Kramer PUs

Gibson & Kramer are scratching each other's backs. But heck, Gibson owns Kramer so what's happening on the pickup front is actually Gibson flexing its production muscle & using the Kramer name at their behest. This is why you see Kramer pickups being offered as standalone products now.

Take this as an example - we know high output pickups won't get Gibson anywhere on the sale front. If you think 'Gibson', you have vintage tones in mind. Models like the 500T & Dirty Fingers don't get sold by the truckload unlike their Burstbucker counterparts. Gibson being a business entity, strives to have a share of the higher output pickups market which names like Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio & Bare Knuckle have no problems dealing with. So you see here an Eruption pickup under the Kramer monicker which fits in easily into the high octane overdrive front like its aforementioned brand name counterparts. Is anyone else doing this - ie, riding on a sub-brand - to actually propel their primary interest? Of course - Fender - Charvel. You don't see Strats with Floyds & locking nuts plus high output pickups at the helm these days, yes? These are all Charvels now. Gotcha.

And we bid farewell to the first month of 2024 👋

Pics: Kramer

Little 78

Seymour Duncan Little '78 pickups are available at Davis GMC - $445 per set. The Slash 2.0 set prices are updated as well.

Price watch (44)

I really have no idea why these items are priced as such in the after-market.

In this day & age, price reference is just a Google search away.

Maybe these sellers are new to the gear circle, they might not know stuff. We do respect these listings; people can price their items for as much as they want, it boils down to demand & supply at the end of it all. This is not a call to under-price your items as well, it's good to reflect some awareness when doing so.

Magic?

Finally had the Seymour Duncan Green Magic installed in my LPJ. Among the three new SD pickups released lately (78 & High Voltage being the others), this pair was the least exciting to me; it's modelled after Peter Green's humbuckers, catered for blues rock more than anything else. But are they?

To be continued... 

Selling: Pickups

Have these spare pickups to clear, have been lying around for a while with the intended use for them either changed or abandoned entirely. 

• Gibson 500T ($130). Zebra finish, it's a T so it's a bridge model. High output with clarity, unlike the rest of the Gibson 'buckers which might sound wimpy when it come to high gain stuff. Condition: 8.5/10
• Seymour Duncan '59 ($99). Nickel cover, single conductor, for neck position. Totally unused, protective plastic film still in tact, full wore length. For vintage outings & some immaculate cleans. Condition: 10/10
• Seymour Duncan Phat Cat ($70). This is a single coil, P90-esque pickup but in a standard humbucker housing. Single conductor, neck position. Condition: 8/10
• Seymour Duncan P-Rails ($70) SOLD. Also for the neck position, 4-conductor. Condition: 8/10

• Self-collect @ CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• No reservations / trades
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Prices are final - thank you for your understanding

Got Mojo

Three weeks later, they were in the mailbox. Another tone adventure awaits but not in the mean time.

Sounding out (2)

That's right, Gibson pickups. I'm not too thrilled about them since they don't serve my needs but there are exceptional ones. It's really not about who makes them any more; brand name preference should be secondary to tonal delivery. I have been subconsciously observing this philosophy by having DiMarzios in some of my guitars despite being a firm Seymour Duncan camper. It shouldn't be different with the Gibson brand name. One of the two you see here is my bucket list item. Updates by this week.

Selling: American Standard Tele pickups (SOLD)

These are from a Fender American Standard Telecaster, in 8.5/10 condition. No screws, just the pickups.

• Selling as a pair only
• Self-collect: CCK mrt stn
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation through e-mail: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Final price: $120

Semi-unlike

I'm totally happy with this guitar but not the tone. Semi-hollow guitars tend to sound wooly in the upper frequencies especially when it's in neck pickup mode. Since I'm not into creamy tones, the humbuckers here will go as soon as my targeted replacements are in stock. 😐

Dark Matter 2

In conjunction with the recent release of his Ibanez Premium JEM guitar (featuring a mahogany body), Steve Vai had the above DiMarzio pickups developed for that special occasion- the Dark Matter 2.

Here's Mr. Vai himself with some sound bytes.

EMG clearance @ Davis

Happening now at Davis GMC- EMG pickups clearance for individual models or sets. While stocks last :-)

The vintage conundrum

On some days, I believe vintage pickups has the best sustain-inducing goodness money can buy. The sweet overdrive is also one that highlights clarity to propel one's playing. On other days, I feel they are severely under-performing as far as my needs are concerned. Their lack of drive saturation without external enhancements is a sheer put off for me. 

These vintage-type pickups in my Fender TL-Rose are such a conundrum. In a single sitting, I love & hate them but more often than not, they would bow out for other preferred substitutes. I'd say that vintage type pickups suit players with limited overdrive adventure; I'm definitely not that type of a player. Even for a guitar that is removed from any extremist imagery as the Telecaster, I just have to have pickups that sway my way.

Wishing everyone a wonderful long weekend with their favourite instruments.

Selling: EMG HZ (sold)

These are just 2 days old (at time of posting).

Selling them as a set.

Selling: EMG HZ (H4) passive pickups (neck/ bridge)
Included: Mounting screws.
Condition: 9/10
Confirmation/ queries: subversion.sg@gmail.com
Self-collect: CCK mrt stn
No reservations/ trades.
Price: $99 (final)

Gibson: SGJ14 Duncanized

I'm not a Gibson pickup fan so the default '61 humbuckers in this SGJ14 made way for the Seymour Duncans you see here: JB (bridge)/ Pearly Gates Plus (neck).

JB & Distortion are winners in Gibsons. I find the SG benefits from a JB in the bridge because they are complementary; each has some midrange focus to manifest. The PG Plus wasn't made to sound smooth in the neck so the vintage character was quite absent in there, ditto the woman tone upon dialing down the tone control. Everything sounds rather protrusive in this guitar so I need not worry having some muddy notes in there.

Once again- thanks, Beez for the fine electronics handling :-)

Selling: Gibson '61 pickups

These Gibson '61 pickups were removed even before the guitar was plugged in.

As labelled, a '61 model for both bridge & neck.

• Selling: Gibson '61 humbuckers (zebra finish)
• Mounting screws included
• Selling as a pair
• No reservations/ trades
• Self-collect: CCK mrt stn
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Condition: 9/10
• Price: $140 (final)

Selling: Seymour Duncan Telecaster pickups

Selling these Tele pickups:

• Left: STR-1 Vintage Rhythm
• Right: STL-1b Vintage Lead

 Flip-side for your reference.

• Selling: Seymour Duncan STL-1b/ STR-1 pickups for Telecaster (mounting screws included)
• Condition: 9/10
• Selling as a set (individual offers considered)
• No reservations/ trades
• Self-collect: CCK mrt stn
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $110 (final)

Selling: Gibson 490R/490T pickups (SOLD)

Removed & kept away. I've forgotten they are still here with me. Selling as a set only.

• Selling: Gibson 490R/490T pickups (uncovered, 2-conductor)
• Condition: 8/10
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $139 (final)

Selling: Pickups/ pickguard for tele-type

Taken off an Aria guitar, plastic protective covers are still in tact for the neck pickup as well as the pickguard. Screws for pickguard not included.

• Selling: Pickups (neck/bridge) + pickguard for tele-type guitar
• Condition: 9/10
• Pickguard screws not included
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• No reservations/ no trades
• Price: $30 (final)

Seymour Duncan: The next wave

Nazgul, Sentient, Pegasus, Black Winter- these are the next-gen pickups by Seymour Duncan in the passive front. Less the Black Winter, they were initially meant for 7-string guitars & therefore appealed to a limited player base. However, the manufacturer (wisely) developed these in a 6-string format & they were made available this year. These are now in stock at Davis GMC.

Targetting the distortion fiends, these humbuckers have limited applications for clean-loving tone purists. They have a singular objective to manifest drive & distortion in loads but let me point out the fact that the Pegasus & Sentient models have something for those of us who hunger for good distortion or drive tones without treading the metal turf. The Pegasus is able to deliver some of the smoothest drive tones for fusion applications & the Sentient is an impressive performer in the neck position, for both clean & driven modes.

These are my personal take on them. In any case, I have not finished checking them out & have them fitted into 2 guitars so far; one fixed bridge model & another sporting a locking whammy bridge. Along the way I got distracted by the Perpetual Burn model but that's another episode for another day, not to be included here to avoid confusion.

Fender: MP Jazzmaster HH... pickups

Most of the time, I'm at odds with what the manufacturer offers in the guitar in terms of pickups. It's namely due to the fact that I'm inclined towards what I like to hear rather than what the manufacturer suggests. The default humbuckers in my Jazzmaster HH were replaced with a pair of Tesla Plasma X-1. The default pickups fared rather well when it comes to clean & crunchy tones but at saturated drive settings, they made the instrument sound below par. The X-1 gives off a spiked midrange tone in the bridge while the neck counterpart bags lots of clarity for solos- my kinda duo. The ones you see here are covered, you can purchase these covers at TYMC for under $5 (for a pair).