It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
Over at the SDUGF, one of the recurring thread questions was "How do I make my guitar - which none of the forumites answering can hear to evaluate - sound like my favourite recording artiste(s)?"
Most customers wish to purchase once and have the finished installation turn out as they fantasised that it would.
http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/windows/hum_bladeWin.html
Those worked out super cheap at the time, but looking now, they are about $250 US per set. I guess inflation.
I mean let’s say for an AlNiCo sheet (aluminium, nickel, cobalt alloy) to be specifically manufactured with variations of the elements (alnico 2,3,5 etc...) you have to sell and ship out an absolute bucket load to even need to send an enquiry on to an alloy manufacturer.
42awg wire - even more so.
the mill I used to work for sold phos bronze to a major US String manufacturer.
i know absolute bugger all regarding winding of pickups except there is a lot of skill, marketing, packaging, distribution etc...and the fact that every single UK pickup manufacturer will be buying their coil wire from a metal
stockholder at a rediculously
inflated price.
i think the price is fair. It’s like anything in any industry - if you want quality, you gotta pay for it. More often than not, It’s worth it.
https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/
Our YouTube Channel for handy "How-To" Wiring Tutorials
on a serious note. I have several sets of boutique pickups in guitars.... come and visit. play them - be informed.
Some people charge what they can get away with. Some people charge because they have a lot of overheads. Some people charge to cover their considerable R&D costs. Some people simply charge what they think is a fair reflection of the time/craft/materials/labour involved in making the product.
Very hard to say pickup A is £100 better sounding than pickup B. Still doesn't make the more expensive one overpriced or the cheaper one underpriced.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/
Our YouTube Channel for handy "How-To" Wiring Tutorials
It’s not a perception of value. It sets the scene for what should be the result of a good purchase from a UK based pickup winder.
You say “At the end of the day though I'd reckon they'll sound great to the average ear like all the other boutique pickups out there.”
So will a £300 guitar compared to a £3000. A non guitar player won’t know the difference. But why does that matter. It’s your tone journey, not theirs.
This is a pretty futile topic tbh. You can ask “why is that (insert price)? What makes it better?” to virtually anything at all. You’ve admitted you’re not in the target market for anything over £90 a pickup because anything more is piss in the wind.
If you work in advertising you must have had meetings with clients who want to get across the message of quality based on how good their product is? You’ll probably have had clients who know their product is based more around selling more for less profit as opposed to less with more profit.
Any one who makes a product, on their own, in their workshop with their own two hands can set the prices that they want to charge. It’s entirely up to them. If they know they’ve got a good product then that’s half the battle. The next part is up to the potential customer to pay the price or shop elsewhere.
Cost of materials
Overheads
R and D
Packaging
VAT/Tax
Advertising
Marketing
You pay for all of that when you buy any pickup.... or anything for that matter.
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars