Having had some time with my recent squire Cabronita baritone purchase I am now ready to start down the ol mod path. So ensues the search for suitable replacement pickups and electronics. My main complaint with the current p90s (usually I love p90s) is that they are pretty muddy even with the bass side dropped and they are quite microphonic at high gain. Not looking to drop Lollar/Fralin/even SD monies into a $300 Chinese guitar and so came across the GFS offerings. Really leaning towards their fat mini humbuckers that come in a soap bar sized ring, but they also have filtertron style and standard p90. Again, I want something that maintains low end, but also has clarity so chords don’t sound like flatulence and doesn’t squeal when playing through a boosted rat. What say you?
Baccalaureates of the Baritone, your (pickup) opinions please.
- Thread starter Diynot
- Start date
Alan W
Well-known member
I have Wilde Alnico Microcoils in mine, and think they are wonderful. But, they’re only made in Tele and Strat formats. I’m looking at another Baritone, from Grez, that uses Lollar Goldfoils, but yes, $$.
If the Cabronita has a pickguard surrounding the pickups, you could make the Microcoils work though. They are very hi-fi, powerful for single coils, really also quiet (for single coils). They were Bill Lawrence’s final pickup designs — if you know who he was, that should be enough of a recommendation. Having such a hi-fi pickup lets you start with a huge tonal spectrum, that you can easily truncate if desired. Even better, they are priced very reasonably. Bills wife or daughter, who share running the business now, custom wind them to order. I also have some in my Strat.
If the Cabronita has a pickguard surrounding the pickups, you could make the Microcoils work though. They are very hi-fi, powerful for single coils, really also quiet (for single coils). They were Bill Lawrence’s final pickup designs — if you know who he was, that should be enough of a recommendation. Having such a hi-fi pickup lets you start with a huge tonal spectrum, that you can easily truncate if desired. Even better, they are priced very reasonably. Bills wife or daughter, who share running the business now, custom wind them to order. I also have some in my Strat.
Alan W
Well-known member
Mentaltossflycoon
Well-known member
I have gfs humbucker sized p90s in my Bari and I love it.
Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, I have a ‘74ish 335 that came with Tarbacks that I believe were his design. They were in pretty rough shape and a previous owner had replaced them with a dirty fingers set so I ended up selling them. That aside, the cabronita doesn’t have a “full coverage” pickguard. I would have considered some lipstick pups had that been the case.
What wind spec are they? Also, do you know what pot values you are using? Tried to measure mine and they were coming up with a ridiculous 3k!? I know there can be circuit interactions, but seriously?
Mentaltossflycoon
Well-known member
Pretty sure they're dream 90s but this was in like 2008. My thinking was that most baris I'd seen had either Jag or lipstick pickups so I figured start with single coil but make it easy to swap to humbuckers. I haven't felt the need to try anything else because it sounds fantastic.
dawson
Well-known member
I play a Reverend baritone that's wired with a 'Bass Contour' control, which is simply a knob that passively subtracts bottom end from the signal.
It's basically an 'Un-muddy' knob- I installed one in an extra-woofy Gretsch and it's a brand new guitar without changing the pickups.
Good luck on the search!
It's basically an 'Un-muddy' knob- I installed one in an extra-woofy Gretsch and it's a brand new guitar without changing the pickups.
Good luck on the search!
DGWVI
Well-known member
My absolute favorite pickups are Lace Alumitones, so that would be my first suggestion.
As for GFS- I've used their Gold Foil P90 humbuckers, Hot Nashville Minis, and SoapBar 180s. Of those three, the Gold Foils and Hot Nashville's were my favorites, though I didn't have them at the same time, so never got to do a head to head comparison.
The GoldFoils were extremely jangly - (don't seem to have a vid with dirt, sorry)
I was quite fond of them, but got rid of the guitar during one of my purges
EDIT- there's some dirt at the end of this one-
The RD looking thing in this vid is equipped with the Hot Nashville, but it's kind of a whole song thing
And, here's a Flying VI I built a while back. Equipped with the Wilkinson stacked p90 humbuckers. Surprisingly awesome sounding pickups, super loud and clear, and affordable
Another option could be the Artec Lipstick humbuckers. They fit in the P90 mini humbucker mounting rings, and sound great -
As for GFS- I've used their Gold Foil P90 humbuckers, Hot Nashville Minis, and SoapBar 180s. Of those three, the Gold Foils and Hot Nashville's were my favorites, though I didn't have them at the same time, so never got to do a head to head comparison.
The GoldFoils were extremely jangly - (don't seem to have a vid with dirt, sorry)
EDIT- there's some dirt at the end of this one-
The RD looking thing in this vid is equipped with the Hot Nashville, but it's kind of a whole song thing
And, here's a Flying VI I built a while back. Equipped with the Wilkinson stacked p90 humbuckers. Surprisingly awesome sounding pickups, super loud and clear, and affordable
Another option could be the Artec Lipstick humbuckers. They fit in the P90 mini humbucker mounting rings, and sound great -
Last edited:
I do love the Reverends. They have the Railhammer pickups, correct? I have never actually looked at the wiring for the bass cut knob, what is it exactly?
dawson
Well-known member
Indeed- the model I play has the Railhammer Humcutter pickups. I'm super happy with them but the bass contour is crucial to avoid the common flapjackery that can come along with low tunings.
I believe this is accurate:
If I remember correctly, I used a C1M instead of B50K in the Gretsch.
I believe this is accurate:
If I remember correctly, I used a C1M instead of B50K in the Gretsch.
@DGWVI I knew you’d come through. Thanks for all the vids. I like the way you shake that explorer
. Those Hot Nashvilles though
. The Wilkinson were a close second. The goldfoils sounded great with the dirt, but a little too jangly (for my tastes) on the clean, same for the lipstick.
Thanks @dawson. I was in love with the descent when they first came out, but the $$ was a little more than I was willing to drop. Now, too bad there isn’t a C500k/1M stacked pot so I could add that w/o drilling another hole.
. Those Hot Nashvilles though. The Wilkinson were a close second. The goldfoils sounded great with the dirt, but a little too jangly (for my tastes) on the clean, same for the lipstick.Thanks @dawson. I was in love with the descent when they first came out, but the $$ was a little more than I was willing to drop. Now, too bad there isn’t a C500k/1M stacked pot so I could add that w/o drilling another hole.
DGWVI
Well-known member
The Hot Nashville's have some jangle, too. James insisted on a metal oriented vid for that demo, as the customer base for most of our guitars has been metalheads. Comparing to say a Firebird pickup, they definitely have a lot more upper midrange presence.@DGWVI I knew you’d come through. Thanks for all the vids. I like the way you shake that explorer
Thanks @dawson. I was in love with the descent when they first came out, but the $$ was a little more than I was willing to drop. Now, too bad there isn’t a C500k/1M stacked pot so I could add that w/o drilling another hole.
I guess I should have noted that the dirt I use is mostly Rat with Big Muff for the heavier stuff, and those can sound kinda thin by themselves. James was using some fancy amp-sim
Mentaltossflycoon
Well-known member
Speaking of baritones, check out this poor thing. Listed on reverb for like $1700. I guess there must be an up charge for the extra tuner hole. I feel like there have to be worse aesthetic choices in bridges than a pickup free tele bridge but I can't think of any.
Soooooo, they went through the trouble of plugging bass tuner holes, but just couldn’t route for another pickup!? This screams “I had this random hardware on hand and no fucks to give”. Seriously though, you plugged 4 giant holes and you couldn’t be bothered to plug the smaller one? Was this supposed to be a 7 string conversion of some sort maybe?
DGWVI
Well-known member
I have a Bronco I've been meaning to convert.
After seeing this, I think I'll bolt some humbucker rings to it randomly and ask $3200
Mentaltossflycoon
Well-known member
Don't forget the extra hole (phrasing)
Paradox916
Well-known member
Not trying to be a “D” but as someone who plays in drop tunings down to F# with high output pick ups…. The volume knob on the guitar works wonder for me in this department. But if you still want to replace your pups I can’t imagine cheap Chinese pups sounding any good.
dawson
Well-known member
Do you have treble bleed units installed on your volume pots? It’s not just the feedback on high gain. Maybe I’m just looking to fuck around with a cheap guitar……and then sell it for $$$$$