Who was the first person to offer custom pickups in the US?

[Wound_Up]

Who here knows pickup history? Who was the first to offer custom wound pickups? I'm curious if the name I saw comes up so I won't mention it until later.

So, who was first? Seymour? Someone else? Anyone know?

[hamerfan]

If you mean founding a company to produce replacement pickups. Larry DiMarzio?

‚Billy (Lawrence) never made a replacement pickup until years after DiMarzio was successful.‘

https://www.dimarzio.com/stories/birth-super-distortion

[freefrog]

I'd say Bill Lawrence, although he didn't commercialize his very first PU's as a line of aftermarket replacement transducers.

[Wound_Up]

If you mean founding a company to produce replacement pickups. Larry DiMarzio?

‚Billy (Lawrence) never made a replacement pickup until years after DiMarzio was successful.‘

https://www.dimarzio.com/stories/birth-super-distortion

Not exactly founding a company. Just who in general. There's a guy that makes the claim on his website that he was the first in the US to offer them. I just want to see if anyone even knows his name lol. I've asked a similar question about a certain pickup winder at other forums so some of you may have an idea if you visit MLP, Strat Talk, TGP, TDPRI, or the Gibson forums lol

[hamerfan]

I'd say Bill Lawrence, although he didn't commercialize his very first PU's as a line of aftermarket replacement transducers.

I tend to agree, because Larry writes that he snagged BL parts and equipment from Billys Shop, when Billy had to give up his first shop in NY. That means he had specific made parts, before Larry even began to wind with equipment.

‚I packed up my guitars and we looked around the shop. There were a few of Billy’s magnets, bobbins and stainless-steel covers left in a box but the store was completely empty. I asked Artie if he wanted the pickup parts and he said, “No”, so I took them. I had the feeling that he was over working on guitar pickups and with Billy.‘

[Wound_Up]

The name Mike Ladd doesn't ring a bell? I can't find it now but somewhere on his website, he claimed to be the first. At this website below that's not owned by him, it says he took a trip to the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, MI in 1969 and wound a set of humbuckers for Jimmy Page at his shop in Memphis when he got back.

http://flying-mojo.com/product/ladd/

I'm sure if I look long enough, I could find the webpage that says it. I could've sworn it was at his website www.mlapedals.com

Tbh, I'd love to hear what Seymour had to say about him and his involvement in the history of custom pickups.

[beaubrummels]

"exact using all original Humbucking T-Top parts found in Kalamazoo Michigan" ...clear T-Top bobbins that were found in Kalamasoo? I'm skeptical.

[ICTGoober]

clear T-Top bobbins that were found in Kalamasoo? I'm skeptical.

Well, Kalamazoo was building P-90's with clear bobbins... so why not humbuckers?

As for answering the question, I'd wager that Dan Armstrong had to be in the running. Bill Lawrence for sure when considering such a pioneer (despite Larry D's claims to be the firstest with the mostest).

[ehdwuld]

That Keisel guy was making pickups back in the day
he may have made some special ones on occasion

Late 50s

[dave74]

That Keisel guy was making pickups back in the day
he may have made some special ones on occasion

Late 50s

Yes, he was winding pickups before he was even building guitars as a business iirc, although I won't claim to know the timeline.

[Inflames626]

So if someone had a pickup problem from say 1954-1969, they just sent the pickup back to Gibson/Fender/Rickenbacker/Dearnond/Epiphone/Danelectro/whoever to be rewound by them in house?

Back in those days IIR these were all separate companies, kind of like how Pontiac and Oldsmobile were once separate from GM in the early 20th century.

Also I would say Bill Lawrence was one of the first, although I'd say DiMarzio was the first to do it on the scale that he did.

That said, despite his head start, I think DiMarzio is most behind now. Since the 1990s I'm guessing EMG and Seymour Duncan dwarf DiMarzio in sales.

Why? Look how many guitars come stock with EMGs/Seymour Duncans. It's mostly Ibanez guitars that come stock with DiMarzios.

Plus, a wider variety of players play EMG and Seymour Duncan pickups. DiMarzio tends to be endorsed by mostly shredders and virtuosos of the Shrapnel Records variety.

This doesn't necessarily matter, but I can more or less name a dozen or so DiMarzio artists. EMG tends to get pigeonholed into metal, yes, but how many small to mid tier metal bands are there using EMGs?

Meanwhile, Seymour Duncan's passive pickups are used by pretty much everybody across all genres.

The Seymour Duncan story is amazing in that they went from being an aftermarket pickup to being the stock pickup of choice for many passive players. SD largely displaced Gibson and Fender at their own game over 40+ years. Very impressive.

[Inflames626]

That said we wouldn't even have Bill Lawrence without Seth Lover and Leo Fender...

They didn't offer pickups custom but considering how much variation there was from pickups year to year back then it sort of was custom without meaning to be. Say a 57 Fender/Gibson vs. a 62 Fender/Gibson vs. a 69 Fender/Gibson.

[freefrog]

Ah yes, Kiesel from Carvin is evoked as trying to sell pickups in the late 40's: https://www.premierguitar.com/builder-profile-carvin

But this article doesn't suggest it was a successful attempt:

"Lowell originally went the traditional route by trying to market his pickups to dealers. He quickly learned that being a guitar enthusiast is one thing and being a businessman is another. A lot of dealers back then would rip you off if they could. He thought, "Why do I need to go to these people and take less money when I can just market this myself?" That's how Kiesel Electronics started in 1946, though the name changed to Carvin soon after"

At least this topic gives us the occasion of an homage to his memory as well as to other innovators named above or to Ray Butts - or to Beauchamp and Knoblaugh who started magnetic pickups in the 30's...

Many creators with great ideas are now forgotten. One of my friends did design one of the first programmable guitars more than 20 years before the Variax and nobody remembers it.

[Wound_Up]

Thats about what I figured. All the names you always hear, and no Mike Ladd.

Thanks you guys. I appreciate it.