GFS Pickups '64 Stagger Greybottom

GFS 64" Stagger Greybottoms Overwound. I bought a pre wired pickguard loaded with these pickups and I am really pleased with the workmanship and the tone. The reading for the 3 single coils are aprox. 7k,8k, and 9.6k in the bridge. They have much higher readings than the ones I replaced ie. stock mexican in the neck,a Carvin ap11 in the middle, and a DiMarzio Blue Velvet in the bridge. The quality of the wiring was top notch. All neatly routed and sodered nicely with full size pots (250k)and quality 5 way. Nice work GFS USA!. I do hope that they will offer a variety of switching and wiring options in the future. Like an Eric Johnson tone control set up or a Clapton TBX etc.

Screwed it right onto my late 1980's Japanese Stratocaster but some of the holes didnt line up correctly. This could be a problem for someone that has a nicer American Strat, but for my old mongrol Strat it was no biggie. It only takes a few screws to hold the pickguard on securely anyway. Who needs all 9 or 12 or whatever

After installing the pickups I restrung my guitar with the same set of strings so I wouldnt be influenced by new strings. Well, I guess the best way to describe the new tone is..."sounds like I put new strings on it" Just like a new set of strings gives you a bouncier sounding bass and crisper highs these pickups do the same. They are a bit louder than the pups I replaced but not a much as you would think. Maybe about 15% bigger sound. Actually the highs are perhaps a bit less pronounced with the 9.6k bridge. But that is exactly what I was shooting for with my maple neck bright sounding Strat.

I give this a 9 rating. I played these pickups back to back with my friends Fender 1962 Reissue that had stock pickups in it. I think the GFS set matched the Fenders in every way with perhaps a bit bigger more powerful push. I have bought a number of pickups from GFS and have been pleased with most of them. One word of wisdom I want to pass along regarding GFS ( and probably all) pickups is that a 9.6k pickup is only a little "louder" than a 6.0k pickup. Just like a 10 watt amp isnt twice as loud as a 5 watt amp. So if you are looking for more power in a pickup dont choose conservativly. Go big.

Single coil pickup strat set. mid 60s style pickups with somewhat hot output. According to manufacturer, they are 5.8k, 6.3k, 6.5 k for neck, mid, and bridge respectively. middle pickup is reverse would for humbucking in positions 2 and 4.

I put these pickups in a $50 dollar guitar i picked up on ebay that I used as relic practice. I am replacing the stock pickups, which sounded surprising good for a generic ceramic pickup set - better than squier affiniy or stock fender mexicans. Pots are mini 250k pots..I wanted a more organic sound with a lil extra output and decided on the greybottoms

Output is slightly hotter than vintage. It's definitely on the hotter side compared to the 50s style vintage pickups, which have a cool, smoother sound. I play the guitar through a POD XtLive and then through a valve junior combo amp.

These pickups have a very dry and direct clean tone. Personally I prefer a fatter tone and find these pickups sounding a little thin clean. Overdriven, these pickups have a very nice mid rangey tone which is great for classic rock/pink floyd type music. I like it for overdriven solos but I'm not a big fan of it for clean/rhythm stuff.

The pickups are on the brighter side. I give it a 7 because for me, i find that it's not very versatile for the type of stuff I play. I play blues (i.e. John Mayer), praise and worship, and art-rock (coldplay, radiohead)

I don't think i'd replace these pickups if they were destroyed or stolen. I may give the GFS 1960s repros a try because ppl have said that they sound very similar and perhaps superior to the 69 custom shops from fender. I've been playing for about a year now, but am a tone freak. I have owned a mexican fender strat, a modded chinese 335 copy, and a squier affinity strat.

Matched set single coil Strat type pickups. Staggered pole magnets, fibre bobbins, cloth covered wires, 50's output.

All positions, mounted in partscaster, Allparts body and neck, Fender hardware and controls. Don't know who uses these but plenty should.

Vintage output, well matched and ballanced. Sound and tone are subjective, in my guitar through an A class (old tech.) amp these sound great, just what I was hoping and looking for. These pickups do classic Strat tones very well. They don't do metal etc. but who'd think they would?

Insane value for the money. 3 times the price for big name brands or custom stuff won't give much, if any, more in sound, I have used most of them over the years. These might not be hand wound by Zen masters, using magnets aged for 20 years burried in the garden, or be potted in bees wax drawn from a hive found in Leo's back yard, but they are damn good sounding pickups at a price you won't have to sell a kidney to afford. I bought and fitted one set and imediately ordered another set, enough said. Nothing is a ten, but I've paid a lot more for no better sound in the past, these are worth a go, at worst put them on ebay if you don't like them and you'll probably break even.

Single coil traditional 60s style strat pickups. Very authentic build - grey fiberboard, cloth wires, alnico magnets, wax dipped. Specs as in previous reviews.

Installed in an American Series Strat in all Positions.
Replacing stock Fenders and Kinman Blues Plus.
I changed the stock Fenders because they were noisy, I replaced the Kinmans because I felt the sound was too constricted.

These are hot pickups - they are a bit louder than your average stock pickup. They are calibrated so all positions on the switch are the same volume (if you set the pickups level). It's difficult to describe these pickups - they have a wide range to the tone. Full, percussive bass, warm mids and very balanced highs. They are gentle enough for clean strat sounds and powerful enough for convincing overdrive. The middle position is NOT reverse wound reverse polarity, so positions 2 and 4 are NOT hum cancelling. The upside of this, is that those in-between positions sound amazing. Really 'sprangy'. The ace up the sleeve however is the bridge pickup - this has a big, open sound like a slightly smaller Tele bridge pickup. Not the over middley poky sound of the 2 sets I replaced. I can't recommend these pickups enough - I would put these up against any set of pickups out there. My favourite position is the middle on it's own - so versatile. I would describe them as big, grainy and elasticky.

I've been playing 16 years. I own this guitar and a cheapo tele. I've owned a Charvel, a Fender 60s reissue Strat, a 50s reissue Tele and a Squier Tele Custom II with P90s. This guitar eats them all for breakfast.

I chose this because of the hyperbole on the website and they were cheap enough to take a risk. I had to wait a month for them but they were really worth it.

If they were lost or stolen I would definitely buy another set.

Perfect for David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Richard Thompson, Hendrix and YOU!

OK, I bought these pick-ups as a "loaded" scratchplate. The pick-ups are '64 vintage greybottom staggers with 5.8k impedance on the neck, 6.3k on the middle and 6.5k on the bridge. They are single coil passive . The tone controls have been modded as follows. Top tone is a master for all 3 p/ups. The bottom tone works like this - Bridge p/up selected, tone on 10 - Bridge p/up. Gradually dial the tone knob back to 0 and you blend in the Neck p/up, giving a very mellow jazzy sound, almost like a telecaster. The p/ups themselves give a nice clear response, although there is a slight hum on the neck p/up (not really noticeable when playing. The combinations of pick-ups, I think, give a very clean warm "surfy" sound, exactly mid-60's. The construction is authentic, including rubber adjusters and cloth covered wiring.

I fitted this scratchplate into my Squier Affinity Stratocaster. The transformation is amazing, giving me a very versatile instrument, very similar in sound quality to a Mexican Strat. With this combination, I would quite happily "gig" this guitar with the confidence it would do itself justice. The unit was installed to upgrade the guitar.

Output level is exactly what I need, no "insane distortion" at the top end. Tone on all three is well balanced, giving a warm mid-60's sound.
Being used through either a Fender 15R practice amp or Fender 210R 65 watt twin speaker with a Zoom 508 and Zoom G1x.
I play '60s music, especially The Shadows instrumental style. These p/ups are giving me a lot of the sound I am looking for.

If this unit was lost/stolen/destroyed, I would certainly replace it with the same combination. (After I had hung the thief from the nearest lamp post by his b***s.) I chose this one because it was advertised on e-bay, and I liked the sound of the mod to give the bridge/neck combination. (An effect Hank Marvin uses by the way). So I am well pleased with what I have got.