GuitarFetish / GFS

Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

BriGuy1968 said:
My BC Rich Perfect 10 Bich has the HB102s and I don't mind 'em at all... not really feeling the need to swap them out.

...but the V7/V8s were just the worst. I bought that guitar when I was still mostly an acoustic guy and didn't really understand how much pickups could differ and make a difference. I didn't even play it through an amp... just liked how it felt... blamed myself for not being able to make it sound like I wanted. After I replaced the melted pickups in my Westone (JB/Jazz) and realized how good it sounded... and how much BETTER it sounded than the RG, I started thinking about it and finally pulled the trigger on new pups. Wow... talk about rags-to-riches! As you said, the V7/V8s "truly made the guitar worse than it was."

I really don't see it as "talking crap" about the V7/V8s... it's more like doing a public service! [emoji12]
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I've got a 91 RG570 with the V1/V2 set and that guitar remains stock. I have a 95 that came with V7/V8 and that bull**** disappeared real quick. The difference is startling.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

kramersteen said:
Emg select
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Not for me... I hate active pickups. But for stock ibanez the V1/V2 set is actually much better than it gets credit for. The V7/V8 set is a steaming turd.

Regarding the Wilkinson vintage singles I mentioned yesterday. I've had them in one of my strats for a few days now. Dude... these are GOOD. I'm playing them alongside guitars with custom shop fender and Duncan antiquity pickups and they are holding up pretty well. I think they're a little on the hot side of vintage but not enough to kill the chime. I don't even know how they are doing it for the $$$... you can get a whole set from a wholesaler on ebay drop shipped straight from china for $30 shipped.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

2ndhandband said:
for aftermarket hardware in general I lean towards Wilkinson for a lot of stuff.
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+1 on the Wilkinson hardware! They offer some nice stuff on bargain prices, you'll find nice tuning keys and tremolos at low prices in the Wilkinson range! Highly recommended!
As for pickups I'd recommend Tonerider, you'll find them at about the same price as GFS and they are better in my opinion. They are however less cheap than the Wilkinson pickups (by the way if you should get Wilkinson single coils make sure you get the ones with actual Alnico polepieces, NOT the ones with a bar magnet glued underneath!!), but offer even better quality and also there are more models to choose from.
So in short, I recommend Wilkinson for hardware, and Tonerider for the pickups!
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

The JEM Ghost said:
+1 on the Wilkinson hardware! They offer some nice stuff on bargain prices, you'll find nice tuning keys and tremolos at low prices in the Wilkinson range! Highly recommended!
As for pickups I'd recommend Tonerider, you'll find them at about the same price as GFS and they are better in my opinion. They are however less cheap than the Wilkinson pickups (by the way if you should get Wilkinson single coils make sure you get the ones with actual Alnico polepieces, NOT the ones with a bar magnet glued underneath!!), but offer even better quality and also there are more models to choose from.
So in short, I recommend Wilkinson for hardware, and Tonerider for the pickups!
Click to expand...

My thought on Wilkie hardware: it makes no sense to pay more, because nothing is better. Look at the price of a Tone Pros roller bridge... the Wilkinson roller is BETTER and for less $$$. I bring that up because if you have a guitar with a Gibson ABR-1 the first damn thing you should do is light it on fire and get a roller bridge. They also have the best two-post vibrato tailpiece out there period. I wish they'd make a vibrola because it would probably be just as good as the Crazyparts stuff and cheaper.

In fact come to think of it if history is any guide Wilkinson would probably improve on the design instead of just making a reproduction... now I really wish they would.
 
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Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

I have a 2000's Standard series Squier that I put a brass GFS block in. It fits the bridge plate perfectly and I've had no problems with it stripping or flopping around. However, as someone said before, it could be too tall for the thin body, and this is the case with mine. It's also almost too wide for the cavity, so occasionially when the wood contracts it starts rubbing against the side, making the system stick. I'be been meaning to sand down the side of it to fix that problem.
But that's just my Squier and I know different ones have different dimensions, so it might fit yours with no issues! I will say I noticed a real improvement in tone and sustain when I put it in.
I'm curious about what the "very interesting finish" looks like!
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

Speaking of Wilkinsons I just found an old six-screw Wilkinson strat bridge in a parts box. Didn't know I had it. I'll install it in something this weekend and report my findings.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

http://www.guitarfetish.com/KP--GFS...ed-Strat-Pickups--Kwikplug-Ready_p_22005.html

I can vouch for this set to sound pretty good, and I'm not even saying "for the price". It was a match made in heaven for a swamp-ash, maple neck partcaster I've assembled some time ago, where several other american-made sets failed the task of being warm and articulated at the same time. It was a hardtail, though. And I used 300K pots, not the usual 250K.

HTH,
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

I had one of the mean 90s in the neck position for the longest time, was badass in that guitar. I've also tried a couple of their humbuckers which were really good for the price, can't remember which models though. My thought was that the hb's were better than most stock offerings but not quite there w/duncans or dimarzios. At the price point, I wouldn't hesitate to try them again.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

Go used or buy cheap but solid Gotoh tuners imho... they start at like 32 bucks a set last i checked

Pickups, go used
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

Their Sperzel-style tuners are ok, but not great. I used to have them. They're smooth and have got a good ratio that makes tuning accurate, but they're not super stable.

I'd recommend a good set of non-locking Grovers. They can be found for about the same price on ebay easily. They may not be locking, but in my experience, they are way more stable.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

As luck would have it I ended up with a Slick/GFS 57 Strat today with their Gold Foil singles. Interesting guitar, I really like the Gold Foils. The neck takes some getting used to and the tuners are so-so but overall I am digging it. It's got the brass block and a full American style trem plate. The body is ash, heavy but really lively. The pots and the switch which I am assuming are GFS are kind of chintzy. The paint is the road worn/relic look in cream but it's quite yellow-y. Looks like they hit it with a sealer then a thick coat of paint and then sand it back not being careful about any sand thru. It's put together quite well. The 12" radius and the shape of the neck make it feel a little more modern Strat than I would like but that/s fine I imagine I'll be putting a reverse headstock neck on here before too long anyway. I was going to build a partscaster but this kind of got my interest when I found it so....it'll become the partscaster I guess.

I'll re-wire it when I tear it apart and put in a better switch and pots maybe a jack too.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

I have Pearl tuxedo Dream 90's in my Iceman, and a single Dream 180 in my Peavey Rockmaster. Both are great pickups. My Rockmaster is the axe I seem to play the most.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

Wattage said:
As luck would have it I ended up with a Slick/GFS 57 Strat today with their Gold Foil singles. Interesting guitar, I really like the Gold Foils. The neck takes some getting used to and the tuners are so-so but overall I am digging it. It's got the brass block and a full American style trem plate. The body is ash, heavy but really lively. The pots and the switch which I am assuming are GFS are kind of chintzy. The paint is the road worn/relic look in cream but it's quite yellow-y. Looks like they hit it with a sealer then a thick coat of paint and then sand it back not being careful about any sand thru. It's put together quite well. The 12" radius and the shape of the neck make it feel a little more modern Strat than I would like but that/s fine I imagine I'll be putting a reverse headstock neck on here before too long anyway. I was going to build a partscaster but this kind of got my interest when I found it so....it'll become the partscaster I guess.

I'll re-wire it when I tear it apart and put in a better switch and pots maybe a jack too.
Click to expand...

I've been wondering about the GFS goldfoils for a while now. Thinking about setting up one guitar specifically for slide playing.
How do you like 'em, what do they sound like?
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

eclecticsynergy said:
I've been wondering about the GFS goldfoils for a while now. Thinking about setting up one guitar specifically for slide playing.
How do you like 'em, what do they sound like?
Click to expand...

Well they sound pretty good to me. Low output 5.09/5.88/6.08 neck to bridge. Vintage Strat mixed with some wire-y P-90 tones. I don't know that the gold foil has much to do with the sound to be honest. They just appear to be flat pole singles with gold foil tape over the top of the pup, underneath the cover, maybe they got vintage tape to give them mojo. My guess is they just sound good and GFS came up with a neat way to go to market with them.

I was playing some slide with them last night and they have a nice almost glassy grit to them, not Ry Cooder levels but again they're good.
 
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Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

I put a Mean 90 set into my epiphone with their kwikplug asian fit wiring harness and kwikplug ready pups. This is my second kwikplug harness in a 2nd guitar. It was easy and sounds great. As my eyesight is getting worse as i get older, this helps that I don't have to solder tiny things anymore. I think duncan should buy this system.
 
Re: GuitarFetish / GFS

2ndhandband said:
Not for me... I hate active pickups. .
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EMG Selects are passive pups. They're kinda like the "Duncan Designed" of the EMG world (Inexpensive import copies of USA designs) and most of the Selects got put into Squier-level gear. That being said, I love the way Selects sound in my Pbass copy, but was kind of underwhelmed by Selects in a Strat copy. YMMV. (But ANYTHING is better than Ibanez V pups!)
 
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