Is the Hamel hype over?

[mowcheeba]

$162.50 with 2 hours left of auction. Seems a little cheap compared to the what his Tele pickups go for.
Maybe it's just his Tele pickups fetching the high $$$$$?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...5330&rd=1&rd=1

[GuitarJonz]

Yes, the Hamel tele pups see to go higher, like $219.00 for this one. But a full set at $550 did not sell. The pup de jour seems to change around here, and once a desirable model is no longer commercially available (ala the previous Barden shortage, or Hamel), the laws of supply and demand take over and the price skyrockets.

[weelie]

That might be, but Don mare are getting ever hotter day by day. :D

[maxvintage]

I started posting on the TDP when Noam ran it, around ten years ago, (under the name mikeo), and since then I've come and go sometimes posting a lot, sometimes hardly reading at all. In that time there have been lots of flavors of the month--early on it was Harmonic design all the time; there was a Bill Lawrence phase, the the Hamel thing--there's almost always some pickup/pickups that are all the shiznit and then it shifts.

I've no doubt all these pickups are fine, or excellent in the right guitar/hands. I've just seen these waves of enthusiasm come and go

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by weelie

That might be, but Don mare are getting ever hotter day by day. :D

Maybe I should cash in on my Hamel set and get some D.Mare

[teletard]

can't go wrong with don's pickups. fred stuarts are not bad either. love both

[JamonHamon]

Originally Posted by mowcheeba

Maybe I should cash in on my Hamel set and get some D.Mare

....I can remember when you couldn't get Joe Bardens I wish I could have sold a few of his sets $$$$$$$

[Bill Hullett]

I'll take all those Hamel pickups off anybodys hands!!!!!!


Bill Hullett

[JamonHamon]

There's no hype in Hamel, Stuart, or Don Mare Pickups there all, The best of the best

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by JamonHamon

There's no hype in Hamel, Stuart, or Don Mare Pickups there all, The best of the best

Agree, maybe hype was wrong word to use because I do not find them to be just hype. I love the Broadcaster/Tall neck set I got. Right now they are taking vacation until I get my new USACG build together.

[stephent2]

Sorry I missed those strat PUs, might have made me want to build a strat, they when for $200, heck of a deal.

[esharp9th]

I was the one who won those Hamel strat pickups .The reason for my
interest was my recent switch to Stuart Blackguards in my tele which
I really like . The tele pickups are alnico 3 as are the Hamel strat . Both
winders have a good reputation and worked together. If they improve
my strat as much as the tele alnico 3s improved my tele I'll be very
happy .

John

[mellecaster]

Maybe it's because my ears ain't as good as some of y'alls....but in my 45 yr. Love affair w/ the Guitar...I still am unable to "Outplay" a good old set of Fender Original Vintage (52ri) pups...through a Twin.....but that's just Me.

[teletard]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

Maybe it's because my ears ain't as good as some of y'alls....but in my 45 yr. Love affair w/ the Guitar...I still am unable to "Outplay" a good old set of Fender Original Vintage (52ri) pups...through a Twin.....but that's just Me.

i would challange you to play either of my tele's with fred's blackguards in one and don mare in the other. i love fender pickups but these do sound better. at least to my ears.

[JamonHamon]

I do know that Don Mare, Hamel, and Stuart, and all use the best materials available in the pickups they wind

and all three are pros with different styles of hand scatter winding patterns

so at this level of custom windings its the little personal touches and level

of care that each winder does for his customers

I do know that Don Mare has bent over backwards to please me with out me even asking him to,

So I am very happy with his customer service and I know he is a blessing to us all

[JamonHamon]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

Maybe it's because my ears ain't as good as some of y'alls....but in my 45 yr. Love affair w/ the Guitar...I still am unable to "Outplay" a good old set of Fender Original Vintage (52ri) pups...through a Twin.....but that's just Me.

Fender does not hand wind or scatter wind even with there custom shop pickups to get this level of service you would have to order a custom shop master wind!!!...

[Leoisgod]

Originally Posted by JamonHamon

Fender does not hand wind or scatter wind even with there custom shop pickups to get this level of service you would have to order a custom shop master wind!!!...

Is that so? I was not aware of this. Thanks.

[Mark Davis]

All Fender pickups have been machine wound besides the master winds Abigal did since CBS took over.

[Mark Davis]

Here is a short history lesson from the TDP's favorite pickup of the month.

Sometime in 97-98 Bruce Morgan started posting about the Bill Lawrence pickups.

Then Harmonic Design got popular.

The Velvet Hammers showed up got sorta popular

Then Alan Hamel and Fred Stuart left Fender started their own pickup company Ron Ellis posted about how good they were.

Those guys split up soon after that and Hamel made his own and Fred makes his own.

Then Don Mare started making his own pickups and those seem to be the flavor of the month.

Thats how its been here for the past 10 years anyway.

[Jim Sams]

I guess it all depends on what you want out of tone. Some of us are always searching for nirvana. I came to realize that I don't want a perfect "Vintage" 1955 tone. I like slightly beefier pups.
Harmonic Design are still great for what I want in a bridge pickup. Bardens are terrific in some guitars.
Scott at HD is great to deal with. Pretty drama free.
For a neck pup, the Vintage Vibe Charlie Christian pups really do it for me.
HD V+ and a Vintage Vibe CC Rider plus a 4 way switch....I have been in heaven for several years.