Rumpelstiltskin Pickups Custom Wind Strat Pickups

I asked Aaron Campbell (owner) for a set of pickups similar to the custom shop '69 set by fender but a bit more underwound. The options he gave me were endless: wire type, bevelling, magnet type. I think he could do just about anything you asked. There were too many options for me, so I essentially told him what kind of sound I wanted and let him help me with the decisions.

These are single coil active pickups. They're non-calibrated and non reversewound. The impedance on all pickups is about 5.3, which is what I was after.

I put these in a Jimmie Vaughn strat. I had replaced the Tex-Mex pickups that came stock because they were a bit too overwound. Initially, I put a set of tonerider pure vintage pickups in their place. They were nice, but lacked complexity. I was saving for a set of custom shot '69's when I stumbled across Aaron.

Output is not strong, which I really like. To me, these pickups quack in the inbetween positions about as much as any I've ever heard.

There's a very strong classic vintage strat tone here. Underwound and very musical with strong mids. It's as stratty sounding as I've found. I like all positions very much. Before I stuck mostly to the neck and neck and bridge combo. Now, I play in all positions, though, I probably spend the least amount of time in the bridge. The bridge works best with the tone dialed down a bit. The only thing I would change about this set is to strengthen the output on that bridge pickup a little. But that's a small gripe, and Aaron surely would have done that had I asked.

These are great pickups. The price has increased since I bought this set, but, yes, I would definitely buy another set from Aaron. In fact, I probably will at some point. Right now, the problem is that I enjoy the set so much I can't imagine wanting anything else.

single coil, alnico 2 magnets, heavy formvar wire

Fender Deluxe Player Strat

I asked Aaron to wind me a custom set, I wanted a vintage tone with character and warmth, A Fender Fat 50's with more balls and warmth. I was tired of fighting the ice pick highs generated by alnico 5 magnets. He went out of his way to get me a great set of pickups, In the end he nailed what I was after and these pickups replaced a set of Antiquity Texas Hots in my Strat, the Duncans are great pickups and expensive but Aarons are just better in my rig. The guy really cares about his work and wants his customers to be satisfied. His prices are more than fair for pickups of this quality.

would buy again and plan too