Rumpelstiltskin Pickup Review

I would like to share my opinion on several sets of Rumpelstiltskin Tele pickups that I have bought and used over the last year. I play rock, country and blues through a Tungsten Crema Wheat amp.
We dont play that loud so I needed some pickups that would push my amp into a mild breakup a bit earlier.

Tha first set I ordered was the "White Rope" set that was slightly overwound. It is a very rich, very balanced set that is pretty traditional sounding. It sounds wonderful in my Fender Deluxe Tele. (had to get those noiseless pickups out of there)

The next set was another "White Rope" set that was overwound a step further than the first set was. I am getting the same full, balanced sound but with more output, twang and grit, but without sounding any darker like most overwound pickups sound. These went into a Ash/Maple G&L ASAT.

The third set is quite different. The bridge pickup is not as tall as the average tele pickup, but it is fatter with more winds like an extremley overwound pickup. It really screams with clean twang. It has the extra volume of an overwound pickup but it is very clean, powerful and aggressive. This unique sound matched with a slightly brighter neck pickup produces a very sparkely, shimmering middle position sound.

Aaron Campbell has very good communication skills and really nailed the sound that I described to him. I recieved my orders no more than 2 weeks after placing it.
I also have bought several different Strat sets from him and have had the same positive results.

Have any of you used Rumpelstiltskin pickups in your Teles? I would like to hear opinions on how his "Black Rope" sets sound.

I have his Black Ropes in a B'caster clone I have. These are wound to around 11K. These are smokin' in this guitar. Very fat sounding. Very responsive to right hand pickin' attack. They play clean but when you bear down on them they will respond with attitude. A tradtional Tele sound but not the most twangy Tele pups he makes but still, the twang is there, no mistakin' it for something other than a Tele. Sound great into a clean amp, cranked amp or with pedals. As you know he'll wind these to whatever spec you want. I've gotten many pups fm Aaron and he's great to work with. I have several sets of his Strat pups too, these are excellent. I know he now has P90's. I'd love to hear fm somebody who has these.

I provide a review on post 57 of this thread: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/318617-sound-1967-tele-pickups-2.html

I have actually decided to go from the black ropes to the white ropes and I am awaiting delivery. Further thoughts to come!

in order to better understand how vintage style built pickups relate in terms of tone and volume, component specifics are vital. there's a huge difference in a tele bridge pup that's "ovewound" with 42awg as opposed to 43awg - with the same coil turn counts, those different wire gauges will produce very different sounding pickups, even if the rod mags are the exact same. which is why resistance values are near meaningless and knowing wire gauge, turn count and mag types is so important.

"overwound" is a word that's based on some wind count standard, of which there really isn't any for fender single coil pups. the key to tone and volume - not "overdrive" - really is the coil wire turn count.

in your Rumpelstiltskin, i'll assume the build is vintage forbon flatware with rod magnets. what wire gauge and insulation? what is the turn count? what rod mag types and their length? knowing these values gives a much better perspective on the resulting tone and volume.

You sound like Aaron, Rob. I have had this exact same discussion with him. You and him would get along great.

CthonicEwes........... Let us know how those Black Rope pickups sound when you recieve them.
Some more accurate details on that short, fat bridge pickup. It has short alnico 5 magnets, a little under 10,000 turns on 42awg plain enamel wire.

ah, the ubiquitous a5. my fave alnico flavor. the coil shape/size also plays a part, where squat tends to favor midrange and tall the treble side. then there's the turn count, where 10k turns of 42awg pe will definitely spew more midrange (that's "fat") than most tele bridge pups, and is quite comparable to the duncan broadcaster. next time, try 11k turns of 42awg fv or pe coil wire - that will be an ear opener. :cool:

I have used several of Aaron's pups. The white rope "stock" and the white rope slightly overwound. Both sounded great. Currently I have a black rope 9.5 K in the bridge and a "blues special" in the neck of one of my teles. Great sounding for thick twang and rock stuff. Aaron is a pleasure to deal with and you can tell he loves doing this. He is also very willing to patiently help you get the type of pup you are looking for.

... Currently I have a black rope 9.5 K in the bridge ...

what coil wire - 42 or 43?

43

43

i thought so. for two tele bridge pup bobbins that are both wound to 9.5k resistance, it will take 9500 or so turns of 43awg and about 12500 turns of 42awg. the difference in tone 'tween the two is HUGE. the 43 wired one will be very '50 vintage toned and the other will be off the charts uber FAT "modern" toned. it takes 688 (or better yet 710) mags to create a tall bobbin that will accept that many turns of 42 wire.

Yes Rob, it is very vintage. To my ears it has a "thicker" twang and somewhat heavier sounding OD. Seems to give more sustain on the higher strings as well. I've messed with the height on it a lot until I found my "sweet spot"

I just recently got a set of white ropes for my 63 tele clone and they are very nice. I was looking for super clear scooped mid range type and they are just perfect. They do well with distortion. If anyone is looking for vintage late 50s early 60s tone you can't go wrong with the white ropes. Aaron is a great guy to deal with and will help you out.

Aaron's Black Rope wound to around 9.5 is the best bridge pickup I've tried.