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Pickup "copies" rant

8/31/2002 4:31 PM
SK	Pickup "copies" rant I just gotta say, I don't get why so many are marketing their pickups as "just like..(something vintage).." Well, I do "get it", but it seems to me we are feeding and propogating fallacies and "voodoo". To say a strat pickup is "just like one fender made in '61" means nothing, . If you mean the ideal '61 strat pickup, who's ideal? I've seen all sorts of crap on the web, even to the point of someone stating that they use only the finest tonewood maple for the spacers in thier humbuckers. I think we are doing this because of all the misinformation believed by players and therefore it's what they want to hear. but in the long run we are hurting ourselves, selling fallacies, and limiting market and creativity. I fall prey to this myself at times, for instance I use more vintage cloth braid leads than I do leads with a seperate shield even though I KNOW a seperate shield is better (but I do say so). In fact the "vintage" has become the "standard" because it's what's wanted more often, even when I advise otherwise.... I've got no problem w/ a P-90 "copy" in a humbucker mount, it's not going to be exact so don't sell it as an exact. But if it's good, fairly versatile, and what's wanted. Great! Same for anything else you can come up with. Oh, and how can every pickup winder out there make "the very best pickups made"? Define that for me(rhetorical question, yeah, I get it)... End of rant....

8/31/2002 4:31 PM

Pickup "copies" rant

I just gotta say, I don't get why so many are marketing their pickups as "just like..(something vintage).." Well, I do "get it", but it seems to me we are feeding and propogating fallacies and "voodoo".
To say a strat pickup is "just like one fender made in '61" means nothing, . If you mean the ideal '61 strat pickup, who's ideal?
I've seen all sorts of crap on the web, even to the point of someone stating that they use only the finest tonewood maple for the spacers in thier humbuckers.
I think we are doing this because of all the misinformation believed by players and therefore it's what they want to hear. but in the long run we are hurting ourselves, selling fallacies, and limiting market and creativity.
I fall prey to this myself at times, for instance I use more vintage cloth braid leads than I do leads with a seperate shield even though I KNOW a seperate shield is better (but I do say so). In fact the "vintage" has become the "standard" because it's what's wanted more often, even when I advise otherwise....
I've got no problem w/ a P-90 "copy" in a humbucker mount, it's not going to be exact so don't sell it as an exact. But if it's good, fairly versatile, and what's wanted. Great! Same for anything else you can come up with.

Oh, and how can every pickup winder out there make "the very best pickups made"? Define that for me(rhetorical question, yeah, I get it)...
End of rant....

Replies:

Jason Lollar Re: Pickup "copies" rant -- 9/1/2002 11:58 PM
Andy I agree there is a lot of over eggi... -- 9/2/2002 7:21 AM
ChrisTheGuitaristFormallyKnownAsTheAdminGuy Pushing the envelope -- 9/3/2002 1:28 PM
Mark Hammer What happens when specs elude you -- 9/3/2002 3:47 PM
SK Re: Pickup "copies" rant -- 9/4/2002 2:00 PM
Weevil I am a player, and I have been mixi... -- 9/24/2002 11:02 PM