Need help with pickup selection

Hi Guys,
Lisa here

After several days of deciding which upgrades to go with for my ST1 I have decided to go with the following
"ALL GOLD HARDWARE"


Tuners - Mini Grovers

Bridge - Babicz

Change the nut from plastic to bone

Red Pearloid pick guard

Gold Tele Style Knobs for all controls

Pickups have been narrowed down to the following four options, we are both huge Blues fans. Has anyone used any of the following options. Need as much help as I can get on this topic as I do not have a clue what I am talking about. We do have other Stats with vintage Bridges and Texas pickup & are still wanting to stay with the blues sound but do not want all guitars sounding the same if that makes sense.

Tonerider - Pure Vintage

Tonerider - Classic Blues

Tonerider - City Limits

Benson Custom JM

I have Tone Rider Vintages in my Tele and they are very sweet sounding. A real twang on the bridge and nice and warm on the neck.

Thanks Dedman,
I was originally going to go for those, but then had a look a the classic blues set which just confused the issue. I thought they may have been a better option as they were advertised as being smoother than the vintage.

check on youtube, you may find some demo's. I think Doc has Toneriders in the strat he just finished, he did a demo.

The Bensons are a very nice set of pups. Got that sound but with just the right amount of bite and crunch.

Thats a very cute pic of your Dog.. Maybe you could introduce him/her to us in the Dogs of PBG sub forum? :)

Hi DB,
Took Dedmans advise and went on Youtube - After viewing all the options I have chosen above plus more I think I will be settling on the Benson Customs, but may go for the "54 Vintage, really liked the sound of them. ( Our dogs name is Coota he's 15 months old )

Hi Lisa welcome to the forum. Look forward to seeing this build, have you started a build diary ?

some tasty upgrades and the Benson pups will sound awesome

Thanks Wokkaboy,
No haven't started a build diary yet, hoping to do so shortly. I am wanting to source all parts and finishes before I start so I will have more of an idea of what I want to achieve. Do have some ideas of body finish though in my head which I hope will turn out even better in practice. I have been following quite a few build diarys on the forum and am really enjoying seeing everyone's ideas. Must say though I am no where near as talented as some of these guys. I have however drawn and cut out a rough draft for the shape of my headstock which I am quite proud of. No help from hubby. I drew up draft of a lizard which I was thinking of putting on the headstock, but might just go with a decal instead as I am not too sure how I will apply this. Don't have any airbrushing skills, I was also thinking of putting reddish-orange bat inlay stickers on the fretboard. Will post images when I start my build diary.

your plans sound good Lisa, look forward to the build diary

you can always get your logo/design made up as a sticker or decal. I spent this morning drawing up a design for my next builds headstock.
Remember less is often more when it comes to design.

Hey there,

I put Tonre rider Pure Vintage on my St-1. They are so sweet.

Heres a link to my build diary. at the end somewhere i've got a link to some sound tests.

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=4399

Hi RNL, I have the Benson JMs they are a beautiful set of pickups. I love position 4. They sound amazing equally clean and with some crunch. The videos will give you an idea of the available tones that you can get from the pickups.
http://youtu.be/B2yIjkungnk
This is what the pickups sound like in position 4
http://youtu.be/IfFi4Q7ueA8 check out the Rhythm tones and lead.
Have fun with your project

Wot Kimball sed :)
It's Kimballs fault that we decided to stock the Bennos.... Very good pups for not a lot of cash.

Coota is a cutie, I have a Staffy named Saffron... Talk about a sooky la la. It was raining a bit here last night and her royal highness flatly refused to go out for her pre bed time wee... Guess who got woken up at 3am to let her out?....

Hey DB I'll have to bring my Precision Bass over for you, to have a play. You'll love the Bensons on that.

hey KB sure you aren't a Benson pup rep mate ? sure they sound super sweet, I'll have to try some on a build

Lol no I have nothing to sell,and as you know I've not sold one thing on here Woks unlike you ha ha ha.I just love the pickups. Imagine your favourite beer then some one says foster's is even better,you taste it realise it's not fit for pig swill. So you go back to your favourite beer lol. In my opinion the Benson are the best pickups I've bought period. And I have the Boutique Pickups Lindy Fralins cost twice the price in my opinion they can't touch the Bensons.Maybe Woks, I should talk to John lol. If you've not tried the Bensons Woks give em a go. Let me know your thoughts.

no worries KB, just winding you up as I love winding up forumites haha

I will have to try some Bensons then for sure.

I've never sold anything using this forum. About 3 years ago Adam helped me auction 2 guitars 4D built for charity

He he he I know Woks I'm just teasing. You Gotta give as good as you get here lol. I'll have to put up a demo of the JMs.
I need to make a good guitar and transfer them over as the guitar it's on,is my very first build and a kit from elsewhere that was dire. But even on this guitar they sparkle lol.

haha no worries KB, sounds good, always keen to hear a pickup demo

It's all good Woks hope your having a good day

Hi RNL, I have a feeling we've communicated on email a few times. Great to see you made it to the Forum.

You're on the right track... the Grover mini locking tuners are a no-brainer. They are excellent tuners and I guarantee you will not find them for less anywhere. We have a deal with Grover where we can sell them at this price on the condition that they are only for builders.

As for Babicz FCH... if you can afford it, I guarantee you will receive them and say "ahhh, ok, I can see why these cost so much" They are seriously impressive.

Bone nut... definitely. The bone is hand-picked by Clarence... 'nuff said.

The Gold Tele knobs... I think I know what you mean, but if you send me a pic I will be sure. I think you're talking about "Knurled Knobs" but a photo from the web would nail it.

Pickups... just depends what you want to spend. The Toneriders are very good value and I've heard great things about the Pure Vintage set. If you can afford a bit more, the Bensons are very good. For Custom, US made Pickups, they are excellent value.

And just so you know who Clarence is, here is a link to a video of him 'helping' me in the workshop :)
http://youtu.be/UfjcU5AlUSE

Hi Andy,
Thanks for your help, I have viewed these on youtube and was quite happy with the sound. Checked out your build, great job & love the colour.

Hi Kimball,
Checked out the above links, do like the sound of the Benson pickups. Must say they are the pups I am leaning towards, but may go with the "54 Vintage at this stage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dingobass

Wot Kimball sed :)
It's Kimballs fault that we decided to stock the Bennos.... Very good pups for not a lot of cash.

Coota is a cutie, I have a Staffy named Saffron... Talk about a sooky la la. It was raining a bit here last night and her royal highness flatly refused to go out for her pre bed time wee... Guess who got woken up at 3am to let her out?....

---

Hi DB,
Have to agree the Benson's do seem a great pickup for a low price, hard to believe they sound so great I had to pay double the price for the Fender Texas Specials I bought. Great job on your recent build, looks amazing can't wait to see this one finished and lit up. Know what your saying about sooky dogs, Coota is the same a real big softy at heart but wouldn't have him any other way :)

Hi Adam.
I finally decided to join, still not sure how to attach images etc will get my daughter to show me. Can do it work but at home have no idea how to get them from phone to computer. I might be able to send a link though to your email, pretty sure I know how to do that LOL
Thanks for your advise, I have read somewhere on the forum that the Mini Grovers may not fit directly into the pre drilled tuner holes, I will get my hubby to double check the size for me, I will definitely be buying the Babicz bridge and Grover tuners for myself and hubby. I do like the sound of the Benson "54 vintage and the Tonerider Classic Blues

RNL I look forward to hearing the pickups you choose. I don't have a set of the 54 vintage as of yet. In fact I've not tried the toneriders either. Whatever you choose enjoy them. Goodluck with the build and have fun.

Hi Kimaball,
Really do have to agree with you on this one, the Benson's do have that sweet smooth sound to them. Don't hurt my ears on the highs like some of the others tend to do.