Toaster Pups

[Monkus]

So now I'm gassing for a 335 copy. I'm looking between the Hagstrom Viking and the Agile AS-820. There is a version of the AS-820 that comes with Toaster pups. I researched but couldnt find anything but they were in 50-60's Rickenbackers, and that the Beatles used them. Any advantage over 'buckers? Your thoughts?

[markb]

... I researched but couldnt find anything but they were in 50-60's Rickenbackers, and that the Beatles used them

I'd take that information with a large pinch of salt. The chances that the GFS items are anywhere near old Rickenbackers is highly unlikely. Without looking at the GFS site I'm willing to bet they overwind them too.

If it's anything like the Rick' items they'll be thinner and brighter than say, a PAF with the output of a vintage tele pickup. Think early Jam type tone. I see no advantage. You can cut bass or middle at the amp but it's hard to add it convincingly.

[Monkus]

Hey MarkB thanks for the quick response, I dont know if the pups in there are GFS or not, maybe a pointer to a vid of the general tone? I guess it piqued my interest as a different kind of tone, non-mainstream but I dont know if this is the case.

Link to the as-820 with toasters: http://www.rondomusic.com/product3006.html

[markb]

Archetypal Rick tone from the bloke from Woking.

[Monkus]

thanks, think i'll go with the buckers...lol I did find this one which had some interesting sounds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEuV6A097pM

[Eric***]

I'd take that information with a large pinch of salt. The chances that the GFS items are anywhere near old Rickenbackers is highly unlikely. Without looking at the GFS site I'm willing to bet they overwind them too.

If it's anything like the Rick' items they'll be thinner and brighter than say, a PAF with the output of a vintage tele pickup. Think early Jam type tone. I see no advantage. You can cut bass or middle at the amp but it's hard to add it convincingly.

I think Agile (rondomusic.com) sells Korean guitars with their own brand of pickups which are probably relabeled from whatever is produced in-house for other pup manufacturers.

GFS (guitarfetish.com) sells all kinds of crap, but the only guitars that will probably come with GFS pickups are the GFS-branded Xaviere guitars, most (all?) of which are made in China.

Hopefully that helps clear things up on the GFS vs. Agile front...

[markb]

I think Agile (rondomusic.com) sells Korean guitars with their own brand of pickups which are probably relabeled from whatever is produced in-house for other pup manufacturers.

GFS (guitarfetish.com) sells all kinds of crap, but the only guitars that will probably come with GFS pickups are the GFS-branded Xaviere guitars, most (all?) of which are made in China.

Hopefully that helps clear things up on the GFS vs. Agile front...

True, my bad for forgetting the difference between Agile and Xaviere. All these cheapies look the same after 30-odd years

[guitartango]

I think Agile (rondomusic.com) sells Korean guitars with their own brand of pickups which are probably relabeled from whatever is produced in-house for other pup manufacturers.

GFS (guitarfetish.com) sells all kinds of crap, but the only guitars that will probably come with GFS pickups are the GFS-branded Xaviere guitars, most (all?) of which are made in China.

Looks like their guitar stomp boxes are made by Biyang.

[Eric***]

Looks like their guitar stomp boxes are made by Biyang.

I don't know anything about them. What does that mean? Something about how Xaviere guitars are made in China?

[markb]

The GFS stomps use the same casing as the Chinese Biyang fx. As it's not a normal Hammond-type box, the obvious conclusion is that Biyang are manufacturing the GFS boxes. I think it's fairly safe to say that all GFS gear is made in the PRC.

"To our own special design" is commonly bandied about these days. Who knows? It could be true.

[Eric***]

The GFS stomps use the same casing as the Chinese Biyang fx. As it's not a normal Hammond-type box, the obvious conclusion is that Biyang are manufacturing the GFS boxes. I think it's fairly safe to say that all GFS gear is made in the PRC.

"To our own special design" is commonly bandied about these days. Who knows? It could be true.

Ah, I see. Thanks -- I was highly confused on how all of that fit together for a minute or two.

[Monkus]

I have an Agile 3100 wide and its an excellent Korean guitar, For me, it feels and plays better than some Gibby's I've played. That's the one reason I looked there first. This is the 335 lookalike I'm gassing after:
http://www.rondomusic.com/as820prestige.html

[Eric***]

I have an Agile 3100 wide and its an excellent Korean guitar, For me, it feels and plays better than some Gibby's I've played. That's the one reason I looked there first. This is the 335 lookalike I'm gassing after:
http://www.rondomusic.com/as820prestige.html

That's nice-looking. Do you know what the difference is between the 820 and the 1000? I think I saw an AS-1000 on there before...

[Monkus]

Contacted Kurt, apparently they called the Prestige the AS-1000 10 years ago! Glad to know my research can get that deep. They're out of stock now but expecting some by he end of summer. I'm waiting....

[Eric***]

Contacted Kurt, apparently they called the Prestige the AS-1000 10 years ago! Glad to know my research can get that deep. They're out of stock now but expecting some by he end of summer. I'm waiting....

I'm not sure I'm reading you right. Are you saying that what used to be the AS-1000 is now that Cool Cat Prestige? 10 years ago? I swear I saw one called the AS-1000 maybe a year ago or something on the website. Strange...

[Monkus]

AS-820 Prestige became the AS-1000.... this is Kurt's response:


"I seem to remember we called the AS-1000 the AS-820 Prestige about 10 years ago. The AS-1000s are sold out currently - should have some in around the end of the summer" - kurt

[Eric***]

AS-820 Prestige became the AS-1000.... this is Kurt's response:


"I seem to remember we called the AS-1000 the AS-820 Prestige about 10 years ago. The AS-1000s are sold out currently - should have some in around the end of the summer" - kurt

Gotcha. Thanks!

[Brian Krashpad]

Fwiw, "toaster" at this point really is used for anything vaguely resembling the top of an old-school actual toaster. Ric toaster-top pups look like:



Each of the black bits is like the bread-slots in an old toaster on this single-coil pickup. Note that the Agile pickups are the same approximate overall shape, but don't have anything resembling "slots:"



I have serious doubts the Agile ones sound anything like Ric ones, although Agile's are at least single-coils. In fact, Ric has a pickup that looks identical to Agile's "toaster," but Ric's is listed as a humbucker. From the Ric website:



At any rate there are at least a couple other non-Agile guitar models that have non-Ric "toasters," and they exemplify how the name now just reflects the look, not the actual construction/sound. Peavey T-60 fans have long distinguished the early humbuckers in T-60's from the design used in later T-60's, calling them "toasters" and "blades," respectively. Here are the "toasters" on my T-60:



As you can see, the T-60 toasters somewhat resemble Ric ones, but the T-60's are humbuckers and of the larger standard HB size.

And just to muddy the waters further, Brownsville, a guitar sold as a Sam Ash house brand, used to feature a couple models with pickups that had 3 (rather than 2) "slots" on the toaster-top. The Brownsville ones, like the Ric toasters, were low-output alnico magnet single-coil pickups. Here are the toasters on my Brownsville Choirboy:

[Monkus]

Thanks Krashpad, I googled the T-60 to get an idea of the tone and it sounds pretty cool. Do you use the T-60 often and in what context?

saw this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrKxvzlIlfU