Proof that marketing and manipulating guitar players to think that "because the more you pay..the more it's worth" when it comes to everything guitar. These pickups sounds great.
Honestly, in the end it's about what you need. Affordable gear can be really great nowadays and with pickups, the difference isn't in the value for me. It's how it's designed to sound and I believe I have enough experience to know what I'm looking for in a pickup to make a fairly solid choice. These just fit my bill and I love them still today. I've never played this guitar as much as after I put these in.
I have to admit those new pickups sound great. Sometimes it is difficult to judge pickups on a TH-cam video. But those definitely don't sound tinny, muddy, or like the pick-up sound is coming out of Solid state amplifier (which just sounds bad). Great informative video, thanks!
Thank you for the nice comment! To be honest, these pickups have made me play this guitar again and it had been in storage for years. I like them a lot!
Thank you so much for the video, Ásgeir! I love your playing! I am no gear snob, but I have an older solid body Ibanez with v7/v8 humbuckers that I wasn't using because my main guitar (Ibanez AS73 semi-hollow) simply sounds so much better (to me). I went through the same upgrade as you, and I couldn't be happier. It improved spectacularly (the v7 and v8 are not as good as the one you replaced). Some notes in case it helps others: 1. Do not change your pick ups before playing with pickup height and pole piece height. The _same_ pickup will sound entirely different with a small adjustment. From "muddy" to "bright". From too weak to too strong. Always optimize before spending time and money. 2. I agree that the coil-splitting adds a dimension. Both clean and dirty (the latter of course is noisier, which is the reason to be for humbuckers). I tend to prefer humbucking sound, but now I got "a strat for free" in the same guitar. Adding a clean boost at around 10db boost brings it back a similar volume in coil split mode. The mode is great for clean, acoustic style strumming in my gear. 3. The Kwikplug system is amazing. I hope the industry standardizes around a standard of that sort. Who wants to spend time soldering? 4. I don't like the tone pot. I would rate it as "serviceable", but the drop from bright to dark is too abrupt, so the actual range is very short to have much use, especially live. But these are low pass filters, and I prefer to run them open anyways and EQ down the road. 5. In my guitar, the neck pickup sounded a bit closed and dark. So, I lowered the pick up a bit and brought the pole pieces up, which brightened it (still keeping the creaminess you want in a neck pickup). It also added definition. Overall I adjusted as usual: first overall height and inclination so they both sound good and balanced, next the pole pieces for tone and string volume balance. Thanks again, for taking the time for a _really_ good demo. You helped give life to an unused guitar :)
Thank you for the very kind words and the comments you had below too. I agree that adjust pickup height can do a lot and that's definitely one of the first things I'll look at with any guitar I'm playing for the first time as I've often encountered them being way too high, more often than too low. I'm happy with these pickups even now and I play the guitar more than I ever have after swapping them out.
The Vintage 59 bridge pickup is one of my all time favorite pickups for reasons that you can hear in this demo: It's bright, clear and aggressive and sounds good clean or dirty. The neck pickup is sometimes a little dark, but's pretty good too.
Great review. I've been thinking about this upgrade for a while, and your talk of didn't like the tone and would play your Strat, is exactly the boat I am in. Thank you for the review. Also great job powering through the drilling.
I've been using the Kiwkplug rig for years in all but 1 of my guitars and I absolutely love it. I also have a pair of GFS '59s to put into a Strat rebuild and this just makes me look forward to it even more. Kudos to the video and awesome playing.
Wow. I have used GFS parts for guitars for 5 years and I never expected this level of difference. I need a Vintage 59 set. This is extraordinary. I love that sound.
I will be the proud owner of many GFS products. Got a Xaviere XV-870 with a Neovin bridge pickup. I will probably put all Neovins on it, and get another one as its backup... Kwikplug is a game changer!
There's definitely more clarity in the Vintage 59's compared to the stock pickups. Especially in the clean tones. I'm looking for a new set of pickups for a Yamaha Revstar Element. I'm leaning towards a GFS PAF style pickup, or a set of the Vintage 59's. Right now they only have their version of the PAF's in the neck pickup with the chrome covers.
Get a workbench. That has to be hell on you back doing that on a couch in a dark room lol. Pickups sound good to me but so do your stock ones. Great playing by the way!
I didn't mind the stock pickups. I thought the gfs sounded nicer clean, and had a little more clarity with distortion than the stock, but the stock was a far more raw sound. Only my thoughts, with my ears.
Totally valid opinion! Listening back I don't think I did a great job of showing how good the upgrade is but I have another video soon where I go through more tones and explore the coil tapping and the options that come from that :)
@@geirisk8 I look forward to seeing it. I'd liked both sets of pickups and feel that they'd be great for playing in two different types of band. It's hard to record amd get what you are hearing in your room onto TH-cam.
@@fattrav247 yeah you're right. For my taste, the new ones are exactly what I wanted and the coil splitting offers some tones that I'm super happy with 😉
Great video- Ive been looking to buy one of these pickups for my project guitar and I think I will take the plunge now! Just trying struggling to decide whether to go for 2 humbuckers or a bridge humbucker and 2 single coils now! Im modding my old yamaha pacifica which has the humbucker and 2 single coils as standard but its really hard to decide on what to replace it with! Keep up the good work mate
Thanks for watching! I haven't tried any of the GFS single coils yet but I'm sure you can get some nice ones there. If you get one of these humbuckers then you've sorta got a single coil too in the bridge position. It's nice!
@@geirisk8 Thanks for the reply- I'm really looking forward to trying them out myself, when I finally get around to doing this mod! Great playing by the way- I forgot to compliment your skills!
Holy shit. Most people would have no idea you aren't a native English speaker. I only knew because of your obviously Icelandic name. You sound almost neutral American mixed with a light Irish accent. Looks like Iceland might start to give the traditional English kings (the Dutch, Norwegians, and Swedes) a run for their money.
hahahaha thank you for that! I have known english since I was a little kid. I grew up watching Cartoon Network so I learnt a lot there but then we also learn english in school at a very early age too. I have a kid that's 4 and he's already got some english words down! It's hilarious hearing him randomly saying "OH MY GOD!" hahah
My Harley Benton SG has the same pick ups as my Harley Benton Les Paul change the magnets from ceramic to Alinico2’s, Les Paul Great SG horrible I’m thinking of doing what you did
Nice. Not a huge difference it shows how good some of the epi pickups were. I have a 2001 sg400 I've left stock so far they sound as good as gibson gfs Duncan or dimarzios I have. Mind you I don't buy brand new for pickups unless it's gfs or Wilkinson they make a killer budget pickup also. I never paid more than 40 bux for any dimarzio or Duncan I own. The pickups being made these days just like guitars, quality is there same as the big boys for way less. Paying for te name these days. Many hear a difference in tone due to the name. Blind fold them and they get it wrong.
The gfs hot pickups sound a lot better for the kind of music you play. Those pickups are much better for blues and low gain. Fuckin terrible tone with all that gain. lol who tf puts in 60s style pickups for metal and high gain. Shit sounds godawful
You know what, I've had some experience with higher output pickups and I just never bond with them. I've always found "classic" ones that are maybe medium or medium-low output to work better for what I like to do. Maybe I just need to experiment a bit more.
@@geirisk8 I'm the same way. I've always had a better experience pushing a low-mid pickup harder than letting a high output pickup scream. The articulation always felt better and I had more control over the tone.
Proof that marketing and manipulating guitar players to think that "because the more you pay..the more it's worth" when it comes to everything guitar. These pickups sounds great.
Honestly, in the end it's about what you need. Affordable gear can be really great nowadays and with pickups, the difference isn't in the value for me. It's how it's designed to sound and I believe I have enough experience to know what I'm looking for in a pickup to make a fairly solid choice. These just fit my bill and I love them still today. I've never played this guitar as much as after I put these in.
I have to admit those new pickups sound great. Sometimes it is difficult to judge pickups on a TH-cam video. But those definitely don't sound tinny, muddy, or like the pick-up sound is coming out of Solid state amplifier (which just sounds bad). Great informative video, thanks!
Thank you for the nice comment! To be honest, these pickups have made me play this guitar again and it had been in storage for years. I like them a lot!
Thank you so much for the video, Ásgeir! I love your playing! I am no gear snob, but I have an older solid body Ibanez with v7/v8 humbuckers that I wasn't using because my main guitar (Ibanez AS73 semi-hollow) simply sounds so much better (to me). I went through the same upgrade as you, and I couldn't be happier. It improved spectacularly (the v7 and v8 are not as good as the one you replaced). Some notes in case it helps others:
1. Do not change your pick ups before playing with pickup height and pole piece height. The _same_ pickup will sound entirely different with a small adjustment. From "muddy" to "bright". From too weak to too strong. Always optimize before spending time and money.
2. I agree that the coil-splitting adds a dimension. Both clean and dirty (the latter of course is noisier, which is the reason to be for humbuckers). I tend to prefer humbucking sound, but now I got "a strat for free" in the same guitar. Adding a clean boost at around 10db boost brings it back a similar volume in coil split mode. The mode is great for clean, acoustic style strumming in my gear.
3. The Kwikplug system is amazing. I hope the industry standardizes around a standard of that sort. Who wants to spend time soldering?
4. I don't like the tone pot. I would rate it as "serviceable", but the drop from bright to dark is too abrupt, so the actual range is very short to have much use, especially live. But these are low pass filters, and I prefer to run them open anyways and EQ down the road.
5. In my guitar, the neck pickup sounded a bit closed and dark. So, I lowered the pick up a bit and brought the pole pieces up, which brightened it (still keeping the creaminess you want in a neck pickup). It also added definition. Overall I adjusted as usual: first overall height and inclination so they both sound good and balanced, next the pole pieces for tone and string volume balance.
Thanks again, for taking the time for a _really_ good demo. You helped give life to an unused guitar :)
Thank you for the very kind words and the comments you had below too. I agree that adjust pickup height can do a lot and that's definitely one of the first things I'll look at with any guitar I'm playing for the first time as I've often encountered them being way too high, more often than too low.
I'm happy with these pickups even now and I play the guitar more than I ever have after swapping them out.
The Vintage 59 bridge pickup is one of my all time favorite pickups for reasons that you can hear in this demo: It's bright, clear and aggressive and sounds good clean or dirty. The neck pickup is sometimes a little dark, but's pretty good too.
Great review. I've been thinking about this upgrade for a while, and your talk of didn't like the tone and would play your Strat, is exactly the boat I am in. Thank you for the review. Also great job powering through the drilling.
I've been using the Kiwkplug rig for years in all but 1 of my guitars and I absolutely love it. I also have a pair of GFS '59s to put into a Strat rebuild and this just makes me look forward to it even more. Kudos to the video and awesome playing.
Thank you for watching! I highly recommend the GFS stuff to anyone wondering.
God these sound incredible.Thank you for the video.
Thank you for watching!!
I actually thought this was the actual Maiden track playing for a second. Great Video.
Hahah thank you for the kind words!
Props for the Every Time I Die riif
Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for watching and listening! ETID riffs are the best!!
Wow. I have used GFS parts for guitars for 5 years and I never expected this level of difference. I need a Vintage 59 set. This is extraordinary. I love that sound.
i LOVE the vintage 59's clean tone. I bought a set for my SG as well. Lookin forward to the upgrade.
These pickups made me love this guitar all over again!
Im not seeing one comment about the ETID cover and thats a crime. Awesome demo! The Vintage 59s are far and above my favorite budget pickup
tbh I loved the sound of both the stock and the gfs set lol.Great playing and demo/review dude.
I will be the proud owner of many GFS products. Got a Xaviere XV-870 with a Neovin bridge pickup. I will probably put all Neovins on it, and get another one as its backup... Kwikplug is a game changer!
Awesome! I agree that Kwikplug is really good, especially for those who are afraid of soldering. You can easily mess things up!
There's definitely more clarity in the Vintage 59's compared to the stock pickups. Especially in the clean tones. I'm looking for a new set of pickups for a Yamaha Revstar Element. I'm leaning towards a GFS PAF style pickup, or a set of the Vintage 59's. Right now they only have their version of the PAF's in the neck pickup with the chrome covers.
Get a workbench. That has to be hell on you back doing that on a couch in a dark room lol. Pickups sound good to me but so do your stock ones. Great playing by the way!
Thanks. Now I know I want to get this set too. I have 5 other GFS pickup sets I plan to buy.
Haha wow that's awesome! Did you get them?
I didn't mind the stock pickups. I thought the gfs sounded nicer clean, and had a little more clarity with distortion than the stock, but the stock was a far more raw sound. Only my thoughts, with my ears.
Totally valid opinion! Listening back I don't think I did a great job of showing how good the upgrade is but I have another video soon where I go through more tones and explore the coil tapping and the options that come from that :)
@@geirisk8 I look forward to seeing it. I'd liked both sets of pickups and feel that they'd be great for playing in two different types of band. It's hard to record amd get what you are hearing in your room onto TH-cam.
@@fattrav247 yeah you're right. For my taste, the new ones are exactly what I wanted and the coil splitting offers some tones that I'm super happy with 😉
Great video- Ive been looking to buy one of these pickups for my project guitar and I think I will take the plunge now!
Just trying struggling to decide whether to go for 2 humbuckers or a bridge humbucker and 2 single coils now!
Im modding my old yamaha pacifica which has the humbucker and 2 single coils as standard but its really hard to decide on what to replace it with!
Keep up the good work mate
Thanks for watching! I haven't tried any of the GFS single coils yet but I'm sure you can get some nice ones there. If you get one of these humbuckers then you've sorta got a single coil too in the bridge position. It's nice!
@@geirisk8 Thanks for the reply- I'm really looking forward to trying them out myself, when I finally get around to doing this mod!
Great playing by the way- I forgot to compliment your skills!
Thanks for the video dude! Love the Beavis & Butthead shirt!! Gonna try those 59’s…
Holy shit. Most people would have no idea you aren't a native English speaker. I only knew because of your obviously Icelandic name. You sound almost neutral American mixed with a light Irish accent. Looks like Iceland might start to give the traditional English kings (the Dutch, Norwegians, and Swedes) a run for their money.
hahahaha thank you for that! I have known english since I was a little kid. I grew up watching Cartoon Network so I learnt a lot there but then we also learn english in school at a very early age too. I have a kid that's 4 and he's already got some english words down! It's hilarious hearing him randomly saying "OH MY GOD!" hahah
That Interruption songs sound great, like Paul Gilbert's drill thing. Seriously, is the Kwikplug thingy removable?
Thanks man!
Thank you for watching!
My Harley Benton SG has the same pick ups as my Harley Benton Les Paul change the magnets from ceramic to Alinico2’s, Les Paul Great SG horrible I’m thinking of doing what you did
Nice
Thank you!
come to france
Yes?
I think the new ones were a good choice
Right? I think so too. I'm happy!
Yeah, the GFS, all the way around, definitely.
Absolutely, I love this upgrade and I'm keeping those pickups!
You had great pickups in there as stock.... the GFS 59 are better.
Yeah exactly, the ones before were fine but these are better and now I have the coil splitting which I love and use a lot!
Every time I die
sounds like your playing thru a digital POS!
Sounds like your mom
Nice. Not a huge difference it shows how good some of the epi pickups were. I have a 2001 sg400 I've left stock so far they sound as good as gibson gfs Duncan or dimarzios I have.
Mind you I don't buy brand new for pickups unless it's gfs or Wilkinson they make a killer budget pickup also.
I never paid more than 40 bux for any dimarzio or Duncan I own.
The pickups being made these days just like guitars, quality is there same as the big boys for way less. Paying for te name these days. Many hear a difference in tone due to the name. Blind fold them and they get it wrong.
Garcia Maria Williams Kenneth Johnson Carol
I have lots of GFS pickups and I HATE THEIR NEW QUICK-PLUG SYSTEM!
The gfs hot pickups sound a lot better for the kind of music you play. Those pickups are much better for blues and low gain. Fuckin terrible tone with all that gain. lol who tf puts in 60s style pickups for metal and high gain. Shit sounds godawful
You know what, I've had some experience with higher output pickups and I just never bond with them. I've always found "classic" ones that are maybe medium or medium-low output to work better for what I like to do. Maybe I just need to experiment a bit more.
@@geirisk8 I'm the same way. I've always had a better experience pushing a low-mid pickup harder than letting a high output pickup scream. The articulation always felt better and I had more control over the tone.