if you do a bit of research you can find some of their pickups under other brand names, like Artec etc etc on ebay. You need to look at the construction K readings and magnet type etc but often you can source in the UK without the added shipping and duty.

I have used them over the years and in terms of bang for yah buck they are good, their stuff is not in the world of uber boutique builders  where they have analysed the screw composition etc etc but in terms of good working pickups and stuff they get the job done.

regards jez

ThePrettyDamned

Good service when I ordered a bridge, but were awkward when I wanted a refund.

benvall

Thanks guys. Appreciate the advise. I'm mainly looking at the strat body routed for a Floyd rose. I've got it in my head that I need a surf green strat (White scratchplate) with two humbuckers (tapped), maple neck and Floyd rose. Not sure whether to buy a cheap body first to practice spraying, fitting, etc, I might contact guitar build in the new year and ask for a price.

Deadman

I bought some strat pups and pickguard a few years ago from them. Delivery was within a week and I didn't pay import tax, maybe I was just lucky.

WezV

i have had a few of their electronic bits, i did get stung on tax, but at the time it was cheap enough not to be an issue

OilCityPickups

As someone else has said ... basically re branded Chinese made Artecs  (however much they claim to be US designed /made). Totally acceptable cheapies.

impmann

Are they?
I had a set of their grey bobbin late 60s spec Strat pickups in my Strat and they really impressed me. Surprising considering the origins...

OilCityPickups

impmann said:

Are they?
I had a set of their grey bobbin late 60s spec Strat pickups in my Strat and they really impressed me. Surprising considering the origins...

Yup ... Artec make pickups for a whole variety of manufacturers who prefer you don't know who actually makes em. The most common one being Ibanez. Their Strat and Tele pickups tend to be quite acceptable for machine wound jobbies. Their Humbuckers tend to be a bit more variable: poorer materials, wider tolerances ...

Jez6345789

I believe Sky is the parent company and one of the largest pickup OEM's out there. They make Artec, Amrstrong, GFS, Entwistle, Wilkinson. All these companies either take the standard stuff or have variations on the theme.

For example take psuedo filtetrons/retrotrons they come from each of these companies in a range of impedances and magnet configurations the Entwistles even have Samarium Cobalt the rest a combination of alnico and ceramic.

Over the years I have collected and had a good few different pickups going right back to the original Dimarzio SDH

originally cheap pickups were rubbish or at best like old supro's lucky accidents that found a retro market. If you look at some of the horrors put on budget strats over the years you quickly realise things could only get better, hence the large after market for pickups. These days some of the mass produced designs work fine but its seldom I have found one that sounds as good as a hand wound or one made by one of the better makers. 

Just for the record

Dimarzio SDH

Dimarzio PAFs

Dimarzio original Paf Pro

Timbuckers

GFS Fat PAFS

Fralin PAF

PRS HFS

PRS Dragon

EMG Original 58

SD JB & 59

Hand made Armstrong PAF from the old days

Ibanez super 70's

Burny VH1

Lollar Imperials

Fralin p90

SD p90

Wilkinson p90

GFS Lil killer

Original 63 fender

EMG SA

Supro

the list goes on those are the ones I remember :-)  but if you can stretch the budget then the better ones have always been stuff like the Fralins, Timbuckers and Lollars

Most of my Strat pickups have been home brew as was never much of a Fender guy till I hit 50 and started playing again :-)

Going back to GFS they try to spec their stuff a bit better than the real cheap end but its also a lot of marketing from them so they can imply a sort of boutique credential for what in the end is churned out by someone who would not know their Kossoff from their Korn has never ever played a guitar or even heard what they make sounds like.

In the end all pickups are a formula but big OEM makers care little on bobbin height grade of wire or quality of magnets in the end they could be making cotton reels. With some of them you get something you can use and others something you bin or like me throw in a box. 

Sorry for the long replay just  a subject I care about.

regards jez

OilCityPickups

Jez6345789 said:

I believe Sky is the parent company and one of the largest pickup OEM's out there. They make Artec, Amrstrong, GFS, Entwistle, Wilkinson. All these companies either take the standard stuff or have variations on the theme.

For example take psuedo filtetrons/retrotrons they come from each of these companies in a range of impedances and magnet configurations the Entwistles even have Samarium Cobalt the rest a combination of alnico and ceramic.

Over the years I have collected and had a good few different pickups going right back to the original Dimarzio SDH

originally cheap pickups were rubbish or at best like old supro's lucky accidents that found a retro market. If you look at some of the horrors put on budget strats over the years you quickly realise things could only get better, hence the large after market for pickups. These days some of the mass produced designs work fine but its seldom I have found one that sounds as good as a hand wound or one made by one of the better makers. 

Just for the record

Dimarzio SDH

Dimarzio PAFs

Dimarzio original Paf Pro

Timbuckers

GFS Fat PAFS

Fralin PAF

PRS HFS

PRS Dragon

EMG Original 58

SD JB & 59

Hand made Armstrong PAF from the old days

Ibanez super 70's

Burny VH1

Lollar Imperials

Fralin p90

SD p90

Wilkinson p90

GFS Lil killer

Original 63 fender

EMG SA

Supro

the list goes on those are the ones I remember :-)  but if you can stretch the budget then the better ones have always been stuff like the Fralins, Timbuckers and Lollars

Most of my Strat pickups have been home brew as was never much of a Fender guy till I hit 50 and started playing again :-)

Going back to GFS they try to spec their stuff a bit better than the real cheap end but its also a lot of marketing from them so they can imply a sort of boutique credential for what in the end is churned out by someone who would not know their Kossoff from their Korn has never ever played a guitar or even heard what they make sounds like.

In the end all pickups are a formula but big OEM makers care little on bobbin height grade of wire or quality of magnets in the end they could be making cotton reels. With some of them you get something you can use and others something you bin or like me throw in a box. 

Sorry for the long replay just  a subject I care about.

regards jez

Nice to hear from someone as passionate about pickups as I am
What many people forget is that it is the care in selection of materials, the reduction of tolerances to the smallest margin you can, and really caring about your product reliably makes good pickups.
The huge Far Easter factories churn out pickups by the thousand, often the parts are generic, slack, and made to fit with silicon 'glue'. Potting is over done ... wind patterns generic, and care in assembly/QC cursory.
I am actually quite a fan of cheap pickups for certain things. If you want to use a ton of effects and heavily process your sound, then to be honest, pickup choice is going to be low on your list of priorities.
My own experience with GFS, when I was just a consumer, before being a manufacturer was mixed. I had a 'Lipstick humbucker' from them ... more out of curiosity than anything ... and it was quite nice. I followed that up with a 'Hot' Tele pickup that was really horrible ... twangless, nasal and overcompressed. Then a customer brought me one of their humbucker sized P90s that had stopped working ... I was a bit shocked to find there was just a lonely humbucker bobbin sat under that cover ... nothing remotely like a P90.
Their Strat pickups can be quite acceptable.

freakboy1610

I bought some Dream 90s from Gfs who were then selling on EBay. Service was A OK and pickups sounded great but I now wonder what was under the covers!? :-?

OilCityPickups

If they sounded good don't worry what was under the cover ...

Later ones were better built anyway ... but they always used 43awg wire to get enough wire in the narrower space ... that made them sound less P90 like than some more expensive bucker sized 90s that use the same 42awg wire that a real P90 uses. The trick there is that companies like Bare Knuckle, Creamery and yes myself, make our own bobbins so we design em a little taller to get all the thicker 42awg wire in. Thr Chinese mass produced stuff tends to use bobbins off the shelf for cheapness ... and vary the wire gauge. Now this can sound perfectly acceptable ... don't get me wrong ... just not as much like a proper P90 as with the 'right' wire.

As an interesting aside: the Dynasonic (a descendant of which is my own Sun-T-Ron) is a very close relative to a P90 in design. Similar coil shape and size so it gets all those big chewy low notes ... but with a much more focused magnetic field from six alnico poles ... and the zing of a hot wind with super thin 44awg wire. Shows what an extreme variation on a theme can do:)

longjaw

Thread resurrected!

I was interested to read this as I am searching for a cheap neck wide range humbucker for my Thinline Tele build and the only one I can find is the GFS Wide Tone Fat. I think they are made by Artec and have been trying to find the same pick-up under their badge for sale in the UK so I can avoid import taxes etc but have failed.

Anyone aware of someone in the UK who stocks this pick-up?

Cheers!