Anyone ever purchase anything from GuitarFetish.com?

[SacredCow]

I recently purchased one of those Epiphone '57 Les Paul Junior replicas... Been wanting a Junior for ages, and couldn't pass it up at that price (if it turned out to be awful, I was going to gift it). After addressing some of the factory setup issues, I've found it to be fairly decent for a cheap guitar- it stays in tune reasonably well, which I wasn't expecting at all.

My biggest complaint is that the pickup (a stacked-coil P100) is (a), too far from the strings (easy fix) and (b) truly not what should be on what's advertised as a '57 replica. GuitarFetish.com has P90's for 30-something bucks, but I've never ordered from them (never heard of them, really). Anybody have any experience with them? If they're OK, I'll probably get the "right" pickup and a spacer kit to raise it up several notches.

Thanks to anybody with info!

[freethought]

1. I'm a little leary on cheap pickups. Tell you why

I can't testify to how these GFS Pickups measure up. I have never tried them. But when I see a pickup for $30, I have to tend to wonder. How good can they possibly be for that price?

I am just a believer that of all things on an electric guitar you should not be cheap on pickups, after all, it is where the sound comes from. I tend to think with pickups, you get what you pay for.

I now own a number of instruments, on all but a few I have replaced the stock pickups with aftermarket pickups. For example, I bought an Epiphone Les Paul some time back. I removed the stock pickups and replaced them with a set of Rio Grande humbuckers(replicas of old Gibson PAFs). That and a little tweaking of the playing action has turned my Epiphone into a respectable instrument. And I still didn't have to shell out $2000.00 for a real Gibson Les Paul. I probably would have if I had the finances but that is for another time.

I am just saying that if you like the instrument and intends to keep and play it long-term, it is definitely worthwhile to invest in a higher priced pickup made with higher grade magnets, wire and materials like a Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Lindy Fralin or whatever may strike your interest. If your talking a single P-90 for this instrument, you could get a Seymour Duncan P-90 Soapbar or a P-90 Phat Cat for about $75-$80. Hop on Ebay and you can probably find what your looking for.

[SacredCow]

2. Thanks for the input....

I've seen a couple of people say that the GFS pickups are pretty good, but unless there's literally hundreds of reviews I don't really think it's valid.

I don't know what the future of this guitar will be- I plucked on it all weekend and it seems to be fairly decent for the money so it may be worth another c note for pickups.

[freethought]

3. Good luck with it!

These GFS pickups may be as good as any other but unless I heard it from someone I know or at least had a broader base of opinion than a few posts on the website, I would probably cast a skeptical eye.
Maybe a neck/bridge adjustment along with quality pickup just might turn your bargain Les Paul Junior into a real keeper.
Good Luck and Play LOUD!!!

[SacredCow]

4. I haven't made a decision yet.....

For $30 bucks, I might try it- I don't think it could be any worse than what she came with. It's not that it sounds "bad", just kind of weak and not what (in my mind) a LP Jr. should sound like. At any rate, I'm going to have to re-set the pickups, as I noticed the other day that it's not aligned with the strings (if you back away from it, you can see that the pole pieces aren't under the strings). So perhaps I'll get a cheap P90, fill the factory mounting holes, and install the new one in a proper position and see what happens....

[SacredCow]

5. Update...

I bought the GFS pickup with some leftover Christmas money- Once it's installed, I'll give my opinion of it.

[freethought]

6. I'll be waiting for the review! n/t