GFS Pickups 70's Greybottom Vintage Rock Strat

Single coils Passive non rerverse wound middle, Old School!!

This is what Jay says>
Bridge Pickup 6.8K
Middle Pickup 6.3K
Neck Pickup 5.8K
60's style black fiberboard top plate
60's style grey fiberboard bottom plate
Alnico 5 Magnets
Vintage style Beveled, non-staggered polepieces
Cloth covered leads
Wound like "Hot Surf" pickups to really drive an amp >(Jay always over playing his products but still sound sweet)
Accurate Formvar plain enamel wire
Potted in real Beeswax (mind you it is very thin potting but works)

I bought a Bass wood body 86 Fender Squire lefty black of of Ebay for $200.00 with Ceramic Pickups and a neck to die for except for the fret wires that had been played down to the wood (well it still played good but the neck came off for a re-fret job later project, in comes the All-parts maple CBS neck I am thinking Gilmore!!)

I bought a set of these Rock Strat Grey bottoms for $78.00 shipped came fast nice packing long cloth leads to work with covers are a little tight to take a peak after removing them revealed little potting was done but they still stay as quiet as the can for single???s I may give them a bath down the road.

I noticed the thing about Asian Market pickups are they seem to be a bit odd looking in one way or another, like they are to perfectly made looking, that when you find a flaw it stands out, now I never have held a 50 vintage pickup in my hand but the magnet poll pieces on these seem a little narrow?

But we are talking Low budget Alnico made in Asia.

Reason for changing pickups in the Squire, Ceramic pickups to me Suck..

Easy install just follow the yellow brick road and have Jays schematic ready!!

I am running this through a various number of Amplifiers but just one at this time Bonepicker 22watt Halfbreed tube amplifier hand built by my friend Jim West at bonepickerguitaramps.com This amp covers a lot of Club and Studio ground.. Now back to the GFS Pups!

I started out using DR 11 gauge strings and set the strat up got the action just so by the way these All-Parts necks are the best bang for the buck nice radius but come with slightly thin Vintage 50???s fret wire that I thought I would not like but I was completely wrong!!

Well fired it up little reverb to smooth the tail of my notes off and WoW nice even across the pickup tone, not something that jumps out for attention but nice smooth bell tone, bridge Pup is a little aggressive but well controlled!!

Neck sounds like a Strat Middle is a worker pickup in the 4th.

So as I do some Hendrix, Trower & Gilmore space Blues, and Yes SRV stuff from time to time (lets throw that poor soul into the mix) as well as Country, Jazz, Swing finger style I decided on replacing the strings to DR 12 gauge strings and drop to D tuning I could go to E flat but I decided to do something Baratoneish here, and this is where these pickups sound the best for me wide and full of breath nice rick fat as well as spanky in the 4th Chicken Picken heaven Keeley 4 knob compressor and slap back.
Nice sweet low tone Early Wind Cries Mary bottom heavy cords in the neck and blistering metal if you want in the bridge using my SansAmp Rack, these pickups Bleeds Trower with Prescription electronics Vibe Unit and of all items H&K Warp Factor the combo does stunning Trower.

In short they sound middle of the road very likeable all purpose Pickups at a normal set up, but heavy gauge strings and down tuning make these pickups a class A tool.

Yes I would buy these again but Jay never seems to have this stuff for more that a year or two and then you never see it again, just look at the list on Harmony Central and over half of them are never to be seen again, I have a small Mini Humbucker I bought 9 years ago for my Tele Neck called an Austin Mini Toaster pickup that just is a sweet pickup, every one that plays my Tele says where did you get this pickup I tell them and but now they are gone forever according to Jay.

These are cheap in price not to buy a set been playing for over 25 years, have lots of hand built hand wound you name the price some stupid, for the $78.00 worth a look.

I like the Submit review question at the bottom If Jonny had Ten Apples and Gave Eight to Jane how may Does Jonny have left.. Stupid Just have Submit and be done with it LOL!!

Bridge Pickup 6.8K
Middle Pickup 6.3K
Neck Pickup 5.8K
60's style black fiberboard top plate
60's style grey fiberboard bottom plate
Alnico 5 Magnets
Vintage style Beveled, non-staggered polepieces
Cloth covered leads
Wound like "Hot Surf" pickups to really drive an amp
Accurate Formvar plain enamel wire
Potted in real Beeswax

Replaced a Set of Ceramic pickups from my 86 Fender Japan Squire Stratocaster also replaced the neck with a CBS Bullet Chicken head maple neck from Allparts wit ha Reverse 70???s Decal for a lefty as myself!!

Never the Less Japan Fenders from the 80???s are some of the best built guitars of that time.
The Squire needed a Fret replacement and that will be another project as these necks are sweet as well, on with the pickups Ceramic pickups are not my cup of tea so for $70.00 I tried these .

The output on these are just what I expected as Jay tends to overkill his products, didn???t want anything over the top just vintage Strat tone, and that is what I got Stratty tone Quack in the 2nd and 4th not reveres wound in the middle so as other have found out you get a hum but you will slightly recognize it on stage. Very well balanced set of pickups..
My rig is rack unit at this time running into a Bonepicker Half Breed 22 watt all tube amplifier Jensen Jet Black Bird 100watt alnico 12??? my rack is set up as follows Juice Goose power conditioner, Tube Works B.K. Butler Real Tube II, Chandler B.K. Butler Tube Driver, Tech 21 SansAmp the original, Rocktron Hush II-B noise reduction system, ADA Micro Cab (this thing and these Pickups alone sound so much like Hendrix Fat clean sound on Electric Lady land tubby and sparkly tone) Alesis NanoVerb, Lexicon MPX-100 BBE 462 Sonic Maximizer. Floor stuff is whatever I feel like using at the time Ernie Ball 250k Mono Volume pedal at all times.
I play an array of guitars Heritage Les Paul???s and Heritage 535 three other Strats Two Telecasters and a Les Paul JR..

But I have been hooked on these pickups started out using 11???s DR???s but switched to 12???s at D tuning get the fattest Stratocaster tone think SRV, Hendrix Trower well you know.
But position 4 with this tuning gives me a fat country sound that no Tele can touch.

Who the HE** destroys pickups?

I have been playing since 1977 it is 2009 and have had to much stuff, some good some bad and some stuff I should shoot myself for selling to get bad stuff.
I would like to try a set of the other Grey bottoms pickups but at this point Why? I am in Bliss and would gladly get another set if I had to..
For $70.00 shipped the other big names can keep it I do have a set of Dual Calibrated Rio Grande Strat pickups in my Ash Strat that are the cat???s meow, but they also cost over $200.00 a set. My 85 Japan 70 Reissue has a set of the first run Fender Custom shop Texas specials from the late 80???s that I will never part with as they don???t make them like the early batches of Custom Shop Tex/Spec. So you can see I have different taste but for this $200.00 80???s Squire it is a match made in heaven.

3 single coil pickups, 6.8k bridge, 6.3k middle, 5.8k neck,

Installed in a peavey predator usa model, replaced stock pickups wich had become microphonic

sound level is just right, not too hot and not too thin sounding, just the right balance to keep that vintage spank!

If these were stolen I,d cry first then run and get me another set quick!!, at 75.00 including shipping these pickups are by far the best deal out there right now!, even amongst high end fralins these pickups shine!!, Better than any fralins ive heard so far!