The 5150 Show

 

Had a great time talking with Andrew and Chris from ‘It’s the 5150 Show’ on YouTube.

The 5150 Show is a fantastic channel with in depth discussions on classic albums, guitarists and all things guitar.

You should subscribe.

They’re invited me to have another chat with them in the near future and I’m really keen to take part again. They’re series ‘Rankin The Tracks’ gives great insight into some classic albums. I’ve been really enjoying hearing different views on well loved albums.

There are always new pickups in development as well as a steady supply of interesting old pickups at the workshop for repair. In my blog I try and keep you up to date on new pickups in development as well as writing detailed articles on interesting repairs. I do see quite a few vintage pickups and really enjoy sharing the details of their design and construction. It constantly amazes me how many people are interested in these cool little devices.

All pickup demos are uploaded on YouTube as well as some videos my customers send me. Check out my series Mr Glyn Meets Your Maker where I record conversations with other makers of guitar gear. It’s really interesting hearing how they approach their work. There are so many great makers out there.

Subscribe to my YouTube, follow me on Instagram, ‘Friend’ me on Facebook – I try and update my social media regularly, reply to messages and I won’t spam you.

Mr Glyns Pickups is a small business which means I can communicate with my customers one to one. I’m always happy to discuss your requirements, answer questions and give advice. I want to know about the guitars my pickups are going in, send me pictures, send me recordings.

Feel free to get in touch either HERE or through social media:

Larry and the Trons

 

Larry and the Trons is a short video by Brett Kingman to demonstrate Mr Glyn’s Pickups TheTron pickup set in a Telecaster Cabronita.

I sent him a set of TheTron pickups to make a demo and this is the 4th video he’s made – he must like them.

I designed TheTron pickup set with Gretsch guitars in mind and in particular the lightly overdriven sound of early Malcolm Young. It’s great when a player takes your design and makes you re-think it.

Since Brett fitted his set into a Telecaster Cabronita I’ve changed the spec of these pickups and now offer them in 52mm and 49.2mm spacing to match Fender style bridges. I do try and listen to players whenever I can.

TheTron pickup set is based around the legendary Gretsch pickups Of the 50’s and 60’s. To say TheTron has character is an understatement. TheTron is full and rounded with a well balanced mid range but with 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.

Over the years I’ve repaired a fair few old Gretsch pickups and 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 for but without loosing clarity or clank.

Most of my pickups are made in collaboration with a professional player, but not TheTron. I started playing guitar at the age of 16 when I first heard Malcolm Young – 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. 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.

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

For the modern player with one foot in the past.

Here’s TheTron’s home page for more info and demos https://mrglynspickups.com/2021/09/22/thetron/

TheTron pickup set is based around the legendary Gretsch pickups Of the 50’s and 60’s. To say TheTron has character is an understatement. TheTron is full and rounded with a well balanced mid range but with 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.

Over the years I’ve repaired a fair few old Gretsch pickups and 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 for but without loosing clarity or clank.

Most of my pickups are made in collaboration with a professional player, but not TheTron. I started playing guitar at the age of 16 when I first heard Malcolm Young – 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. 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.

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

For the modern player with one foot in the past.

Here’s TheTron’s home page for more info and demos https://mrglynspickups.com/2021/09/22/thetron/

Larry and the Trons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga0qYdh565s

Tele Cabronita – ‘TheTron’

 Was great to see this Brett Kingman demo using a Tele Cabronita with Mr Glyns The Tron pickups to demonstrate some really cool pedals the other day. He’s got dozens of guitars to choose from, so chuffed he chose my pickups.

TheTron pickup set is based around the legendary Gretsch pickups Of the 50’s and 60’s. To say TheTron has character is an understatement. TheTron is full and rounded with a well balanced mid range but with 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.

There are more demos here: https://mrglynspickups.com/2021/09/22/thetron/

Over the years I’ve repaired a fair few old Gretsch pickups and 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 for but without loosing clarity or clank.

Most of my pickups are made in collaboration with a professional player, but not TheTron. I started playing guitar at the age of 16 when I first heard Malcolm Young – 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. 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.

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

For the modern player with one foot in the past.

Tele Cabronita https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdXLT6XwMyl5p3dysXkznyAp5gt_Z5HN

Integrity humbucker in a HSS Strat

Had some fun today making a short stop-motion movie of Roboguy to demonstrate an Integrity humbucker in a HSS Strat.

The 'real' guitar is being played by Warren Mendonsa aka Blackstratblues.

Of course, any of my humbuckers will work as part of a HSS Strat set but I think the Integrity matches single coil pickups best.

For more demos of this pickup have a look here: https://mrglynspickups.com/2020/03/29/integrity-vintage-humbucker-2/

Inspired by the early Gibson PAF pickups the Integrity-vintage humbucker give the classic full, balanced tone we all love. Asymmetric coils give an open sounding mid range and the Alnico II magnet gives clarity and balance. A rich bottom end, characterful mids and sweet treble make this a pickup set for every situation – Jazz, Blues, Rock, it does it all.

Every pickup manufacturer makes a “Vintage” humbucker based on the Gibson PAF, of course they do – old Gibsons sound so good.

So how come they all sound so different? Well, the simple answer is that PAF’s were all different. I’ve been a full time luthier since 1995, whenever I come across an old humbucker I test the ohms and the gause and have a good listen. They’re all different. My conclusion is that pickup manufacturers have taken the PAF they like and based their own version on that. Old PAF’s vary so much so modern ones do as well.

I like my own version to be clear sounding, have obvious string separation and definition and to keep clarity no matter how much gain. The mids must be strong and woody, this is not a “scooped” pickup. The clean sound needs to be chimey and clear with no mush; through a valve amp I want clarity. When I tickle it I want clean and vocal sounding when it clips. The bridge pickup needs to be well behaved with high gain and clear with enough cut through so the drummer knows you’re there. The neck smooth, clear and articulate. Warm but with none of the boom you get with a more powerful pickup.

I don’t want much do I.

My “Integrity”-vintage humbucker has an Alnico II magnet and I’ve used plain enamel insulated magnet wire with asymmetric coils to open up the mids. The very first pickup I ever made back in 1995 was a PAF style and I’ve been tweaking the recipe ever since. Like all my pickups I’ve used a number of test pilot players in its development as well as gigging it myself. It wasn’t until around 2015 that I settled on this particular design. I did a gig with a set in a PRS SE series only last weekend – sounded great to me.

The full and honest sound of the Integrity-vintage humbucker along with it’s timeless tone inspired the name “Integrity”. https://mrglynspickups.com/

Mr Glyn's Pickups Logo - Roboguy

Integrity humbucker in a HSS Strat

Eat My Packaging

 

I’ve just published a couple of videos on YouTube entitled ‘Eat My Packaging’. The idea is to demonstrate that our packaging is compostable and to have some fun at the same time.

I’d love other businesses to think about how they send their products and maybe make some changes.

If you think this is a good idea I’d love it if you could share it on your social media and maybe ask a business to do the same and post a video or pictures on #eatmypackaging

Here’s the short version:

And there’s a longer talky one:

No pickup makers were harmed in the making of this video.

Eat My Packaging is not something I recommend you try and do – you’ve got way more sense than that.

Mr Glyn’s Pickups is a small manufacturer operating from one of the more distant corners of the planet sending delicate products all over the World. If we can manage to use fully bio degradable packaging then there’s no reason why others can’t. You don’t need bubble wrap, you don’t need plastic bags.

I’m going to use this video to encourage my suppliers to do the same. Too many of the parts we use arrive in plastic bags. We do our best to re-use these and some can be re-cycled. It isn’t perfect but we’re working on it.

The products we sell contain plastics and metals but our pickups are designed to last at least 50 years and after that are repairable. Again not perfect, but we’re doing our best.

If you think this is a good idea please share on all your social media, tell your friends and maybe challenge a business to #eatmypackaging

Mr Glyn’s Pickups are handmade in New Zealand https://mrglynspickups.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/MrGlynsPickups/videos

Next time I’ll try and make a cheese toastie 

The Guitar Knobs Podcast

Had a great time chatting with the guys at The Guitar Knobs Podcast the other day. We talked about pickup design, methods of construction, materials and my favourite pedals.

If you want to hear more, here’s a chat with The Australian Guitar Show from 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-t1MWB87hY&t=13s

MrGlyn’s Pickups is based at Muriwai Beach near Auckland, New Zealand. From low powered “vintage” to powerful rock monsters. We care about your tone.

Mr Glyn’s Pickups

My Story

My name is Glyn Evans. I have been a full time pickup winder and luthier since 1995.

I wound my first pickup under the guidance of legendary guitar repairer Ted Lee while studying guitar making/repair under him at City of Leeds College of Music in the North of England.

There’s something about the physics that really appealed to me. I went straight home, built my own winding machine, bought some wire and started experimenting.

In those pre-internet days there just wasn’t any information available on how to make good pickups. I made pickup after pickup, I wound and I listened. I made notes of every variation both good and bad so I could learn what was happening.

Looking back I think that time was invaluable for developing an intuition for making pickups. Whenever I came across a result I didn’t understand I swatted up on the physics; there’s a lot to learn. I wrote all the experiments down in a notebook, I still have the notebook and I’m still adding to it. https://mrglynspickups.com/

In 2012 I had the idea for my own range of pickups. In 2020 MrGlyn’s Pickups website went live.

I’ve been lucky enough to know many professional players who’ve given their time and expertise to help me. Every pickup design I make has been tested both by me and some of these “test pilots”. They’ve been in and out of numerous guitars, recorded, gigged, analysed and altered more times than I can remember.

I am really happy with the results, I hope you will be too.

Mr Glyn’s Pickups Logo – Roboguy

The Guitar Knobs Podcast