Hey, look. It's GFS.

[Guitarfetish]

You see- there are like 6 levels of quality in these offshore parts- The best would be the Gotoh/Wilkinson level- which is either Japanese or really good Korean- I've been to the factory in Incheon and it's state of the art.

The lowest is a bunch of folks sitting cross legged on the floor ina "workshop" in Malaysia.

In between you have several Chinese producers, Indonesia, Phillipines, Vietnam etc.

Go to Walmart and look at one of their guitars and compare the look and feel of the parts to even a MIM Strat- with Korean and chinese parts- it's night and day.

But you'd be SO shocked to walk down the shipping department of any of the big Korean factories and glance at some of the "names" these parts are going to ... I did promise to shut up so I'll start shutting up now.

Sometime s"listening" with your eyes is a poor substitute for listening with your ears.

Pickups are subjective- we have ours wound with a certain goal in mind- extended bottom, vintage mid, clear and open high end- lots of other makers go for goosed midrange or rolled off bottom end - or whatever- so I'm sure different brands will appeal to different people.

[CrackerD]

I have a Dream 90 and a Dream 180 and have never found anything to compare FOR THE MONEY (not to mention the good service). Yeah, I'd rather have a Fralin or Lollar, who in the {censored} wouldn't? I'd also rather have 120.00 rather than 30.00. I'd rather have a Porshe, rather than a Volkswagen. But, my Volkswagen is great, know what I mean?
Playing out other guitar geeks ALWAYS say "hey dude, your tone sounds great! What kind of pickups are those?" they NEVER say "hey dude, your tone sucks, why don't you change out those crappy pickups for some high dollar Fralins".
Of course, maybe that is what they are thinking.....

Jay must get so tired of this bull{censored}.

[BowerR64]

I think the pickups are somthing else.

Originally posted by oggy www.artecsound.com

Originally posted by batotman http://www.artecsound.com/main.html

I think the pickups i got sounded good. $40. a pair.

[acravero]

Originally posted by CrackerD Jay must get so tired of this bull{censored}.

 

 

 

For real. I had some of the filtertrons, and they were awesome.

 

(Only reason that's past tense is that i sold the guitar and was too lazy to pull 'em out first)

 

 

Jay--What's the recommendation for a nice twangy Tele tone? PM me when you have time!

[walt0915]

Originally posted by k4df4l true, either way GFS is still a cheap parts distributor...china, korea, or whereever sourced. I doubt anyone thought they were selling a full on custom made line of MIA parts or anything like that. The company (or companies) that make their parts prb make them for a number for different brand labels.

 

 

I haven't seen any of their electronic parts. Just haven't needed 'em. The pots I bought lately were the first in years, so I went CTS. Just sentimental I guess.

 

I neither endorse nor have a problem with GFS. They seem to be an up-and-up supplier for decent guitar parts. But it did NOT look to me like that company was their major supplier. I've seen many of those and truth be told I've lokked more than once for evidence of the GFS line, but haven't seen it. That's why the thread drew me in.

[k4df4l]

Originally posted by CrackerD Jay must get so tired of this bull{censored}.

 

 

comes with the territory IMHO...just think if he was selling big buck MIA parts and accessories what bitching and moaning there would be too...can't please everyone

[CrackerD]

"comes with the territor IMHO...just think if he was selling big buck MIA parts and accessories what bitching and moaning there would be too...can't please everyone"

True. One can only imagine what Lindy puts up with!!!!

[Guitarfetish]

I've been involved in a few high priced "boutique" companies- We made everything by hand and had famous rock stars as endorsers.

Of course now with the internet anyone and their brother can spread total lies and misinformation- Look at the Naylor thread-

But the thing that we have found is that when you hit that sweet spot of something being really good and really cheap- people not only buy them in droves but the compliment you, they say thank you, they give you a chance to make good when a shipment gets lost or a pickup break. These are things that folks don't usually extend to a manufacturer when their products are really expensive. (Even if they are well worth it)

And regardless of the source- all of our stuff is totally custom made from the ground up to our exact specs- even if some of the cosmetics are similar.

[jbford1]

I bought a GFS vintage strat set for my son's guitar, and I like them almost as much as my Duncan Alnico Pro II's... and since they are in different guitars who knows what I would like better if they were switched. I think I'm going to build a parts tele sometime soon and I'll be picking up a set of their tele PU's.


I do love all my MIA stuff, but sometimes the wife doesn't...

rock

bford

[NoirAbattoir]

I've got a GFS roller bridge. It's the cat's ass. You can have for $20 bucks shipped... PM me if interested.

[J.B. Lee]

Is "cat's ass" good or bad? I can't keep up with you kids and your damn slang

[scoutll]

I have ordered from GF a time or two... Good stuff.

I will order again toto:p

[DRPool]

Originally posted by acravero For real. I had some of the filtertrons, and they were awesome. (Only reason that's past tense is that i sold the guitar and was too lazy to pull 'em out first) Jay--What's the recommendation for a nice twangy Tele tone? PM me when you have time!

 

 

Copy me on that PM if you don't mind, I really need to reload my tele as well.

[scoutll]

Originally posted by scoutll I will order again toto:p

Hee Hee:D Cool mis-type.... So will Dorothy & the Scarecrow...
Standin rite here an tole me so.......

[IdaCrue]

Originally posted by Guitarfetish Hi Thanks for the good words- The generic top loading HT bridges are all crap like the one you presently have. We do have a design for a bitchin version with stainless steel saddles that sounds almost as good as a string through- but between mold costs and 5000 pc. minimums we're considering whether to do it or not.

Well if it will help the decision process. I promise I will buy two of the 5000 you have made LOL.......Hell make it 3, that way I'll have a spare.

[TheGZeus,OnFire]

Originally posted by seaofstrings Why don't you simply purchase from there then. You'd probably only have to purchase a couple hundred at a time. If it is cheaper, go for it. In the meantime, I am about to get some of those hot texas singles from gfs, just because I only need one set

I like how you all assumed I was complaining from the beginning. I ASKED if it was a Chinese company.

I said MOST were stock, or at least appeared so.

Everyone sees what they want to and you guys are NOT thinking positive.

However I'm still less likely to buy now that I know they're Chinese and not korean.

Who said i'd rather buy from them. All I was saying is "Hey look, GFS's supplier! Does this look Chinese to you as well?"

Everyone IMMEDIATELY started in with "YEAH! Got a problem with that!!!!????"

It's funny is all.

Marketing is marketing. If you specify that you want a certain model, it's made to your specifictions.

All I was saying there is it's questionable. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. Pay attention to syntax.

[TheGZeus,OnFire]

Originally posted by Little Ricky Does it say the company is Chinese? The address is Korea and the NAMM photos indicate Korea also.

Oh, thanks. I wasn't sure, so I asked.

They concurred, so i went with that.

 

if it IS indeed Koreaa, I'm all over it.

[TheGZeus,OnFire]

Originally posted by Guitarfetish OK I'll bite. We do not buy from this company or any other of the HUNDREDS of Asian based catalog houses. Every single item we offer is ordered directly from the factory. We use suppliers in the USA, Europe, Japan and Korea. Since pickups are a fairly common item thatmust fit into a pre-existing slot- lots of manufacturers use the same covers and screws and bobbins etc.- in some cases items of vastly differing quality look almost exactly the same in a 72 dpi web image. EVERY SINGLE ONE of our GFS brand pickups is designed by us here in Boston. We build hand wound prototypes, and where needed procide Cad blurpints for new molds and fixtures. They are made to our exact specs in Korea. many use USA sourced wire and german alnico magnets. Most of our electronics are based upon a preexisting circuit board topography, but in every case the components and consequently the tone is vastly different from the "catalog house" versions. The bridges and tuning machines are in many cases stock items- in some cases they are custom made for us. You'd be VERY SURPRISED to see where the parts and pickups and various guitar hardware made in the same factories as the ones we use wind up- some very prestigious guitar manufacturers are unpacking the same Ocean containers that we are... I'm a high end guy at heart- 60's Strats and Les Paul Juniors and Lollars and fralins and all the good stuff- but every pickup we sell is something that I would and DO play out with- in front of people- live. If I can't use it we don't sell it. Not sure why some people have such a hard time with good quality stuff that's cheap??

OK. If it's just looks, the it's just looks.

If this ISN'T the company that makes them, but rhather just areseller, then it's just a reseller. These guys turned 2 direct questions into an argument.

Is the factory in fact korean?

[Boogs]

Originally posted by Guitarfetish OK I'll bite. We do not buy from this company or any other of the HUNDREDS of Asian based catalog houses. Every single item we offer is ordered directly from the factory. We use suppliers in the USA, Europe, Japan and Korea. Since pickups are a fairly common item thatmust fit into a pre-existing slot- lots of manufacturers use the same covers and screws and bobbins etc.- in some cases items of vastly differing quality look almost exactly the same in a 72 dpi web image. EVERY SINGLE ONE of our GFS brand pickups is designed by us here in Boston. We build hand wound prototypes, and where needed procide Cad blurpints for new molds and fixtures. They are made to our exact specs in Korea. many use USA sourced wire and german alnico magnets. Most of our electronics are based upon a preexisting circuit board topography, but in every case the components and consequently the tone is vastly different from the "catalog house" versions. The bridges and tuning machines are in many cases stock items- in some cases they are custom made for us. You'd be VERY SURPRISED to see where the parts and pickups and various guitar hardware made in the same factories as the ones we use wind up- some very prestigious guitar manufacturers are unpacking the same Ocean containers that we are... I'm a high end guy at heart- 60's Strats and Les Paul Juniors and Lollars and fralins and all the good stuff- but every pickup we sell is something that I would and DO play out with- in front of people- live. If I can't use it we don't sell it. Not sure why some people have such a hard time with good quality stuff that's cheap??

Somebody just got smacked.

BTW, I just ordered more of the Fat PAFs, and am selling my DiMarzio Air Norton and Fred. Those pups are the {censored}!

[TheGZeus,OnFire]

Originally posted by Boogs Somebody just got smacked. BTW, I just ordered more of the Fat PAFs, and am selling my DiMarzio Air Norton and Fred. Those pups are the {censored}!

Who, the people who said they were made in china?

[J.B. Lee]

Originally posted by TheGZeus,OnFire Who, the people who said they were made in china?

 

 

Originally posted by TheGZeus,OnFire Seriously, take a look. GFS is these with a couple tweaks ona few models. At least we know who's making them. THis IS a Chinese company, right?

 

 

GZeus, your original post really had very little ambiguity about it. You stated that you had found GFS's supplier, and that it was a Chinese company. Then the man shows up to actually defend himself and you start backpedaling and insist that you didn't say anything of the sort (without editing your original posts...DOH!) and actually trying to suggest that it was US who jumped to all those nasty conclusions! I think you'd be best served to admit you were wrong and let the topic die off.

[chiro972]

Well, I'll chime in. I always do. I bought one set of pups from Jay and put them in my SX strat. They didn't have to go far to be better than the stock ones, but they exceeded my expectations by quite a bit. And they were a good deal also.

I am probably going to put new pups in my tele and my '51 eventually and I'll probably be going with GFS again.

[Guitarfetish]

"Who said i'd rather buy from them. All I was saying is "Hey look, GFS's supplier! Does this look Chinese to you as well?"

Fair enough.

I know I should let threads like this slide- but disinformation is a powerful tool. There are any number of guys on ebay who DO buy from this souce, or any of the other catalog houses that have a little 10' x 10' booth at the NAMM show. Buy a $6 pickup, pay $4 for freight and duty, sell it on ebay for $16- a nice little business there. They're even following our lead- "Branding" them and putting them in a box.

That is not what we do, and not what Kent Armstrong or Duncan Designs or any number of guitar manufacturers that go to the same sources as we do to create custom pickups for them.

I like to think that we go well above and beyond what anyone, even the bigger companies do when it comes to producing quality pickups overseas. We design them, we produce our own molds (At considerable expense), we source our own wire and magnets, and find the best quality, lowest cost assembly house.

I would LOVE to still wind my own stuff here like I used to, selling a handful at a time for $220 a set of 3 Strat pickups, but I just couldn't turn it into a business.

And as I said earlier- you'd be surprised at how many $1000 and up instruments use parts and pickups sourced from the same factories that we deal with.

[BlackHatHunter]

My personal - and therefore limited - interaction w/ GFS has been a hugely positive one. Great pickups, great price, no reason to not tell the world about them and the good work they produce. And hell, if they can make good coin out of it, great! I mean, this is *still* America, right?

[TheGZeus,OnFire]

Originally posted by J.B. Lee GZeus, your original post really had very little ambiguity about it. You stated that you had found GFS's supplier, and that it was a Chinese company. Then the man shows up to actually defend himself and you start backpedaling and insist that you didn't say anything of the sort (without editing your original posts...DOH!) and actually trying to suggest that it was US who jumped to all those nasty conclusions! I think you'd be best served to admit you were wrong and let the topic die off.

I THOUGHT I had. I was mistaken.

I ASKED if it was a Chinese company. I had seen something to lead me to believe that. I wasn't sure.

 

Look at what I SAID without INFERING.

 

I asked, then you said "So what?!" more or less.

 

I'd like to let it die....