GFS Pickups Dream 180

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also to post an update (i forgot) on how well-shielded these are. I mentioned that I installed coil-splitting - well there's really not a wee-bit more noise in single-coil mode!

I know a lot of people like the "exposed humbucker" look, but really, the covers aren't just cosmetic - they're shields! But they also look great. IMHO pretty shiny metal covers make a difference: whether your guitar looks like a classy instrument or a prototype franken-axe. Of course, the latter may still be preferred by some people and that's ok.

splittable humbuckers with adjustable poles on both coils. beautiful yellow pearloid inlay on the gold shield cover - I found a matching les-paul pickguard and got looks on top of tone!

neck: 11.5 kOhm
bridge: 13+ kOhm - I guess this is considered "hot" or maybe "vintage hot" but read on - they got tone! I am not one to like hot pickups - I like sweet/warm TONE! That usually means low-impedance pickups. These seem to have both.

My guitar is rather cheap - SamAsh's Brownsville GG1 - it's a loose variation on the les paul theme, but very nicely made - solid mahogany body (and set neck), striped maple top. I have since installed a bigsby vibrato on it. I love this guitar - after my mods it's easily on a par with gibsons in both looks/feel and tone. I am not inexperienced, either, not hyping - I just made sure I was careful when I picked it out. I loved the tone/feel and that's all there is to a good guitar. Pickups are player's choice.

Dream 180's went into both positions. Stock pickups were "ok" (decent, nice and quiet), but I hate ceramic pickups - they're like gourmet food without salt (even the best of them).

Plenty of output, without loosing "soul". I am currently using the Fender Super Champ XD - an amp with a Class A/B power section but with a digital "modeling" preamp. I am by no means a "modeling" person - I hate everything digital (for music). But this amp was getting very good reviews and I was able to find a deal (can you already tell I'm all about deals). This amp sounds exactly like a tube amp (because it is).

Dream 180's are: VERY articulate - even with high overdrive they maintain string definition. Neck pickup has PLENTY of clear punchy bass, not loose or muddy or wobbly. Bridge pickup sounds like a bridge pickup - way less bass, more treble and twang, but that's also due to position, right? I would maybe wish for a bit more bass there, but maybe that's not even possible. Maybe in ensemble situations it'll help "cut through the mix". And yet (with this amp) even the brightest settings don't make your ears bleed.

I also installed coil-splitting (currently 1 push/pull splits both pickups). Dream 180 sounds VERY nice in single-coil mode. Let's just say that I really don't miss not having a strat or a tele (I respect their tones, but never liked their feel in my hands).

These pickups are very sweet-toned - rich harmonically. If that's possible they are both: warm and jangly at once. They have the deep sweetness of PAF and they're "kerangy" like gretsches. I am getting more into rockabilly, but also blues/classic rock type sound, so they're a great match. I don't like being like everyone else, so these seem to give me an edge - a little extra "special" something.

I truly love the sound of these pickups, so can't help but give them a 10. Maybe a 9.5 due to bridge being trebly, but again, maybe that's not even a fair rant.

I've seen a few people with strats/teles who didn't like this pickup in their axes. I happen to think these are more for the lespaul/es335/gretsch type instruments.

Excellent value. I used to have an Epi LP Custom and bought Gibson Classic '57 pickups for it (gold). they were like $150/each! These GFS Dream 180 ($35 each) are same quality, more interesting tone and better look (gold/pearloid) plus both coils are adjustable.

First shot at "modding" any guitar (yeah, after 35 years of playing). I am stunned. I really am. I dropped these in a Chibanez Artcore AS73 335-knock-off, and it morphed this guitar from a bland guitar to...well, you pick you own hyperbole. These pickups are awesome.

The Dream 180's are HB sized pickups that supposedly mix a PAF with a vintage Rickenbacker sound. I don't know about all that. All I do know is that each string is super clear and articulated, and either on clear or OD'd, the guitar oozes tone. I play 3x a week on a church worship team, and I get tons of comments from the band about this guitar now...

Ibanez AS73, replacing the stock HB'ers. Email me if you want to buy the stock pickups..I sure won't be needing them.

Had the pickups installed by Gary at Yancy's Music in Ormond Beach. He's great. Tell him Pat sent you.

I replaced the original pickups because they were muddy and tonally pretty dead. I got the guitar as a Christmas present 4 years ago, and never played it because the sound was so uninspired. This guitar sings now.

These pickups are hot, way more than the stock ones.

Playing through a Digitech RP350 (no amps on the stage), and carefully monitor my sound through an Aviom IEM. Clean or overdriven, these pickups sound good. Real good.

Tone is well balanced.....these pickups are pretty thumpy on the bass end, and pretty sparkly on the treble end. I like 'em.

We're doing a lot of Tomlin/Redman/Hillsong-ish music. If you play at a church, you know what I mean. Pop-rock, U2-ish maybe.

I play rythmn, and they're great for that.

I've had these for around 3 months, and wanted to wait before I posted a review. I wanted to make sure I was over the honeymoon stage, or see if I got tired of these. I haven't and I don't think I will.

Really makes you think about what it would be like to buy up more good guitar bodies and drop these GFS pickups in them....they sure are cheap enough to buy. What a killer way to experiment with different tones and stuff. I want to try their P90's on something.

8.7 impedance for Bridge

Put it in a Squier '51 bridge position

This thing is the you know what.

Let me get right to the point. It is the best pickup I have ever heard, it smokes everything in its path.

It eats gain for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it soars, shimmers, it's lighter than air but with a real rock and roll attitude and a lot of soul. It kicks total .ss. Great for blues, classic rock, you name it.

It is a very bright pickup, but not harsh. Everytime I play it, I hear different tonal characteristics. I think it really occupies it's own territory, it's unique but familiar at the same time. It takes from a lot of different categories, somehow blends them all together in a greater than the sum of its parts way.

It's just jaw droppingly awesome, after I play something I often get one of those "holy ..it" moments.

I've been playing for 5 years, I've got about a dozens guitars, some pretty good ones, LP's, teles, etc.

I don't think it is possible to create a better sounding pickup than this, it's tonal nirvana.

This could be the sound you are looking for, I know its mine!

Get this pickup now, it might change your life!

Passive humbucking pickup, neck position

I installed this in the neck position of an Agile Ghost III. See my review of the GFS Crunchy Rails for more information about my background in pickups. The GFS Crunchy Rails is in the bridge.

I wanted to replace the stock AL-HOT neck pickup (which, as stated in the aforementioned review, was not at all -bad-, but which lacked qualities I was specifically looking for). This pickup is advertised as combining the "jangle" of a Filtertron with the "warmth" of a PAF. Seeing as the bridge pickup of this guitar is incredibly hot and crunchy, I wanted a neck pickup that would have a jazzier character to it, but still have the high-end definition I needed.

This pickup is advertised as "vintage voiced," but "hot." I don't know about the first claim - frankly, "vintage" has a very gimmicky connotation in today's guitar merchant world so I tend to gloss over it. As to the second, while it certainly isn't as hot as the Crunchy Rails in the bridge (which is the single hottest pickup I've ever used, by a wide margin), it is definitely a lively neck pickup. It doesn't need a boost pedal to push a distortable amp into overdrive. However, it also isn't overpowered - it is in fact a very versatile pickup, capable of everything (with judicious use of the volume and tone knobs) from very jazzy, smooth, warm bell-tones to crunchy, full-bodied riffs. It is a great complement to the Crunchy Rails because it allows me to switch easily between a screaming, thick lead tone to a smoother, rounded rhythm tone very easily while using distortion, and it essentially provides the entirety of this guitar's clean tone (frankly, I love neck pickup cleans more than any other - what a lovely, round sound).

The key word is balance. This pickup has an excellent, even balance of tone that lets it respond very nicely and adroitly to volume and tone knob adjustment and amplifier idiosyncrasies. It is the kind of pickup that brings out the positive characteristics of nearly anything you plug it into. Comparing it to the Lace Blue in my Stratocaster, it has more low-end depth and definition without sacrificing the midrange swell and high frequency delicacy that I've grown to love in the Lace Blue. Of course, being a humbucker, it is a bit less responsive to playing dynamics than the Lace Blue, but the world of guitar is one of give and take. Overall, this pickup has an excellent sound, at least to my ears and with my gear.

I am very impressed with its versatility and with its tonal character. I would like to experiment with a bridge Dream 180 to see how it might differ from this neck position Dream 180, but I am so in love with the Crunchy Rails that such a thing will have to wait until I stumble across a project guitar.

If I had the same guitar to do over again, having used this pickup in it, I would purchase it again except faster so that I could get the finished sound sooner. I don't mean to dote, it's just that this really is an extraordinary neck pickup that expands the tonal versatility and general utility of the Ghost III (with the GFS Crunchy Rails in the bridge) to places it would not otherwise go. By blending the bridge and neck in the middle position with the two volume controls, I can get whatever degree of tonal variance I want, and it is a great thing.

I had envisioned this guitar as a guitar specifically for the kind of music I like to make - very heavy riffs and leads layered with melodic cleans. I thought the bridge GFS Crunchy Rails would be -just- for the riffing, and that the neck Dream 180 would be -just- for melody, but the end result has surprised me with its versatility. I won't be retiring my beloved Strat, but I can see it getting a bit of dust between plays now that this axe - and more saliently to the topic, these pickups - are around.

See my other review of the GFS Crunchy Rails for some more comments about the overall rating of these two pickups.

Hello again...another follow up review here.

Installed in both positions of a Jay Turser JT 200 Serpent (LP copy). The guitar is a few years old...from the CHALICE inlay headstock days.

While I prefer the neck Dream 180's sound for clean passages and nice, smooth jazz / blues rhythms, the bridge absolutely rips, with heavy distortion laid on. The clarity and cut of the bridge pickup in heavy distortion mode is wonderful sounding and unbelievably musical while being piercingly clear. It also drips with harmonics and controlled harmonic feedback. Outstanding. You metal guys owe it to yourself to try these alnico magnet jobs.
I have to roll my volume back a tad when using the bridge pickup for clean solos and clean rhythms. It's just too bright otherwise. This is not a problem on the Les Paul. Dial back the volume to 8-8.5 and this guy gets very tasty, indeed. The neck and middle positions are beautiful, played clean. These are the most musical and the clearest humbuckers I have played to date. Others I have tried are: Lawrence 500 XL, SD JB, Lacie Hemi Humbuckers (great pickups!) and Schaller Golden 50.
I'm not sure if JANGLEY is the right word for these but CLARITY of SIGNAL definitely applies. They ring out with punch and musical authority. Put a set in your solid body and never worry about cutting through the loudest background accompaniments. PERIOD! Plus, they sound mucho musica, musica excellante, amigos.

Passive, Humbucking pickup. According to GFS website, the impedence of the bridge pickup is 8.5k. I think the one I received is closer to 10 or thereabouts.

Installed in the bridge position of an Epiphone Dot. I've read reviews here that these pickups aren't quite "jangly" enough for some. But then, they've installed them on solid body guitars. I have to say that (along with the Dream 90 in the neck position) this pickup is quite jangly - almost too much so for my taste.

I'd say these are medium output pickups. On my Heritage Les Paul, I have a DiMarzio multibucker in the bridge position and that is high output. The Dream 180 has a higher output than the stock pickups the Epi came with. I mainly use it with amp modelers straight into the board (Digitech GSP2101, Digitech GNX1, and Digitech Genesis 1). I don't gig out these days, just studio work, so it definitely fits the bill for what I need.

I've been playing since I was 14 - I'm 42 now. I have a Heritage Les Paul, a Jay Turser Les Paul (vine inlay), 2 Jay Turser SG-style guitars (a six- and a twelve-string), the Epiphone Dot, an Antoniotsai SG-style, and a Jay Turser Hofner-copy ("Beatle bass") I'm currently debating putting one of these in the neck position of my Antoniotsai SG-style guitar and matching it with a Dimarzio multibucker in the bridge position.

Humbuckers- supposed to be "PAF meets Filtertron". I'm not sure they are, but I know they're too hot for my tastes. I really tried to like these pickups, but they just don't sound good. They talk about "vintag" sounding on the website but there is nothing vintage about these. I'm not putting in ratings numbers here because it could just be my tastes.

These went in (and came out of) a Hamer Newport. Initially, I had a Duncan 59 in the neck and one of these in the bridge. It sounded OK but the output on this one was so much higher, they were impossible to match through height adjustment. So, I bought the neck too.

I use several good tube amps. The output on these is hot, real hot.
They have one good sound - overdriven leads. The clean sound is sterile and, to me, pretty much unusable. I play blues, rock, country, rockabilly, whatever and I need a real warm clean sound and let the amp do the overdriving. These pickups just get lost in the mix when we play out. They sound like cheap pickups.

I don't want to rip these things too bad because I think I got what I paid for. I was looking for professional quality pickups at a discount price. These are not them. If you're looking for something cheap to play around with in your import guitar or to play in your bedroom, they can be fun and if you don't like them, they're only about $35 each. I chose these on price and on the reviews I read here. I would never buy these (and probably no other GFS pickups). The guy at GFS is very helpful but these look, feel and sound like cheap Asian pickups.

Read my previous reviw for specs.

Jay Turser Serpent-chalice headstoc-old stock. Neck and Bridge

Here's my follow on review, as I promised...
I played with these through several different amps and the sound has really grown on me. I also sat in with a pro player and let him put the Turser through its paces, playing jazz, classic rock and funk standards. He was duly impressed with the pickup vibe.
I like the clarity and the ever-so-slight jangle that accompanies the sligtly fat, PAF tone of this pickup. Extremely balanced output across the entire frequency spectrum. This is up there with the top three favorites of mine, for sure. I love the sound of these pickups.

It took a few weeks for these to grow on me...I'll admit that. When i installed them I had expectations of a more jangly sound, so I guess I was a little disappointed. But the more I heard them through a variety of good amps, the more I liked them! These are good, full range, clear-as-a-bell humbuckers with a nice, subdued jangle and brightness that is very pleasant-never harsh at all. I think they are some of the best pickups I have ever heard.

These are passive humbuckers designed to match the P 100 tone signature with a PAF resistance and a "filtertron" influence. I metered my set at 8K oms for the neck and 8.5K ohms for the bridge. I bought the gold covers to match the hardware on my Jay Turser Serpent. They do look cool.

These went in to a Jay Turser, early model Serpent / Les Paul guitar. I replaced both of the stock pickups with these. The stock pickups were very ordinary sounding PAF pickups...not bad but they tended to lose clarity with high gain.

The output level is about what you would expect from a PAF style pickup. I'm using this with a couple of solid state amps (Roland BC 60, Fender Princeton Chorus, Modified Peavey Transformer 112) and a Fender Champ 25 SE using two 6L6 power tubes. The tone of these pickups is very well balanced. I would characterize the tone as a fatter sounding P100. They don't have the bark of the P 90, nor the jangle of pure Filtertrons but they do have some of the characteristics of both. They are clear and completely uncompressed with a nice, open timbre. As a set they are very well balanced against each other and the middle switch position is nice. I think their finest quality is their clarity and string definition. These are not exactly what I was looking for...but they are pretty nice nevertheless. I'm waiting for them to grow on me because they are so different from what I'm accustomed to. The jury is still out...so I won't give a rating yet, but I really want to like these.
These would be suitable for everything from classic oldies to hard rock. They are probably too weak for the real heavy stuff.

I have three other guitars..another Turser Les Paul with Lace HEMIS, a stock fat strat SA 160 by Ibanez and a Jay Turser Tele with GFS pickups. My amps are two Roland Blues cubes, a Fender Champ 25 se, a Fender Princeton chorus and a Roland micro cube.
I like the clarity of these pickups. The fact that no particular tone quality stands out is a little disappointing...but I've only had them for 4 days at this point so I'll have to put them through their paces in a band setting next. Consider this as an "Initial Reaction" review. I'll do another one in a month or so.

Passive Humbucking, P90 style with a black casing.4-conductor wiring. Bridge position. Overwound alnico magnets I believe. www.guitarfetish.com for specs.

Guitar: Gibson Faded Flying V
Position: Bridge position
Pickups replaced: Gibson 498 and 500T
Other Pickups: GFS Dream 90 in neck
Artists: none that I know of
Reason for change: Gibson pickups were too hot and sterile, I wanted something different and from the GFS line.

Output: is not listed on guitarfetish.com for this pickup, but says it is wound hot.
Amps: Carvin Bel Air 50watt tube, Peavey Triumph 60watt tube
Effects: Diceworks NPN Fuzz, MXR Dynacomp, EHX Chorus
Tone: Balanced, loud and open. Leave the controls on full for SG era Townshend-esque tone. Roll back for a meaty P90 tone.
Style: I play blues/rock. A lot of slide.This pickup is perfect for that. It can do jangly too.

I have been playing for about 8 years and have tried a lot of pickups. Mainly Dimarzio and Seymour Duncans. My favorite combination thus far has been the Dimarzio Super Distortion and PAF Pro. I've been looking for something to compare to it with different qualities. GFS pickups are just that, different. They are unique in look and tonal properties. They react extremely well to your volume and tone controls. To this point I had been looking for a good slide tone. A pickup that was transparent enough to allow open notes to shine and keep distorted notes tight. The Dream 180 is what I was looking for. If you like classic rock, blues, or slide playing you will not be dissappointed. Plus, they are only $35.

passive humbucker. coil-tappable if you so choose.

Installed in an old-ish Epiphone G400 in both positions, replacing the pickups (stock?) that were on the guitar when I bought it used.

I changed pickups because the previous pickups were underwhelming and looked crappy, and because the Dream 180s seemed to have good reviews and they sure did look sharp. They were also cheap enough to buy on a whim without fear of serious regret.

I first tried these with an early 80s solid-state Sunn combo, and they sounded significantly clearer and sweeter than what I had before.

Now I play through a Sovtek Midget and these pickups make it sing. In fairness, everything sounds pretty great through this amp, but I'd say my guitar with the Dream 180s sounds better through it than my friends' Epiphone Les Pauls with stock pickups. Again, clearer and sweeter are the two best descriptions I can come up with.

I like to play dancy post-punk, typically with relatively low gain; I arpeggiate pretty much everything, and these pickups let those notes ring out and intertwine very satisfyingly, so I'd say it's a good match for me.

They also sound solid on power chords and ringy on octaves and seem to work fine for all the standard pop-punk fare. Sometimes when my band is screwing around I'll put it in drop D and joke around with some metal or hardcore; with higher gain the pickups sound appropriately evil yet still pretty clear. But I'm probably the wrong person to ask about the right tone for metal...

I give these a 9 instead of a 10 because I only know they sound better than whatever comes in Epiphones. I haven't heard any of the more boutique pickups that other reviewers have mentioned.

I would buy these again in a heartbeat, especially considering it would only set me back something like 50 bucks.

I've been playing for 7 years and have played in a number of bands, all the while using crappier pickups than these. In the 5 months since I bought these my setup has sounded markedly better than ever before.

I love that for a tiny investment I made a noticeable improvement in my sound. I also love the looks, and I love that I could have gotten them in black pearloid instead of chrome if I'd wanted. How can you beat that?

I'm definitely satisfied with my sound at this point, but I am fairly easy to please. It's also probably worth noting that my preferred style of music does not necessarily place a great emphasis on "tone" or whatever. Still, if these pickups sound good enough to make me care about my "tone", it should reflect positively on them.

Passive Humbucking pu with 12 pole pieces. All black, but available in chrome or gold also. 5 leads for all kinds of wiring choices. Comes with better wiring info than the last set of GFS Dream 90's that I bought.

Installed on a Mexican Strat in both neck and bridge positions. Not using a middle pu anymore. Had to rout out a bigger neck pu cavity. Used Stew-Mac HB template. Wired a master volume with a treble bypass, master tone with a .047 uf capacitor and a 3 position switch. Replacing 3 Select sc size passive humbuckers by EMG. Changed to these because I'm just looking for something different that has a usefull sound.

Didn't put a meter on them yet. Output is satisfying, somewhere between single coil and humbucker. I Have not been inclined to break out the Seymour D. pickup booster! So far I've played them through a Peavey Delta Blues 210, and a Vox Pathfinder. Tone is nicely balanced, perhaps close to the best of both the single coil and the humbucker worlds. Highs are powerful enough for singing overdriven solos in all switch positions, and the lows are crisp and clear like a Strat or Tele. I even like the bridge pu for snappy clean Tele-like tones. These sound good clean, crunchy and overdriven. No pickup is perfect and for me the weak point on these would be the low end. I wouldn't mind just a little more punch, but I am not saying they're bad. You just can't have everything. I like these, satisfied with both the neck and bridge tones.

I would use these again for sure. Ive been playing for 30+ years. I am picking up this Mex Strat with the GFS pu's more frequently than my Les Paul. I chose these pu's for the fair price, the potential for "coolness" and their looks. They deliver on all 3 counts. I find the Guitar Fetish ebay store to be a little quirky. The checkout process is not customer service based. Seems to be set up to make the seller's life easier than it is the customer's. Jay does answer emails quickly, although not always with clarity. I will buy more, as the product is worth the price and the little effort to make the purchase.

Pickup features: humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: guitar
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock gibson
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock
Reason for pickup change: stock pickups went microphonic

Perceived output level: medium output-very vintage sound
Tone: bright, but really well balanced
Sonic evaluation: gibson 1989 sg
vox ac30, fender deluxe reverb
various effects

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: for rock, blues, or anything

Comments: i bought these first for the price. roughly $60 bucks for a pair of pickups. you really can't beat that. after i started playing them, i realized how good they were. really clear, open, bright but never harsh or thin. overdriven, these things really shine. even using an excessive amount of distortion, i still got a very clear tone, never muddy.

Pickup features: Single Coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Jay Turser ES-335 Copy
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: Dream 90
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Blues, Classic Rock
Reason for pickup change: The stock pickups sounded like ass, the were very microphonic.

Perceived output level: These we pretty hot, abou the same as a Seymour Duncan, maybe a little hotter.
Tone: This pickup in the bridge positioon is pretty bright, but in a good way. Through a tube amp this thing sounds amazing. Clean or distorted this thing sounds great!
Sonic evaluation: I'm playing this throough a semi-hollow body guitar hooked up to a Fender Hot Rod Deville and a 72' Bassman 10. I can't say enough good things about this pickup. I read the reviews her but I was still not convinced, I went ahead and ordered this one and a Dream 90 for the neck. All I can say is damn!!! I still can't believe how good this pickup sounds, it has that great blues tone, especially with a little tube screamer kicked in. It has a good clear tone, almost like a humbucker but a little clearer, it's hard to describe but it is some of the best tone I've ever had.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This is great for blues and rock, it would probably be ok for country too.

Comments: I would buy another one of these in a second, as a matter of fact I have. I've been playing for about 10 years in gigging bands and I think I have a good ear for tone. I've always been a hardcore Seymour Duncan guy but these pickups have changed my mind. I'm actually replacing the duncans with these on most of my guitars (I'll probably try different models of the GFS pickups), I can't believe how cheap they are, I'll be able to sell one set of Duncans for two sets of these. This is a great pickup and if the rest of the GFS line is as good as these, well......it's almost too good to be true! Bottom line, these are great pickups for not a lot of money, I'll never buy another set of Seymour Duncans as long as these pickups are around!

Pickup features: 4-wire passive humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Richwood Les Paul Imitation
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Crap stock pickups
Other pickups on guitar: Now both GFS Dream 180s
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Hard 70s 80s Rock, Blues
Reason for pickup change: The original pickups were extremely low output and impossible to play with.

Perceived output level: Medium Hot (similar to Dimarzio PAF PRO)
Tone: Pretty balanced, very tight mid-low frequencies, good harmonic response
Sonic evaluation: Les Paul Copy into a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. The combination is very heavy and chunky. With low gain, very nice tone in both bridge and neck positions. The neck pup doesn't go muddy on the low strings.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Can't think of anything. Its a pretty balanced pickup and should work for most

Comments:

Pickup features: PASSIVE FOUR CONDUCTOR HUMBUCKERS
Impedence or other specs: LOW

Model of guitar or bass: 1979 Epiphone Genesis
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Gibson Dirty Fingers
Other pickups on guitar: SAME
Artists using this pickup: Tom DeLonge
You musical style(s): metal, blues, and experimental
Reason for pickup change: Constant search for the ever-elusive perfect tone

Perceived output level: overwound with a filtertron meets PAF tone
Tone: balanced through and through(not entirely as described, but better!!)
Sonic evaluation: I found these pickups to be the best kept secret on the market next to the guitar that they're on. Crisp jangly highs and a well pronounced low end. Never muddy. They absolutely produce some of the cleanest and most beautiful tones imagineable. With the fender twin reverb and a tubescreamer I got a sweet woman tone that I haven't heard since I used to have a PRS McCarty going through a Bluesbreaker. Unbeliveable!!!!! (Oh, and by the way Epiphone Genesis guitars suck and nobody should ever buy one and inflate the already increasing price of them!)The dream 180's are worth so much more than they go for, and Jay is a real gentleman to deal with. He'll respond to your e-mails and recommend a pickup to suit your playing style.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play everything from classic rock, to blues, to progressive metal,and to experimental effect-laden noise.

Comments: If they were stolen, then first I'd be concerned about the Genesis, then I'd order another set of dream 180's.I have played for a pay-check on and off for nine years and after owning 3 Ibanez guitars, a Fender Strat., Telecaster, Cyclone, as well as a custom B.C. RICH Mockingbird with active electronics and Dimarzio's. I've never been more satisfied with my current set-up and I'd like to personnaly thank GFS for helping me achieve tone nirvana. Now, if Epiphone would just come out with an elitist genesis model.......................Anyhow, just go and get'em while they're cheap and forget about the Bill L's, S.Duncans, Deemarzio's and check out Jay at guitarfetish on ebay.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Custom Built
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Hard rock/Metal
Reason for pickup change: Building a custom guitar from scratch.

Perceived output level: A little hotter than the P-90 style pickups
Tone: Very balanced pickup
Sonic evaluation: I put these pups in a custom build grutar that I hand made. The body is one solid piece of sugar pine (a soft yet very musical pinewood). The neck is Maple with rosewood fingerboard. I don't use any pedals or special setup. I just gun the guitar through my peavey studio chorus 210.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Normally I play thrash metal, but this guitar is for playing blues, jazz and a little rock. I'd say this pup is a good match

Comments: I've been playing guitar for over 10 years now & have been building guitars for a little over a year. In the short time I've been building I've learned alot about the inner workings of a guitar that I never knew as a player. Many people will argue that the woods a guitar is made of won't influence the tone & it's all pickups. In my experience I've found this to be false, the woods do influence the sound. This guitar was made specifically for playing blues, jazz, & a little bit of rock. All the materials including the pickups were chosen for that musical style. The sugar pine gives a nice warm soft tone & the maple/rosewood neck brightens it up just a little. The dream 180 pickups is a perfect match for this combonation. The output level couldn't be better. They have a nice warm sound with just a hint of brightness. They sound excellent with a little distortion & even better clean. Every note is crisp & clear. I couldn't ask for a better pickup. I like that these are 4 wire pickups so you can split the coils. The Dream 180's I bought have the pearloid tops so not only do they sound great but look great as well. I am very satisfied with these pickups. I like them so much that I will most likely use them on a 12 string electric I will be building shortly.

Pickup features: Humbucker with 12 poles
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Neck of a tele
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Various
Other pickups on guitar: DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Hot T
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues, Worship, Ambient atmospheric
Reason for pickup change: Being a pickup junkie, I change pickups the way most people change their underwear. Always on the lookout for a great sounding "Bargain" pickup.

Perceived output level: Very smooooooth and balanced. String definition is excellent..
Tone: Again, very balanced tone. Good highs, Mids and nice, tight bass.
Sonic evaluation: I have read the reviews somewhat sceptically about the GFS line of pickups. For the price, they sounded too good to be true. I usually stick with boutique pickup makers ala Jason Lollar, Steve Kersting, Electrokraft, Novak, etc and DiMarzio and Duncan to a lesser degree. I've been experementing with pickups on this tele for quite a while and have been happy ( neck wise ) with a Seth Lover and an SK Dualtone ll. Due to financial reasons, it was time to re-evalutae my needs and sell some gear. I figured I could get by with lower end pups until things pick up, so the Seth and DT ( along with several others ) had to go. I have a stash of Stew Mac Golden Age ( great pups btw )and a few other old alnico buckers in the parts drawer and was going to stick one in until I can afford a Lollar Imperial. I forgot I picked the GFS Dream 180 up a while ago for $20.00, so when I came across it, thought I'd stick it in while I had the guitar apart so I would at least know how it sounded before I sold it. Well, I believe it's going to stay put until I get the Imperial. I'm very impressed with the tone it puts out. It does remind me of the Seth in many ways but not quite as woody sounding. Close...and not bad mind you, just different. But, it's a tone I really like and it simply kills for blues. It also matches well output and tone wise with the DiMarzio Virtual Hot T I put in the bridge. The middle position yields some very nice tones. The GFS also seems to respond pretty well to the guitars volume and tone controls. Again, not as well as the Dualtone did, but certainly acceptible. It's claimed this pickup is a cross between a filtertron and a humbucker. I'm not sure about that, but I am sure it's a damn fine pickup. Played clean through a vintage tube amp the sound is lush, complex and well defined. Even when adding overdrive in various stages of grittiness, the D-180 did not get flubby or loose it's identity. As a matter of fact, it sounded killer using overdrive. Very detailed with no mush. Every string retained it's definition. Of course, it was not metal type distortion...just good old fashion ass kickin' overdrive. Now I'm anxious to try some of the other pickups in GFS's extensive line.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I'm blues based and everything I play centers around that style. I do a lot of atmosphereic playing using delays, fuzz, overdrives and volume pedal. THis pickups going to do just fine for my needs.

Comments: When I read the various glowing reviews, I tend to think maybe they are coming from an unseasoned player or one who has not tried a lot of aftermarket pickups. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a snob by any means. I'd use a $2 pickup ( and have ) if it sounded good. That said, I was a bit hesitant to jump on the GFS bandwagon after so may glowing reviews. Suffice to say...this pickup ( regardless of cost ) is the real deal. Still, this will be a stop gap pickup for me until I can afford ( medical hard times and even a $150 pickup is out of the question at this time ) a Lollar Imperial. At that time, I'm sure it will make it's way into the neck of one of my other guitars. I am very pleasently surprised at the tone this beauty ( gold frame and pearloid top ) puts out. If you play blues, rock or country, check one out. It responds very well to picking nuances. I usually like to have a bucker in the neck and a single coil in the bridge, but I could see having two of these in a guitar. The tone ( while humbucking ) has a lot of single coil quailites. No mush...just open, articulate tone. This pickup ( along with the Golden Age ) is a great bargain imo. I'm giving it a big fat 10.

Pickup features: Passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: ?

Model of guitar or bass: Schecter C-1+FR
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: same
Artists using this pickup: Me
You musical style(s): hard rock/metal
Reason for pickup change: Bridge PUP shorted out.

Perceived output level: Not terribly hot. Actually, it sounds great clean, and needs a boost to send a tube amp into overdrive. Not a bad thing
Tone: The most balanced pickups I've ever tried. Basically just what I was looking for. The bridge is lacking some bass response, but it still sounds great
Sonic evaluation: I play through fender amps and other vintage tube amps. The Peavey Supreme, which will be my next purchase, sounds great with this. I really like the balance.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Hard rock/metal

Comments: I would definately buy these again. They really helped in finding the tone I wanted. I would say they could use more output, but the tone makes up for it

Pickup features: Humbucking - PAF / Filtertron cross.
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Ibanez AF75D
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Jazz, roots, etc.
Reason for pickup change: Wanted a clear, brighter pickup

Perceived output level: Definitely hotter than stock.
Tone: Bright, but balanced.
Sonic evaluation: These pickups sound great. Very quiet. This pickup fixes the problem with a PAF style humbucker - lousy highs. The pickup has great highs, but is not harsh.
I'm using this guitar with a Mesa Heartbreaker.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great for Jazz, rock, rockabilly.

Comments: Been playing for 30 years I own a Gibson Country Gentleman, Gretsch 6120, strats, tele, Les Paul, etc. All great guitars but this cheap Ibanez plays great but sounded bad. With the Dream 180's it sounds great. At a price that's appropriate for a $300 guitar.
This pickup is similar to the pickups on the Chet Atkins designed pickups on the Gibson Country Gentleman (the Filtertron was designed for Chet also). It has the range of a PAF but some twang and very clean.

Pickup features: Humbucking, passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Sanatoga (PRS Knockoff)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Cheap Chinese PU
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): All Styles
Reason for pickup change: Wanted a different sound. Actually, the original Ppups sound the same as these.

Perceived output level: The same out put as my Yamaha SA2000 humuckers, much less than my Steinberger EMG 85's
Tone: Balanced tone
Sonic evaluation: I am using a roland GP100 through a peavy stereo chorus 400 running a seperate cabinet for stereo imagery. I bought these becuase they were advertised as PAF meets Filtertron which sounded kinda cool. They were also advertised as extremely hot. They sound like standard humbuckers and are not hot at all. They aren't bad, mind you, just nothing to write home about.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: Would I buy them again? Probably not. although I will say they look really cool. Gold hardware with mother of pearl centers.