Stan Hinesley Rogue

Passive humbucker, 15.2k ohm, Alnico VIII

Custom guitar: solidbody bolt-on superstrat. 1 piece mahogany body, 5 pc. laminate mahogany and bloodwood neck, cocobolo fingerboard.

1meg CTS volume pot, 500k CTS tone pot as midrange plus control (also from Stan, which I also recommend). Schaller Megaswitch-P.

Steinberger Gearless tuners, Hipshot Hardtail bridge (6-string) Earvana Compensated nut.

Rogues in both neck and bridge positions, as a calibrated set.

Output - Noticeably louder than stock pickups. It actually keeps rising in output through the entire sweep of the volume, as in, it doesn't top off somewhere around 7 or 8 and then start compressing instead. But that might have to do with the 1meg CTS vol. pot.

Amp - Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 100 head through a 1960 lead cab. No effects, except for midrange control on guitar.

Tone - Nice bass, it doesn't have the usual bassy hum that muddies up legatos or fast leads in the lower range, still provides a some push. Mids are well-balanced for a humbucker, good presence but not honky, definitely more "modern" sounding, provides a nice punch. Treble is superb. Arguably the focus of the pickup, the top-end brings tons of character and definition to the tone, plenty of presence (it can cut through as "leads" should) without being harsh. Very responsive to the pick attack, it has a lot of clarity note-for-note, which can be a double-edged sword, but I approve of nonetheless. To sum it up, the pickup is a great choice for anyone playing fast or technical leads, hi-gain or otherwise, because it cleans up well and retains its character, even at low volumes. Not well-suited for thick, chunky rhythm/chording, it's still good, but the somewhat subdued bass compliments melody rather than rhythm, so there are better pickups specifically for such playing.

Don't worry about those that said only to use it in bridge. They didn't say anything on the neck position, so it can't be assumed that they even tried it. Having rogues in a calibrated set, I can say for sure that it does equally as well in the neck position. Still not going to get a heavy bass response for "supreme" chording/rhythms, but the leads don't suffer a bit, and still cut through. The neck position gives you a smooth, virtuoso tone without losing the note's definition. I'd say this is from the alnico 8. It's just as Stan says: "The drive of ceramic with the character of Alnico"

If it was destroyed or stolen, I would definitely buy it again. Better yet, get some insurance, it's well worth it.

I've been a serious guitarist for about 6 years. I've played on a lot of different setups and equipment, but only own a select few effects/accessories and a couple of amps. I have what I might dare call a small collection of custom instruments ranging from a bariton flying-v to a classical guitar, as well as my trusty old Ibanez RG and dreadnaught Washburn

I love the clarity of the rogues. In a stream of 64th notes, each one comes out cleanly. I've never had a pickup with so much... character. Tone aside it just has a voice all it's own that can't be measured in bass, treble, mids, etc. The only thing I can find lacking is that thick drive for rhythm, but I knew that when I bought it. It has a delicate, powerful tone made for leads.

The baseline pickups I was using for a lot of the comparison are the DiMarzio manufactured pickups in my stock Ibanez, because they sound good without really standing out it any single area. I have a hot Armstrong humbucker and a REALLY hot lace sensor dually in my baritone, but, as it is an entirely different beast have excluded from comparison. They were the highest quality pickups I've owned and thus had the time to familiarize with, but I digress.

I am very satisfied with the rogues, and I can't wait to try out some more of Stan's work. We hit a snag when some of his suppliers fell through and the wait was on, but he remained very attentive to me as a customer and has gone to great lengths to ensure my experience was a pleasurable one.

Much more can be said about the rogue, some of it I'm sure only for my rogue and each person's own, since they are individually made and possess a little something unique to each individual pickup.

If you want to hone in on my tonal definitions a bit more (punchy and muddy to me might be boomy and dark to you), or just want to talk shop, I can be contacted at jk10108<at>myway(dot)com. ************************************

Humbucking, Passive, *DC resistance = 15.2k ohm, Alnico 8.

91' Hamer Centaura with an Alder body, (The catalog says Swamp Ash, but it looks and sounds like alder), Maple neck/fretboard. The Rogue is in the bridge position, and rightfully so. It replaced the stock 'Duncan JB. I also have a Stan Hinesley HellCat in the neck, and a stock 'Duncan in the middle position.

The output is relatively loud, my tech called it a "honker" after installing and testing it, which gives testimony to its output.

I play through either an ADA MP2 through a BBE-482 into a mixer direct into the computer, or lately through a Zoom G1K into the mixer and direct to the PC. I have other gear for live playing, but I just don't do that enough to justify writing it here.

Tone? Gobs of juicy sustain that feeds-back rather easily. Snarl and bite! Great attack, versatility, clarity and quiet! Somewhere between George Lynch's tone from his earlier Dokken Days and Joe Satriani. Really, really good for what I do. It is truly a lead guitarists pickup and can be suitable for just about any style of playing.

For which positions is this pickup suitable? Heh. Use it in the bridge or it will hurt you.

If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? I would buy it again, gladly.

I am in my 21st year of playing, and have owned more gear than I can shake a stick at.

It did take a bit to get used to it because of its afore-mentioned clarity. If I made a mistake, I knew it. The tone was so good I had to practice more to iron out my short-comings. I don't mind the means as the results are totally justified.

The Rogue is perhaps the most versatile and expressive pickups I have ever had the pleasure of using, and use it I do. It has a great deal of power, oodles of growling, razor sharp tone and great harmonics, but it has a lighter side that shouldn't be overlooked. On a lower gain setting, roll back the tone knob a bit and bingo! Jazz. Turn the tone knob to full and edge up your highs a hair, and play honky-tonk till the cows come home. At its heart though, I believe it's a lead guitarist's dream come true! This thing is really amazing! Stan, you're a genius!

Humbucker. Bridge. Passive.
*DC resistance = 15.2k ohm, Alnico 8.
custom color: double cream.

I have played loads of pickups in the past, one of my guitars, within 3 years, has known 5 differents bridge pickups... all expensive and great ones but not good enough.
Since I heard luthiers build pickups or modify for customers replacement pickups, I knew playing custom pickups was for me. I'am picky with pickups.. I never found so far that pickup that was good in distortion without being a big handicap in clean tones. I like funk blue grass, shred, jazz and rock.
I had no really clue before how good Hinesley's Rogue was, except Muris Varajic plays it and his tone blows me!
I play the Rogue on a Mayones Setius GTM. Mahogany body, flamed maple top...

Rogue is my first Alnico VIII.
After a minute trial my first thought was:
Damn, I wish I had that pickup before. It's a beast!
The two words that come to my minds are presence and gain. I love this kind of 80's heavy distortion feel. It plays loud and clear. It's agressive and keeps a lot of control and personality. Definitely pro gear, noiseless and I can plug on any amp without worrying about the mix... I specialy enjoy it for developped and technical guitar riffs... I do not mind to split it as well for my leads because it seems a bit too much for my very lead style.

Stan says the Rogue has "the drive of ceramic with the character of Alnico" wich perfectly tells the feel it gives.
I give an extra 5 stars for its clean tone ability when splited which seems to be Stan's trademark. For the price you get more than a metal headz humbucker but also a single coil that hasn't much to envy to a genuine strat pickup. This makes the Rogue full worthwhile.

If you are not satisfied by your pickups and tryed a few ones already, you'll soon or late go for custom pickups simply because they are superior.
I have played models such as Seymour Dimebucker/Emg81 and I find the Rogue pretty agressive. I can not imagine how blasting the Hellion might be.

Humbucker Passive Bridge

Ibanez RG Series
Bridge
Replacing original Dmarzio
I wanted to change to pick up with more clarity

I play a number of different styles on this guitar mostly high gain lead rock. Satrianiesque I suppose.

I am recording through pc based software so I wanted a pick up with clarity.

This guitar absolutely screams with this new pickup! harmonics will ring for days. It's absolutley wild and I love this new tone. I had to fiddle with a few knobs on my amps because there is a distinctive difference from the old pick up. I also get alot more precision out of my tone controls on my guitar. If you want impressive highs with lots of clarity and buttery smoothness then look no further. Cheers Stan!

When I was lookin for a handwound pickup I did alot of research and decided to by Stans through listening to his mp3 on his webpage. Dont judge by the visual quality of his site, use your ears they sound great. And his price is also quite reasonable.

This was also an international buy. I think I waited about 2 weeks and it arrived well boxed and with clear instruction.

*DC resistance = 15.2k ohm, Alnico 8.

I installed this pickup in a fender body with a warmoth KWS neck.
It's in the bridge position. My guitar only has a bridge pickup and one volume knob. I replaced a seymour duncan LW-HMET livewire ??? metal pickup with the rogue. The live wire had brutal gain but the highs where harsh, so i decided to try the rogue. I contacted Stan and explained that my guitar had an alder body a maple neck with an ebony fret board which are all brite sounding tone woods. Also i described that my guitar was a 6 string tuned in B standard which is B E A D Fsharp and B and that I would be playing technical death metal and needed a very clean sound with high gain so you could hear exactly what I was playing. He said I would be very happy with the rogue, and he was right.

Right now i'm playing an old solid state fender m-80 preamp out into the power amp in of a mesa dual rectifier so only the master volume knob on the dual rec does anything since i'm only using the power amp section. The sound of the m-80 is high gain and very clear similar to a peavey type distortion. The rogue i'd say is a very balanced pickup with warm lows and smooth highs, the mids are slighly scooped but this is ok since the m-80 has a decent amount of mids. This pickup is awesome for rhythm and soloing, I'm into sweep picking on the bridge pickup and this pickup is the best i've heard for that, so clean and musical sounding. In a full band situation playing rhythm it's super clear with high gain and the pinched harmonics have a very unique sound. The rest of my band really digs the tone. This pickup has tons of sustain and is very responsive to legato and tapping which comes out cleaner than any pickup i've heard.

If it was destroyed or stolen i'd buy it again, it's the best pickup i've heard for brite tone woods. I've been playing guitar for 13 years and have tried plenty of diffrent di marzios and duncans and have found something i didn't like about every one of them. My fav duncan is the sh-6 duncan distortion, and my fav di marzio is the evolution. Both these pickups are good but the sh-6 has slighty harsh highs and the evolution isn't high output enough for me, not to good for tech deathmetal type sound. In the future i'd like to build a warmoth guitar with darker tone woods a black korina body with a wenge neck and slap a Stan Hinesley hellion pickup in that one. I bet that be sick.

Bridge Humbucker Pickup, passive. Wound extra hot, as requested (Between 17 and 21k)

I had this installed on my Black Ibanez JS Model. It's replacing a set of EMG Active pickups I had in previously. I have two single Coil Hinesley Pickups in the remaining spots. I had begun to grow increasingly frustrated with the lack of warmth, and harsh high "crispy" tone I had been getting with my EMG's. They had all the Gain I was looking for, but NO warmth. Plus they were very noisy. Stan's Humbucker puts the smackdown on my old Humbucker! It's got all the gain, clarity, punch, and Warmth I have been looking for. Plus, it's not noisy, very clean sounding pickup. I love it!

Great loud, punchy sound, plenty of gain. I play Instrumental Rock, ala Satriani and Vai. It ranges from slamming hard rock, to delicate heartfelt ballads. So I need something that can cover the different feels, this pickup pulls out all the stops.

I would and WILL be getting another set for any future Guitars I buy. I've found my pickups, Stan Hinesley is it for me! This pickup sounds great loud, or quiet. It's a pleasure to play, Ialways seem to get compliments on my tone since I started using Stan's pickups.
I play through a Marshall 9100 Tube Power Amp, a Digitech 2112 tube Preamp, and MILLS acoustics 4x12 cab. The match seems to be the combo I have been looking for!

High output passive humbucker set.Both are 4-conductors ones.
DC resitance(approximatively)= 15.2k ohm, Alnico 8 (bridge)
8-10% less, Alnico 8 (neck)

I've intalled them in my Ibanez Iceman IC-400.
It's a calibrated set,so in both positions.
These replacing the IBZ AH1(neck)and IBZ AH2(bridge).
It's a calibrated set,so the other Rogue pickup.
According to Stan website: Brian Blush from The Refreshments.
Stock pickups lacking drive and character...Problem now solved!

High output pickup set,powered by Alnico 8 magnets;a tamed but aggresive beast that you can unleash at your will...

I play through a Marshall mini stack and the pickups sound is surprisingly great for such small and cheap amp.Add a Maxon Ibanez LA Metal LM7 pedal and you have a decent setup for effects.But since I've now upgraded my pickups,maybe I should do the same with the rest.

Played dirty,got a punchy drive,bold character and overall badass attitude that I've immediately enjoyed and loved.Played clean,have a sensible tender side(weeping)not to be neglicted too...Expressive and responsive:a definite keeper!

I mostly play hard rock/metal and it's a perfect match...These beauties should cover any style in between blues and metal without any sweat.

If destroyed or stolen,would gladly buy again...Stan's expert craftsmanship really does worth it.The pickups build is flawless!

I play guitar for three years now and Stan's pickups are the first handmade that I've bought and for few dollars more than big brands,you buy yourself a totally different sound universe.

Last but not the least: Stan is one of the nicest guy to deal with,very friendly and eager to help you with any technical issue you may have with his products.