@JimmyPage968 these are very quiet. they are humbuckers. They have a flat, full range. imagine over wound and hum cancelling. they are not like a baby paf pickup, at least not to me. but they like distortion. and chorus. oh, and tremolo....
@strathack I own a bunch of GFS pick-ups and they are all decent sounding...I ohms test em before I install them...
With this said I did throw a GFS Crunchy PAF in a the bridge of my Krammer reissued Striker...It has a tone spliting knob for the bridge...I imediately noticed it made the PAF sound way to thin and very very brite...Might work for some not me
I custom build and paint guitars and use GFS electronics all the time, geat stuff but I'm not satisfied with tone splitting a humbucker.
@SKAuthenticDank about 13 or fifteen years ago i bought a duncan p'up, was a fullsized humbucker. probably a jb neck model, came with 2 wiresone hot one shield/ground, like a p-90 .I had to do a little disassembly and pigtail the two other wires for a 4 lead...i think i had to do the same on an epiphone samick pickup...these days most manufacturers go 4 lead with "duncan" color scheme, but you don't know what you'll find...
@simmunz i had them with split switches and series parallell switched at first. here's the dope... these pickups are weak and noisy when split. they are strong and smooth with hi gain as series humbuckers. to get a good variety of sound, i installed a chromacaster from deaf-eddie. that is a rotary that changes phase and series against each other instead! it is an awesome addition to any strat pickup set. i promise.
I remember seeing this video about a year ago,remember that guitar with the lady, Had the gfs boston blues but didn't like them up at the top end.I got a set up in canada made to order from Peter Lenoard from pickupwizards .He does all my work now.
@calvinscheuerman thank you! these p'ups are hard generic gain, the amp and touch make all the difference.... this versatile pig has evolved into my go-to guitar! but the new yellow body has chromacaster and "kill"switching... alas my sweet girl decal is gone for now...
@ghosterdude yeah man... more gain no hum. i've actually redone the wiring again. now it has 1 vol 1 tone 1 CHROMACASTER rotary selector for phase-series combos (awesome) and a mini toggle that is a momentary KILL switch for those stupid spirit-in-the-sky cut-outs that sound great on high gain.
@ghosterdude MIM Pickups are generally the cheap stuff as well. Ceramic bar magnets made in the same Chinese factories as the GFS stuff mostly. Just different flavors of the same thing basically.
wow these have a great sound. i've got a junky sounding old squire strat that i was thinking about putting these into, one thing i'm wondering is: did you install these pickups yourself?
hi sunp! I saw you wring out that strat on your vid. not a bad idea to start with the bridge 15k and have that gain, while keeping your old "quack" tones too. i find the neck killer is very useful, but i play a very mellow style.
hey great review. im about to pick up the set but i've heard that the neck pickup described as "useless". is this true? if so i would just pick up a 15k and a 10k and keep my middle pickup on my strat. also, does it quack like a strat in the middle positions? thanks.
i think that was a fender part from 12 years ago when this was a black m-strat. the pickguard was $45 back then. warmoth has a vintage pearl that works. the paint is a butter colored krylon. i'm serious, this guitar is not a showpony. send me a message and i'll mail you some details! i'd love to know that one is done and finished well like the idea i had instead of the result!
Man that is such a nice guitar, do you have any pictures somewhere off it? I would love to check it out in high resolution ... (would love to build / or modify one like that)
it really is a hacked up poorly painted dented little pig. the sound and feel are awesome. it is truly made to play. but the knobs are now dice with a series pull switch that brings the bridge in for heat on all settings. also i glued in a queen of spades. guess i'll have to do a new post.
do these pickups maintain that stratty tone?i dont like the bridge PU on my japanese strat right now so im thinking of changing it to one of these, but if the neck and middle pickups can still give me that strat vibe then i'll grab the whole set. anyone have any idea?
I have the GFS Lil Killers in my Squire Strat. They sound great, that guitar woke up after those were put in it. They are incredible for clean playing.
The Lil Killers I think would be good. I have on my amp which is a Vox AD50VT a setting for twangy. Perhaps an effect pedal or an amp could help you with that sound. Just a thought
gfs did a good job on these hot rail pickups they sound just like bill lawrence ones. maybe a little hotter i think, i wish someone would pump some juice through these so i can hear them lol good video dude
I kept my les paul stock. I am intrigued by the neovin set. also the crunchy pat. I've heard good samples of each. My other strats have stock fender mex std (lefty) and one with texas specials. i have a sheraton with duncan phat cats. I must say my goal is usually setting up guitars with mods that will increase the versatility of sound by adding controls. I want to do crunchy pats with jimmypage wiring in a tele or something..
Man that is a great test. I was thinking of putting GFS's in my Les Paul but now I may have to put them in my Strat as well. What do you recommend for a Strat besides the lil killers or are they it for you? Do you have any of their humbuckers in any of your guitars?
thanks! the guitar is cool in many ways, but it is truly a pig upclose. very much a hunk of wood to be PLAYED. like a primered chevelle. and yers, susan at justpinups is awesome. i have 3 pinup guitars already. the girls are addictive.
they are the set one of each. the bridge p'up is very hi gain, nowhere near as warm as a lespaul. but very hot if you want to step it up without stomping on anything. thanks for diggin it
Can i ask you a last question? Do you have a push-pull pot to change them from single to HUmbucker?
If so is it a 500k or 250k? When you put it as a single does it still has that strat sound? I have a HIghway one 2006 i want it to be my mean gig guitar(Hate to change guitar in a gig!) I'm hesitating between the Lil killer or THe ''Texas'' Alnico stagger more SRV. Thank's again for the tip!
i've posted distorted riffs on these as well. seems the neck pickup retains any "stratness" cause it's less gain as if hotter p'up the less strat you'll get cause the scooped tone eq gets flattened UP. i have TX SPLs ( "varitone" strat). they sound nothing like stevie to me. there are vintage winds and neovin noiseless if you want THAT sound, split killers are just thin- nothing like even MIM strat p'ups. it now has 1 5way, 2 500k pots and 3 toggles to split/series/par. Thanks!
All three are in the set. Neck to bridge goes low to hi. I love the mellow roundness of the neck, but the GAIN on the bridge pickup will wake your tubes up. thanks again for all the commentries. you can check my other vids to see a couple modded guitars/pickup configs.
i have a full size duncan 59 in a vantage with split switches. i think the little killer is hotter, the 59 is smoother. i've never played the little 59. i first envisioned this with the duncan "everything axe" set, then the dimarzio "area" set, but tried these killers instead and stuck to it. you know, the kids do have to eat. ha ha
Are you playing these pickups as singlecoils? have they been taped or is this the way they normally sound with no mods?
I was thinking about putting 3 of these in my new strat project along with the "superstrat kit" from GFS Which consists of 3 switches instead of a pickup selector. I'm assuming I could wire each pickup to seperate switches and split the coils to get (off/single/hum), basically giving me every combination of pickup set ups possible... not sure yet
seems so, it's quite hot. my next mod is to put the bridge switchable as series to the others, that will end up around 21 to 25k. should be mind blowing. and versiatle using them as series singles. (blame deaf-eddie) thanks all for the nice comments...
so as i understand theyre 3 humbuckers which are splittable any chance i could request u play them as three humbuckers with a distorted tone please? i bought these pickups on a gamble and havent received them yet
Thanks for all the good feedback. Make sure you at least wire them series within each pickup. The bridge pickup is really hot. Remember that when you combine positions on a strat you are cutting down the overall output because they are then parallel to each other. I just wired my red tx special setup in switchable series with a gibson style varitone knob. Subtle but nice. I'll try to get a vid together this weekend. By the way, I "gambled" on them and it paid off.
The trick is to use a whole can of clear. Then wet sand it with 1000 then work your way to 2000 (Automotive) Then use 3m finish restorer to polish it to a shine. The more you buff it with the 3m the better. It will look like a factory finish this way...
yes. i've since put 3 switches at the last tone position, and drilled out 2 dice for remaining knobs. but i'll probably swap them out for creme dice, too. white is kinda stark.
it is a butter color spraypaint with laquer on top. took a lot of re-dos and wetsanding but you can get a respectable result with spray cans. it went from black to pearl to orange, now this.
you will need to widen the pickguard slots a little. the base of the coils are a little fatter than the slot. make sure this is no show pony guitar. i used a round ratfile and tried to take my time. -thanks for the comments!
i have rewired since this to get 63 combinations - and retained 1 push pull to cut the neck. now 1 vol 1 tone with 3 mini on-on-on switches (at 2nd tone) these go series/split/parallel for each. Pots are 500k, tone cap .47 . use guitarnuts/humbucker 3way switch diag, stock 5 way w/a cut-in from a pushpull. the bridge is setup for the southern pole to cut on single for a "tele" setup in single-neck/bridge -that's my setup. the best sound is still neck only-series. right where this vid started!
thanks for the comments. these are hot and noiseless. the strat "roundness" is still there on the neck. .. the bridge is ferocious- all gain and treble.
Are your's coil tapped? If not, they seem to retain the single coil bell-like tone.
JimmyPage968 1 month ago
@JimmyPage968 this video these are wired as series humbuckers. they are sweetest that way.
strathack 1 month ago in playlist Uploaded videos
@strathack Would you say these are relatively quiet in a high gain setting?
JimmyPage968 1 month ago
@JimmyPage968 these are very quiet. they are humbuckers. They have a flat, full range. imagine over wound and hum cancelling. they are not like a baby paf pickup, at least not to me. but they like distortion. and chorus. oh, and tremolo....
strathack 1 month ago
@strathack Awesome, just what I needed to hear! I plan to get this set!
JimmyPage968 1 month ago
hi my friend! would these ones would be ok to iron maiden stuff?
wretcheddog 10 months ago
30,000 viewer?
nice sounding p'ups and i love the steve jones looking strat
thisnotmyname 11 months ago
GFS folks encourage you NOT to split their pups.
ROCKSTARCRANE 11 months ago
@ROCKSTARCRANE anyone who sells me a 4 lead pickup is asking for a split. i gotta try it for myself.
strathack 11 months ago 3
@strathack I own a bunch of GFS pick-ups and they are all decent sounding...I ohms test em before I install them...
With this said I did throw a GFS Crunchy PAF in a the bridge of my Krammer reissued Striker...It has a tone spliting knob for the bridge...I imediately noticed it made the PAF sound way to thin and very very brite...Might work for some not me
I custom build and paint guitars and use GFS electronics all the time, geat stuff but I'm not satisfied with tone splitting a humbucker.
JBL8863 7 months ago
@strathack Amen to that, brother!
Maafa1619 2 months ago
@ROCKSTARCRANE notsureifserious or just a complete jackass. They wire every humbucker with 4 leads, for the purpose of being able to split
SKAuthenticDank 10 months ago
@SKAuthenticDank about 13 or fifteen years ago i bought a duncan p'up, was a fullsized humbucker. probably a jb neck model, came with 2 wiresone hot one shield/ground, like a p-90 .I had to do a little disassembly and pigtail the two other wires for a 4 lead...i think i had to do the same on an epiphone samick pickup...these days most manufacturers go 4 lead with "duncan" color scheme, but you don't know what you'll find...
strathack 9 months ago
so those wired in humbucker mode and not split?
simmunz 11 months ago
@simmunz i had them with split switches and series parallell switched at first. here's the dope... these pickups are weak and noisy when split. they are strong and smooth with hi gain as series humbuckers. to get a good variety of sound, i installed a chromacaster from deaf-eddie. that is a rotary that changes phase and series against each other instead! it is an awesome addition to any strat pickup set. i promise.
strathack 11 months ago
I remember seeing this video about a year ago,remember that guitar with the lady, Had the gfs boston blues but didn't like them up at the top end.I got a set up in canada made to order from Peter Lenoard from pickupwizards .He does all my work now.
schiffnhauser 1 year ago
this guitar has probably the greatest strat tone i've ever hear.
calvinscheuerman 1 year ago 2
@calvinscheuerman thank you! these p'ups are hard generic gain, the amp and touch make all the difference.... this versatile pig has evolved into my go-to guitar! but the new yellow body has chromacaster and "kill"switching... alas my sweet girl decal is gone for now...
strathack 1 year ago
@strathack you should put up a new video after the changes you made. this guitar would be a killer jazz guitar.
calvinscheuerman 1 year ago
nice
MrKrownRoyale 1 year ago
awesome guitar, bad pickups
IAMJOHNNYTHEFOX 1 year ago
nice vis=deo chek my videos out plz and subscribe and or comment
lamontedeshon 1 year ago
No offense dude, but I just hate when I see these YT guitar demos that have so much reverb on them that you can't here the product they're demo'ing.
sthugh 1 year ago
you replaced original fender pickups with lil killers? you must have great faith in them.
ghosterdude 1 year ago
@ghosterdude yeah man... more gain no hum. i've actually redone the wiring again. now it has 1 vol 1 tone 1 CHROMACASTER rotary selector for phase-series combos (awesome) and a mini toggle that is a momentary KILL switch for those stupid spirit-in-the-sky cut-outs that sound great on high gain.
strathack 1 year ago
@ghosterdude MIM Pickups are generally the cheap stuff as well. Ceramic bar magnets made in the same Chinese factories as the GFS stuff mostly. Just different flavors of the same thing basically.
smoss469 1 year ago
wow these have a great sound. i've got a junky sounding old squire strat that i was thinking about putting these into, one thing i'm wondering is: did you install these pickups yourself?
tarmogoyf24 1 year ago
Mellow Yellow :)
FallenPrey 2 years ago
Great playing! I have the same pickups as well.
*Shameless plug* I have a vid showing the high gain tones from the bridge pickup. Check it out if you want to. :)
samsen95 2 years ago
hi sunp! I saw you wring out that strat on your vid. not a bad idea to start with the bridge 15k and have that gain, while keeping your old "quack" tones too. i find the neck killer is very useful, but i play a very mellow style.
strathack 2 years ago
hey great review. im about to pick up the set but i've heard that the neck pickup described as "useless". is this true? if so i would just pick up a 15k and a 10k and keep my middle pickup on my strat. also, does it quack like a strat in the middle positions? thanks.
sunp 2 years ago
i think that was a fender part from 12 years ago when this was a black m-strat. the pickguard was $45 back then. warmoth has a vintage pearl that works. the paint is a butter colored krylon. i'm serious, this guitar is not a showpony. send me a message and i'll mail you some details! i'd love to know that one is done and finished well like the idea i had instead of the result!
strathack 2 years ago
I love that "vintage - yellowish" pearl pickguard, do you mind telling me where you bought that ?
stringmanipulator 2 years ago
Man that is such a nice guitar, do you have any pictures somewhere off it? I would love to check it out in high resolution ... (would love to build / or modify one like that)
awesome man
//stringmanipulator
stringmanipulator 2 years ago
it really is a hacked up poorly painted dented little pig. the sound and feel are awesome. it is truly made to play. but the knobs are now dice with a series pull switch that brings the bridge in for heat on all settings. also i glued in a queen of spades. guess i'll have to do a new post.
strathack 2 years ago
Man the intonation sounds dead on. Nice job!
Slugg0matic 2 years ago
do these pickups maintain that stratty tone?i dont like the bridge PU on my japanese strat right now so im thinking of changing it to one of these, but if the neck and middle pickups can still give me that strat vibe then i'll grab the whole set. anyone have any idea?
sunp 2 years ago
I have the GFS Lil Killers in my Squire Strat. They sound great, that guitar woke up after those were put in it. They are incredible for clean playing.
DCmey 2 years ago
I also have a Squier Strat.
What pickup would you recommend for a twangy sound?
italouruguayricano 2 years ago
The Lil Killers I think would be good. I have on my amp which is a Vox AD50VT a setting for twangy. Perhaps an effect pedal or an amp could help you with that sound. Just a thought
DCmey 2 years ago
get the gfs overwound texas set. they are better then the fender usa ones i had both i know. lol
ganjaking187 2 years ago
awesome guitar man! I love the sound and the finish!
RedGuitars94 2 years ago
gfs did a good job on these hot rail pickups they sound just like bill lawrence ones. maybe a little hotter i think, i wish someone would pump some juice through these so i can hear them lol good video dude
ganjaking187 2 years ago
I kept my les paul stock. I am intrigued by the neovin set. also the crunchy pat. I've heard good samples of each. My other strats have stock fender mex std (lefty) and one with texas specials. i have a sheraton with duncan phat cats. I must say my goal is usually setting up guitars with mods that will increase the versatility of sound by adding controls. I want to do crunchy pats with jimmypage wiring in a tele or something..
strathack 2 years ago
Man that is a great test. I was thinking of putting GFS's in my Les Paul but now I may have to put them in my Strat as well. What do you recommend for a Strat besides the lil killers or are they it for you? Do you have any of their humbuckers in any of your guitars?
leftyless 2 years ago
thanks! the guitar is cool in many ways, but it is truly a pig upclose. very much a hunk of wood to be PLAYED. like a primered chevelle. and yers, susan at justpinups is awesome. i have 3 pinup guitars already. the girls are addictive.
strathack 2 years ago
Hi Strathack,
Does your lil killer humbucking are the vintage, moder or highgain?
When you play a rock stuff at the bridge position, does it sound like an old humbucker(Les Paul 59)
Prohibitiondis 2 years ago
they are the set one of each. the bridge p'up is very hi gain, nowhere near as warm as a lespaul. but very hot if you want to step it up without stomping on anything. thanks for diggin it
strathack 2 years ago
THank's very much strathack!
Can i ask you a last question? Do you have a push-pull pot to change them from single to HUmbucker?
If so is it a 500k or 250k? When you put it as a single does it still has that strat sound? I have a HIghway one 2006 i want it to be my mean gig guitar(Hate to change guitar in a gig!) I'm hesitating between the Lil killer or THe ''Texas'' Alnico stagger more SRV. Thank's again for the tip!
Steven Brouillette
Prohibitiondis 2 years ago
i've posted distorted riffs on these as well. seems the neck pickup retains any "stratness" cause it's less gain as if hotter p'up the less strat you'll get cause the scooped tone eq gets flattened UP. i have TX SPLs ( "varitone" strat). they sound nothing like stevie to me. there are vintage winds and neovin noiseless if you want THAT sound, split killers are just thin- nothing like even MIM strat p'ups. it now has 1 5way, 2 500k pots and 3 toggles to split/series/par. Thanks!
strathack 2 years ago
which version of the lil killer are you using, Vintage 6K, Modern 10K or HOT 15K?
stevefate 2 years ago
All three are in the set. Neck to bridge goes low to hi. I love the mellow roundness of the neck, but the GAIN on the bridge pickup will wake your tubes up. thanks again for all the commentries. you can check my other vids to see a couple modded guitars/pickup configs.
strathack 2 years ago
nice and bluesy
gooch036 2 years ago
Just curious how would you compare the lil killer to the seymour duncan little 59.
DCmey 2 years ago
i have a full size duncan 59 in a vantage with split switches. i think the little killer is hotter, the 59 is smoother. i've never played the little 59. i first envisioned this with the duncan "everything axe" set, then the dimarzio "area" set, but tried these killers instead and stuck to it. you know, the kids do have to eat. ha ha
strathack 2 years ago
the best sound is series humbuckers. they are weak when split solo, but work good together as singles.
strathack 2 years ago
Are you playing these pickups as singlecoils? have they been taped or is this the way they normally sound with no mods?
I was thinking about putting 3 of these in my new strat project along with the "superstrat kit" from GFS Which consists of 3 switches instead of a pickup selector. I'm assuming I could wire each pickup to seperate switches and split the coils to get (off/single/hum), basically giving me every combination of pickup set ups possible... not sure yet
untitledtrack999 2 years ago
Standard stock pots and caps?
JetFixxxer 3 years ago
think i went to 47 cap and 500 pots ..but those only matter if you turn down from 10...
strathack 3 years ago
Is that a Greasy Groove Water Slide decal of a Pin Up girl?
surfco 3 years ago
they are waterslides. pretty easy to do...
I get them on e-bay. hectic hilbilly and susan wise. both were good, found that sue (just pinups) is super fast.
strathack 3 years ago
Hey congratulations 4 the sound&playin'...one question: in your opinion...is the Lil Killer GFS on the bridge (15K) like the Hot Rails S.Duncan?
thnaks! rock&blues on
adriphoenix 3 years ago
seems so, it's quite hot. my next mod is to put the bridge switchable as series to the others, that will end up around 21 to 25k. should be mind blowing. and versiatle using them as series singles. (blame deaf-eddie) thanks all for the nice comments...
strathack 3 years ago
nice playing man. i like the girl on your guitar. is it painted on or a sticker?
ovneb 3 years ago
water transfer decal with lacquer on top. pretty easy to use, but they can bubble or tear.
strathack 3 years ago
so as i understand theyre 3 humbuckers which are splittable any chance i could request u play them as three humbuckers with a distorted tone please? i bought these pickups on a gamble and havent received them yet
ktulujamesorion 3 years ago
Thanks for all the good feedback. Make sure you at least wire them series within each pickup. The bridge pickup is really hot. Remember that when you combine positions on a strat you are cutting down the overall output because they are then parallel to each other. I just wired my red tx special setup in switchable series with a gibson style varitone knob. Subtle but nice. I'll try to get a vid together this weekend. By the way, I "gambled" on them and it paid off.
strathack 3 years ago
Thats one of the nicest tones ive heard so far on you tube, think ill go for the same setup to upgrade my pawnshop korean squire (it realli¡y sings!)
bluesdawg75 3 years ago
The trick is to use a whole can of clear. Then wet sand it with 1000 then work your way to 2000 (Automotive) Then use 3m finish restorer to polish it to a shine. The more you buff it with the 3m the better. It will look like a factory finish this way...
Mojomanmadness1971 3 years ago
Looks good i'd leave her be. Is the pickguard and pickups cream?
Mojomanmadness1971 3 years ago
yes. i've since put 3 switches at the last tone position, and drilled out 2 dice for remaining knobs. but i'll probably swap them out for creme dice, too. white is kinda stark.
strathack 3 years ago
Hi is that strat yellow or cream colored?
Mojomanmadness1971 3 years ago
it is a butter color spraypaint with laquer on top. took a lot of re-dos and wetsanding but you can get a respectable result with spray cans. it went from black to pearl to orange, now this.
strathack 3 years ago
did you needed to wide a slots on a pickguard while installing them ?
I have in my plan to buy them ! (or better to say him -bridge-)
I mostly play trash metal...
jebachina 3 years ago
you will need to widen the pickguard slots a little. the base of the coils are a little fatter than the slot. make sure this is no show pony guitar. i used a round ratfile and tried to take my time. -thanks for the comments!
strathack 3 years ago
No, Thank you !
jebachina 3 years ago
DAMN ! what a sound!
NICE pin-up man, I got one on my p-bass too, same color...Cremé sort off. With a red tortoise pickguard.
nightingale013 3 years ago
Great video. What volume and tone pots are you using? 250k? You use 2 push-pull pots??? Don't you have a wiring diagram? thx
X11u 3 years ago
i have rewired since this to get 63 combinations - and retained 1 push pull to cut the neck. now 1 vol 1 tone with 3 mini on-on-on switches (at 2nd tone) these go series/split/parallel for each. Pots are 500k, tone cap .47 . use guitarnuts/humbucker 3way switch diag, stock 5 way w/a cut-in from a pushpull. the bridge is setup for the southern pole to cut on single for a "tele" setup in single-neck/bridge -that's my setup. the best sound is still neck only-series. right where this vid started!
strathack 3 years ago
which version of the killer do you have in the neck position (vintage 6K, modern 10K, or lead 15K)?
guitarbioch69 3 years ago
as a set, 6k neck, 10k mid, 15k bridge
strathack 3 years ago
thanks for the comments. these are hot and noiseless. the strat "roundness" is still there on the neck. .. the bridge is ferocious- all gain and treble.
strathack 3 years ago
They sound fantastic
stuco 3 years ago 2
how do you like these pickups compares to single coils ? nice guitar there
fabianromano 3 years ago