Category Archives: Product Talk

The quest for perfect guitar tone is filled with obstacles—scales to learn, techniques to master, gear to acquire and so on. But nothing stops curious guitarists from learning their way around the instrument quite like the “tone talk” jargon that sometimes fills guitar forums, and even entire subreddits, with confusion. While the qualities that make…

With so many PAF-style pickups on the market, it can be hard to tell them apart. Nearly every pickup maker offers these simple combinations of wire, bobbins, and magnets claiming to capture that 1959 Gibson Les Paul mojo. We offer a variety of pickups that deliver that Kalamazoo-era mojo, right down to the wire. To…

Guitar tone pot value is something most of us don’t think about unless you really like to get into the weeds of tone. But many players do like to mix and match them, optimizing their tone control and guitar to play, sound, and react just the way they want. So we’re going to take a…

Seymour Duncan rail pickups are bold. Even with a cursory glance, the magnetic bars cutting across their face jumps out at you. It’s striking when compared to the pole pieces or screws in most pickups. And these rail humbuckers are a fast track to inject your guitar with that same attitude. But rail pickups are…

We get asked a ton of questions about lipstick single-coil pickups. We’re asked everything from what they sound like to “Will they fit in my guitar?” and more. We understand the questions. They’re unique pickups, different from a Tele neck pickup, different from a Stratocaster single-coil pickup. They’re their own thing. So what are they?…

After selling his namesake company roughly ten years earlier, Leo Fender was back in the instrument business. And even with such iconoclast instrument designs like the Stratocaster, Telecasters, Precision, and Jazz Basses to his name, he wanted to make something greater. It was a tall order considering all of those instruments are still considered the…

What are the best pickups for modern and prog metal guitar tone? That depends on how you define modern and prog metal guitar tone. Here’s how we define it. While classic humbucking pickups can get “high-gain,” modern metal players need something different. Their highly complex playing demands a precise, tight tone. One that remains aggressive…

The Vapor Trail Deluxe builds on the proud legacy of our original Vapor Trail analog delay pedal, who’s warm, Bucket Brigade repeats and 3-dimensional modulation continues to inspire guitarists around the world. However, with the Vapor Trail Deluxe, we’ve taken the pedal’s capabilities quite a bit further. The marriage between Vapor Trail Deluxe’s all analog…

What’s with mounting a Telecaster neck pickup to the body? Can’t I just mount it to the pickguard? Ok, then how do you mount a telecaster neck pickup to the body? Inquisitive guitarists ask us these questions every day. And we don’t blame them. Not only do different T-style guitars use different pickup mounting methods…

Everything you need to know about the best jazz guitar pickups out there.   Picking the best jazz pickups requires a different set of guidelines than choosing the best pickups for a lot of other genres. Jazz guitar players are less interested in output and the unique voice pickups can bring to their instrument. Instead,…