Anyone tried GFS pickups?

[7 Year Cycle]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for a hot passive bridge pickup for my Epi LP Custom. I really like the Gibson 500T but the budget isn't big enough to drop $120 on a pickup.

I came across several people saying talking about GFS Pickups in old threads and wondered if any of you have had any experience with them.

They are much more affordable but I really want to know if you all think that I could get they same sound as the Gibson 500T from one of them.

Here is a link to their site:
GFS Professional Series- OUR BEST!

Thanks in advance for you input!

 

[Sinistas]

I had a GFS Dream 180 (P90 in a humbucker housing) in the neck of my Jackson SLSMG. It was fantastic, but I used it for cleans with some lead stuff here and there. I wouldn't think twice about throwing GFS pickups in my Agile AL-2000, that's for sure.

 

[TheZ]

I have used several GFS pickups and all of them have sounded great. If you want something close to a 500T you need to find one that has a ceramic magnet. Their professional series are either Alnico II or V. Their "Crunchy Pat" humbuckers are probably the closest that you'll find to Gibson's hot ceramic pickups.

Crunchy PAT High Output Humbucker, Black

 

[HOT-BRIT]

They are not bad for the price

 

[djrussell]

Yeah they're not the best pickups ever but GFS is reasonable enough. I've used 3 of their pickups; 1 i didnt like (Vintage 59), 1 i did like (Mean 90) and 1 dud (another Mean 90 that didnt sound anything like a Mean 90)...

 

[chillman]

I had their Alnico IIs in my Epiphone Flying V and they dropped right in and sounded great. Very much like 57 Classics. I have also used one of their P90s in a tele and it sounded better (in my opinion) than the Gibson P90 I had in another almost identical tele.

 

[Job-Job type Job]

I put a Vintage 59 in my Squier 51 and I'm very happy with it. I didn't want to spend much on an already dirt cheap guitar. Sounds great.

 

[7 Year Cycle]

Thanks for all your input! I think I'll order a set and give them a whirl.

 

[Full_Stack]

I have tried a few different models and they all sounded great.

 

[Carl17]

I put a Vintage 59 in my Squier 51 and I'm very happy with it. I didn't want to spend much on an already dirt cheap guitar. Sounds great.

Where did you get that pickguard and the metal control plate? That's just a squire strat right? Looks cool

 

[Job-Job type Job]

Where did you get that pickguard and the metal control plate? That's just a squire strat right? Looks cool

Thanks. It's been a long time and I'm not too sure where I got those items. I know I had to do some drilling on the control plate to get the toggle in. There is a Squier 51 forum out there and I think that's where I found out about where to get parts.

No, it's not quite a Squier Strat, but a 51. But then, yes, it's more or less a hardtail Strat. I put a MIM Strat neck on this one but have since gone back to the stock neck as it's actually better than my old MIM neck.

 

[stewartwms21]

New here, I have a prewired pickguard thati got from GFS for $35 shipped. I put it on my Yamaha Pacifica and its like night and day with that set up! it has a hot humbucker and the 2 singles are very smooth. i can go from blues to country to metal all on one guitar. i love them.

 

[jp1969]

i have one of their duncan jb copies in thebridge of my agile dauntless and play everything from avenged sevenfold to zeppelin with it and it sounds great.

 

[Indyclone]

here's a 500T for $50.. (not mine... I just saw the listing)

The Gear Page

 

[FlabberGhast]

Also gonna agree to GFS being pretty good pickups. Got one of their pro series as an upgrade for my stock Epi bridge pickup, and it was wonderful. Literally sounded like someone took a blanket off the high end. I'll most likely go back and grab another for the neck, when I get some extra money.

 

[7 Year Cycle]

I actually got really lucky and found a brand new 500T in the box for $35 shipped on Amazon! Just bought it on Saturday.

I'm sure in the future I will try GFS pickups.

 

[skynyrd67]

Don`t be leary of GFS, I tried their V59 bridge pup and did a mag swap and really like it, I`m gearing up for a 57 GoldTop build and the Pro Series GFS will be the pups of choice for that, their KMZ pups sound like they could be as close a replica to the 57-58-59-60 PAF`s as you`ll find in an AFFORDABLE price range.

 

[likea45]

I've used quite a few of their pups over the years and have had great results with them. The pro series sound allot like a 498T to me. Very high gain (which I like). The mean 90 also rocks and is very chimey but with a good bite to it to, it's their take on a P94.

 

[BrianC]

Recently bought a GFS Surf 90 for an old Epi SG I had bouncing around it it really made that piece of plywood sound great, along with some new pots. I'll definitely be using them again.

 

[geetarfreek82]

Okay, old thread but I hafta say that I was bored and had a set of GFS Crunchy Pats laying around, so I decided to mod them and throw them in my Ibanez SZ 320 (my beater guitar that I practice on). They were decent stock but I put them on short legged Mojo Nickel Silver baseplates, swapped out the pole screws and slugs for 1018 alloy stuff from Addiction FX, and in the neck pickup I put a shiny long A2 Seymour Duncan magnet in. I decided to keep the thick ceramic magnet in the bridge pup because it already sounded pretty close to a Super Distortion. I was really surprised by the results. I wouldn't throw these in a Gibson our anything, but they made a guitar that I was planning to sell into a keeper.