Tonefiend Forum

I got an email from my local pal Mitchell Hudson, who builds cool pedals and runs a great DIY pedal site. He writes:

I just had a thought, what about the idea of a pickup exchange. People could post pickups that they want to trade. It would give people a chance to try different types of pickups without having to buy a new one each time, or having back stock of pickups they are not using.

Sounds like a cool idea to me — what do you guys think?

Yeah, I was thinking maybe a no-cash policy — you just trade one-for-one, or you don't.

No doubt there are complications I haven't considered yet. Why should this venture be different from anything else I do? 😉

Yeah there is the whole issue of I have a set off a Squire gimme those custom boutique fancy ones please ?

Quote from Oinkus on August 13, 2012, 05:35
Yeah there is the whole issue of I have a set off a Squire gimme those custom boutique fancy ones please ?

LOL — and who doesn't have a box of cheapo Squier pickups they're love to get rid of?

Well, under this scheme, you could say what you have to offer, and/or say what you're looking for — but it would be up to individuals whether they wanted to take you up on your offer to exchange your brand-new Epiphone pickups for a set of beat-up old ’59 PAFs.

I'd be in, but at the moment I don't think I have many 'decent' pickups lying around as I tend to find uses for them, but I love the idea of being able to try out different pickups. Perhaps instead of an exchange, we could just do a box pass. Basically one person throws a couple pickups in a box and sends them to another. The recipient can hold it for a couple days if they want to do some trials and/or replace one or two if they find one they like, and send it to the next person. Of course you run the risk of someone taking the 'good stuff' and replacing it with crap, but I think most people would respect the honor system. Personally, I'd be happy to just demo some different pickups in my guitars for a couple days even without the trade/exchange aspect.