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GuitarFetish experience....


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I recently visited GuitarFetish to purchase a GFS 63 Stratocaster pickup set based on some other decent reviews I've read. I usully use Sweetwater but thought I would give it a try.... HUGE mistake !!

 

First of all I located the set I wanted and it CLEARLY stated "1963 Vintage Wound Professional Pickup Set " $24.95. I placed my order on April 14th and added priority shipping for an additional amount. They promptly accepted my order and billed me...I figured cool... Well... My order did not even ship until April 17th and I received it on April 20th..so 6 days with Priority shipping from CT to MN.. Ok fine...until I open the box..

 

Inside is only 1 reverse wound pickup... not the set I had ordered - so I emailed their customer service.. Now he (Sam) tells me that 24.95 is only for 1 pickup and nothing else is even in stock anyway ? Are you kidding me ?? What a comedy this place is... Why didn't he tell me that everything was out of stock when I initially contacted him? Why did he only send 1 pickup and bill me for the set? Oh well...deal with a cheap company and this is what you get. I immediately closed the box and am returning this crap... now I have to eat the shipping costs for return as well.. Nice huh?

 

BOTTOM LINE: STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE !! I can only imagine that these cheap pickups are no better than their customer service, ordering and shipping process.. If I could give 0 stars that would be my review. I ordered a set of real Fender 54 Strat pickups from Sweetwater a few minutes ago... My order has already shipped and will be here in 2 days as usual from Sweetwater. Don't waste your time with this place... there are far better options elsewhere I am sure..

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Is this the page / product?

 

https://www.guitarfetish.com/1963-Strat-Vintage-Wound-Professional-Pickup-Set_p_2093.html

 

That does seem confusing and misleading to me too since it does say "set" and they have pics of three pickups, but it also talks about "positions" and says if you don't see the position you want listed (and only middle pickups are listed) then it's out of stock...

 

And - not to be a jerk, but did you really expect to get three pickups for only $25? That price for three pickups would have set off serious alarm bells for me, considering it's about a third of the typical price for a single pickup. :idk: Getting three inexpensive pickups for the price of one is a good deal - getting three for a third of the price of one is just too good to be true.

 

I do think that they should remove the word "set" from that page though, because it's definitely misleading IMO.

 

 

 

 

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I ordered this exact set, a year and a half ago on the recommendations of a fellow forumite and the set has a very Mark Knopfler sound ....

I agree with Phil, they should remove " set " from the discription.

Luckily, I've have had great shopping experiences and service from them.

​​​​

Edited by AJ6stringsting
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GFS just buys Chinese Artec pickups wholesale and resells them. You can find EBay loaded with the same pickups all over the place.

 

The problem with the Artec pickups is many of the sets are overwound which kills their treble response. The owner of GFS is a boob who seems to relish the promotion of Hot wound as "More is Better" which simply isn't the case. When it comes to winding pickups it involved neither too little or too much. Its all about balancing the winds to the magnet strength to obtain just the right gain vs frequency response. The GFS guy doesn't wind his pickups he just resells what he buys so everything is promoted as being "great" in his ads and that simply isn't the case. Some of the Vintage winds come close to the originals but the hot wounds sound awful.

 

If you are building a guitar and simply needed something that will work, certain sets of the Artec will pass for being mediocre, stock pickups.

If you're looking for an upgrade, you're definitely looking in the wrong place. The price you pay should be a dead give away.

 

The add that guy posted as being marked down from $150 is total garbage too. There isn't an Artec pickup made that sells for more then $50 retail. You can buy the same if you scan ebay. I found this alnico 65 set for $50 on my first search. You simply need to know what the specs are for a set of 63's and do a little digging to find similar results. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Strat-Pickup-Set-for-Stratocaster-Guitar-Hand-Wound-AlNiCo5-ustom-LR-65/323072824138?hash=item4b38a4134a:g:hw8AAOSwXoxaae2W

Edited by WRGKMC
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I haven't shopped at Guitar Fetish in about 8 years, but my shopping experiences with them have always been good from what I can remember. Everything was very affordable, especially their hardware and pickguards. I do own a set of GFS humbuckers, which I do like and currently use in one of my guitars. But yeah, I gotta agree that their item descriptions are a bit misleading. And I also think their old website layout was better, the current layout and design looks really tacky.

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GFS just buys Chinese Artec pickups wholesale and resells them. You can find EBay loaded with the same pickups all over the place.

 

The problem with the Artec pickups is many of the sets are overwound which kills their treble response. The owner of GFS is a boob who seems to relish the promotion of Hot wound as "More is Better" which simply isn't the case. When it comes to winding pickups it involved neither too little or too much. Its all about balancing the winds to the magnet strength to obtain just the right gain vs frequency response. The GFS guy doesn't wind his pickups he just resells what he buys so everything is promoted as being "great" in his ads and that simply isn't the case. Some of the Vintage winds come close to the originals but the hot wounds sound awful.

 

If you are building a guitar and simply needed something that will work, certain sets of the Artec will pass for being mediocre, stock pickups.

If you're looking for an upgrade, you're definitely looking in the wrong place. The price you pay should be a dead give away.

 

The add that guy posted as being marked down from $150 is total garbage too. There isn't an Artec pickup made that sells for more then $50 retail. You can buy the same if you scan ebay. I found this alnico 65 set for $50 on my first search. You simply need to know what the specs are for a set of 63's and do a little digging to find similar results. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Strat-Picku...8AAOSwXoxaae2W

 

GFS's prices have become outrageous in the last few years, due to the success of the Mean 90's, Fat Pats, VEH, Dream 180's and Crunchy Pat pickups.

I own Bare Knuckle, Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, Carvin and 1970's - early 1980's Bill Lawrence.

GFS, Dragon Fire ( TnT Guitars) , Guitar Heads and Tone Rider, even though much less expensive than the established brands, have comparable pickups to the " Big Brands" , without a doubt.

Like beauty, good tone is in ear of the beholder.

 

Edited by AJ6stringsting
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I have a set of Artec rails I got from Allparts I put in an electric mandolin that work great. Artec does a range of product - some great some so-so.

 

GFS is a used-ca-salesman-type who focuses on low prices. If you know what you want and he has it cheap, then everything is fine. If you want something top-shelf, why are you shopping there in the first place?

Edited by Verne Andru
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Did you read the website and description? It very clearly states what you are buying. The middle position pickup in normal or reverse wound is the only one available at this time.. I don't see how you could miss it.

 

 

Cut and pasted from their website ordering form:

 

Please note, if you do not see the set or position that you are looking for, then it is out of stock at this time.

Edited by 6down1togo
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I haven't bought anything form GF in many years, but I did have a great experience with them. I had bought a ash Telecaster body for a partscaster project. When the body came, it had a small chip on the side of the body. After contacting them and showing a photo of the damage they sent me a replacement and told me to keep the "damaged" body. After some minor sanding the body was perfectly usable. The replacement came 3 days later and both bodies became the Tele Twins. I ended up keeping the one on the right and gifted the one on the left.

image.thumb.png.16153a7afc836a413cb66ebf09867624.png

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I really like the 15k ohm "Lil" Killer stacked humbucker, great for a single coiled spaced Stacked Humbucker. Kind of like a Dimarzio Fast Track 2 with more upper mids and more treble.

On three of my S,S,H and H,S,H configured Metal guitars, I put them in the middle, it gives me great pinch harmonics, hard drive even when I toggle the switch between the mid/ bridge possition, no need to lower the volume knob for a fat rythum tone but with my much needed treble.

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I have a love-hate relationship with GFS...I have ordered a number of parts from them....some have been great [bridges], some have been wonderful [Nashville toaster p-ups] and some have been deeply disappointing [guitar necks*].

Why they can't figure out how to negotiate a free shipping deal they can absorb, at least on the small parts like pots, knobs, tuners and bridges, tells me they really are not good business men, just importers of parts.

 

 

 

*I am planning to make a large windchime out of all my unused and disappointing necks after I move.

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Should give you a little guidance and make it clear that the products need to be finished. It wasn't clear that the products would not fit together and needed major adjustment to fit. Wood was good. Also they sent one of the bodies with no hole drilled for the input. That was terribly useless. Had to throw one away. Buyer beware!

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