Oily Towers: the latest from Oil City pickups

OilCityPickups · June 2015

A look at a custom pickup pair that will become a regular line I think: A full size humbucker version of the Oil City Winterizer. A properly made 63 vintage style alnico 5 Firebird pickup ... in a normal bucker cover, so you can get that vintage sound at last with a Firebird Studio, or a Les Paul, or a Flying V ... or whatever!

Under the hood proper mini bobbins with vertical alnico 5 magnets and a hand cut steel inductor plate , as in the original nestled under the coils.

frankus · June 2015

reverse ... please

OilCityPickups · June 2015

I will see if my supplier has them ... none on this order ... but I'll try

frankus · June 2015

Thank you very much, sir!

Evilmags · July 2015

Just got my Heritage back from the luthier. Ash custom wound me a set of pickups for it and it sounds a lot better and jazzier than before. If anyone wants the Duncan 59 that was in the bridge (and which was meant to be a Gibson Burstbucker, Mr Denmark st Luthier) give me a shout.

Elwood · July 2015

A question from a friend of mine. What would you recommend to replicate Tony Iommi sig pickups and can you do the covers without pole pieces?

OilCityPickups · July 2015

Elwood said:

A question from a friend of mine. What would you recommend to replicate Tony Iommi sig pickups and can you do the covers without pole pieces?

I'd probably use my Blue Streak humbuckers, and I can do nickel 'blind covers (see the first pic at the top of this page) but they come from the US and take two weeks to come in. The pickup would be made 'double slug' on the poles, so it would be a custom job rather than a standard spec.

ThePrettyDamned · July 2015

Any news on a Tele rails humbuggy set?

Because if there is a high output tele rails humbuggy set on the cards, I'm very interested... Should give me a slightly different flavour to my usual vintage strat sound.

OilCityPickups · July 2015

Do you want to test one ?

:-)

Richardj · July 2015

If he doesn't.... As if

ThePrettyDamned · July 2015

TheGuitarWeasel;693650" said:
Do you want to test one ? :-)

Errr

Let me think

Yes! My thinline has had the finish stripped back off, I'm going at it from scratch. I decided that I have my vintage tones from my strat and jazzmaster, so I want a high output, crunchy non trem guitar.

I'll pm you dude.

TimmyO · July 2015

Hi Ash, just looking at the site - is the Californian a Strat-sounding pickup for Tele neck?

If it is I'd be interested to pair it with a DiMarzio Chopper T - but I see you are working on a Tele rails pickup - any idea what the voicing of that is planned to be?

Cheers

Tim

OilCityPickups · July 2015

The Tele rails will initially be moderate in power ... but I do have a higher output planned

Fez · July 2015

I can't find the Hardman on the website have you stopped doing them?

OilCityPickups · July 2015

Tele HardMan? Should be there

Teetonetal · July 2015

ohh tele rails!

Elwood · July 2015

Hey Ash.

What would you suggest as a hot neck single coil to balance a BKP Nailbomb. I'm looking for something that will clean up well and stay tight with gain. Currently got a Dimarzio Chopper which is a bit base heavy and wooly under gain & doesn't balance will with the bridge.

The neck is a direct mount at a slight angle so I think F spacing would be there way to go.

OilCityPickups · July 2015

My StoneTone neck pickup would do the job very well. Think 'hot Hendrix' rather than mush.

Elwood · July 2015

Cool, I'm thinking of putting a bridge pickup in the neck for the extra umpf. How much of a difference is there between the bridge and neck versions?

OilCityPickups · July 2015

Neck is about 8k bridge 10k with a baseplate, so much more strident bass and mids.

Evilmags · July 2015

Dear mr Guitar Weasel,

Just got the Custom Ash Scott Lockyear Custom Shop "Ravens" in the Jaden Rose. I am now completely at a loss as to why anybody would stick Tone Zone / Air Norton in a guitar. While the ones you did for the Archtop are very very good (As in Jason Lollar good and cheaper) these really do stand out from any shred/high gain oriented pickups I have ever played or owned. The first thing that struck me when I tested them was the cleans (cos that was what I tried first). In bucking form they actually had dynamics rather than the over compressed sound the Dimarzios had. Even better, you could actually hear the acoustic sound of the guitar for the first time. (Its a very resonant guitar and sounds sweet acoustically, and deader with the Dimarzios. More over the Air Norton was too tall to adjust properly leading to too much boom and no clarity on the neck pickup). No it sounds very swet and musical clean. These pickups also tap extraordinarily well and you could easily take this guitar to a bluesfest, plug it into a Gassage level rig and not sound out of place next to Lesters and Strats.

So then I put it under some heavy distortion. Tight as fuck but still very musical would best describe them. The DiMarzios did distortion fairly well, but nothing like this well. A good guitar is now a really top rate guitar and a total keeper.

So if anyone is looking for a top of the line shreddy/fusion/modern pickup that sounds really nice clean yet handles crushing amounts of gain then I´d take a look at these. They absolutely blow the Dimarzios out of the water, both at the job the DiMarzios were designed to do and also do cleans a lot better than many low out put pickups.

@Jaden_Rose Id recommend auditioning a set of these in one of your lovely guitars. Ash engineered the neck pickup to fit the cavity better and they really bring the best out in the guitar.

So thanks a lot Ash, top job.

Jez6345789 · July 2015

Ash

Lots of nice P/ups coming out these days, have not looked at the website for a while and was surprised there is not yet a decent Filtertron sized Filtertron as a UK alternative to TV jones or upgrade from fidelitrons.

I only ask as I have a cabronita to put together some time and was looking at pickup ideas, I did think of rerouting it for Cowtrons but I liked the whole idea of something I would not normally play.

thanks Jez

Elwood · July 2015

Evilmags said:

Just got the Custom Ash Scott Lockyear Custom Shop "Ravens" in the Jaden Rose.

Which Jaden Rose have you got - any chance of pics?

Evilmags · July 2015

It now has coil split toggle between the volume and tone knobs. And just because Ash likes seeing his pickups in nice guitars.

Evilmags · July 2015

Heritage with ASLs and a new bridge

OilCityPickups · July 2015

Jez6345789 said:

Ash
Lots of nice P/ups coming out these days, have not looked at the website for a while and was surprised there is not yet a decent Filtertron sized Filtertron as a UK alternative to TV jones or upgrade from fidelitrons.

I only ask as I have a cabronita to put together some time and was looking at pickup ideas, I did think of rerouting it for Cowtrons but I liked the whole idea of something I would not normally play.

thanks Jez

The simple answer with the Filtertron question is 'covers'. TV Jones has an official and exclusive deal with Fender/Gretsch for the supply of Filtertron covers and baseplates. The only other source of proper sized covers is in the US ... but hugely pricey. Would anybody buy a UK built Filtertron style unit if it was more expensive than a US one? Even if it was better engineered?

Fez · July 2015

Ash if I go to Stratocaster High output on the website it takes me to the Stone tone Tapped pick up but doesn't list the Hardman. Am I looking in the wrong place?

FelineGuitars · July 2015

Hardman is tele pickup?

OilCityPickups · July 2015

There was a HardMan Strat unit, but the new, hotter StoneTone is virtually identical ... so no point in having both.

Fez · July 2015

OK that explains it.

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Oily Towers: the latest from Oil City pickups

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