Members John Backlund Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 What brand would you choose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 Kent Armstrong. I would probably also opt for the ones that are slightly shorter and have a Strat style mounting tabs. But if you wanted to hide the screws, you can mount the traditional Dano style with screws from the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Backlund Posted December 3, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 Originally Posted by Wyatt Kent Armstrong.I would probably also opt for the ones that are slightly shorter and have a Strat style mounting tabs. But if you wanted to hide the screws, you can mount the traditional Dano style with screws from the back. Exposed mounting screws are ok for this appication. Thanks, I'll look into them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alecto Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 Seymour Duncan makes a fine lipstick pickup, for both Strat-style and Danelectro mounting applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 I know I sound like a broken record on this, but the GFS ProTubes are about the best pickup I have tried from them... okay maybe THE best. Don't let the price fool you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HP Hovercraft Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 Seymour Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Backlund Posted December 3, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 They're going one exactly like this...the builder has asked me what brand of chrome lipsticks I would prefer to have installed in it and I really have no idea, so here I am. I suppose either Seymour Duncans or GFS pups then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 I bet those who've heard the SD's haven't heard the GFS or Armstrongs... and the other way around. I get the feeling you'd be satisfied either way. You could venture into youtube demos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Backlund Posted December 3, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 Originally Posted by axegrinder I bet those who've heard the SD's haven't heard the GFS or Armstrongs... and the other way around. I get the feeling you'd be satisfied either way. You could venture into youtube demos. I could save the builder some bucks by using the GFS's, and if for some reason I didn't like them (highly unlikely), I could just swap them out for SD's on my end. I think that might be the sensible way to go. Thanks everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 A buddy, whom I greatly respect, absolutely hates the GFS lipsticks. I've not tried them, but defer to his ear. Older Danelectro's - first few reissues with Alnico magnets - sound particularly nice. I matched a Dano with a RWRP Seymour Duncan and they are a great pairing. I've not tried Armstrongs but the 2 pickups I do have of his [one Korean made and the other custom shop] are both excellent so I'd have some confidence in his offering. You need the one's with the Alnico magnets to get the sweetest tonz IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virtual Pariah Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Anybody compare the Squier Surf lipsticks? I'm really drawn to the looks, but hope they sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Verne Andru A buddy, whom I greatly respect, absolutely hates the GFS lipsticks. I've not tried them, but defer to his ear.Older Danelectro's - first few reissues with Alnico magnets - sound particularly nice. I matched a Dano with a RWRP Seymour Duncan and they are a great pairing. I've not tried Armstrongs but the 2 pickups I do have of his [one Korean made and the other custom shop] are both excellent so I'd have some confidence in his offering.You need the one's with the Alnico magnets to get the sweetest tonz IMHO. Wow that's the first negative review I've heard on the Protubes. Your friend may have a better perspective than most with all the different brands. FWIW GFS claims to use Alnico II magnets in their lipstick pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jw10 Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by axegrinder I know I sound like a broken record on this, but the GFS ProTubes are about the best pickup I have tried from them... okay maybe THE best. Don't let the price fool you. What is that guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 He's a real cork-sniffer and works in the MI biz designing hi-end stuff. I've not heard them myself, so he could be throwing attitudes. OTOH I've heard both the Dano's and SD's and like them both. Chandler used to make them - may still if you email Adrian over there - custom-shop lipsticks! Apparently they were the first to start re-issuing lipsticks back after Dano went out of business. BTW OP - that's a very sweet looking ax you're getting built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 I've only heard some demos on youtube of the gfs lipsticks and they sounded good. I have a set of Duncan lipsticks in a strat and they are nice, but were quite pricey IMHO... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by jw10 What is that guitar? That's a Malden Utopia (basically a strat with a JM body). Korean made and imported by Joe Malden. He sold off his import line and was supposed to be starting up US manufacturing, but I never heard if that happened. You may still find a NOS guitar for sale online somewhere. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...a/IMG_5449.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Verne Andru A buddy, whom I greatly respect, absolutely hates the GFS lipsticks. I've not tried them, but defer to his ear.Older Danelectro's - first few reissues with Alnico magnets - sound particularly nice. I matched a Dano with a RWRP Seymour Duncan and they are a great pairing. I've not tried Armstrongs but the 2 pickups I do have of his [one Korean made and the other custom shop] are both excellent so I'd have some confidence in his offering.You need the one's with the Alnico magnets to get the sweetest tonz IMHO. IIRC, Kent Armstrong/Sky Pickups was the original OEM supplier for the Dano RI's before Dano decided to sell their own aftermarket. They also supplied some PU's for the USA-era Reverends and may have been the supplier for the Ibanez Talman and the Charvel Surfcaster.Kent Armstrong built a reputation as *the* go-to man for lipsticks (Bill Lawrence taught him when Bill worked for Kent's famous father Dan Armstrong), he'll handwind them in the UK for $$$ but people love the Sky-made imports as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 If that's the case, call Kent Armstrong and get him to roll some special's. I have a custom made 7-string jazz floater that's awesome. Kent is great to work with and not as expensive as you might think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Virtual Pariah Anybody compare the Squier Surf lipsticks?I'm really drawn to the looks, but hope they sound good. Love everything about my VM Surf strat. The Duncan Designed LS-102 sound like vintage strat pickups to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 I put one GFS lipstick in the neck of a Squier 51. I thought the GFS was decent but not as nice as the lipstick in my 1965 Dano. To be fair, I did not compare the two pickups in the same guitar. I've never tried the Kent Armstrong or Seymour Duncan lipstick pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jimwratt Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by John Backlund They're going one exactly like this...the builder has asked me what brand of chrome lipsticks I would prefer to have installed in it and I really have no idea, so here I am. I suppose either Seymour Duncans or GFS pups then. Man, that's a cool looking guitar. Who is the maker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Backlund Posted December 4, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by jimwratt Man, that's a cool looking guitar. Who is the maker? Thank you!The guitar is one of my own design, the 'JB-1100 Marz 6' (as opposed to the 'Marz 12'). The example in the photo is currently being built by Marco Krijger, who lives in the Netherlands. His is the first of this guitar design to be made. He has agreed to build one for me after his is finished, which should be sometime in late December. He will start mine in January if all goes on schedule. He builds guitars for himself as something of a passionate hobby, and does not do it for a living, though he is obviously a very skilled builder.Here's another image of it, and my original concept illustration that he based it on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SPONGEBOB Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by axegrinder Wow that's the first negative review I've heard on the Protubes. Your friend may have a better perspective than most with all the different brands. FWIW GFS claims to use Alnico II magnets in their lipstick pups. Here's another very dissatisfied customer for GFS lipsticks,,, Not sure it was a "Protube'... It was a lipstick dual coil that you could isolate one of coils to run either in bucker or single coil mode.. It was thin, tinny, weak pickup, and sounded brittle, and toneless.. I put it in a vintage Silvertone Jupiter that some fool routed for a humbucker, and had installed a cheap Korean humbucker in,, I wanted to try and get some of the " mojo " back, and figured a coil splitting Lipstick would be a good choice... NOT!.. The crap humbucker that was in it sounded 100 times better... Maybe I got a bad one. Gotta watch that GFS stuff... I have installed 6 or 7 sets... Most just didn't sound very good compared to better made pickups, and a few were ok... I would get the best quality lipsticks I could afford if they are going into a decent guitar, and forget about trying to make the cheap stuff work... Just my $.02.. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitarfetish Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Bob- Sorry to hear of your experience with the Protube humbucker. If you were getting ANYTHING remotely similar to "tinny, brittle or toneless" I fear something was not wired correctly- i do hope you had a chance to communicate this to us so we could try and talk you through it. The Protubes use AII magnets so they're particular smooth and warm- NOT a high output pickup at all, so compared to even a cheapo ceramic humbucker found on most imports the protube HB will be lower output, but substantially smoother and warmer with that little bit of shimmer lipsticks give you. Unfortunately on the 'net you do get people who criticize the entire line based upon an experience with one particular pickup, but we've had so few complaints about the tone of the lipsticks I usually like to look at installation issues first. The Dano pickups also sound really cool- but they are longer and would require a custom pickuguard to mount on a Strat. As with anything that makes a sound- tone is subjective. There is no piece of the protubes, for instance, that is in any way of lesser quality than most of the other lipsticks that are on the market- It's just wound to a specific tone that pleases me. Other than that- how's everybody doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted December 4, 2012 Moderators Share Posted December 4, 2012 I've installed the low wind GFS Lipsticks and they were very decent, the low wind and the Alnico II is a sure recipe to get that sweet jangle, but I must defer to the Kent Armstrongs, they just have more complexity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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