DJB08 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hello... I've noticed this name GFS on the forum often. I was not familiar with the company. I just googled them and am amazed at their prices.. Friends,if you have GFS p-ups please let me know a little bit about your experience with them. what kind of guitar you put them in, what GFS you installed - even if you did it yourself..etc... thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 You're probably going to get a lot of positive reviews on GFS pickups in here. Everybody loves them. I, however, have a slight problem with what seems to be RF noise with the one I installed. Maybe its the natue of the PUP? I dont know, but I'm having a hard time with it. I bought the GFS VEH (vintage extra hot/Eddie VanHalen style) for my Epi S-500 strat. Installed it myself, as well as the pots, wiring, etc. It has a nice crisp clean tone that I like very much (as much as you can from a bridge pickup, anyway). But with distortion I get really bad (mostly directional) noise. Cant figure out why this is. I've shielded the crap out of the guitar and it all checks out on the multitester. So I'm at a loss on this. Neither of the Dimarzios that I installed in my SG have this problem, so I'm wondering if maybe this is the difference between $80 PUPS and $30 PUPS. Aside from that, it has a nice smooth distortion sound that I really like. I dont think anyone else here has had this problem with GFS pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulsaslim Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I haven't had that problem with my VEHs & I've got 'em on two different guitars. I've got a BUNCH of different GFS pickups. Basically I've put them on just about all my Epis (and others, too). I've got Antique Boutique PATs, Vintage '59s, Crunchy PAFs, Loudmouths, Mean90s, VEHs, and Overwound Staggered for my strat and some hot replacement pups for my tele (don't remember the name). I'm very happy with all of them. No, they are not 'as good as a Burstbucker'. But for what you pay for them they are very good. IMO, much better than stock Epi pickups and, in general, better than the stock pickups you get from just about all the Asian-made guitars. My brother puts them in for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I haven't had that problem with my VEHs & I've got 'em on two different guitars. Thanks for that tidbit of info. I'm thinking I just got a bad one...or I completely FAILED at sheilding my guitar. The RF noise sounds and acts like a single coil. I'm thinkuing about dropping it in my SG just to see if I get the same noise. That should at least let me know if its the PUP or the guitar shielding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hello... I've noticed this name GFS on the forum often. I was not familiar with the company. I just googled them and am amazed at their prices.. Friends' date='if you have GFS p-ups please let me know a little bit about your experience with them. what kind of guitar you put them in, what GFS you installed - even if you did it yourself..etc... thanks in advance! [/quote'] I have tried many different GFS pups, haven't had a bad one yet. Having said that, some are good, some very good, some excellent. I will tell you about my favorites: Vintage '59 humbucker, lots of sparkle, but not harsh. Reminds me of the Duncan '59, another favorite of mine. I put them in a Squier M-77 Bluesbird, chambered body. Bigmouth Humbucker, power & tone. Use them in a long scale Jagmaster, 1000x better than the stock Duncan Designs. IMO. Mean 90 is my favorite GFS pickup, I have them in my Lucille. The Dream 90s are OK, but more twangy than ballsy. The Mean 90s have that dirty P-90 growl. The Retrotrons (Memphis, Nashville & Liverpools) sound good, but nothing really has that Filtertron sound except TV Jones or real 'trons. I forget exactly which Strat set I used (think it was the Premium Alnicos), but they were pretty good as well. Their Tele pickups I've used sound like Tele pickups. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stig Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Thanks for that tidbit of info. I'm thinking I just got a bad one...or I completely FAILED at sheilding my guitar. The RF noise sounds and acts like a single coil. I'm thinkuing about dropping it in my SG just to see if I get the same noise. That should at least let me know if its the PUP or the guitar shielding. You aren't playing in a room with fluorescent lights, are you? Or a dimmer switch? Those can both mess up a guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 You aren't playing in a room with fluorescent lights' date=' are you? Or a dimmer switch? Those can both mess up a guitar.[/quote'] No, I've gone over all of this stuff at home. I can reduce *some* noise by turning off computers and lights, but the problem is that none of my other humbucker guitars do this...which is why I'm perplexed by the situation....and both of my other HB guitars have much higher gain PUPS in them (Dimarzio X2N & Kramer Quad Rail). No interference noise whatsoever. None. Nada. Nil. I can crank the amp up to ear-blistering volumes and only hear the slightest background noise. Oh well. Didnt mean to go all OT on this. I'll get it figured out eventually. Really, Ive been too preoccupied with bass to get into it lately. Also, I'd like to add that, my problem aside, dealing with Guitar Fetish was absolutley fantastic. No hassels, proper order and FAST delivery. Awesome company. I redid my S-500 with GF parts and everything was as it should be. I will definitely order from them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJB08 Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Vintage '59 humbucker, lots of sparkle, but not harsh. Reminds me of the Duncan '59, another favorite of mine. I put them in a Squier M-77 Bluesbird, chambered body. a 59 style p-up is definitely something I'm interested in from the way you describe it... Mean 90 is my favorite GFS pickup, I have them in my Lucille. The Dream 90s are OK, but more twangy than ballsy. The Mean 90s have that dirty P-90 growl. this is the one i have my eye on mainly and wanted to see what people had to say about it. The Retrotrons (Memphis, Nashville & Liverpools) sound good, but nothing really has that Filtertron sound except TV Jones or real 'trons. I forget exactly which Strat set I used (think it was the Premium Alnicos), but they were pretty good as well. Their Tele pickups I've used sound like Tele pickups. I've heard demos of the TV Jones p-ups and they sound pretty incredible. thought about putting one in the neck...but, might opt for the lead position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Thanks for that tidbit of info. I'm thinking I just got a bad one...or I completely FAILED at sheilding my guitar. The RF noise sounds and acts like a single coil. I'm thinkuing about dropping it in my SG just to see if I get the same noise. That should at least let me know if its the PUP or the guitar shielding. Try soldering the PU directly to your output first. That will tell you if it's the PU or something else in the electronic circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I put Mean 90s in my Dot Studio, a huge improvement over the stock pickups, especially the horrible HOTCH at the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Try soldering the PU directly to your output first. That will tell you if it's the PU or something else in the electronic circuit. Heh. Did that already. I thought it might be the pot or a bad solder joint. DJB08 - Everyone here loves their Mean 90's. That much I can tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 love the GFS pickups. i ordered a Fat PAF for the neck and Crunchy PAF for the bridge of my G300. they accidently sent a Power Rails instead of the crunchy paf and in the end let me keep both. I LOVE the fat paf in the neck and ended up using the power rails for the bridge, it adds just the right top end for a solo boost. i now actually use the selector switch and the volume knobs while i'm playing instead of different pedals. lots of tonal combinations for those pickups. i put them in with Paper In Oil Caps, upgraded pots and used 50's Les Paul wiring diagram (both volumes affect master volume). hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy01 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 No' date=' I've gone over all of this stuff at home. I can reduce *some* noise by turning off computers and lights, but the problem is that none of my other humbucker guitars do this...which is why I'm perplexed by the situation....and both of my other HB guitars have much higher gain PUPS in them (Dimarzio X2N & Kramer Quad Rail). No interference noise whatsoever. None. Nada. Nil. I can crank the amp up to ear-blistering volumes and only hear the slightest background noise. Oh well. Didnt mean to go all OT on this. I'll get it figured out eventually. Really, Ive been too preoccupied with bass to get into it lately. Also, I'd like to add that, my problem aside, dealing with Guitar Fetish was absolutley fantastic. No hassels, proper order and FAST delivery. Awesome company. I redid my S-500 with GF parts and everything was as it should be. I will definitely order from them again.[/quote'] Almost all guitar noise can be traced to poor grounding. Almost. When you did your shielding did you ground the shield to the output jack ground? Is your output jack grounding properly with the cord? Is the ground in the cord grounding in the input jack? Is the input jack properly grounded in the amp? Just some things to check before you send your pickup back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I have Vintage 59s' in three of my Epis. I can't say anything more than what Jerry has said. I love 'em. I put a set of Fat Bodies in my Tele clone and they definitely sound like a Tele. I did find one set that I didn't like, the Dream 180s. they were too bland for my taste, but others like them. I put a set of their new noiseless pickups in a Strat copy. They were noiseless all right, but also a little dull sounding for me, not as crisp as I would have liked. Over all I have been happy with the pickups I have gotten from Jay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 GFS are not bad for the price. I had a set but they were to close to my stock pickups in my LP. but I made a youtube video that should give you an idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LdUs_cFrAU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 "Almost all guitar noise can be traced to poor grounding. Almost." Yes. I am hoping that is the case. "When you did your shielding did you ground the shield to the output jack ground?" Erm...no. But I grounded the shielding to the pot. Will that work? "Is your output jack grounding properly with the cord?" Yes sir. "Is the ground in the cord grounding in the input jack?" Yes sir. "Is the input jack properly grounded in the amp?" Absolutely. "Just some things to check before you send your pickup back." Thanks. I'll go over the grounding again soon. I dont plan on sending the PUP back. I think I've had it too long anyways. Besides, it was only $35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonbass76 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I put a GFS lil' puncher wound at 10k in my highway 1 tele, it was the best mod I could have done to the guitar. I someday want to buy 4 to 5 of the different humbuckers and try them out, some I'm interested in are; loadmouth vintage 59 dream 180 crunchy rails and a mean 90, because I have heard so many good things about them. As much as I want to try the mean 90 but I usually lean towards humbuckers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJB08 Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 BlueLesPaul I checked out that vid of yours. You are right they are not far from the originals. The GFS were just a little cleaner...not by much. I think I'm pushing toward the mean 90 and Vin 59. Go Pitt! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I have tried many different GFS pups' date=' haven't had a bad one yet. Having said that, some are good, some very good, some excellent. I will tell you about my favorites: [b']Vintage '59[/b] humbucker, lots of sparkle, but not harsh. Reminds me of the Duncan '59, another favorite of mine. I put them in a Squier M-77 Bluesbird, chambered body. I have several sets of their vintage 59s....I would like to compare them to a poor man's Gibson classic 57 tone wise. Mean 90 is my favorite GFS pickup, I have them in my Lucille. The Dream 90s are OK, but more twangy than ballsy. The Mean 90s have that dirty P-90 growl. I have a set of those two and love them..they have the balls/growl that you want in a p-90 and you can retrofit them to any humbucker equipped guitar without having to do any mounting mods. I tried one of their "strat shaped" NEO9 mini-buckers with the neodymium magnets. Not bad, but they don't have the same bite that a Fender SC has. I also tried one of their Fat Pats and like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest icantbuyafender Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 mean 90's . single coil... sure.... but they got balls. classic II's. Eat your heart out slash. clean or with a marshall distortion box you cant tell they arent SD alnicoII-pros. oooh and the coil splitting is like .... hell... its like that turtle cheescake stuff... mmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Beef Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I have had three... all three I used in my Squier '51 project. Bigmouth bridge - like a big fat single coil, but no noise and a bit more mids. Not much string to string clarity during chording, though, which is surprising for how bright it is. Unique sounding, not bad at all. Vintage Split bridge- lifeless, dull, boring, about as generic a humbucker tone you could get. No character. Lil Killer neck - great strat style pickup, good strat like tone. Excelled at the neck position, had everything I wanted in a neck pickup, clarity, not too bassy, full, bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo.schumi Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 i recently put some ghs vintage 59s in my dot. BUT i can't hear a difference or sometimes i wonder if the sound isn't even worse (slightly!). is this possible. can you tell my something about the classic epiphone humbuckers? _______________________ epiphone dot epiphone broadway ibanez gb30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulsaslim Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I'm too blind to put them in myself but I've got two brothers that do this for me & they both say that GFS pickups are tricky to install because the wire colors are different, or something. They've 'gotten them wrong' several times & had to do it again. The problem with 'getting them wrong' is that they 'work' but sound like sh*t. Maybe the same thing is happening to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I just bought some Mean 90s to put into my LTD EC-50. It's a nice little guitar but the "overwound" humbuckers are simply not appropriate for the kind of music I am playing. Since I love P90s, I figured I'd give them a try. I'll post a review when I'm done with my first "mod". Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geff Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I was about to order some GFS pickups but in the end didnt need to (I bought a new guitar instead). What I can say is that they have fans on the Gibson site as well. If Gibson owners are switching out genuine Gibson PUPs for GFS and getting good results then that is about all I need to know. The other thing is the price. They are so reasonably priced in comparison to other brands that you can afford to experiment a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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