Maricela Juarez

OUTLAW1969

New member
I am a HUGE fan of MJ's pickups, and wanted to pose a couple of questions to you guys.

What are your experiences with MJ wound pickups, and in your opinion, what exactly makes her pickups so sought after ?
 
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Re: Maricela Juarez

And what are her favorite pups? (Sorry for the slight hijacking, but it seemed better to add my Q to this thread than to start a new one.)
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

Not hijacking at all, I was actually hoping that others would jump in and pose other questions, too.

Thanks Jafo !
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

I don't know.. but I should find out in a few weeks.. I have her making two pickups for me. =)
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

I don't know.. but I should find out in a few weeks.. I have her making two pickups for me. =)

You will definitely be happy, as she has wound several pickups for me, too.

She probably has a totally different life when not at work, but is a genius at attaining your desired goal when winding your Custom Shop order.
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

I recently installed an MJ set in a Satch Ibanez guitar. It was a Sinster Set, which are black Invader pups with chrome screws. I installed them in front of the owner, gave him the guitar and when he plugged in and played my jaw dropped. My wife was on the other side of the room and she said "which pups are those!". They sounded rich in harmonics, full, powerfull.
I like to compare a hand made pup vs a factory pup with a chef vs McDonalds. A good chef will make a better hamburger with the same ingredients.
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

MJ is the kind of person that loves her craft and puts so much in to what she does. She refers to her pickups as her babies. I had picked up an 80's JB on eBay several years back and took some pics of it and emailed it to her asking if she had wound it. Sure enough, she could ID it as one of hers. Having that kind of passion and love for what you do, that's the person I want in a Custom Shop. When you use one, it all makes sense.
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

I am a HUGE fan of MJ's pickups, and wanted to pose a couple of questions to you guys.

What are your experiences with MJ wound pickups, and in your opinion, what exactly makes her pickups so sought after ?

Experience and a good ear. MJ will not only wind you the perfect pickup, but if you are truly looking for your 'holy grail', she'll dialog with you about what that means, and how you can achieve it. I own a set of Fuglybuckers, which were designed in part by us here in the community, but eventually left to the expertise of MJ, and she did not disappoint in the slightest (though I was one of the few who voted for just about every winning feature). I imagine the magic is attention to detail, and knowing a whole damn lot about pickups.
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

custom shop humbuckers are machine wound, just like gibson did back in the day. single coils are hand guided
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

MJ is like the master tone mechanic. There's a reason she's Seymour's right hand of the custom shop. I need to gather up a few more dollars so I can call her and get my gold top straightened out.
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

MJ is awesome. I remember her guiding me through winding a single coil in the Custom Shop on User Group Day '05, and she knows that stuff in her sleep. She's FAST too - tons of sensitive equipment in there and she just goes from station to station cranking out custom pickups like it wasn't a thing.

She's also acutely aware of all the small differences from pickup to pickup - stuff that most people would overlook.
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

Does MJ wind her pickups by hand ?

All CS single coil p'ups are made by hand the way you like it, Richard.

Humbuckers are wound on the physically same machine it wound the PAF p'ups we all know and love IN 1959!

For the record, this machine, the Leesona 102, runs better today than it ever did in the '50s, when it got serviced only when it broke down.

Plus, the operator is NOT some clueless temp on minimum wage, but one of the few living legends of tone.

Now tell me all of this is ok, but it still isn't as good as hand-guided-scatter... ;)
 
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Re: Maricela Juarez

So, You can just call Custom shop and Speak with MJ. that's it ?.....And then discuss what you want in the PuP ?
I am asking, cuz never done this.....
Thank you !
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

Don't know if she has an account on here - but if she does, I think she deserves the tribute honorary gloss. Actually better than that - we can call it the mirror shine.

What say ye?

Maybe a royalty theme:
Countess of coils
Princess of Poles

Or is this a bad idea?
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

All CS single coil p'ups are made by hand the way you like it, Richard.

Humbuckers are wound on the physically same machine it wound the PAF p'ups we all know and love IN 1959!

For the record, this machine, the Leesona 102, runs better today than it ever did in the '50s, when it got serviced only when it broke down.

Plus, the operator is NOT some clueless temp on minimum wage, but one of the few living legends of tone.

Now tell me all of this is ok, but it still isn't as good as hand-guided-scatter... ;)

The single-coils are wound on a machine but the wire is hand-guided. She doesn't sit there and wrap the wire around the bobbin. ;)

Hand-guided scatter being better is a matter of opinion. ;)
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

Yes.. and if you call the Custom Shop (call Duncan and follow the prompts to CUSTOM SHOP).. she answers the phone... at least every time I've called it was her who answered. Just tell her what you want, she's really nice and sweet.... and have credit card in hand... she'll get you setup. Really.. it's that easy.. MUCH EASIER than the WAIT ARGH!!! =) I have two on the way.. =)


So, You can just call Custom shop and Speak with MJ. that's it ?.....And then discuss what you want in the PuP ?
I am asking, cuz never done this.....
Thank you !
 
Re: Maricela Juarez

The single-coils are wound on a machine but the wire is hand-guided.

You don't say...

She doesn't sit there and wrap the wire around the bobbin. ;)

YOU DON'T SAY...!

Hand-guided scatter being better is a matter of opinion. ;)

Richard Parker will try to convince you at any cost that BKP p'upsd are better than Duncans just because is "hand-scatterwound". ;)
 
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