Pickups
Will my guitar require routing to fit your pickups?
The majority of our pickups are made to be drop-in replacements that require no additional routing of your guitar. Certain specialty models like the Twangbucker or ‘72 Wider Range Humbucker may require cavity routing. In the case routing is necessary, routing templates can be purchased here.
When do I need Reverse Wind Reverse Polarity?
We recommend Reverse Wind Reverse Polarity (RWRP) for single coil neck pickups in a two-pickup configuration like a Telecaster or Jazz Bass.
We also recommend RWRP for the middle pickup in a Stratocaster, with the neck and bridge pickups being Normal Wind Normal Polarity (NWNP). This will result in the common signals of the pickups combining for better tone and cancel out that nasty 60-cycle hum. For a more in-depth explanation, check out our Tone Tips blog on this topic.
When should I choose F-Spaced or G-Spaced?
Fender-style guitars with 52mm string spacing require F-Spaced pickups, while Gibson-style guitars with 50mm string spacing require G-Spaced pickups. Since the string spacing will always get narrower towards the neck, we recommend a G-Spaced pickup for most guitars’ neck position, regardless of the manufacturer. All of our F-Spaced humbucker sets will have an F-Spaced bridge pickup and a G-Spaced neck pickup for this reason.
When should I choose 2 Conductor or 4 Conductor?
For our many humbucker options, you have the option of 2 Conductor or 4 Conductor wire. A humbucker with 2 Conductor wire has two wires that connect to the electronics in your guitar: one hot wire and one ground wire.
A humbucker with 4 Conductor wire has four wires: one hot, one ground, and two wires twisted together. The two wires twisted together in the 4 Conductor configuration are for splitting the coils on the humbucker so that only one coil is active. To implement a humbucker pickup with our Tone Twister Control Module, the pickup must have a four conductor cable.
What does True Splitting mean?
Our “True Splitting” family of humbuckers — which includes the Muy Grande, Halfbreed, and Vintage Tallboy humbuckers — are essentially made up of two single coil pickups. Unlike a PAF humbucker where one coil has metal slugs and the other has screws and they share one magnet, the polepieces of both coils on our True Splitting humbuckers are the magnets. Due to this construction, when these humbuckers are wired with a coil tap, they will sound exactly like their single coil counterparts.
Will my pickups come with installation hardware?
Yes. All of our pickups come with the screws, springs, and foam needed to install them in your guitar or bass.
Which pots should I use with my pickups?
For most single coil pickups, we recommend using 250K pots. For humbuckers we recommend 500K pots.
Do you make custom pickups?
We certainly do! Please use the contact form for all questions regarding custom pickups and we will work with you to make the pickup that is right for your needs.
Can you overwind or underwind pickups?
Nearly all of our models can be made over or underwound up to 10% at a very small upcharge. Some models, however, are wound to their maximum limit and are not able to be overwound.
Can you make OEM pickups for my guitars?
Rio Grande is available to make OEM pickups for your guitar or brand with a minimum order quantity of 10. Please send inquiries to sales@riograndepickups.com
Repairs
My pickup needs to be repaired. How can I get it fixed?
We will take any of our pickups in for repair, no matter how old. If your pickup is in need of repair, let us know via the contact form or call the shop at 713-957-0470 to receive detailed instructions on how to send in your pickup for repair as well as pricing details.
We will also repair faulty pickups of any make or model. Sometimes this requires us to make custom parts or source rare materials to make the most vintage accurate repair. We will not be able to finalize a price for a vintage rewind until we can assess the project in person to best understand the scope of the work required.
I need replacement covers for my pickups. What should I do?
Should your pickup need a new cover or if you want to try out a different color, we have replacement covers available here. Please keep in mind that pickups that were made with fancy tops cannot be covered as the cover will not fit over the top.
Similarly, an uncovered Tele neck pickup can not be given a metal cover since a different baseplate is required for mounting the cover to the pickup. Any humbucker that has a metal cover can not have the cover swapped.
