Should I go for the ID:Chris Buck Strat set or the ID:Chris Buck '57s?
Tonally the difference is that the ’57s are a tiny bit darker sounding (to offset the added rightness of a maple ‘board) and a little softer in tone whilst the CB originals are a little punchier. Our advice would be that if you are looking to do a faithful ’50s Strat project or want a slightly darker tone, we’d go for the ’57s, for everything else the CB originals would be our go to choice. You can see and hear more though in a direct comparison video we filmed with the man himself …
Why would I want to get my pickups rewound/upgraded?
We will usually install an improved magnet, offer a more refined and less tone-robbing (many pickups are coated in a thick, glue-like epoxy) wax potting process and replace modern plastic wiring with braided cloth hook-up wire where appropriate. We have rewound and upgraded countless pickup designs and have always found there to be a significant improvement in presence and tone following the upgrade. If you have a pickup which is obscure or are not sure if it can be upgraded, please contact us to see how we can improve its tone. Typical pickups we can improve the tone of: Filtertron pickups, Guild, Jaguar, Jazzmaster and many more. Basically if it is a single coil with Alnico magnets or is a pickup design largely based on metal parts it can usually be upgraded.
If a pickup is rusty or made from largely plastic and ceramic parts then those are usually not upgrade-able. Please feel free to send us a .jpg of your pickup for our opinion on what we can do for you.
Do you do pickup repairs?
We will always inform you of the price of a repair before undertaking the work and following a full diagnostics test. In addition, we love working on, repairing and/or upgrading obscure pickup designs as they can sometimes be the inspiration for new pickup designs so feel free to challenge us with your relics from the past!