Reed James Vintage Stratocaster Pickups

What some are saying about Reed James Custom Pickups
REED JAMES PICKUPS ROCK!!!!!

I put RJ's Custom Pickups in my Mexican airbrushed Strat and they turned my guitar into a new beast!
They provide me with killer, high sustain crunch for distorted rythem and solos. They give me a sweet warm clean tone aswell. Reed is very knowledgable, ask him about ways to my you're tone scream for days w. his custom pickups.

Thanks Reed- Marc Solomon

Posted by Marc Solomon on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 8:15 AM
I've been playing Guitar for 42 years & build my own Tube Amps. I play blues & old rock. I’ve been able to make it as far as Semi-Pro Musician so far. (West Coast) My first Strat was a used mid 80's American Strat. I was happy to get an American Strat. After playing it fora while I found it to be thin sounding & itdidn't have much signal into my amp. It didn't keep up with my Les Paul. I had to adjust my amp when I switched Guitars. I even had to change Tone Capacitors in my amp to get that Strat to sound any good. I still had to turn the amp up (Strat) or down for the (Paul). I started thinking someone changed the Pick-Ups in the Strat at some time.

I sold that Strat & bought a NEW 50th Anniversary American Strat 2 years ago. After playing it for a while I realized it had the same problem as my first Strat. (THIN & GUTLESS)

I've never played a 50's or early 60's Strat so I didn't know what a Vintage Strat was suppose to sound like. So disappointed was I.

Then I met James Reed! I played his personal Strat with his 1950's style pick-ups in it & could not believe my ears. While I was playing his guitar, Jim was assessing my playing style.
He also Picked up Played & Lessened to my Strat (Not Plugged IN) to hear the resonance of the guitar body. Jim & I then sat down & talked Tone for a while. I really didn't even know what I wanted. Jim's Strat Pick-ups come in Vintage 50's - Over Wound 50's - Vintage 60's - Over Wound 60's - and or Under Wound, what ever you’re looking for. I chose a set of Slightly Over wound 60's with hotter yet Bridge Pick-Up. What I did, is bought a new Fender Pick Guard & all the other Fender replacement parts it took to be able to pull the stock set-up out & drop thenew "James Reed Pick-ups" in with the least amount of time & trouble. When all the parts were made & gathered,Jim did a Custom Installation including vintage tape.

With my stock Pick-Ups I always had the selector switch on position 4 or 5. (5 being the neck pick-up) Positions 1, 2, & 3 just had to much treble. Now with "James Reed Pick-Ups" in my Strat, I use all 5 positions. From a Thick Treble, to Bell Tones, to Great Mids, to Bass with Balls, Grab a hand full of Volume Knob & you have enough signal that brings out the warmest breakup & coolest harmonic enhancements that you've never thought possible.

Thanks “James Reed” for making my Strat, Sound Like A Strat!!!!!
*Look Out! - Tone Is Back!*

Dave Lopes - Dave's Amp Cabs

Posted by AmpCabsDave on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 at 12:44 AM

i have a custom "one off" set from jim, they are flat pole strat pups wound all the same direction (no RWRP). jim and i hashed out the details for the pups, and then he wound them for me.
turnaround time was awesome, maybe a couple days? and the tone? AWESOME!

jim listens to you ideas, will give you some suggestions, listen to you responses, and then wind you up some pups. after playing them in my 1 strat for awhile, i loaned my guitar to a very close friend who i've played guitar with for a long time, and his response, in a scarcastic tone was, "yeah, these are 'okay'"...

all this to say that jim builds a great pickup, and is willing to work with you to design exactly the pickup to get the tone that YOU want.

i am very pleased with the work he has done for me, and am looking to the future for more pickups to be built.
Posted by the 5 percenters on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 10:21 PM
My name is Gary Eichholz III, and I'm the owner of Woody Woodcasters Custom Exotic Wood Guitars & Basses in Tampa Florida, When I started to build our ALL WOOD GUITARS we neede someone to make our WOODEN PICKUPS.

"Reed James was skeptical at first... when I called him to ask if he would make our wooden pickups. But three HOURS later he's sending me pictures of the first Poplar pickup made from pallet wood he found in his shop, and I KNEW he was THE GUY to make our pickups!"

"That pickup sounded GREAT but alas is now in a museum."

"Reed took the time to exhaustively research different woods for tonal and grain qualities throughout our association, and he has taken wooden pickups to a SCIENCE! "They fit EXACTLY!"

"I have bought and paid for more of these than any other person on the planet, and I "wood" not use them if they didn't have the variety of tonal sounds that make these CUSTOM pickups not only LOOK but SOUND richer, warmer, smoother, crunchier, edgier, YOU NAME IT, REED JAMES CAN WIND IT!"

"Imagine how knocked over we were when Mr. James called us and asked if he could name the whole wood pickup line after us!

WoodCaster Set for three single coils,

TeleWoody Set for the special neck and bridge set in a Tele

WoodBucker Set for that dual coil set

AND THE WOODBUCKERS COME WITH THE RINGS!

"So there it is, pick your Wood, pick your ohms, pick the sound and order you a set TODAY!"

"Sure they're EXPENSIVE, But all the GREAT things in life are!"

If you want to know more, do not hesitate to call me about them.

Gary Eichholz III

Pres & CEO

Woody Woodcasters

Custom Exotic Wood Guitars & Basses

(813) 961-3704
Posted by Woody Woodcasters on Tuesday, May 2
Reed, James Custom "Standard Humbuckers" Are Great, but "Woodbuckers" Are The Best!

I met James before he designed the Woodbucker style Pickup & the Arch Top Wood Mounting Rings. At that time he was just producing the Standard R.J. Custom Replacement Humbuckers.

He put a set "Vintage 60's" with Cream Plastic Bobbins, Gold Poles and Screws on my 1985 white Les Paul. Later a set of English Walnut Pickup Rings were added.

The Improvement in Tone with the R, J. Standard Pickups went from the stock humbuckers with a muddy middle, weak highs, and weak lows to Clear Mids, Clear highs, and a deep warm bottom end. They also had an improved output allowing you turn down the guitar volume and still get great clean tone and sustain then to turn the guitar back up and get great crunch with notes that ring for days.
I would with out a doubt recommend the Reed, James Custom Standard Pickups to anyone!

Then came the Woodbuckers and Wood Pickup Rings. I was able to test several different pickup sets with different Woods and Winds in James test guitars from vintage to burning hot over wound. I chose the "Vintage 60's" Birdseye Maple Bobbins and Black Walnut Rings for my Blues playing style with the neck pickup wound a little cooler than the previous neck pickup.

I never thought I could get More Output and Tone than what I had.

Was I wrong!
The "Woodbuckers" put out more! More Thick Rich, Full Bodied Tone with More Punch.

All Reed, James Pickups are Hand Crafted and well made.
But the Woodbuckers are not only Well Made, they are Beautiful works of Functional Pickup Art that enhance the looks of your Guitar and puts your Tone, Off the Chart!

I've tried them both and Reed, James Custom Standard Humbuckers are Great!!!

But - Reed, James Custom Woodbuckers are The Best!!!!!!
Ounce you go "Wood", You'll never go back!!!!

Dave Lopes
AmpCabsDave
Posted by AmpCabsDave on Oct 6, 2008 1:48 AM

Well, I'm the first on the block to own a set of exotic Bass Pickups for my P/J Fender from Reed James Custom Pickups!

A friend told me about Jim and his custom guitar pickups about 6 months ago, and said they were the best he had ever heard. I contacted Jim, and we talked about a set of custom exotic pickups and what I needed in the tone department! We agreed on what my needs were and Jim went to work just after I placed my order.

A few weeks later, my new pickups came, and I went straight to the garage to install them.

As I started to install them, found out the holes did not line up on the "P" pickup mounting holes, so I shot a e-mail to Jim and let him what was going on with my set. My Fender is a Mexican model, and the pickup holes were drilled a bit different than the American Fenders.

Jim asked if I could send him my Bass, so he could see what was going on and re-tool the spec's for my Bass. A few days later I received a call from Jim, stating the Bass was finished, and was I in for a treat.

Not only did he get the bugs worked out as the Prototype P/J Bass, but to my surprise, I had the new version, "Maccasser Ebony & Coco Bolo" pickups. Now if you are a Bass player, you know where the passive Basses loose their punch, up the neck and everything goes flat.

I am here to tell you these are the greatest sounding pickups I have ever heard. Strong, clean bottom, punchy/crunchy, and the mid and upper range is very positive. The spec's of this set are in Jims Web site "Exotic Bass Pickups". I run my Fender through a RL-1000 Carvin Amp/w 4 10" and or a 15" cab, and the tone is out of this world.

If you want the best in Bass tone, check out Jims products, you won't be sorry.

Sincerely,
Phil Parshey

Posted by Philip on Monday, November 24, 2008 - 5:48 PM
I talked with Jim many times over the phone about very specific tones that I was looking for in 2 different custom models I was building. I very much am sold on Jim..s ability to translate ideas into reality. The pick-ups he sent me were dead on what I was looking for. There..s no questions I..ll be working with Jim in the future. Rick Canton Canton Custom Guitars

Posted by Canton Custom Guitars on Tuesday, February 03, 2009 - 4:56 PM

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