Maxmc
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2015
- Messages
- 652
For some time I'd not been totally happy with the pickups in my Collector's Choice #6. I mean they sounded great but I'd heard better. Acoustically the guitar was loud and resonant but this did not come through to the amp. After a lot of questions and research I decided to order a set of OX4 pickups from Mark Stowe in the UK. I specked them: Low wind, A4 magnets with double white bobbins & covers, unpotted. They arrived, after a short wait of a couple of weeks, but before I fitted them I sat down and played the guitar for about an hour. Then I set to, removed the Custombuckers and installed the OX4s. I didn't change the strings, which were still in good shape, because I wanted to get an exact comparison. There was no comparison. The OX4s turned the guitar into an animal. Suddenly there was vastly more sustain and tone. I could hit a note, bend it up, back down and then up again without any loss. With the custombuckers I'd had real difficulty tuning the guitar using the harmonics at the 5th and 7th frets. With the OX4s these harmonics returned with a vengeance. I am now also convinced that unpotted is the way to go to get the real sound of the wood in your guitar. I am one happy puppy and couldn't recommend Mark Stowe and OX4 pickups more highly. There you have it, my shameless plug!