It All Started with a Partscaster ...

Recently I got into my head to build a partscaster, and since I had two telecasters, I decided that I needed some Stratty goodness in my life. I got a crash course in the art of shopping for pickups, a world of hype marketing, arcane vintage mojo like fiberboard bobbins, and a lot of people claiming to make the most period accurate reproductions of vintage Fender pickups — but of course only the “best” sets of pickups was used as models. Those “best” sets must have changed hands pretty often by now given the number of people winding pickups that claim to have used them.

It was daunting. I made spreadsheets, spent my free time wading through page after page of Google, forums, and blogs for a set that had everything that people were telling me I wanted in my Strat pickups: quack (I knew what this was), “chime” (I’m still not entirely sure what this is), clarity (but without sacrificing volume), punch (but without losing smoothness). And because I’m budget conscious, I had added “affordable” to my list of quirks.

Eventually a forum member on TheGearPage.net mentioned this guy John Benson in New York. I checked out his website, and I was amazed to find that there was someone handwinding a set of Strat pickups in the United States for $79. I ordered a set and installed them in my guitar—and was impressed with I heard. Were there more companies like this?

Turns out there were.

And there were enough of them that I was able to hold a shootout.

The Shootout

The three sets in the ring are: Benson Custom’s “Vintage 54 Strat”set, the set that inspired me to host the shootout. Reilander’s “Vintage Style Strat” are wound in Canada by luthier Michael Reilander. And Rose Pickups’ “Handwound Mariposas.” Frugal Guitarist readers are familiar with Rose’s Mariposas as what might be the cheapest set of Strat pickups available. Turns out that they’re also the cheapest handwound set you can buy if you go for the upgrade.

The panel of judges is me; my friend Keith C., who has built many a partscaster and knows his way around the pickup world; and John H., who has a fabulous set of ears and hears things better most of us mere mortals. We filmed a demo of each set and made notes. So take a listen, and then go check out the winder interviews below the videos!

In each video, the sets are played by me using fingers and then by John H. using a pick, moving from the neck to the bridge.

Keith: Neck is spanky, middle is smooth, and the bridge is sharp, but could be too bright with a pick. The in-between positions were quacky and smooth. With a pick, the neck has nice “dig in” and the middle is fuller. Overall pleasing and Stratty.

John H.: Bright and even on the neck, round in the middle, and shrill in the bridge. The in-between positions were full and smooth. This set was very “big” sounding.

Me: This is a very clean and bright set, with not much compression at all. The neck sounds reedy, the middle is full of glass, and the bridge in this set was the brightest of all the pickups we tried. I never got any ice pick when using fingers, but this pickup did indeed border on shrill when used with a pick. I have quite a bit more experience with this set than the others, and one thing you would not gleam from the videos is that this set took pedals (especially modulation) very well without losing definition, liveliness, and character. Overall I think it’s an excellent set for fingerstylists, but pick users may be less happy.

Keith: This set says “blackface” to me. The neck is thumpy and loud; the middle has nice lower mids and full chords ring out well. The bridge has nice overtones and is a more useful bridge to me than the Bensons. The neck and middle is chimey and gets along very well with a black face amp. The middle and bridge is very well suited to chords and double stops – my favorite setting.

John H.: The neck is thinner and more reedy than the Bensons, and the middle has more presence. The bridge was still shrill. The neck and middle in-between position was flat and muffled sounding. I was surprised that this set was not alnico II.

Me: Overall this set sounded too compressed and dark for my tastes. I did not like how it reacted with fingerstyle. I did enjoy the middle pickup though — it had lots of attack. On balance the Mariposas sound well suited to higher gain, and modern blues players would love it. It’s just not for me.

Keith: Complex, sweet sounding set. The neck had some nice thump with a pick. There even seemed to be some overtones that rang out in the amp in the middle positions, and the middle pickup itself had more bass response than the Mariposas. The bridge was sharp and forward but not offensive. The in-between positions had nice harmonics.

John H.: Nicknamed this the “jazz set.” The neck is creamy and wooden, nice and mellow. The neck and middle are nicely balanced but slightly dull. The middle was full and big with some nice jangle. The bridge in this set had lots of 50's twang and was the least shrill of the group.

Me: Tons of character in all positions. The neck is indeed very jazzy, and the middle is usable on its own for single notes instead of just chords. The bridge is not cutting or harsh and sounds a bit more like the middle position in other sets. I immediately loved this set, especially its neck and middle in-between position — the harmonic overtones and hoot/quack are fantastic.

The Next Day

All of these sets are of high quality, and as good as pickups that cost quite a bit more, handwound or not.

The most immediately positive response in the shootout came from the Reilanders. We all thought this set was something special. Personally I enjoyed using them very much and believe they are one of the finest set of pickups I’ve heard at any price. I even preferred them to the set of Kinman Woodstock pickups that are one of Keith’s guitars, and that’s a $250 set of pickups! They also happened to be an excellent match for the test guitar itself. As John H. put it, if he picked up a nice Strat off the wall at a guitar store and heard what came out of the Roses or Bensons, he would not be surprised. But if he heard the Reilanders, he would be.

The Mariposas caused the most controversy among the panel. Interestingly, despite me and John H. not caring for them in person, we both liked them better listening back in the demo, and Keith liked this set best of all in the videos. They have a swirl to their sound that we did not pick up on when hearing them in the room.

And a final note about the Bensons: this set isn’t going anywhere. Whereas the Reilanders have a very deep sound full of character, the Bensons are a big and broad sounding set. In fact, I ended up putting the bridge from the Benson back in the guitar and leaving in the neck and middle from the Reilanders after the shootout. The bridge and middle are not as perfectly matched in the in-between setting this way, but the added brightness helps with fingerstyle. It would difficult for me to choose between these sets, but if I were forced to only keep one set intact, I would keep the Reilanders.

So the Reilanders came in first place, with the Roses and Bensons tied for second.

Honorable Mention: I did find one other set of handwound Strat pickups for under $100 — just under. Bryan Gunsher of BG Pickups is presently holding an indefinite sale on all his pickups for $99 “until the economy improves.” You can find him at www.bg-pups.com.

That’s enough from us. What do the winders have to say?

Interviews

What was the first pickup you ever wound, and what made you do it?

My first pickup was actually a made from a hunk of iron core, with many wraps over a very large amount of time. I experimented with different magnets and I honestly ended using a large refrigerator magnet for this one.

I started building instruments in my teens and wanted to always build my own parts in my 20s. My son actually has my first hand made bass, complete with my own bridge I machined along with my first pickup shaped like a bar of soap.

The reason I started making my own pickups was just due to never finding “the right” sound. The pickups everyone would rave about always seemed brittle and noisy to my ear, and you would have to put out good bucks for that!

What do you think sets you apart from other pickup builders? Where do Benson pickups fit in the pickup winding world?

I feel what sets me apart is that I am not a very standard type of builder. I love challenges and will keep working with a customer until the “right” result is reached.

I also machine shells or bobbins for customers with special needs with very different instruments.

Sometimes writers and musicians have an “ideal listener” in mind, someone who will say about their writing or playing, “Oh, yes, that's exactly what I've been hearing in my head.” When you were designing your pickups, did you have an ideal player or sound in mind for each?

The musicians I build for are more of the bluesier, dynamic player sort of variety.

You wind several different kinds of pickups, even some that aren't “stock” listed on your site. Do you have a personal favorite?

My favorite set that I push mostly is the ‘63 set (neck 6.2K, middle 6.3K and bridge 7K, all alnico5). They are a slightly hotter set, but still retain a “crisp” clean tone due to my winding technique.

They are very dynamic, so you can play a nice jazzy smooth style, then lay into them for a lead with some emotion and tone.

What was the first pickup you ever wound, and what made you do it?

The first pickup I ever wound was a set of single coils. They were a mess!  I used a drill to wind the pickups, with no guides at all, and ended up wasting about a 1/2lb of wire just to make one set. I was very frustrated, and definitely thought at that moment that this was a one-time thing. Then I collaborated with a long time friend who was an electronics engineer/military teacher, named Dave Rose. We designed a winder that took a total of 9 months to create [from scratch] which changed everything.

The reason I attempted to make a pickup was because of some misleading info on a set of “Custom” pickups that claimed a certain person wound them, but did not. So, I thought anyone can do this . . .

What do you think sets you apart from other pickup builders? Where do Rose pickups fit in the pickup winding world?

I think what sets Rose Pickups apart is the thought process that goes into our pickups. Yes, our prices are dirt cheap, which is a great thing when trying to make a dent in a crowded field, but we have the ability to retrieve and pass on details of our pickups that most cannot. For example; we all know about the resistance values of pickups, which can determine what we want from our pickups generically, but what usually isn't released is information just as valuable, such as inductance, gauss strength, and frequency response. Our winder allows us to compete with the Big Boys, and analyze these characteristics in our pickups, fine tuning them to appeal to certain tastes. At Rose we are not just sticking a bobbin on an old sewing machine motor . . . We have learned much about what goes into specific sounds, and the two Rose Winders we created allow us to not only create amazing pickups, but COPY exactly what was done previous. So, if you like a certain pickup, we can duplicate it. We call it “pattern winding.” It all comes into play when trying to find the perfect sound. 

Sometimes writers and musicians have an “ideal listener” in mind, someone who will say about their writing or playing, “Oh, yes, that's exactly what I've been hearing in my head.” When you were designing your pickups, did you have an ideal player or sound in mind for each?

When designing or thinking about pickups, there are so many great musicians throughout history that we all strive to be or sound like. They must come into play when creating pickups since musicians can love or hate those tones. However, not all pickups should be designed around what we already know. I'm sure most winders spend a decent amount of time thinking of new possibilities in the pickup world, that not only better the pickup as a whole, but does not veer far from tradition. Seymour Duncan is the perfect example of this. I was given a book by my uncle that Seymour Duncan had a major role in, and I'm thankful for Seymour Duncan for sharing his knowledge, which can only come with time, trial and error.

Rose Pickups winds many different kinds of pickups both home and abroad. Do you have a personal favorite?

This is a tough question. To me pickups are like candy! I guess my favorite pickup would be the Hermosa single coil. Strat tones are so versatile and instantly recognizable. The Hermosa is that tone.

What was the first pickup you ever wound, and what made you do it?

The first set of pickups I had ever wound was for a guitar I had built my Dad. I was looking for some pickups that would bring out the most of this guitar. I ran into 2 problems in my quest, first being the limited selection available at the local guitar stores, and second being the price of the sets that DID catch my ear. I carved up an old cd case to make the flat work, bought a spool of wire and some neodymium rod magnets. After assembling I wound, blindly, on my drill and installed them into the guitar. That day, I learned why you don't see many neo pickups... The strings would get sucked down to the pole pieces.

What do you think sets you apart from other pickup builders? Where do Reilander pickups fit in the pickup winding world?

I believe our pickups are of an equal caliber to most big-name handwound manufacturers, but without breaking the bank. We strive to answer questions and emails quickly. Whether someone is spending $3.00 on pickup covers, or $200 on a loaded pickguard, everyone gets treated the same . . . as a valued customer.

Sometimes when people write music, they describe an ideal listener, someone who will hear it and say, “Yup, that's it, that's what I've been hearing.” When you make a product like your Vintage Strat set, is there an ideal guitar player you imagine like this, someone who will say that it's what they've been hearing in their head? Or do you try to stick with what you believe to be the best choices?

On some sets, I have had a particular artist in mind. For the most part though, I try to think of a particular era rather than an artist, and sum up the best of that era in my designs. This has proven to produce some extremely versatile sets. While not nailing any one particular artists tone, they get you in the ball park of many artists’ tones. It's a “likeness” while still remaining unique.

One last question: You make a lot of different types of pickups. Do you have a personal favorite set?

Ironically enough, my favorite set is the Vintage Styles. It is such a versatile set. They are hot enough to crunch the tubes when you want them to, and mild enough to be extremely articulate and clear. It's a real workhorse type set, able to cover a wide range of genre's.

About the author: Jon Patton is a writer, musician, and (unfortunately) day job schlub in Baltimore, Maryland. He writes music reviews for Driftwoodmagazine.com and makes guitar noises in the folk-rock band Midway Fair.