GFS Neovin Tele bridge pickup

Hey guys,

I'm on a very, very low budget (unemployed) and need a noiseless bridge pickup for my Mexican Telecaster project. I'm also buying a new Musikraft neck so I don't have a lot of money to spend.

I've been trying to find a used Dimarzio Area Hot T for a while now, but no luck. So I've been considering a Neovin Hard Vintage pup by GFS (guitarfetish). Can anyone comment on the Tele Neovin bridge pickup sound quality? Is it at least decent for even just a temporary replacement?

I hope it can sound good for on the edge of break up tone to a classic rock overdrive. But still have some Tele twang.

I'm not a picky person; I only play guitar at home, at low volumes and often headphones because I live in an apartment. So that's why I'm thinking the GFS Neovin could be good for me.

Thanks

It's really hard to match pickups in a guitar. It might help if you know the neck pickup. For ~$15 more, you can call Wilde and get an NF series that matches better with your neck. You'd never need to replace that. NF's are some of the best noiseless SC's available. Otherwise, a matched set is a better idea. The Neovin's are similar in design to Lace Sensor, but not as refined. People seem to like the GFS "Lil Puncher" series a lot. My step bro has the Modern Vintage set, and they sound great. Still, Wilde NF's are a step above in every way.

Thanks for the reply. I have a true single coil in the neck position, it was custom wound by BG pickups and it's Alnico III, low output (can't remember exactly the specific output level, but it's vintage).

I decided to go for a Dimarzio Area Hot T. I can't find any used at the moment but I'll keep looking. What scared me away from the GFS Neovin is how some people have trouble with it having to be nearly touching the strings, and could have low output/volume. Also, it's hard to find good reviews of the Neovins.

So I'll get the Dimarzio when I have more money, or the Wilde NF if I can find it used.

Thanks.

The Neovin's are similar in design to Lace Sensor, but not as refined.

They're not like the Lace sensors, but actually dual blade pickups with the neodymium magnet stuck directly to the blade (oversaturates the blades, drops inductance and ruins the performance) with some fake brass poles on top (not meant to sense the strings, eddy current central!). It's absolutely worth saving up $10-15 and getting a high performance pickup rather than a misdesign.

They're not like the Lace sensors, but actually dual blade pickups with the neodymium magnet stuck directly to the blade (oversaturates the blades, drops inductance and ruins the performance) with some fake brass poles on top (not meant to sense the strings, eddy current central!). It's absolutely worth saving up $10-15 and getting a high performance pickup rather than a misdesign.I'm not sure those things aren't plastic instead of brass.I thought they were a keeper across the blades originally, but took one off (dangerous may ruin p/up) last week and they are only for show. I put neos on the poles of a Gibson Slug Coil from a HB when they first came out and got a horrible distorted tone from what I assum was just from the magnets since the amp was on 2.5 (where its just on) Saturation of some kind ? P/up makers who use them wisely, use a gap or a hollow rod to carry the field.

I had a guitar with GFS neovin in the birdge... didnt like it too much.

no snap at all

I have the Neovins on my Strat with onboard pre-amp. No complaints. I think they perform fine.

Edit: They tell you up front the poles are for show.

I'm not sure those things aren't plastic instead of brass.I thought they were a keeper across the blades originally, but took one off (dangerous may ruin p/up) last week and they are only for show. I put neos on the poles of a Gibson Slug Coil from a HB when they first came out and got a horrible distorted tone from what I assum was just from the magnets since the amp was on 2.5 (where its just on) Saturation of some kind ? P/up makers who use them wisely, use a gap or a hollow rod to carry the field.

It's definitely not a keeper. The neodymium magnet is more than enough to the point of being too much in context of the design. Jay from Guitarfetish actually said they were brass and part of a "shield array" (or something term like that) 3-4 years back on harmony central.



edit: I couldn't find a reference to being brass when I looked this time, but he states they "are part of a carefully calibrated ground plane that acts as a filter for the pickup," consistent with the ad copy discussing a "unique ground shield array," which (if I remember correctly) also involved wrapping the coils in copper shielding. All of this would destroy the highend of other pickups, but the neodymium stuck to the blades moves the inductance down so far the inductance doesn't factor in (a reason why it won't match well with any amplifier on the market).

They're not like the Lace sensors, but actually dual blade pickups with the neodymium magnet stuck directly to the blade (oversaturates the blades, drops inductance and ruins the performance) with some fake brass poles on top (not meant to sense the strings, eddy current central!). It's absolutely worth saving up $10-15 and getting a high performance pickup rather than a misdesign.

Well, similar in that they shorten and spread the field out over either side of the pickup. Whatever the other shortcomings of the clumsy design, they require being placed close to the strings, which is very limiting for the neck position regarding height tuning and tone/output across the entire neck. For all these reasons, I agree that it's definitely worth spending just a little more for a Wilde NF, or MicroCoil.

I'm not sure how it works in practice, because of the very destructive interference of the fake brass poles, but the two blades should otherwise work like a horseshoe magnet.

http://hendrix2.uoregon.edu/~dlivelyb/phys161/images/horshoe_mag.gif

It's the opposite of "spreading the field out". The fake brass poles are in the middle of that. With that destructive interference, in combination of sticking neodymium directly to the blades (worst choice possible!), there's no way anyone can expect adequate performance out of them. I don't particularly like Lace Sensors, but they're a respectable design, and work in a very different fashion.

I guess I'm gonna toss my .02 in and go against the grain a bit. I actually have a set of the vintage outputs in my squier cvc and I honestly was pleased with them. Now my reason for the purchase had more to do with living in a college town and playing crummy bars and house shows where the hum of single coils just becomes obtrusive. They lack a little bit of the sparkle of real tele pickups but I always just bumped the treble a tad bit more on the amp. None of the bands I've played along side have never had anything but positive comments about my tone. So its give and take I guess. Honestly, I read all the mixed reviews and detractors and finally just said screw it and bought them because they were so cheap and I really needed a silent guitar. The comments about the pickups needing to be really close to the strings is kind of true though. Mainly its in the bridge. And it was only so I could match the neck output, so if your neck pickup is set low and the tone is good, then the bridge wont be so high. But if you have the neck up really high to get your "sound" anticipate having the bridge very close to the strings. All in all, for what I paid I cant say anything bad about them. But before purchasing them I knew I was not getting a tele pickup, so I didn't cry when it no longer had that signature spank that we all love and know.

If you can manage to find more room in your budget, I'd advocate the zexcoil tele bridge pickup. I have his signature set in my strat and I'm going to play this guitar to my dying day.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I actually decided to try out the GFS pickup (medium output Hard Vintage version). I got a deal for one at $20 so I can't really go wrong with that. I've used GFS pups in the past and all have been either useable or really good. So this pup should at least satisfy me in the short term.

This Tele project is already quite expensive.... $375 for the musikraft neck (plus customs/duties charges since I live in Canada....), and I can't do guitar work myself so I have to take it to the shop for most things.

Being broke, the costs will add up so I don't mind trying out the GFS neovin for a little while.

I guess I'm gonna toss my .02 in and go against the grain a bit. I actually have a set of the vintage outputs in my squier cvc and I honestly was pleased with them. Now my reason for the purchase had more to do with living in a college town and playing crummy bars and house shows where the hum of single coils just becomes obtrusive. They lack a little bit of the sparkle of real tele pickups but I always just bumped the treble a tad bit more on the amp. None of the bands I've played along side have never had anything but positive comments about my tone. So its give and take I guess. Honestly, I read all the mixed reviews and detractors and finally just said screw it and bought them because they were so cheap and I really needed a silent guitar. The comments about the pickups needing to be really close to the strings is kind of true though. Mainly its in the bridge. And it was only so I could match the neck output, so if your neck pickup is set low and the tone is good, then the bridge wont be so high. But if you have the neck up really high to get your "sound" anticipate having the bridge very close to the strings. All in all, for what I paid I cant say anything bad about them. But before purchasing them I knew I was not getting a tele pickup, so I didn't cry when it no longer had that signature spank that we all love and know.
Thanks for that info. I feel the same way as you. The GFS stuff always gets mixed reviews, but for just a couple dollars I don't mind taking the risk and I also need a silent guitar. I've never hated any of the GFS stuff I bought.