Rio Grande pickups

Stratsky

Stratsky

New member
Has any here tried Rio Grande pickups and what did you think of them? I bought a Bastard and Fat Bastard because I wanted to try some P90s in my LP Studio. I bought them because I liked what I heard as far as the sound clips on the Rio Grande site and I thought the A5 magnets would sound closer to the original P90s. When I got them, the Bastard was ok but the Fat Bastard wasn't assembled properly. There was an uneven gap where the cover fits on the base plate. It was over 1/16" on one side and I could look inside and see the magnets (without taking the pickup apart). I didn't mess with it figuring that if I couldn't do anything to fix the problem I wouldn't be able to send it back. So I sent them back to Guitar Heaven and swapped them out for a set of Seth Lovers. This doesn't say a whole lot for Rio Grande's quality control. Rio Grandes aren't cheap either. I've bought alot of after market pickups (SD, Dimarzio, and Fender) and have never received anything like this before.
 
Re: Rio Grande pickups

I have Muy Grandes in my LP. I know the dealer in my area had a shipment that contained several defective pickups and they had to be replaced, it was all handled quickly but that is not the point. I think with the increase in popularity of thier pickups Rio Grande has been trying to produce more than they are capable of, they are a small company trying to meet a demand bigger than they are accustomed to. This shouldn't keep you from trying thier pickups though, they are excellent. Where these defective pickups new or used? My local dealer has not had any recent problems.
 
Re: Rio Grande pickups

I got a Big Bottom set for my MiM tele a year or 2 ago. I really like them, no quality control issues with these.

Sorry you had problems.
 
Re: Rio Grande pickups

jimlp said:
I have Muy Grandes in my LP. I know the dealer in my area had a shipment that contained several defective pickups and they had to be replaced, it was all handled quickly but that is not the point. I think with the increase in popularity of thier pickups Rio Grande has been trying to produce more than they are capable of, they are a small company trying to meet a demand bigger than they are accustomed to. This shouldn't keep you from trying thier pickups though, they are excellent. Where these defective pickups new or used? My local dealer has not had any recent problems.
Click to expand...

They were new. I will have to say that the components looked like quality components (the gap was that big), but it was assembled wrong or the parts were fabricated wrong. The person that assembled this had to see it and let it go through anyway.
 
Re: Rio Grande pickups

From what I've seen, they're super sloppy when it comes to manufacturing and assembly. I had a "structurally challenged" BBQ that I rewired with 4 conductor, and still couldn't get the two bobbins to line up even after I cleaned all the excess wax and filed the bobbin backs flat. The bobbin shape was deformed a little. Still, they all sound pretty good to me, So for now, I take the position that you can accept some sloppy manufacturing for the good sound. Maybe as the years go by, I'll change my tune.
 
Re: Rio Grande pickups

I haven't had any trouble with quality, but I had trouble with mis-packaging once. Putting the wrong pickups in a box labeled for differant pickups.

So far it's only happened one time.

Lew
 
Re: Rio Grande pickups

I have a bluesdawg in my LP jr, and it is pretty d@mn cool. tons of attitude
 
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