Category: Pickup product details

buy Playmaker single

The Playmaker humbucker set is a clear sounding guitar pickup set made for genres from classic rock to heavy blues.

Designed for its dynamics, this humbucker set reacts to your playing style and volume settings. They clean up when you back off. They give you the grit you’re looking for when you dig in. The perfect pickup for classic rock or dirty blues. Whether you’re pushing an amp, using pedals or using amp modeling.

Playmaker humbucker set electric guitar pickup

The Playmaker was designed for players who need a guitar pickup with a little more than a PAF. But without being an over the top rock pickup set. They have a little more power and bite than a traditional PAF. The Playmaker’s dynamics and touch sensitivity help you stand out from the mix.

These pickups were designed around Gibson scale lengths. But they are also a good match for the Kokako Strat neck and middle pickups as a HSS set.

A big part of the testing process involved playing through various classic overdrive pedals as well as amplifiers. Both neck and bridge pickups had to work well with a Tube Screamer, Klon, Blues Driver and fuzz. Not to forget amp modelling, it’s a big part of modern playing.

Here Warren Mendonsa shows the dynamics of the pickups change when he uses the volume controls. The Playmakers respond to his pick attack, that creates huge possibilities for varying your tone and feel. Back off and the Playmaker backs off with you. Dig in and they sing.

Playmaker bridge pickup

The Playmaker bridge pickup was designed with pedals in mind. A part of the testing process was about voicing these pickups to be used with various overdrives. Tube Screamer, Klon and Blues Driver as well as natural amp overdrive were all used as test sounds.

Overdrive stacking is a big part of a lot of player’s sound. The Playmaker set was tested with this in mind.

The bridge pickup is wound asymmetrically and powered by an alnico IV magnet. This gives it better tonal balance than the slightly scooped alnico V magnet. But there’s more power than the alnico II in a PAF. The alnico IV delivers just the right amount of power. It is designed to respond well to variations in pick attack giving the dynamics that blues players need. It maintains its transparency and clarity when using the guitar volume giving you great onboard control.

Playmaker neck pickup

The neck pickup is also wound asymmetrically and uses an alnico 2 magnet to maintain a mid range balance.

The reason for the asymmetry is to give greater mid range clarity and that neck pickup chime. It loves clean funky rhythm lines as well as singing leads. This is a neck pickup that wants to be played, not just an ornament. It’s great for rhythm parts that stand out in a mix. But it’s not shy if you’re having a Gary Moore or Santana moment.

Here’s another example of the bridge and neck pickups.

Here is a short video showing some of my thoughts on the Playmaker and how they sound.

The Development of the Playmaker humbucker set

The idea behind this pickup came originally from Ben Sargent. He’s a well respected guitar repairer in Wellington NZ. He has fitted many sets of my pickups as well as using them himself.

He called me in late 2024 with an idea. He’d been thinking I should make a pickup between my Integrity PAF range and the Cloud Nine rock pickup set. Something that would react to changes in the player’s attack. A humbucker set that would be equally happy played clean or dirty.

It seemed like a great idea. We agreed it needed to be something different, not just an over wound PAF. So that summer the idea was churning around in my head.

Spending time thinking can often be more productive than time spent winding coils.

In February 2025 I got down to work making prototypes. As for all my pickups when I felt I was close I swapped the pickups into different guitars. Testing with various scale lengths and body woods is essential. I need to hear them in different situations.

I tested them with many different amps and overdrive pedals and with the band. At that time the band was auditioning for a new drummer. It was the perfect environment to try the pickups in different situations. The drummer makes a big difference to how the pickup’s low end responds in a mix. Within a month I got to test them with 2 different bass players and a half a dozen drummers. Its important to play next to a drummer and bass player. You just don’t know how a pickup will react until its up loud in a mix.

Playing live is an essential part of my testing. That is when you hear how the bottom end sits in a mix. It is easy to make a pickup too boomy. It is only in a band situation that you really know how it sits. A lot of makers skip this stage. It certainly makes the design process longer but I intend to use this design for the rest of my life. I don’t care how long the prototyping stage takes, it needs to be right.

When I was happy I sent a set down to Ben in Wellington to get his take on them. He’s a very different player to me so his contribution really mattered. He was happy with them – so I was too.

Available with 52mm or 49.2mm bridge pickup spacing, 4 conductor wire is standard but I’m happy to use braided if you prefer.

These pickups are happiest with 500k Ohm volume and tone pots and 50’s style wiring in Gibson type guitars. The choice of capacitor is up to you but I like 0.022microfarad. Great with either modern wiring or 50’s wiring though my preference is 50’s.

The bridge pickup is great in HSS Strats alongside either my Kokako or Tui single coils. The neck pickup is ideal as a neck humbucker with my Cruel Mistress or Duchess bridge pickups.

To celebrate NZ Music Month in May ’25 I recorded a riff every day for a month. Every riff was from a New Zealand artist. and they were all recorded using a Playmaker set in a Les Paul. I wanted to show the versatility of this pickup set. Here are all 31 riffs. I think you’ll agree this set of pickups will do just about anything you ask of them.

Cover options

Here are some options for the look of your new pickups.

Don’t forget, if you want your pickups aged you just have to ask. I’ll ask you for some pictures and do my best to match the ageing of your guitar. Here is some more info on guitar pickup ageing.

Humbucker cover options Mr Glyns Pickups

example of pickup cover aging by MrGlyns Pickups

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwolf

buy Playmaker single

For video demos of pickups and more here is Mr Glyn’s Pickups Youtube channel.

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updated 12 December 2024

Posted on December 12, 2024October 13, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Warwolf

Extreme metal pickup

Single NZ$219 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$190.43

Pair NZ$399 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$346.96

Ceramic x2 – Bridge 9.5KOhms, 6.74H, Ceramic- Neck 8.2KOhms 5.58H

buy Warwolf set

buy Warwolf single

The Warwolf is a brutal, hard hitting guitar pickup set designed for extreme metal in drop tunings.

Immediate, punchy bass, smooth mids with plenty of character and a present top end give these pickups the ability to cut through the mix no matter how low your tuning. The combination of brutality and clarity make the Warwolf essential both on stage and in the studio.

The bridge humbucker has the bite and grunt to power your riffs and bring them out in the mix. The neck humbucker has a bell like clarity perfect for clean passages or fat lead tones.

There is plenty of power to push the front end of a 5150 but with a frequency response to work with amp modeling.

The Warwolf doesn’t have the spec you might expect from a powerful pickup but this has been a re-think of the requirements of pickups for metal guitar and a re-working of what is actually needed to produce a crushing tone in both sound and feel.

At the beginning of the process I had assumed I needed coils with high dc resistance but I discovered that was not the case. To get the maximum punch, clarity and dynamics this pickup has a lower powered coil but big magnets. The coils produce clarity and a balanced frequency range. Big magnets give a big punch. It’s all about the immediacy of the note. To achieve that brutal feel the note needs to start and stop instantly, that comes from the magnets.

warwolf single extreme metal pickup — Warwolf

The Concept

The oversized ceramic magnets in the bridge pickup are asymmetrically mounted to emphasize one coil over another, the idea is to reduce the magnetic window to give the pickup character and focus.

The neck pickup has a more conventional magnetic symmetry.

Although this style of guitar pickup needs a certain amount of power that is not the whole story. Without clarity and punch it’s worthless. Ceramic magnets give a dryer, more immediate attack than alnico. We don’t want a warm smooth, soggy bass – it needs to react instantly, have an immediate kick.

Ceramic can be guilty of sounding scooped but with the coils providing mid range there’s a balance. The treble is present but not harsh. The winding method provides clarity- it’s all about clarity.

Sound Sample

Here is the Warwolf in a mix:

Warwolf in a mix

And the guitar tracks isolated:

Guitar Isolated

The Design

Here is the design concept of both neck and bridge pickups described in my own words:

Warwolf extreme metal pickup set MrGlyns Pickups

The Backstory

The design of this pickup set started back in August 2020 when I approached Raj Singarajah from Dynamic Rage Studio to be the ‘test pilot’ for this project. Some musical genres need expert ears and I knew I needed someone with taste and experience to steer my designs.

After about 6 months of prototypes we had what we were after. That time taught me a lot about designing pickups for this extremely demanding style. It was then that I realized that I had to manufacture so many difficult parts for this particular pickup that is just wasn’t going to be practical for me to make in any quantity. The project got put on hold. But I had learnt a lot about what a pickup was required to do to work in this very difficult environment.

Then at the beginning of 2022 I was contacted by New Zealand band Alien Weaponry to make a signature pickup for guitarist Lewis DeJong. I thought this was where I could use my design ideas. But one of the design requirements for Lewis’ pickup was it needed to have a sound similar to their last album so they could tour with it. My ideas about lower impedance weren’t going to work. Lewis’ set up is old school using Marshall heads powering 4×12’s so I took a more traditional approach to his pickup. You can find out more about the signature pickup for Lewis DeJong from Alien Weaponry here.

The idea for my extreme metal pickup was still churning around in my head but I needed help to get it off the ground.

Then in July 2024 I saw a post on Facebook by Richie Simpson. Richie is an award winning artist and producer of New Way Home and City of Souls. He had been a customer of mine when I was repairing guitars. I remembered he had been for ever swapping pickups in his many guitars searching for a tone.

He had experience of all the metal pickups out there, he’s a great player, knows this genre intimately and is a top human being. So I messaged him and he said yes. There followed a long phone conversation to establish what the brief was. It really felt we were on the same page.

A week later I was at his studio with a guitar loaded with the first prototypes. I was quite prepared for these first pickups to be a total failure, I just needed to sound him out. I needed to find out what sound was in his head and the best way to do that was to have an example with me. But I also wanted my idea to work.

When I got to his studio Richie was tracking guitars. We listened to one of his guitars with a ‘boutique’ pickup in the bridge position, then plugged in the Warwolf to A/B. I could tell from his face he was ‘feeling it’.

The neck pickup was right first time and the bridge was close. I’d won round 1 on clarity and punch. It turned out that was his #2 guitar.

So now for the #1.

It was pretty obvious this was no longer just a concept- this was the real thing.

He kept that guitar for a week to get a feel for it and to make sure it was exactly right. It was close but not quite there. We had a chat, I made another.

Then he came to my workshop and I fitted a set into one of his guitars to see how that worked.

A week later we talked. He was completely happy with the neck pickup but the bridge needed more mids. That’s how it proceeded for a few months.

I tweaked the design. Time passed and he wanted that pickup in his number one guitar just to eliminate the difference in the guitar bodies.

Whenever I collaborate with a player I’m very aware that each guitar sounds different. My test guitar for this genre is a very neutral sounding basswood body 25.5 inch scale LTD guitar. It’s got a very even frequency response so ideal for testing.

The plan is to get the pickups sounding good in this guitar and then transfer them to the player’s guitar to compare.

The body wood does make a difference – I find it unbelievable that debate is still going on. I swap a lot of pickups and the guitar they’re going into matters, I wish it didn’t. Just listen to two electric guitars played acoustically, that’s the sound the pickups are hearing.

A Player’s Perspective

Here it is in Richie’s words:

August 2024

The Warwolf is much more than your average over compressed, one dimensional metal pickup. Through a fastidious back and forth phase over the course of 6 months, using multiple guitars and amps, a balance was struck.

The brief: “Classic, punchy nineties heavy tone. Attack, tightness, aggression and detail while retaining balance, bloom, string separation and weight to chords. Ideal for alternative or groove metal, thrash and heavy rock.

If mid nineties Jerry Cantrell, Steph Carpenter and Dimebag Darrell had a baby with Terry Date”

Using more robust rails and larger powerful ceramic magnets has allowed for a more open wind while still maintaining the snap and mid range aggression required for heavy music. Avoiding the brittle harshness often associated with ceramic rails.

The Warwolf punches when it chugs, steering away from clanky single coil-esque pick attack and the upper mid bias cliche of many metal pickups. It’s open, organic and balanced nature gives size to a mix, width and note separation to chords under high gain while retaining excellent tightness, a commanding mid range bark and muscular thump during palm muting.

Response to your playing feels natural, without the sense you are fighting with a loose, low output pickup or conversely like the pickup is doing all the driving for you and hiding nuance or preventing clean up. Just enough compression for a mean high gain rhythm tone while still letting your right hand do the talking (Or yelling).

Leads are clear and liquid. Mid gain and clean tones are full and balanced but if you play aggressively, the Warwolf will tear your face right off and drop it back at your feet.

“This is what I’ve been after for a LONG time”.

When you bend a note on these pickups you don’t get strings dropping out as they pass over different bobbins, or if other strings are ringing out they’re not cutting through the bending string signal and vice versa. That’s the beauty of Glyn’s rail design.

The magnetic field is balanced more evenly across the strings and that opens a lot of doors to ideas that might only translate with this kind of pickup. The Warwolf design does something to the mid range that I really dig too. Like a harmonic overtone smearing that is really pleasing for heavy riffs. With each strings signal being represented in a more evenly powered way you can almost get the feel of a boost pedal or active pickup while retaining the more expressive dynamic range of a passive.

That feel responds well to a boost pedal if you are so inclined and doesn’t squish out or lose definition like a super hot pickup can.

I genuinely love how these things feel and sound. They’re unique and alive, translate well to a mix and most importantly they make me want to play! (Not to mention they look cool as hell) Glyn has absolutely nailed it.”

The Warwolf name

It’s always hard choosing a name but this one comes with a story.

I wanted a name that would represent a heavy crushing force, something fearful and powerful.

The Warwolf was the largest trebuchet ever made. It was built in 1304 for king Edward I of England during the siege of Stirling Castle in Scotland.

It took so long to build that the siege was over by the time it was completed. He used it anyway.

Edward I was my 24th great grandfather.

Here’s a fun Hollywood reconstruction of the Warwolf trebuchet

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Posted on September 23, 2024October 13, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Blue 90

Single – Blue 90 NZ$199 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$173.04

Pair – Blue 90 NZ$379 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$329.57

Alnico V, Neck- 6.5 KOhms, Alnico V, Bridge 7.46 KOhms

buy Blue 90 set

This link will take you to all my P90 demos.

buy Blue 90 single

The Blue 90 is a dynamic, clear, balanced P90 pickup set. It has a little less low end push than a traditional P90 but with clearer highs. They’re designed for the player wanting a clean sounding P90 tone but with the ability to push an amp when asked. Ideal for clean tones, jazz, funk and blues.

Blue 90 Tone

The phrase ‘fat single coil’ is really the essence of this pickup set. They have a full, chiming tone but with the dynamics of a true single coil pickup. They have that distinctive P90 tone but with more clarity. If you ask them they will push your amp into overdrive but less than my Sassy P90 set. They have the magnetic and coil geometry of a P90 but the under wound coil gives a clearer, more dynamic tone.

Blue 90 P90 pickup soapbar style in cream, MrGlyns Pickups

The Concept

I had been thinking for a while about making another P90 set. Something a little less powerful than the Sassy P90 pickup but with more sparkle than the smooth Cool 90 pickup.

I had experimented a little with under winding the Sassy and really liked the results. I liked the dynamics and how well it worked with modulation effects and delays giving a well balanced platform for these effects to shine. With my prototypes I had reduced the lower mid range ‘clonk’ that traditional P90’s have. It seemed like a pickup with a definite place in then World..

It felt to me like a very useful set of tones and I needed to investigate more. Like with many designs I hadn’t done much about it other than making a prototype, playing around with it, taking it to a gig to hear it next to a drummer and leaving it at that. I always liked this design, I just didn’t get around to putting them up for sale.

The Blue 90 story

Then in September 2024 I received a phone call from guitarist Nick Granville.

Nick has a few of my pickups in various guitars and I have huge admiration for his playing. He knows guitars and he knows tone.

The reason he called was that he had a problem with a P90 loaded guitar (not my P90’s). He wanted a cleaner P90 tone.

Like many pro players he’s very good at describing sound and his requirements. I felt my Sassy P90 set might be a bit grunty for him so after a little think I decided my new P90 idea might suit his needs.

For me this is a great situation where I get to borrow the ears of a top pro player to test out a new pickup. Although I had done a lot of testing myself already I knew that if Nick liked these pickups it would push it over the line and I’d have a new model. I always have prototypes on the go, sometimes it just needs a nudge.

I wound a set, sent them to him and a few days later got a message which read:

“They really do sound good. Have a nice sparkle but still sound like P90’s, and enough push to get it driving enough and vintage in vibe. I like them a lot.”

So that was it, a new pickup set was born. I’m very pleased to welcome this new P90 set to my website.

Available in dogear or Soapbar, black or cream. If you’re ordering Dogear (or even if you aren’t) I’m happy to send you a 3D printing file for height shims.

updated 5 May 2025

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updated 3 April 2023

Posted on August 12, 2024November 17, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

2 String Pickup

2 String pickup NZ$139 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ $120.87

D.C. resistance 3.3 kOhms, Alnico 5

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I was contacted by a customer recently wanting a 2 string pickup. Was it for a 2 string guitar? Maybe some other instrument…

Why would you want a 2 string guitar pickup?

The idea behind this pickup is for it to be mounted to a conventional electric guitar for it to just ‘hear’ the E and A strings. Then that signal is sent out separately from the main guitar pickups and put through a pedal to lower it an octave. The octave down sound can be amplified separately or combined with the signal from the 6 string pickups. It’s one of those ideas that the more you think about it the more uses you find for it.

I came across this idea before back in 2014. Here is a blog post on 2 string pickups I wrote back then. The ones I made then were a little different. One was for a bouzouki and another for an acoustic guitar. The overall idea was the same. The idea is to only hear one or two strings and to lower the signal by an octave.

Design

I had a lot of questions for the customer. In the end I concluded the pure signal from a single coil pickup was needed. And that pick guard mounted mounting would be best.

So I got on the computer and designed what was essentially a cut down Strat pickup.

2 String pickup CAD MrGlyns Pickups — 2 String CAD drawing

My plan was to design the pickup using a CAD program and then laser cut the top and bottom plates. It is constructed the same way as a Fender.

The advantages of using a laser cutter are simply accuracy and repeatability. The customer wanted 2 pickups and, well, I have been asked before, maybe I will again. Spending time on the CAD drawing means I’ll only have to do this once, next time it will be a lot easier.

2 string pickup laser cutting MrGlyns Pickups — Laser cutting

Pickup Construction

The bobbins have a top and bottom plate laser cut from Forbon (like a Fender) and held together with the magnets. I have my magnets specially made for me, these are the two middle magnets from ‘Tui’ pickup. As extra security I always super glue the magnets and flatwork together as well as insulate the magnets from the windings – I want to be sure. I haven’t shown that in this picture.

2 string pickup bobbins by MrGlyns Pickups — bobbins

I chose the Tui design and winding count because of its strong clear signal. The bass strings need to have a big clear chime if they’re going to be lowered an octave. I don’t want them to sound mushy or undefined.

Once they were wound I potted them in hot wax to prevent micro-phonic feedback. It’s turning out to be a really cute little 2 String Pickup.

2 string strat pickup by MrGlyns PIckups

The finished pickup

I did consider designing and 3D printing a cover for this 2 string pickup. I think it will be something I’ll do in future but there isn’t the budget for that this time. To finish the pickup off after wiring it up I taped the coil for protection. It’s ended up looking more like a mini Tele bridge pickup.

And there’s the perfect space on the bottom for one of my stickers.

A few weeks later I received an email from the customer saying – “It’s sounding great – I’m noticing much better string isolation then what I was getting with the cheap cigar box pup”.

He included this picture of his rather cool looking guitar:

2 string pickup MrGlyns Pickups, New Zealand — 2 String Pickup

If you have a project in mind please get in touch. I’m not always going to say yes but sometimes I do.

Pickup Height

The base plate is designed with the intention of a pick guard mounting like in a Strat type guitar. There is always going to be some modifying needed to fit this pickup.

Remember, you’re aiming at a pickup height of 2mm. That’s from the top of the magnet to the underside of the string. That measurement is taken when fretting the last fret.

This diagram should help:

How to adjust guitar pickup height, Diagram pickup height. — Measuring Pickup Height

That measurement is not super critical but you need to be close. If the pickup is too far away you will not get a strong, clear signal.

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updated November 2024

Posted on July 24, 2024November 17, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Musicmaster Bass Pickup

Single Musicmaster Bass Pickup– NZ$165 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$143.48

Alnico V – 6.8 kOhms – ’51 Telecaster Bass spec

Or Alnico V – 5.7 kOhms – Original ‘70’s Strat spec

Buy Musicmaster Bass

From its humble beginnings the Musicmaster Bass has become a classic. Beloved of Indie bands, studio engineers and offset fans. The Musicmaster Bass has begun to make its way in the world and leave its mark on music.

Musicmaster Bass pickup by MrGlyns Pickups — Musicmaster Bass Pickup

The Problem with the Musicmaster Bass Pickup

Designed originally to be a ‘student model’ short scale, Fender cut quite a few corners to reduce the cost. This was the 1970’s and the accountants had a big say at Fender. This was an instrument made down to a price not up to a standard. But despite the obvious cost cutting I still have a soft spot for the Musicmaster. They were cheap but that doesn’t mean they weren’t good.

The basic bones of the Musicmaster are good. Short scale bass with a small body makes a lot of sense. But there was a problem with the pickup.

Rather than design a pickup specifically for this guitar Fender instead used a Stratocaster. Then they hid it inside a blank cover.

Here is the problem with using a Stratocaster pickup with a 4 string bass. The red lines are the strings and the black dots are the pickup magnets.

It’s pretty obvious that the magnetic pole pieces just don’t line up with the middle strings.

The pickup wasn’t visible under that blank cover and they decided it didn’t matter on a budget bass anyway. So that’s how it was.

The Solution

In July 2024 I was contacted by my Neville Claughton from Nelson. He had an original ‘73 in need of a new pickup.

Nev is a legend in NZ, he’s been well known in the music business for ever and I have huge respect for him.

His request got me thinking so I decided to make my own version of the Musicmaster pickup but with 4 poles that line up with the strings.

I got on the computer and designed this pickup flatwork to be laser cut. As you can see it’s simply a 4 pole Strat pickup.

flatwork design for Musicmaster Bass by MrGlyns Pickups

The only difference is those pole pieces.

And here is the spacing of the poles on the Mr Glyn’s Pickup. You can see how the magnets line up with the strings.

String and pole alignment for MrGlyns Pickups Musicmaster Bass pickup

I’m happy with that.

Winding the Musicmaster Bass Pickup

So how was I going to wind this pickup?

There’s nothing wrong with the windings of a ‘70’s Strat pickup. With the reduced string tension of a 30inch scale bass there is a tendency for it to get boomy, so having a pickup with less inherent bottom end can help with clarity. It really isn’t a bad sound. My personal preference for these instruments is to have the Strat pickup specifications but with, of course, the correct string spacing.

But there is scope for having different winding options.

If you want more fatness in your tone I also offer this pickup with my ‘51 Telecaster Bass wind. This gives a bit more power but also more bass. This option still has the same Strat footprint and fits inside the same cover.

So if you want a fatter tone for your Musicmaster then this is your best option. Here’s a demo of that pickup.

Both winding options have the same footprint and the same alnico V magnets, it’s just the amount of windings that’s the difference.

This pickup is available with 3 cover options: black, white or cream.

Musicmaster Bass pickup covers by MrGlyns Pickups

Buy Musicmaster Bass

Updated May 2025

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Posted on June 26, 2023November 17, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Draig doom pickup set

Draig doom pickup set NZ$399 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$346.96

Draig doom single humbucker size P90 neck NZ$199 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$173.04

Draig doom single humbucker bridge NZ$219 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$190.43

Bridge covers are $20 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$17.39

buy Draig set

buy Draig single

Draig doom set specifications: Alnico VI – Bridge 9.38 KOhms, 7.42H, Ceramic 8 – Neck 7.26 KOhms

The Draig doom guitar pickup set is designed for all the genres encompassed by Doom Metal. It has strong mids, smooth treble and a bass response immediate enough to cope with low tunings. This is different from the harsh, dry percussive bass needed for extreme metal. There’s a warmth and clarity. It really is all in the bass and mids.

Draig doom pickup set in chrome and open chrome covers

The Draig is inspired by the sound of Tony Iommi and that heavy riffing guitar tone, mid forward.

Iommi’s tone has been in my head since I was a teenager, its a huge part of my guitar taste. I’m delighted to make this pickup available.

As you will hear from listening to the following demos, it’s more than just the Iommi sound. Players have taken this pickup and created their own sounds and feel. That was just the starting point, there’s no telling where it will go.

Power and Tone

But there’s another factor with this pickup. You’ll notice the Ohms for the bridge are in the 9K range, lower that you might expect. But this is still a powerful humbucker. This is all about increasing the dynamics and reducing compression. When using heavy fuzz, it’s really useful to be able to back off using just playing technique; the Draig is designed to do just that. It’s designed to work along with your fuzz no matter how extreme. Whether you’re using just a light fuzz or overdrive or an extreme Big Muff tone the Draig maintains clarity.

The coils are tuned to give the Draig its tonal characteristics with the magnet providing the engine.

Draig Doom Humbucker by Mr Glyn's Pickups with "dragon breath" cover — Draig in ‘Dragon Breath’

Pickups designed to derive most of their power from the strength of the coil, rather than the magnet, sound smooth, even and compressed like my Attitude humbucker. The Draig bridge gets a lot of power from its oversized alnico 6 magnet. This makes the Draig touch sensitive, dynamic and punchy.

Draig doom humbucker in chrome — Chrome cover Draig

So why alnico 6 in the Draig doom bridge humbucker?

Alnico 6 has similar properties to the more familiar alnico 5 but with more mids – it’s all about the mids. As you’d imagine, it has a little more power too.

Draig Doom Bridge Humbucker

Draig bridge humbucker

Draig doom bridge humbucker design

It wasn’t an easy pickup to design. It was designed for low tuning but with more of a Doom vibe in mind. I’ve made pickups before for extreme metal and it a very different approach to the bottom end. With extreme metal the bottom needs to be much drier and more immediate and percussive. With the bass on this one I’ve tried to walk the line between over hard and dry on one side and soggy and undefined on the other. I like to think I have found a path in between giving power with clarity.

The choice of magnet was a big part of this. A bigger magnet has a more immediate response than the conventional size and I experimented with a few different types of alnico. I finally settled on alnico 6. This oversized alnico 6 magnet gives all the punch and immediacy I wanted but with slightly stronger mids than alnico 5. Being an unusual size and material, I get these magnets manufactured specifically for this bridge pickup.

Like with many pickups to focus on the winding alone is telling only a small part of the story. The winding is 9.38K Ohms which might seem small but it’s all about balancing the mids. That oversized alnico 6 magnet is where the power comes from. The blade pole pushes more of that magnetic energy to the side of the pickup furthest away from the bridge, lessening the ‘pingy’ high end. It’s all about balancing the tone and emphasising the mids. The blade side of the bridge pickup is more efficient, mounting this side furtherst from the bridge helps with that mid forward tone.

You can see from this picture of the magnetic field how much more intense it it around the blade.

I made a short video explaining the thought behind the Draig pickup and how it works:

Draig

Test, tweak and test – Draig doom guitar set

I rigorously test all my pickups in various situations, different amps, pedals and always next to a drummer. Every pickup in my range has been gigged. You don’t really know a pickup until it’s been with a loud band.

For the Draig I asked Timmy Smalls in Australia for his opinion on the Draig bridge humbucker. He has a great Instagram channel and makes fantastic demo videos. Always good to have a second opinion you can trust.

There are always changes along the way; this video is from when the Draig had an alnico 5 magnet.

Draig neck – humbucker size P90

With the success of the Draig bridge pickup I was asked by a few players about a matching neck pickup to complete the Draig doom set.

It was an interesting challenge. I wanted the neck to have a similar ‘mids forward’ character to the bridge pickup. It needed a smooth lead tone but a lot of clarity when playing chords. It needed to hit a fuzz pedal with just the right amount of power so as not to make the sound into an undefined mush. And it needed to be a good match for the bridge pickup.

I wanted to re-think the neck pickup sound. So many PAF based neck humbuckers have a warm thick sound. This can work well with fuzz but not so much in this genre of music. I needed clarity. I wanted to make the neck pickup as useful as the bridge. My intention was to give players a tool to make use of the neck pickup sound.

I decided upon a humbucker size P90.

P90’s have a very different magnetic field to humbuckers with woody mids and less of a lower midrange push. It’s those lower mids that can create a mush.

As you can see the magnetic field is strongest in the middle of the pickup. With this smaller magnetic window the neck pickup has a less complex harmonic content and therefor more clarity.

A smaller magnetic window translates to a pickup with more character, often lacking in neck humbuckers.

After a lot of experimenting I landed on a combination of winds and magnet that did what I want.

I used a pair of undersized ceramic magnets that I have specially made for me. Ceramic has a drier tone than alnico which helps with the clarity and I designed the coil windings to compensate for the ceramic’s reduced mid range.

After some tweaking and, as ever, playing the pickup set alongside a drummer and bass player I was happy.

The Draig neck pickup has a different look to the bridge but I think they compliment each other well.

Do not underestimate this neck pickup. A lot of players have told me they avoided the neck pickup until they tried this one.

If you are an Instagram user you can find a whole plethora of Draig guitar pickup demos on this page. Babylon Sun is an endorser of Mr Glyn’s Pickups and has become a good friend to Mr Glyn’s Pickups. I encourage you to follow him on Instagram.

Draig doom pickup set – 6 string bass

Here is an interesting video from Tasmaniak Guitars. He designs guitars for 3d printing. This is a 30″ scale 6 string bass tuned EADGBE so like a conventional guitar an octave lower.

In this short demo he compares the clean and dirty tones of the Draig bridge pickup. This rather cool guitar is called the Meteora. You can get in touch with him and buy the files to print out your own version of this guitar. He has quite a few guitars in his range – worth checking out.

The name – “Draig”

So why call it ‘Draig’? Well, the word Draig means dragon in Welsh and although I’ve lived in New Zealand since 2005 I was born and grew up in Wales. The idea for the name came from my 9 year old daughter.

buy Draig set

buy Draig single

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Attitude 6 string contemporary humbucker, by MrGlyns Pickups

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updated 26 June 2023

Draig doom humbucker

Posted on April 19, 2023November 17, 2025 by mrglynspickups — 1 Comment

The Duchess Tele set

Single The Duchess Tele – NZ$139 for NZ customers. If you’re overseas it’s GST free; $NZ120.87

Pair The Duchess Tele – NZ$269 for NZ customers. If you’re overseas they’re GST free; $NZ233.91

Alnico 5; Bridge 7.28KOhms, Neck 7.1KOhms

buy The Duchess set

buy The Duchess single

The Duchess Tele set is for the Telecaster player in need of that distinctive smooth Tele twang but with none of the ice pick cut. The neck pickup is warm and balanced with a full clarity and string separation. This a medium powered set that sits nicely in my range between the Silver Lady and Cruel Mistress.

The Duchess Telecaster set by MrGlyns Pickups — The Duchess Tele Set

The Duchess Tele pickup set will do just about everything from ‘vintage’ Tele twang to a platform for pedals.

The Duchess’ beginnings

The idea for this pickup started in 2021. I had some work at Roundhead recording studios in Auckland looking after the guitars of an American recording artist. During the process, the producer and engineer (working from the US) decided to send over their favorite ‘magic’ telecaster because they wanted that sound on the record.

The guitar arrived and it was an original ’61 Fender Esquire Custom, sunburst, double bound and just beautiful.

Although it was an Esquire it had a neck pickup that they told me had been added later. After taking the pick guard off it looked more like the neck pickup had been fitted in the factory so maybe it was a custom order. There are often strange anomalies with vintage guitars. We’re so used to models being standardized these days but it wasn’t always this way.

My job was to check over this guitar and set it up for the recording.

The Duchess telecaster - MrGlyns Pickups

I plugged it in and loved the sound immediately, now I understood why they’d shipped it over from the US for this session. So, I got my test meters out to analyze every aspect of the pickup. It was rather unusual for a Fender pickup of that time so maybe it had been re-wound at some stage. That didn’t matter, it sounded great, so I set out to make a Telecaster set in that style but with my own spin.

I made quite a few prototypes and did all the usual testing but didn’t quite get around to releasing the pickup. It often works that way, the last part, the part where I actually put the pickup on the website can take quite a while.

The Duchess Tele is finally born

Then in 2022 I had the idea for my Pandora 3-way pickup. I used the design for The Duchess bridge pickup as the middle position for the Pandora. I knew all along the Pandora was never going to be for everyone but was pleasantly surprised when the idea caught on.

An order for a Pandora came in from an old friend of mine in the UK. He’s called Darren Driver and he’s in a well-established Springsteen tribute band – The Boss and the Beeston Street Band

Darren had been a customer of mine when I had a guitar shop in Leeds in the late 90’s. He was a Telecaster player back then and it seems he still is. It’s always good to re-connect with people.

A couple of months later Darren got in touch saying how the mid position of the Pandora was his ideal Telecaster sound. Well, that was all it took. I got into the workshop and made a matching neck pickup for the Duchess. That week’s band practice I tested the set next to the drummer and was still really happy with it. So, I sent a set off to Yorkshire. I needed to make sure it was exactly what he wanted.

Darren said he was happy to make a demo of the pickups once he had got them into him number one Telecaster. That’s him in the video above.

And so The Duchess Tele set was born.

The Duchess – Tele set is great with either 250KOhm or 500KOhm volume pots. It’s really up to you – 500K will give more high-end Tele twang while the 250K will sound warmer. It really is a great pickup set either way.

The choice of capacitor is up to you. The more traditional 0.047 will roll off more treble with a lower value (0.022 for example) will be more subtle. I often get asked to recommend capacitors but it is a personal choice, there’s no right or wrong here.

The Duchess Telecaster pickup set explained

I have made a couple of short videos to explain my thinking behind these two pickups:

Check out our YouTube

The Duchess has been a useful addition to the Mr Glyn’s pickup range. Click on the links below to hear the other Telecaster pickups we make.

buy The Duchess set

buy The Duchess single

updated 28 April 2025

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updated 17 May 2023

The Duchess – Tele set

Posted on April 3, 2023September 18, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Kāhu hot Strat

Single Kāhu NZ$139 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$120.87

Set Kāhu NZ$375 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$326.09

Specifications: Flat Pole AlnicoV – Neck 7.KOhms, 1.75H, Middle 7.6KOhms, 1.75H, Bridge 11KOhms, 3.98H

buy Kāhu set

buy Kāhu single

Kāhu Description

The Kāhu hot Strat Pickups set is for blues/rock players in need of that bit more power. With cleaner neck and middle pickups and a hotter, grittier bridge pickup it’s a set that acts more like a HSS set than a conventional Strat.

Without loosing their distinctively Strat personality the Kāhu are definitely Strat sounding but with an ugly streak. This is a true single coil set so they retain all the dynamics and feel of traditional pickups but with a fatness and power to bring out something different in your Strat.

The heart of the Kāhu hot Strat Pickups set is the bridge pickup, it’s warm and punchy and sustaining with a much greater output than a traditional bridge pickup. The highs are smoother, mids honky and the bass full. They’re designed to push your amp into overdrive rather than for clean sounds.

Kahu contemporary strat pickup, MrGlyns Pickups

For the blues player the true single coil nature of these pickups gives the dynamics and feel you expect from a Strat but with the singing sustain from more powerful pickups.

Clean Demo

The bridge pickup is a true single coil but it could be used as an alternative to a HSS set. No need to route out the body and pickguard for a humbucker, this bridge pickup will give you the fat lead tone you need.

The middle and neck pickups were designed to match but with a cleaner vibe, again thinking of using this as almost a HSS set. With less high end and considerably more mids and lows than a traditional Strat set the Kāhu set is for a non-traditional Strat player.

Dirty Demo

With the volume control backed off a tad the Kāhu set cleans up creating huge versatility through a dirty amp.

250k or 500kOhm pots?

Although this set was designed around a 250k volume pot (my preference) they also work well (some might say better) with a 500kOhm volume pot letting through more high end. They work well with a treble bleed if you don’t want treble roll off when using the volume control. If you’re buying a set I’ll send you one.

If you are wanting ‘vintage’ low powered pickups then look at the Bellbird or Kokako sets.

An Explanation

Here is an explanation of this design in my own words:

The Kāhu hot Strat Story

The Kāhu story is the story of the struggles of many of my customers when I was repairing guitars. A lot of people have a hard time with Strat pickups in particular the bridge. Strats have comfort and balance, the controls are fantastic, the 5 way, the volume control in just the right place. It’s a guitar that has everything right but for many players, especially from a humbucker background, the ‘vintage’ voiced pickups just don’t do it.

But Strats can be modified in so many ways to make them your own.

The starting point for this set was my Cruel Mistress Telecaster set. It’s my most popular pickup set and really brings a Telecaster to life. It’s based around the early Fender Broadcaster pickup. I wanted to do similar for the Stratocaster but with it’s own uniquely Stratocaster voice.

The Kāhu was in the development stage for nearly 2 years. A lot of the prototypes were close but were not quite right in some aspect. I don’t know how many gigs I did with these until they were just right.

The Strat should have its own unique voice and that idea was a big part of the design of these pickups. I wanted to retain that Strat character but give it something different as well.

The bridge pickup is designed to be an all purpose crunch rhythm and lead pickup with the middle and neck acting as cleaner, more traditional Strat tones. Think HSS, that’s what I’m going for here.

Here are all my Strat pickup demos on YouTube.

All my Strat sets are named after New Zealand birds. The Kāhu is a large harrier, an opportunistic predator, I see them from my house every day, patrolling the fields and hedges for prey.

Strat pickup set, black covers. Mr Glyn's Pickups — Kahu Set

buy Kāhu set

buy Kāhu single

Updated September 2024

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updated September 2025

Posted on September 22, 2021October 13, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

The Tron

Single The Tron – NZ$249. If you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$216.52

Pair The Tron – NZ$479. If you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$416.52

Mounting adapter plates are $10 each ($20 with a set) , if you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$8.70 ($17.39 for a set)

Alnico V – Bridge 5.32 KOhms, 1.96H .Neck – 4.36KOhms, 0.88H

Buy TheTron set

Buy P90 size – TheTron set

Buy TheTron single

Buy P90 size – TheTron single

The Tron pickup set is based around the legendary Gretsch Filtertron pickups of the 50’s and 60’s. To say To say it has character is an understatement. It is full and rounded with a well balanced mid range. It has that distinctive ‘Clank’ that separates it from other pickups. The neck pickup is clear and fat and the bridge stands out from the mix without ever sounding harsh.

This is a unique style of pickup and quite distinct from its Gibson cousin the PAF.

Available in standard size with traditional ‘through cover’ mounting. 2 or 3 screw humbucker style mounting. P90 size.

The Tron demos

Here’s the full demo from Brett:

Who is it for?

The Tron is the perfect Filtertron pickup as a Gretsch upgrade. For the modern player wanting something other than Gibson style humbuckers For the rockabilly player after that traditional tone. For the jazz player or, like me, Malcolm Young fans. There’s so much you can to with The Tron.

Tele caster Cabronits with Mr Glyns Pickup — Cabronita

As you can see from the demos it’s not just Gretsch guitars, the Tron are great in Telecaster Cabronitas. or any guitar for that matter.

For the modern player with one foot in the past.

Stratocaster with Mr Glyns Pickups — Strat Tron

P90 size Tron

The Tron is now available in P90 size. This is the same pickup, same bobbins, same magnet. So if you need some Tron goodness in your P90 guitar this is the set for you.

P90 size Filtertron guitar pickup. — P90 Size Tron

As the Tron pickup fits inside a P90 cover there are no compromises. This is the true Tron tone for your P90 guitar.

The P90 version has its own base plate. These are designed and made in house. This has an extra earthed shielding layer for that bit extra noise reduction.

P90 size filtertron base plate. — Base Plate

The mounting screws are located at each end of the pickup. They come with screws and springs.

They are available in 49.2mm or 52mm spacing and with either cream or black covers.

There is a a link to the shop at the top of this page.

Development

Over the years I’ve repaired a fair few old Gretsch Filter-tron pickups. I have noticed the best sounding ones are at the upper range for ohms. I’ve taken that design and tweaked it until I got the fullness I was looking. But paying attention not to loose the essential clarity and clank.

Most of my pickups are made in collaboration with a professional player, but not this one.

I started playing guitar at the age of 16 when I first heard Malcolm Young. That’s the sound of a Filtertron through an almost clean valve amp. I didn’t feel I needed another set of ears for this one, I knew exactly what I wanted.

I needed this pickup set to be crystal clear with a clean amplifier but to come into its own when pushing an amp to clip.

I think that’s what it’s all about with this design – how it makes an amp clip.

The neck pickup needed to be clear, full and chiming in both a big archtop and in the neck position of a Telecaster. The bridge pickup needed to have no shortage of character, a clean almost jangly tone when played gently but with enough go in it to push the front end of a valve amp to clip when you dig in.

The design of The Tron Filtertron pickup

Here are my thoughts on the design of this pickup set. In this video I talk about the differences between Filtertron pickups and Gibson PAF’s.

In summary, the filtertron has a big magnet with low dc resistance. The PAF had a smaller magnet and higher dc resistance. Filtertrons get most of their power from their large magnet giving them a distinctive ‘clank’. They have an immediate feel under your fingers. An instant attack.

The magnet is very important. I get mine specially made for me to my spec. I am very fussy about my magnets.

In comparison, a PAF is smoother and less percussive sounding.

Mounting options

I’ve made this one to fit what you play.

TheTron pickup comes with the standard mounting screws for the ‘soapbar’ style mounting known as the ‘universal mounting’.

If your pickup is mounted on a humbucker style ring, you can fit it using one of my adapter plates.

I’ve developed two adapter plate options: 2-screw to mount to Gibson-style humbucker rings,

or 3-screw to mount to the ring found on some Gretsch guitars.

Adapter plates are $10 each ($20 with a set). Ypou can find the options to order tham at the checkout.

TheTron by Mr Glyns Pickups. Filtertron guitar pickup, blue.

TheTron gold foil mr glyns pickups. Filtertron pickup

TheTron blue top Mr Glyns pickups. Filtertron guitar pickup

And as for the name “TheTron”? – I think you have to be a Kiwi…

Dimensions

The Tron Filter-tron pickup is a slightly different size to its ‘Gibson’ style humbucker cousins.

It is 71.5mm x 35mm where as a Gibson shape humbucker is 70mm x 38mm. It is possible to get adapter mounting rings to fit a Filter-tron type pickup in a Gibson type humbucker loaded guitar. I don’t sell these.

The P90 Tron is standard P90 size so 35mm x 85.5mm.

The Tron is available with a 52mm pole spacing to fit with Fender style bridge spacing.

Feel free to get in touch with any questions.

Buy TheTron set

Buy P90 size – TheTron set

Buy TheTron single

Buy P90 size – TheTron single

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mini humbucker set Mr Glyns pickups — Gretsch Filtertron 1961

Mr Glyns Pickups

For the full range of pickups https://mrglynspickups.com/

Take a listen to all the demos https://www.youtube.com/c/MrGlynsPickups/videos

Posted on July 29, 2020October 13, 2025 by mrglynspickups — 1 Comment

Attitude Humbucker

6 string Attitude Humbucker NZ$219 (set NZ$399) for NZ customers; if you’re overseas it’s GST free NZ$190.43 (set NZ$346.96)

7 string Attitude Humbucker NZ$240 (set NZ$449) for NZ customers; if you’re overseas it’s GST free NZ$208.70 (set NZ$390.43)

Cover NZ$20 ($17.39) extra each pickup

6 String – Alnico V – Neck 13.5 KOhms, 7.38H, Bridge 18.6 KOhms, 12.63H

7 String – Alnico V – Neck 14.5 KOhms, Bridge 21.8 KOhms 14.65H

Buy Attitude 6 string set

Buy Attitude 6 string single

Buy Attitude 7 string set

Buy Attitude 7 string single

The Attitude Humbucker is a powerful, well balanced pickup set designed for modern metal or fusion players. Sensitive enough to hear the detail in your legato. A smooth present mid range to push you forward in the mix. Bass that stays tight whatever you throw at it. The Attitude makes a great 6 or 7 string pickup set.

I’m delighted to have Nail Vincent from the band Devilskin using the Attitude pickup both in the studio and live.

Nail Vincent from the band Devilskin using Mr Glyns Pickups — Nail Vincent – Devilskin

The story of the Attitude Humbucker

In 2019 I was working on extending my range of humbucker pickups for rock players. The Cloud Nine will do just about anything but I wanted to offer a more specific pickup for modern rock/metal.

I decided to start with a 7 string which is a slightly unorthodox way of going about it but I was concerned with getting the bottom end right. If there was any sogginess in the bottom end a 7 string would show it up more than a 6 string.

7 string pickups are not like others. The low bass string reacts so differently, there’s a lot of string deflection and low harmonics. My mission was to tame this bass and keep it tight but not to sacrifice the sound quality of the treble strings. The treble still needed to be sweet and singing. The mids needed to be balanced and noticeable. I didn’t want this pickup scooped; the mids had to stand out from the mix when needed to.

Attitude Humbucker development

So in October 2019 I got back in touch with my old mate Graham Young in Yorkshire. He’s an amazing player and really knows his gear.

Back in 1998 I wound a 6 string humbucker for Graham. In those days I had a guitar shop and repair business in Leeds in the North of England and he wanted a bridge pickup to suit his style for a parts caster.

Years passed and he became a 7 string player, so when I decided to develop a 7 string pickup Graham was the person I asked to be test pilot. We’d very loosely kept in touch over the years and it turned out he was still using the 6 string pickup I’d made for him back in the 90’s.

We had a chat via messenger and it turned out he’d tried a lot of pickups but none quite did it for him. So I listened to his thoughts, came up with a design and went away and made a prototype.

The first one wasn’t quite right, so he sent it back and I changed a few things and returned it. I don’t know how many adjustments I made but that pickup accumulated quite a few air miles between NZ and the UK over the next few months.

Every time we got closer, every adjustment less than the one before. When you get that close you know you’ve got a good pickup. I was at the point when I felt we really had something great but I just needed that confirmation.

Then Covid 19 happened, the mail got too unreliable to send stuff overseas with any confidence of it arriving and the process was put on hold.

Attitude Humbucker set is born

At the end of June 2020 I got a call from Gabe Dovaston in Papamoa. He’d done some demos for me with some of my other pickups and was asking if I did a 7 string, just in case, for an Ibanez of his. Well, this seemed like a chance to test my new pickup on fresh ears. I made a copy of the last one I’d sent Graham, the one I was happy with, and got it off in the post. I sat back and waited. It only took a few days and I got a very happy call, he loved it and he’d already made a demo that he’d put on YouTube.

Great news, but what was I going to call it? The pickup was already on YouTube, it wasn’t on my website yet and it didn’t even have a name!

I got on Facebook and asked people to come up with a name; there were so many excellent suggestions but nothing quite did it. In the end this pickup that had taken so much work to develop, traveled so far and refused to go away I called the Attitude Humbucker.

The Attitude Humbucker is available in 6 and 7 string, for neck and bridge positions.

There are a number of cover options for the 6 string so you can choose how your Attitude looks: uncovered options are black, double white, double cream, and zebra or reverse zebra (in either cream or white) at no additional charge. Or you can add a cover to your purchase in: black, gold, chrome, nickel, sliders, gatsby or open raw nickel.

The 7 string bridge pickup comes in one size (61.2mm). You can have your pickup in uncovered black, double white, double cream, and zebra or reverse zebra (in either cream or white) for no additional cost, or add a nickel or gold cover for $40 for the set.

Selection of humbucker cover options, MrGlyns Pickups

Slider humbucker cover style, by MrGlyns Pickups

Gatsby humbucker cover, by MrGlyns Pickups

example of humbucker cover aging by MrGlyns Pickups

Attitude 7 string humbucker by Mr Glyns Pickups — “Attitude” Humbucker 7 string

"Attitude" Humbucker Mr Glyns Pickups — White humbucker bobbins

Buy Attitude 6 string set

Buy Attitude 6 string single

Buy Attitude 7 string set

Buy Attitude 7 string single

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcDggiRTQyFec5KAVHsC2xA

Attitude Humbucker – updated 5 May 2025

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Cloud Nine hot humbucker by MrGlyns Pickups

Integrity humbuckers. PAF Alnico 2 vintage voiced pickups

Follow the links to find out more

Posted on May 13, 2020August 21, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Custom Pickup Relicing for Your Guitar

Pickup Relicing is available, it’s not on the website, just ask me when you’re ordering.

From gentle pickup ageing just to take the glare off to serious steampunk treatment.

Pickup Relicing available — ‘Integrity’ light/medium ageing

I am often asked about pickup ageing to match in with an old guitar. A 40 year old Les Paul can just look wrong with shiny new pickups. Giving them a little head start makes a lot of sense.

Sometimes I’m asked to age pickups to match in with a new but reliced guitar.

Guitar relicing used to be a really controversial subject but it’s so commonplace now that it’s pretty much universally accepted.

Soapbar ‘Sassy’ P90 aged

Some players feel a guitar should be played for years on end to earn its wear, I get that.

Personally, I like the feel of an aged guitar. A dulled finish, rounded over fretboard edges all make for a more comfortable playing experience.

And then there’s the other factor- fear. I find I’m afraid of a shiny new expensive guitar in mint condition but when there are already a few scratches I can just let go. I play look at a lot better on old or aged instruments.

Black Sand HBSP90 medium Pickup Relicing

I also rather enjoy the process of making a pickup look like it’s the veteran of a World tour. Pickup Relicing is something I openly encourage.

Heavy Relic The Tron

This is a bit more than pickup ageing, its the full steam punk treatment.

Check out our YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@MrGlynsPickups/featured

Head to the store…

Follow the links to find out more

Head to store…

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updated 3 October 2023

Posted on March 29, 2020October 13, 2025 by mrglynspickups — 7 Comments

Black Sand Humbucker sized P90

Single Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 NZ$199 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free NZ$173.04

Pair Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 NZ$379 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas they’re GST free NZ$329.57

Alnico V, Neck- 6.96 KOhms, Bridge 7.94 KOhms

Buy Black Sand set

Buy Black Sand single

The Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 has all the clarity, punch and fullness of a P90 but built to fit humbucker guitars.

Perfect for most styles especially Blues, Classic Rock, Punk and even Extreme Metal.

Frank Brothers guitar with Mr Glyn's Pickups

Black Sand Description

The humbucker sized P90 (HBSP90) is a great pickup – it sits tonally between a humbucker and and a strat type pickup.

If your neck humbucker is a bit thick and woolly sounding, you want more clarity, or just want a different tone, then this versatile pickup may be the answer.

The physical size of this pickup is identical to that of a “normal” humbucker so it will pop straight in to any humbucker guitar. They’re designed to be used with 500k pots too so you don’t need to change anything.

P90 pickups do have a reputation for being noisy but the Black Sand not only comes with shielded cable but is encased in a metal cover. This cover makes a huge difference in reducing interference from outside sources making this a very quiet pickup.

There really is no musical genre the Black Sand Humbucker size P90 is best suited to, from blues to punk, rock or even funk there is a place for this sound just about everywhere. Have a listen to these demos, you’ll hear how well it adapts to any situation.

I don’t guide demo players in any way, I just ask them to do what they feel the pickup wants. That way we get different interpretations of the pickups and in this case it really shown off the versatility.

And scroll down to the picture at the bottom of this page – there are a lot of funky cover options to look cool in any guitar.

Here is Warren Mendonsa aka blackstratblues. He uses a Black Sand set in his Gibson es335. Go check him out, you can thank me later.

P90’s are different to other single coil pickups. They have a wide, flat coil similar to that of a Jazzmaster but the magnetic field is a very different shape. Fender single coil pickups have the coil wound around the magnet giving a focused, precise percussive sound. A P90 has 2 bar magnets underneath the coil; this broadens the magnetic window allowing the pickup to listen to a bit more string and thickens the sound. I chose Alnico V bar magnets for this model to help give some grit and power characteristic of a P90.

Of course, too much power and the pickup would sound too thick and bass heavy which is not its purpose. Too little power and it just won’t snarl. I have aimed this pickup set at the clearer end of the P90 spectrum.

To give you an idea of this pickup’s versatility here it is in drop E tuning:

Leon Todd visited the workshop in February 2024 after which I sent him a pickup set. It’s a Cloud Nine humbucker in the bridge position and a Black Sand humbucker sized-P90 neck pickup. I think you’ll agree they really give an extra dimension to his Les Paul.

The Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 story

The development of my Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 was a bit backwards.

Usually I make a bridge pickup first and work from there but with this one the neck pickup came first.

I had a customer ask for a neck pickup for an es335 to sound clearer than his existing Gibson humbucker. He was finding the lower mids of the humbucker were getting in his way and needed a clearer sound with more character.

I worked on the Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 neck pickup for a while using my Les Paul as a test guitar. There’s a balance to getting the right neck pickup sound. There needs to be a bit of power but a danger of becoming too boomy. It was a case of tweaking the windings until it was right. I sold a few neck pickups before thinking it would be a good idea to have a set. So I started work on the bridge pickup.

I wanted this bridge pickup to have clarity in the lower mids to stand out from humbuckers while having enough power to grit up nicely. I wanted it to be clean when tickled and to growl at you when you dig in. P90’s are all about dynamics. It had to match the existing neck pickup or work well as a stand alone in a HSS situation.

Of all the pickups in my range the Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 came together the quickest. There were only 4 or 5 prototypes and I was happy. Experience and intuition combined with a notebook where I’ve written down details of every experimental pickup I’ve made since 1995.

The main challenge with this pickup was taming the bass. The bass needed to be clean and ringing without a dominant boom. That’s where testing with a band is so useful. A pickup can sound great at home volumes but when its up loud the bass can be overpowering. If the bass is too far forward it walks all over the bass guitar and can ruin a mix.

There were a load of prototypes in and out of a Les Paul, Tele Delux and PRS, through different amps and in the hands of different players. I never trust just my own ears with my pickups. I like to get opinions and suggestions from a few players before making any final decisions. I listen to what players say and I adjust prototypes accordingly, but at the end of the day the final decision is mine. I’m always aware of the phrase “a camel is a horse designed by committee”.

It took a while to get this one right. A pickup would sound great at workshop volume, then I’d play it in a band situation and it would be too boomy, too much like a humbucker. So I’d have a think and make another. In the end persistence paid off.

The pickups I finally settled on went into my Les Paul and off to a gig for the ultimate test, and that’s where they’re staying.

The neck “Black Sand” is a great match for either my “Integrity” or “Cloud Nine” bridge humbuckers or as a set with its equivalent “Black Sand” bridge humbucker sized P90. It is equally happy with Gibson or Fender scale lengths as you can hear from the demos. Currently I gig a Flying V with a Black Sand neck pickup with a Cloud Nine in the bridge position. With the extra clarity from the Black Sand I find I use the neck position a lot more and it’s so good for playing ‘Sweet Child Of Mine’.

Black Sand design

Here is a short video to explain my thinking behind this HBSP90 design. Initially it was just going to be a neck pickup. The aim was to solve the problem of neck humbuckers sounding too wooly in some situations. Then came the Black Sand bridge pickup to match. Now the set has taken on a life of its own live and has become one of my most popular pickup sets.

Naming pickups is not easy, I agonized over what to call this pickup set.

I wanted a name that would reflect the apparent contradiction in P90’s. From the perspective of a humbucker player they are clear and chiming. From the viewpoint of a single coil player they are powerful and gritty. They’re one thing while looking like another. I wanted a oxymoron to reflect this contradiction, one that might include the unique magnetic structure that gives the P90 its character.

So I went for a run along Muriwai beach to think. And there it was staring me in the face (literally). Muriwai has black volcanic sand due to its iron content and it’s also magnetic. So I’ve called this set the Black Sand Humbucker sized P90.

Jimmy Christmas on stage using Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 — Jimmy Christmas – D4

I’m very happy with this pickup – hopefully you will be too.

I’ve been working on some new funky cover options. This pickup set finds it way into so many different kinds of guitars I felt it needed to have a lot of looks to match.

Black Sand Humbucker sized P90 cover options: sliders, nickel, black, toaster top, open, chrome; or cover in P90 style soapbar or dogear covers in black or cream.

Buy Black Sand set

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcDggiRTQyFec5KAVHsC2xA

Buy Black Sand single

Please subscribe to the Mr Glyn’s Pickups newsletter (click the link below). There’s a new edition every 6 weeks or so with news of new products and options. There’s a merch giveaway so send in pics of your Mr Glyn’s loaded guitars. I love receiving pics, videos and links to bands using Mr Glyn’s pickups. Send them in, I’ll happily feature you on my social media.

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Sasst traditional P90 pickup by Mr Glyns Pickups

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Posted on March 29, 2020October 13, 2025 by mrglynspickups — 2 Comments

Cloud Nine-hot humbucker

6 String Cloud Nine hot humbucker Single NZ$219 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas it’s GST free; NZ$190.43,

Pair NZ$399 for NZ customers, if you’re overseas they’re GST free; NZ$346.96

Covers are NZ$20 ($17.39) extra each pickup

AlnicoV – Bridge 13.48 KOhms, 10.49H, Neck 7.9 KOhms 5.69H

Buy Cloud Nine set

https://www.youtube.com/c/MrGlynsPickups/videos

Buy Cloud Nine single

The Cloud Nine-hot humbucker is a versatile ROCK pickup with plenty of mids, no shortage of power and with enough clarity to help you stand out in the mix. A great pickup set for the Blues/Rock player but also well suited to heavier sounds , think Randy Rhodes or EVH. It with push the front end of an amp but will also clean up especially with a treble bleed.

Cloud Nine in a Super Strat

Design

There are many factors determining the performance of a pickup. The Cloud Nine bridge pickup has asymmetrically wound coils. It not only has a different number of winds on each coil but they’re wound with a different number of turns per layer. Each of the two coils has a slightly different mid range response, This gives not only plenty of mids but a real mid range clarity. It means the pickup sits well in a mix.

The alnico 5 magnet that powers both neck and bridge are specially made for me to my spec.

The neck pickup is also asymmetrically wound for the same reasons. It’s wound to be fairly hot for neck pickup standards but with the alnico 5 magnet there is still high end clarity. It’s a big fat but clear neck pickup sound. This is a great fat lead tone rather than a funky rhythm pickup.

Cloud Nine bridge , Black Sand neck

Leon Todd visited the workshop in Feb 2024, I subsequently sent him a pickup set I thought might suit him.

Here is the result:

In a PRS SE

Out of the blue I received an email from a customer in Tasmania who had recently bought a Cloud Nine-hot humbucker bridge pickup. He sent me a link to these clips. In The Final Countdown the rhythm guitars are the Cloud Nine coil tapped.

In a Les Paul

It’s worth mentioning how many Les Paul players use the Cloud Nine. It may be the scale length or particular dynamics of a Les Paul but these pickups just sing in a LP.

In a mix

Check out Wellington band Curlys Jewels using Cloud Nine’s in a Les Paul.

Description

Here are descriptions of both bridge and neck pickups and my thinking behind the designs.

Cloud Nine-hot humbucker Story

I am at heart a man of ROCK.

Since the advent of the DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup players have been able to get some power out of their pickups, enough to really push an amp.

The neck pickup needed to be clear and present but with enough power for some of those sweet lead lines.

I wanted the bridge pickup to have power to scream with the best of them while retaining enough clarity to have definition. When I play a 7th chord I want to hear it as a 7th and not sound mushy like a John Deere tractor at full throttle.

It’s a real danger with hot pickups that they lose character and tone. I needed a crunchy rhythm with strong mids and an over the top lead sound. I want to get squawking pinched harmonics whenever I please. Not only that but I need it it to clean up nicely and react well to a treble bleed circuit. A humbucker for every situation, for players not afraid of a bit of gain.

Not much to ask, eh!

I got through a lot of wire and magnets experimenting over the years to get this set right. I suppose I worked on it for about 5 years, different magnets, winds, wire thickness, insulation, winds per layer – there are a lot of factors. Whenever I felt I was close I used them at a gig to hear how they sat in the band. Pickups can sound quite different next to a drummer or in a mix. I tweaked and adjusted…

Eventually I was happy with the design and I was lucky enough to have legendary Kiwi band ‘Head Like A Hole’ help out with road testing. I knew if they came back from tour happy then I was on to a winner. They did.

It was a long process getting this pickup design just right but its a process I only have to go through once. When the design is finalized that’s it. Part of my desire to get it perfect is the knowledge that I’ll be using this design for the rest of my life.

When you get it right it feels so good, a sensitive pickup rich in harmonics is so much fun so I called it the “Cloud Nine” which how I felt at the end of it all.

This is the pickup set I gig with myself in my covers band now. I have them in both an Epiphone Sheraton and also in my Flying V. With this set up it works for everything from The Smiths to Metallica and all points in between. I don’t feel the need to swap guitar – these pickups work for everything. I have done literally hundreds of gigs with the Cloud Nine in countless venues, it always performs.

Matt Carson from Tablefox. Cloud Nine-hot humbucker — Matt Carson on stage with zebra Cloud Nine’s

Double Cream humbucker - Mr Glyns Pickups. Cloud Nine-hot humbucker

The Cloud Nine set comes with 4 conductor wire as standard to give you all the switching options you could ever need. I recommend series/parallel switching with this set. The bridge pickup is available in both 52mm and 49.2 mm spacing. If you need any help deciding which spacing is right for your guitar please get in touch via email, I’m always happy to help.

Here are some of the cover options available for the Cloud Nine humbucker set; I’m happy to age the covers; please just add a comment at the time of your order.

Buy Cloud Nine set

Buy Cloud Nine single

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Posted on March 29, 2020September 18, 2025 by mrglynspickups — 2 Comments

Cruel Mistress hot Tele

Single Cruel Mistress hot Tele NZ$139 for NZ customers. If you’re overseas it’s GST free; $NZ120.87

Pair Cruel Mistress hot Tele NZ$269 for NZ customers. If you’re overseas they’re GST free; $NZ233.91

AlnicoV – Bridge 10.65 KOhms, 4.96H. Neck 7.25 KOhms, 2.48H

Buy Cruel Mistress set

Buy Cruel Mistress single

Mr Glyns Cruel Mistress hot Tele Pickups are designed for the Tele player who wants more than the traditional country twang. They have a full bottom end, cut through mids and a top end that is strong but never harsh. They’ll push your amp that bit harder without losing that Telecaster character.

Brett Kingman demos (I think he likes them)

More Cruel Mistress hot Tele demos

Description

There is nothing like the high end snarl of a good Tele bridge pickup. However, Telecaster Pickups are complicated. It’s a sound that needs to be just right. Too much treble and it can sound grating and obnoxious, too little and it just isn’t a Tele. The treble needs warmth while still cutting through a mix like a zombie banjo.

I wanted to make a pickup with more power to drive an amp harder while keeping the Tele character. My biggest concern was not losing what a Tele is all about.

In my repair work I came across a lot of replacement Telecaster pickups that just don’t sound like Teles. Bridge pickups need grit and the neck a chimey clarity and together they should be full and open and matched well enough to create almost a reverb sound with the switch in the middle position. Good Telecasters have a very distinctive tone and I felt I needed to retain that but at the same time offer more.

The Cruel Mistress hot Tele uses Alnico V magnets to help with the attack and AWG43 wire for the snarl.

A Tele neck pickup needs to be smooth and warm and have a great balance with the bridge pickup so that the middle position rings with an almost reverb-like tone. The difficulty with Telecaster neck pickups is there just isn’t much space under that cover. As a result it can be a hard pickup to get right and there were a lot of experiments and disappointments on the way. Eventually I came on a design that has enough bottom end to sound full but not so much to sound boomy. And the final pickup was a great match to the bridge.

I had help from the ears of a couple of pro players who were generous enough to let me load their guitars with prototype pickups for testing. The whole process takes time and only after many road tests and versions did I fix on a design. As a result, each of my designs have been developed over many years of subtle changes and road tests. Having help like this means my pickups are trialled by different players, through many different amps and playing styles. The neck/bridge balance as well as dynamics/compression need to be tested in as many situations as possible to find a pickup that will work for most players.

So if you need some grit and aggression from your Telecaster Pickups this is the set for you.

Cruel Mistress Tele pickup set on stage with Rob Lock — Rob Lock

Telecaster Bridge pickup, MrGlyns Pickups

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcDggiRTQyFec5KAVHsC2xA

updated 19 May 2025

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