A&F pickups.......?

twangdude · July 2nd, 2003, 07:43 PM

What is this A&F pickup all about? Do they have a website? Someone clue ol' David in. Shanks!

Kevin · July 2nd, 2003, 08:10 PM

I could be wrong on the names, but the two guys in A&F (Alan Hamel & Fred Stuart) worked for the Fender Custom Shop and decided to strike out on their own, together.

A&F pups are claimed by those who use them to be the most authentic-sounding ones out there. I can't say either way, as I've never played them.

Recently, A&F have gone their separate ways. Alan, who made the pups, anyway, will continue to make them under the Hamel name. Don't know when they'll be available, or if a website is up, yet. The A&F site is no more....

See the post below for more more info....

Skydog · July 2nd, 2003, 11:47 PM

Last I heard, Fred was gigging around with some gal singer. The pups are built to sound (and look) like early 50s ..magnets different, each hand wound ..supposed to be the closest thing to the original.

jvc · July 3rd, 2003, 12:10 AM

Fred is still working on guitars at home and those A and F pups are GREAT! jvc

Cliff · July 3rd, 2003, 01:43 AM

I spoke with Alan on the phone the other day, and it's true, he will be making the pickups. He's got to get setup first, though. His pickups got a great plug on this forum from Bill Hullet a while back. Bill thought that they were the closest thing he's heard to his old 50's Tele. Pretty good props....

TeleGeir · July 3rd, 2003, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skydog

Last I heard, Fred was gigging around with some gal singer. The pups are built to sound (and look) like early 50s ..magnets different, each hand wound ..supposed to be the closest thing to the original.

Nothing to do with the subject at hand, but whenever I hear people using "hand wound" as a sales pitch, I am reminded of this quote from good old Bill Lawrence (http://www.billlawrence.com/):

Quote:

Do you really believe someone hand-guides 8000 turns of copper wire that is as thin as a human hair on a bobbin to complete, maybe, 30 coils per day and can guaranty any consistency? A well-wound coil is a well-wound coil regardless if it's wound with professional equipment, or if somebody's great-grandmother winds it to an old French recipe with Napoleon's modified coffee grinder and chops off the wire after a mile with an antique guillotine!

I am sure they are excellent and authentic sounding, though...

Geir :)

Kevin · July 3rd, 2003, 10:07 AM

But a lot of people swear that scatter-wound (another name for hand-guided) pickups do sound better. Most of these folks don't like the Bill Lawrence pickups, either....

The thing is that the early pickups are inconsistent from one pickup to the next, but most people would argue that they still sound better than anything else out there. Now, whether that's all in their (our) heads, or not, is the subject of another post on this board.

Whether the A&F pickup truly sound like an average of the old B'caster pups is not for me to say.... Based solely on construction techniques, though, I feel pretty sure that the A&F pups will sound quite different that the BL pups....

Skydog · July 3rd, 2003, 05:57 PM

Well .. I visited A&F ..got work done on my Clarence '56 and also a neck '68 refret job (best ever too) ..anyway, I was there two times (for hours) and poked around and saw the pup making operation ..and the guy who winds 'em .. very funky .. was an old table full of parts in small bins .. and a little motor .. whole setup looked early 50s .. was cool.

July 2nd, 2003, 07:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
twangdude NEW MEMBER! Join Date: May 2003 Location: Marysville, OH Posts: 6	A&F pickups.......? What is this A&F pickup all about? Do they have a website? Someone clue ol' David in. Shanks!

July 2nd, 2003, 11:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
Skydog Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 371	A&F early 50s pups Last I heard, Fred was gigging around with some gal singer. The pups are built to sound (and look) like early 50s ..magnets different, each hand wound ..supposed to be the closest thing to the original.

July 3rd, 2003, 01:43 AM	#5 (permalink)
Cliff Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Left Coast Posts: 168 3 Photos	Alan I spoke with Alan on the phone the other day, and it's true, he will be making the pickups. He's got to get setup first, though. His pickups got a great plug on this forum from Bill Hullet a while back. Bill thought that they were the closest thing he's heard to his old 50's Tele. Pretty good props....

July 3rd, 2003, 10:07 AM	#7 (permalink)
Kevin Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Terre Haute, IN Posts: 2,967	re: Hand wound... But a lot of people swear that scatter-wound (another name for hand-guided) pickups do sound better. Most of these folks don't like the Bill Lawrence pickups, either.... The thing is that the early pickups are inconsistent from one pickup to the next, but most people would argue that they still sound better than anything else out there. Now, whether that's all in their (our) heads, or not, is the subject of another post on this board. Whether the A&F pickup truly sound like an average of the old B'caster pups is not for me to say.... Based solely on construction techniques, though, I feel pretty sure that the A&F pups will sound quite different that the BL pups....

July 3rd, 2003, 05:57 PM	#8 (permalink)
Skydog Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 371	Handwound Well .. I visited A&F ..got work done on my Clarence '56 and also a neck '68 refret job (best ever too) ..anyway, I was there two times (for hours) and poked around and saw the pup making operation ..and the guy who winds 'em .. very funky .. was an old table full of parts in small bins .. and a little motor .. whole setup looked early 50s .. was cool.

July 2nd, 2003, 08:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Kevin Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Terre Haute, IN Posts: 2,967	I could be wrong on the names, but the two guys in A&F (Alan Hamel & Fred Stuart) worked for the Fender Custom Shop and decided to strike out on their own, together. A&F pups are claimed by those who use them to be the most authentic-sounding ones out there. I can't say either way, as I've never played them. Recently, A&F have gone their separate ways. Alan, who made the pups, anyway, will continue to make them under the Hamel name. Don't know when they'll be available, or if a website is up, yet. The A&F site is no more.... See the post below for more more info....

July 3rd, 2003, 12:10 AM	#4 (permalink)
jvc Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: SOCAL Posts: 524	Fred is still working on guitars at home and those A and F pups are GREAT! jvc