Hi everyone, I'm just a recent joiner of the forum. But wanting to ask if anyone here has any experience with Ironstone pickups: Ironstone pickups . The price seems almost ridiculously cheap to me, but then it's easy to make subjective claims about the sound/quality of pickups, so I wonder if they are really any good. Probably worth a punt given the price, but does anyone already have some in a guitar? Cheers!
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Comments
To be honest, I don't know!
I think the whole pickup market is over-priced for what is a coil of wire round a magnet - hardly hi-tech is it?
I think the whole pickup market is over-priced for what is a coil of wire round a magnet - hardly hi-tech is it?
Adrian.
It's like the argument between Ceramic and Alnico magnets. Ceramic bar magnets are usually fitted to budget guitars like Squier and far eastern manufactured ones. However, Mexican built Fenders also have Ceramic magnets in them and to a novice player they would not really know the difference.
The other issue with pups is the resistance factors. On a budget guitar they usually just plonk two or three of the same pups into a guitar aside from the actual width 50s for the neck and 52s for the bridge etc. As a rule, the three pups on a Strat style guitar are all resistance different too. The pups resistance is lower for the neck, slightly higher for the middle and higher for the bridge say for example 5.4 x 5.8 x 6.5. Whilst there are no rules the differences are because of the string vibrations. With Ceramic magnet fitted pups the resistances can be higher because the steel poles act as the conductor from the string to the bar magnet on the bottom of the pup, as opposed to the poles that are Alnico magnet type themselves. Also there is a big divide between those who prefer staggered poles and flat level poles.
Ceramic magnets are supposed to produce a higher output and a more toppy tone whereas the Alnico type produce a softer more rounded tone.
Are high-end pups inherently better than the budget variety? Give David Gilmore any Strat and he will sound like he does regardless of the guitar, because half of his tone is the way he plays it.
The old adage is... Ya pays ya money...
Another example is the ceramic magnets you mention - some people might actually like the sharper, toppier sound they give (maybe for some types of blues? who knows) - fair enough I would say.
I don't suppose Gilmore uses budget pickups on his guitars, but I do agree with your point - probably at least half (or more I would think) of his tone is in his fingers, so I'm sure that's true.
I got a Voltage pickup set on ebay for a very good price for hand-wound, British made (I won't say what) but they now seem to have removed the ads - so that avenue is closed (a shame, I was thinking of getting another set in for a future project) They still have them through their website though. So anyway, now I'm looking at the Ironstones again with interest, especially after Adesmitty's positive review above.
Ironstone Golds http://soundcloud.com/pudsum/warmoth-ironstone-blues
USA Standard Strat
http://soundcloud.com/pudsum/us-strat-blues
Sorry I forgot how to embed links!
Adrian.
For an eighty-five quid Squier strat with ceramics fitted it's hardly breaking the bank. As it happens the Squier sounds reasonable okay through a fender 15 watts amp anyway.
Ironstone Golds http://soundcloud.com/pudsum/warmoth-ironstone-blues
USA Standard Strat
http://soundcloud.com/pudsum/us-strat-blues
Sorry I forgot how to embed links!
Adrian.
For an eighty-five quid Squier strat with ceramics fitted it's hardly breaking the bank. As it happens the Squier sounds reasonable okay through a fender 15 watts amp anyway.
Ironstone Golds http://soundcloud.com/pudsum/warmoth-ironstone-blues
USA Standard Strat
http://soundcloud.com/pudsum/us-strat-blues
Sorry I forgot how to embed links!
Adrian.
Cheers for that - very useful and the Ironstone ones do certainly sound better.
How have you found them with a rockier, heavier distortion sound?
The old clean/dirty thing on pickup tests is a pet peeve of mine, I want to hear both and preferable things pretty much played the same/ same amps etc., I have to say Seynour Duncan are not bad for this whereas Dimarzio are useless.
Adrian.
Adrian.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xmas-Alnico-V-...=item6fc4f42c1e
When the new soldering iron arrives they'll be installed and then we'll see (hear) any difference.
“There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.”
Incidentally, in the end I didn't think much of the Voltage set I was waffling on about - more down to inconsistency of construction and build quality than anything. For one thing the fibre-board used for the bobbins kind of had a curve to it, I think down to how the wire had been put on, which made them a bit of an awkward fit in the covers.
But in general, I think the issue I have with any set of £30 to £50-ish strat pickups is that for not that much more, you can get into the hand wound, authentic construction type stuff - they will often even make to spec if you message them - for example, there are a couple of Croatian sellers on evilbay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stratocaster-A5-Super-Twang-Custom-Strat-Pickups-SET-Vintage-HandWound-Q/112286677654?hash=item1a24ceba96:g:cNwAAOSwA3dYZsys
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stratocaster-Single-Coil-pickup-set-Hand-Wound-by-e-dis-pickups-AlNiCo-V/163106058535?hash=item25f9e0f127:g:VQUAAOSwSgJXNfat
- both look like very well-made stuff - I keep thinking of getting some, even though I've already got the Vanson set. Also there's a Russian chap who's pickups are cheaper still, and quite a few others out there.
You’re right, there are better deals out there. I have some Alexander Pribora pickups, which sound great. The ones I have are quite bright, but have lots of character.
Actually, I just bought a set of Tonerider City Limits from eBay for £45. Can’t wait to try em!
But I've now bought a hand wound set, as you may have read in my strat build thread, and there seems to me something inevitable about that, with hindsight. I was trying to be good and keep the costs down, but I just seem unable to resist that bit of mojo and mystique that comes with a hand wound set - available, as I said before, for not that much more of a financial outlay. I should really have known I would always want to do this ultimately. Maybe I'll try the Vanson set I got out briefly, just so I know what they're like.
Sometimes I think I can hear the differences with handwound pickups, but then sometimes I love Irongear pickups. Go figure..
I’d be interested to know how the Vansons are.
I don't feel its automatically the case that hand wound is better - a hand winder can perhaps put more scatter on the wind, which they say increases the high frequency response (i.e. the pickup produces a brighter tone). But I do like the individual attention to detail, ability to discuss the specs - wind strength, wire type, magnet type, etc., and just the feeling that someone has made something a bit different, specially for my guitar, and that not everyone will have. Edis seems to use a rounded shape to the coil on his pickups too, which appears deliberate, and carefully done - I suspect this has some impact on the tone also. But as I say - mojo and mystique - very indefinable qualities...
I guess I do understand you "looking cheap" point - it may not translate into a "cheap" sound, but might make me perceive a lack of the aforementioned mojo. So daft perhaps, but these things matter to me all the same.