Donlis Pickups...how'd they do it?

[Strato50]

Got a set from a forum member...sat in the box I figured not worth installing...damn was I wrong...they sound as good as any "booteek" pups I've owned...I think these are the 52 based models.I am rocking that tele on two gigs today.If you need some great pickups for peanuts these are the ones. I am going to order more of these before they jump up in price..Highly suggest them to players who want good tone without that corksniffer price.

 

[CFFF]

I am using Chinese Donlis tele and humbuckers. Very happy with them all. Good company to do business with too. They have jumped up in price considerably since I bought mine but they are still a great deal.

My favorite strat has Bootstraps installed. Fantastic pickups handmade in the USA for not much more than Donlis.

 

[littlebadboy]

Guitar Madness on eBay is also aweaome! Import pickups by a US seller who you can get in touch for tech support and really knows his stuff! Cheap enough to try and toss if you don't like 'em, but you'll like them!

He has an equivalent for the popular models of the big brands. I have his Dirty Digits (aka Gibson Dirty Fingers), an SD jb like, rail humbucker, P94, and I love them all!

Here's my Dirty Digits demo:

 

[Doctorx33]

Yes, Donlis is good stuff. I have a couple sets of humbuckers of theirs. Also, I have the Guitar Madness hot alnico 15k humbucker in two of my guitars, great pickup.

 

[Wally]

How do they do it?? Well, when we do away with the minimum wage impediments and convince people that they can make a way in this world on wages of less than $1 an hour, then we here in the U.S. can start competing, right???
Based on the costs of building those in China, they are probably big profit makers. Celestion speakers certainly are gouging the consumer on a basis of cost of production versus retail price.
Oh well......Happy New Year......

 

[Tonetele]

You don't have to spend a fortune on good old vintage sounding pickups.
Look at Toneriders , all of them, and you'll find a set to suit.
BTW Rumour has it that Toneriders are in squire Teles and strats. They both come out of the same factory floor according to my mate Kelvni Ho in Singapore.

 

[thegreatshocka]

I’ve been very happy with all of the Guitar Madness pickups I’ve bought. Keep an eye out for eBay coupons, I was able to get a few of the GM Strat sets for about 20 dollars each.

 

[BorderRadio]

I have a set of their Strat pickups. Best 20 bucks I ever spent.

 

[CFFF]

Donlis is a reseller not the manufacturer. We don't know how many other resellers there are in the chain before Donlis get them. I heard that Chinese pickup manufacturing companies employ monkeys for all winding and assembly work. If true then this would help to keep their operating costs down real low and the final cost will probably be more directly related to the price of bananas.

 

[tfarny]

How do they do it?? Well, when we do away with the minimum wage impediments and convince people that they can make a way in this world on wages of less than $1 an hour, then we here in the U.S. can start competing, right???
Based on the costs of building those in China, they are probably big profit makers. Celestion speakers certainly are gouging the consumer on a basis of cost of production versus retail price.
Oh well......Happy New Year......

Wages in China vary quite a bit, I'm not volunteering to be a laborer there don't get me wrong. I don't doubt that employee wages + OSHA rules make up a significant portion of the difference between Donlis and Lollar, but simple economies of scale are probably more the factor. A pickup SHOULD be able to be made cheaply in a big factory and still sound good, it's an incredibly basic technology. I thin there is more mystery on the other end - what is Jason Lollar DOING with those strat pickups that he can charge $100 each for one??? No matter which way you go, it's a length of thin wire, six little magnets, fiberboard and a little wax.

 

[Wally]

Put your money where your future is....build what you pay for.

 

[nojazzhere]

I am using Chinese Donlis tele and humbuckers. Very happy with them all. Good company to do business with too. They have jumped up in price considerably since I bought mine but they are still a great deal.

My favorite strat has Bootstraps installed. Fantastic pickups handmade in the USA for not much more than Donlis.

I'm a big booster for Bootstrap......I mean, what's better than GREAT sound, Made in USA, amazingly fair pricing, and awesome customer service? I just want them to get the recognition they deserve......

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

I think that's where Guitar Madness sources their pickups, which are a great deal also because he appears to stock them in the U.S. which makes for quicker shipping times, and only minimal markup.

I have a set of Guitar Madness pickups, a $35 set of zebra humbuckers, in a high-end Heritage guitar. Kinda funny when you think of it, but they sound great.

 

[littlebadboy]

I think that's where Guitar Madness sources their pickups, which are a great deal also because he appears to stock them in the U.S. which makes for quicker shipping times, and only minimal markup.

He said he gets them from Korea.

 

[jvin248]

...what is Jason Lollar DOING with those strat pickups that he can charge $100 each for one??? No matter which way you go, it's a length of thin wire, six little magnets, fiberboard and a little wax.
...Wages in China vary quite a bit...

What you are paying for "Lollar"/etc is the excessive cost of Marketing to bolster a brand. That's why people buy Gibson/Fender over other guitars, because they have spent decades out-Marketing all the others, ensuring the pros play their branded instruments. The accounting guys call this "Goodwill" on their balance sheet.

As for the China situation ... a big part of their 'low labor cost' is due to 'low taxation' at every level of their economy. If you keep property taxes down, you keep rents down for consumers plus retailers and manufacturers -- so they can make the same profits at less cost and undercut pricing to the rest of the world. Make for an efficient government. If you keep sales taxes down and fuel taxes down you can continue this trend. If you work in a nation that takes half your wages in various taxes, you need to make twice as much to afford both basic and fun things.

The Boutique-Like-Tones from many of these import pickups I find comes from their low internal capacitance which is the same thing you get with boutique hand-wound pickups vs machine-wound bobbins. It's very possible the import pickups are all hand wound. It just takes a sewing machine motor fitted with a counter and people to do it. Fender did it in the old days. Oh, and don't spend a lot on Marketing.

.

 

[luckett]

I heard that Chinese pickup manufacturing companies employ monkeys for all winding and assembly work. If true then this would help to keep their operating costs down real low and the final cost will probably be more directly related to the price of bananas.

Come on, if you're going to repeat the intellectually lazy and uninformed narrative at least get it correct. They use child slave monkeys who work for sub-banana wages.

 

[hopdybob]

Put your money where your future is....build what you pay for.

i understand what you are saying but the truth is still the same that the big companies, in every type off industries go to china, korea, etc. so they, and the investor's have big profit.
i life in europe, love Bill Lawrence pickups, all my guitars are fitted with them, but when i would buy 1 pickup $ 60 (i call a bargain vs SD, Dimarzio etc) but have to pay at least $ 21,50 for shipment.

donlis shipment is free because the chinees government subsidizes shipment cost.
thats not fair, but that how it works today because (almost) everybody is going for the bargain, the steal, but they steal there future to in a way

 

[Mike Simpson]

Pickups are a few magnets with wire wrapped around them and lots of voodoo.

 

[awasson]

I’ve got several sets for Strats and humbucker guitars. Every set is a winner.

The Strat Hot Vintage 60’s Alnico 5 set I bought a couple of years ago sounds very similar to my Classic 69’s but hotter so probably more like a set of Texas Specials. Very musical and not overly percussive.

The double cream Alnico 2 humbuckers have taken up permanent residency in my 1981 Ibanez Artist AR100. They’re probably the best set of humbuckers I’ve had in a Les Paul type guitar.

The Alnico 5 covered set I bought had chrome brass covers and were a bit on the dark side so I contacted Donlis and asked for a set of nickel silver covers. Once I’d done the cover transplant and they were outfitted with nickel silver, they came alive. I put those in a friend’s pointy guitar and again, we have a winner.

I’ve got a Telecaster set with the Alnico 5 neck and an overwound Alnico 2 bridge. I’m expecting good things from them.

 

[bender66]

I'm a big booster for Bootstrap......I mean, what's better than GREAT sound, Made in USA, amazingly fair pricing, and awesome customer service? I just want them to get the recognition they deserve......

Some specs on their P90 listings would be nice.

I have a set of creme Donlis HB's still at the ready. I think I've figures out the guitar they're going into.