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Frankie Sullivan of Survivor; Double White Patent Applied For set: "Pete - I owe you a big call. The pickups are absolutely great and I've tried them all. My favorite pickups were the ****** until yours. I love em'! Hot damn, these are the best pickups. Killed it!"
Justin Stabler of Phish, Trey Anatasio's tech; Patent Applied For style humbucker set: "So I can just start with wow! I'm extremely pleased with this overwound pickup set. I think the two qualities that immediately pulled me in was the 3D vocal quality of the single notes and even more so the "bark" you get from really digging in, especially when under a bit of dirt, just has great clarity yet just where that bark/midrange sits it just rocks and feels right underneath your fingers. As I mentioned before, I have a ton of various Patent Applied For sets and have spent some time this weekend recording and comparing. Sonically they all sound great, the other sets at least to my ears were more compressed and almost what I would consider "refined"/"balanced" take on the Patent Applied For, which are all impressive and great...however in comparison I kept gravitating back to your set because of that feeling under my fingers and in my opinion really capturing every element of a PAF, top end, the bark, dynamics and this unbelievable 3D/ right on the edge feeling under the fingers that really inspires. It has this ability to feel / sound thick and chewy yet not muddy at all. I will also mention the balance between the two pickups was spot on too. The overwound sound gives this set a slightly "darker" vibe which was kind of an added bonus when I was recording and doubling parts with a variety of other guitars. It was a nice compliment to my other sets. Overall it was a great purchase, thank again! Thanks, Pete, you built a wonderful pickup and I will definitely recommend to other players. Justin"
Doug and Pat Show; a medium/hot set of Patent Applied For style humbuckers and a low wind set of Patent Applied For's: "Hey Pete, we finished the show and will post shortly. Both sets of your pickups sound GREAT. They do everything a vintage PAF is supposed to do. We are impressed and I'm sure out viewers will be also when they hear them. Thanks again, Pat".
Mike Poupko - Pino Farina Band, Chicago. #1. Stra-Tele set: "Yeah man, these pickups totally do the trick! Really awesome. Totally like a Strat still but less thin. A total game changer!"
#2. GUITAR PLAYERS and AFICIONADOS!! If you don’t know who Pete Flynn is, do yourself a favor and get acquainted. I’ve known Pete for over two decades and he has never steered me wrong. I trust anything and everything he tells me to do to improve guitars or my tone. He’s a true expert and master of guitars and pickups. I’ve owned this G&L Legacy for close to twenty years and for most of that time it sat in my closet because I wasn’t happy with the way it sounded. Earlier this year I commissioned Pete to make me a custom set of pickups for this gorgeous piece of art. I can tell you that it’s been a total GAME CHANGER and I could not be happier with it. The quality of the tone now matches the aesthetic beauty of the instrument. (Technical specs below). It’s my go to single coil guitar for performance and recording. He’ll do my PRS gold top next for my humbucking needs. I’ve had that guitar since 1994 and it’s very special to me. I know Pete will make it even better and more special. His setup skills are also second to none and the feel of the guitar is like butter now. He turned a cool looking guitar into a truly inspiring instrument to play. This set of pickups is a hot wind Strat set custom made for me. It has A5 magnets in the neck and middle pickups, and the bridge pickup has an A3 magnet so it’s not a brittle a high end as the A5’s. It has special switching to combine the neck and bridge pickup together. He’s also one of the nicest people i’ve ever had the pleasure of calling a friend.
David L from NY; With the glut of information online regarding vintage pickups, one might be forgiven for thinking that merely regurgitating "vintage" or "period correct" specifications, or using a vintage winder, or "NOS" wire salvaged from a Kalamazoo or Fullerton warehouse will, in and of themselves, result in a pickup that actually sounds anything like an early '50s Tele or late '50's Les Paul. Unfortunately, this is akin to thinking that the right brand of typewriter will make you Ernest Hemingway.
This information overload also makes it easy to forget that music is an auditory experience, and that cultivating a discerning ear takes years of experience. Luckily for guitarists, Pete Flynn has been listening for more than 50 years - to the real guitars played by the real guys. And he has taken the technical know-how and combined it with his ear and experience to make pickups that go beyond "vintage specs" to the real vintage sound.
Back in the '80's, I had every endgame electric guitar out there - '60 Burst, '61 335, '58 Strat, ''56 Strat, '60 Strat, '65 Strat, '52 Tele, '55 Tele, '63 Tele, '63 L-5 CES - the works. While I had to sell my collection 35 years ago, I never forgot the magical tone these guitars produced. When my buddy Dave Rogers (owner of Dave's Guitar Shop in LaCrosse, WI) told me about Pete, I called to discuss a hybrid set of pickups for a Tele style guitar with a humbucker in the neck. I play jazz and country and told him I wanted the bridge pickup to sound like James Burton and the neck to sound like Wes Montgomery. We both laughed, but he assured me that he understood what I was after, and that it wouldn't be a problem. I was so astonished by the result that I ordered a set of humbuckers for my reissue Les Paul. Again, the improvement was mind boggling. Even at very low volume, the notes had far greater depth and complexity than before.
I love to play but my soldering skills are terrible. Thank you, Pete - I now have one less thing to worry about. ;-)
Scott Tipping; Chicago, Patent Applied For style humbucker set: I bought this guitar, (a Gold Top), on August 10th, 2009, just a couple days before Les Paul passed. I was looking for a backup for my main Les Paul. This became my main guitar from the second I tried it in the shop. I’m fortunate to have some cool guitars, but this is the one I rely on most. I don’t like having to name a favorite guitar. But this is my favorite guitar. We are friends. I feel like we relate to each other well. We understand each other.
I put some Grovers on it, but the guitar has been stock with the exception of an out of phase mod. I’d debated putting some different pickups in it for years. I always felt like there was something out there that was probably more paf like but I never really found anything that I thought was worth swapping for. Recently, I’d been reading a bit about Pete Flynn’s pickups and was intrigued. Chris Forte posted a video after he put some in a new Les Paul of his and it was the first time I thought, ‘those are the pickups the goldtop needs.’
Pete hand makes pickups. He makes them to your spec. When he asked what output I wanted I said, ‘I don’t really know anything about that stuff but I can say Michael Bloomfield’s 59 burst and Dickey’s 57 goldtop are two of the best sounding guitars I’ve heard.’ He made his calculations from that (low wind, 7.0 neck, 7.6 bridge). I can tell you I am completely knocked out.
Sonically, you can definitely hear a big difference. Some people say that old Les Pauls have that ‘tele on steroids’ sound. Meaning, it’s bigger than a tele but still retains the clarity of single coil pickups. I feel like that’s what these pickups do. There is a crispness. There is a top end that isn’t brittle. There is still plenty of punch. I played with them on stage for the first time on Friday, they had just been put in the guitar. I think since then, all I’ve done to the amp was tone down some of the high end. I think that I was overcompensating high end on the amp in the past because the old pickups could get muddy.
The thing I didn’t think of when I had them installed is how much they would change how my hands felt playing. I have more room to move. I feel like I can hear myself better with these pickups. Meaning, they are translating what I am trying to say in a way the other pickups don’t do. My tone knobs are way more expressive. The other day I found myself really happy with the bridge tone at about 5.
Cremer installed them late last week. He dug how they were built and enjoyed the sound of them as well. When I got the guitar home, I kind of felt like a kid. I dimed a small amp and started playing all of these old riffs from my youth and everything just sounded magnificent. I was laughing while playing. There is a new sense of joy that has been brought into the guitar. Can’t wait for you (the audience), to hear it.
Van Epstien, Chicago; Wow! I was planning to buy a new PRS with P90’s. Then a friend of mine told me about Pete Flynn’s custom hand wound P90 pickups made to fit in the Humbucker routings of my PRS. So, I ordered a set of pickups from Pete and brought my guitar to The Music Gallery to install the new custom P90 pickups, refret and Plek my guitar. My guitar was finished in 10 days. New frets, Pleked and killer P90’s. I expected to hear what I was accustomed to with the P90’s on my Epiphone SG. I plugged in my guitar and cranked up my amp with no pedals and was absolutely blown away. Seriously, I had no idea what a difference Pete’s pickups would be from my SG. I was so amazed; I woke up the next morning and had to plug in my guitar just to see if I was dreaming. Nope! These pickups are unbelievable! They have so much more punch, tone, and clarity than my SG P90’s. Also, much better sound than the original PRS humbuckers or the Seymour Duncan P-Rail pickups I had installed on my PRS looking for that P90 sound. The SD P-Rails are not even in the same class as Pete’s P90’s. Pete’s pickups are nothing short of amazing! Every day I plug in my PRS and still cannot believe how incredible it sounds. I’ve been so inspired by them; I’ve been playing more than ever. I recommend anyone looking to improve their tone and clarity, to try a set of Pete Flynn’s custom wound pickups. You won’t be disappointed.
Thanks Pete and everyone at The Music Gallery!
Sincerely, Van Epstein
@ezgo11, (from YouTube) Yuri Butinas; Blackgaurd set. Pete's pickups are the best! I just had him install a set in my Telecaster and they are amazing! Not only is he a really nice guy, he's super knowledgeable and knows the history of guitars and what components were used and when. Truly mastered his craft. If you want to get out of the rat race of chasing tone, then get with Pete. If your serious about sounding like the records you grew up with, then get with Pete. He was even generous enough to set my guitar up, file a few frets and dial it in after he installed them. He's that type of Guy. Thanks again Pete for everything! See ya on the next one!
Barry Gold; #1. Gold Top Believers book; “It was an extra treat to play at the Pro Blues Jam with Andrew Festin last night. Both of our guitars recently had an infusion of pickups by Pete A Flynn. The tone was so distractingly outstanding, that while listening to each other, and we got lost and forgot what key we were in”.
#2. I am pretty excited about this one. This is the third Les Paul of mine that Pete has transformed with his pickups. I can't wait to try it.
Jerry Smith, The Flock; I just had a set Pete A. Flynn handmade pickups installed in my Fender 1960 Anniversary Jazz Bass. Wow!!! Such punch, clarity, tone, and expression that comes from these amazing pickups. Truly remarkable! My original pickups are copies of the 1961 Jazz Bass. They don't have the output and thickness of sound I am looking for in today's music. I love everything about my Jazz Bass - and now even more. There are so many artists who are being turned on by Pete's guitar and bass pickups. Check them out!
Gerardo Prescenda; (from Facebook); Definitely cannot go another without giving a shout out to Pete Flynn for making me a killer pickup. I was nervous going into this but what he delivered surpassed my expectations in every way. I wanted to have a pickup which had the DNA of your classic Telecaster but with a hotter output so Pete recommended an overwound Broadcaster bridge pickup. Below you’ll see two demos where I exclusively use the bridge pickup. One being a cleaner sound and another small clip of some driven tones. I’ve had the chance to try many pickups and they have all sounded muffled and tamed but with this pick ups I feel that I have the best representation of my sound. Pickups by Pete A Flynn makes the best stuff there is on the market now. He uses his decades of knowledge and period correct components that deliver the absolute best quality.
Bud Carroll; (Facebook); First ride with my newly installed, Pete A Flynn pickups today. Playing straight into my ‘68 Princeton (Webber Alnico Speaker). As a person that owns a guitar with a real set of PAFs, I’m pretty picky about humbuckers. I’m still dialing in the heights and the pole piece settings but so far I’m super impressed with these. Pete’s pickups were rated among the top three that had ever been featured on the Doug and Pat show, and have unseated a set of Throbaks in this guitar. Pete is an awesome guy and let me pester him about pickup stuff for a few months before I bought these. There were made to order and shipped in under a week,…Thanks Pete!
Kurt Wilson Guitars; Just finished up a Korina Explorer, we may just have to keep this one, weighing in under 6 pounds and pickups by Pete Fylnn make it an absolute monster!!!
Doug Reeder, Portland; I love this set Pete. It does everything you want in this type of configuration. I play in an Alabama tribute band, Roll On, and this affords me the ability to only need one guitar to cover all the sounds needed. Thanks again for your excellent product. I have some other guitars that need your input, or should I say output! LOL
Joe Moss, Chicago Blues Master; Pete Flynn knocked it out of the park with these pickups! I love these things! Give him a shout if you have been looking for “that tone”!
Van O’Gwin; I wanted to give some thanks to my buddy Pete Flynn! There has always been a huge discussion in the guitar community about the magic sauce regarding guitar pickups, especially revolving around the legendary PAF’s from the late 50’s and while many have claimed to have “cracked the code” I think most of us would agree that the legend lives on and that the mystery has prevailed. So I would urge any of my guitar “gear head” buddies looking for pickups to watch the Doug and Pat show episode on YouTube featuring Pete Flynn. He describes his well researched process and why he does his winding just a little different. And even if you aren’t in the market for pickups the discussion in this video is fascinating. Thanks Pete Flynn for all the thought and research into a real mystery……the double blacks look great on the goldtop and they sound even better!!
Bob O Walesa, Chicago Blues Artist; A BIG SHOUT OUT to Pete Flynn who recently installed two sets of his astounding pickups in two of my workhorse Fender Stratocasters !!! These pickups perfectly capture that sweet early 1960's tone that I have been searching for for many years !!! Each pickup is hand wound just like they did it back in the day when Leo Fender owned the company. THANK YOU Pete for making the MAGIC HAPPEN !!!
Jason Haxton, (Facebook); I am beyond excited! These are new, meticulously reproduced, hand-wound Maxon Super 70 pickups created bespoke for me by the amazing Mr. Pete Flynn. What might I do with such things, you may ask. Might I build a 1970s-era Ibanez Destroyer around them, like Eddie Van Halen's go-to fixed bridge guitar before it became "The Shark"? Like the one he played on the Sunset Strip and on Van Halen 1? Hmmm. Might I?
Mark Abrahams of Wishbone Ash; Just posted by Mark Abrahams Guitarist of Wishbone Ash on the Les Paul Juniors and Specials page. Here’s my other Junior alternative - I bought this as airlines kept loosing my ‘59. I’m not a PRS guy at all but this all mahogany McCarty works great as a Junior alternative. I swapped the electrics out for an RS Guitar Works vintage kit (no push pull anymore) and a good friend of mine from just outside Chicago called Pete Flynn of Pickups by Pete A Flynn made the pickups for me - a bridge humbucker sized P90 based on a ‘59 P90 and a lower output PAF (Pete’s initials!!) in the neck, I contemplated a dummy pickup in the neck to keep it a junior but glad I got this PAF, Pete’s pickups are stunning, especially this P90.
George MacPhail, guitar tech extraordinaire; (Facebook) If you’re looking for the BEST recreation ever look no further! Pete HAS nailed it! (George has a set of my PAF pickups in his ‘52 Gold Top).
Marc Moldowan, Texas; (Facebook); Here you have a PRS “mark Letteri” guitar (red) with the SPECIALLY designed pickups for Mark himself!! While these are undoubtedly some of the clearest pickups I have in a Strat styled guitar….. next to it is a Fender Masterbuilt Custom Shop guitar modified with a new fret job/setup and custom hand wound pickups by Pete Flynn! It is no exaggeration when I tell you the guitar Pete delivered back to me crushes… and I mean crushes this highly lauded PRS guitar with ease! My next project is installing Pete’s very first set of pickups he pioneered/designed while looking to clone his very own and favorite broadcaster before letting that go out of his collection….. the legendary “Black Guard” broadcaster pickups into another CS fender! Pete’s journey into the competitive and frankly over saturated custom pickup market is a interesting story! One you should definitely ask Pete to tell you about! Driving his obsession with tone and pickup manufacturing was about his own dissatisfaction with what was being offered and claimed by other manufacturers! The results are undeniable and obvious when you first hear your new set of pickups!
Mike Cibura: (Facebook); #1. “I literally had to stop playing to write this. Go buy his work. You cannot put a price on satisfaction, sorry Mick, nor joy. You might spend the money on pedals or maybe for a little more on a better instrument. All may be wise choices, but save the time and again, just buy his work.. If you want your instrument to sound the way you think it should sound in your head, talk to this man, you may reconsider your other purchases. Thanks again, Pete Flynn”.
#2. Dear Mr. Flynn, Good afternoon. I am not one to write reviews or make comments or to write letters for that matter. I suppose I never deemed in necessary or purposeful. I have been playing music for the majority of my life. I was more fortunate than most to have had the chance to play in a group that had a record deal (Sony). That brought along with it the wonders and joys of being “sponsored” by the likes of Gibson (I was always a Strat guy, but I was not complaining), and Orange, amongst others, (I think our singer had a deal with Burt’s Bees because she liked the chapstick so much). Anyhoo, this is not being said to toot my own horn, just to say that I have played a lot of what would be deemed “boutique” or whatever you wish to call it, instruments, with boutique components. We were dropped from our label many moons ago and I have had to sell some gear over the years. Finally bought myself a “decent” guitar. PRS SE cu24. It is a fine instrument. The PU’s were fine, jack of all trades master of none…they had no mojo to them. I just cannot explain the joy the sounds that your PU’s bring. There is an inherent intent on their construction that just comes through in the finished product. I would never say it was “made with love” as I do not know you. They were made with purpose. When I mentioned Lollars, I recall you possibly chuckled and said they were overpriced. As you were charging more, I thought “ok well…”. I was just dumbfounded. There is a clarity that I have not found elsewhere. The single coil sound IMMEDIATELY (and I don’t know why) reminded me of the tone that SRV had from Live at the El Mocambo. The intro tune is “Testify.” The was a tone that he had that I had been “looking” for ever since. I had given up long ago… didn’t have an old Strat, didn’t have an old TS-9 or 808. Truth be told, I wasn’t expecting a decent Strat sound from my guitar. The Strat sound It had was decent. Not great, but it was tolerable and I didn’t expect to be getting any Strat sounds from my PRS. I was looking for a Jimmy Herring type of thing. Then I had them installed. The sounds were an experience in themselves just as they were. Then I tried the Strat sounds. It was the most unexpected bonus I could have hoped for. PRS’ are not supposed to sound like this, let alone an SE. Music is not a competition, HOWEVER, I would put these sounds against any “boutique” anything. My guitar just sounds better than yours (whoever you may be), it just does. Again, I don’t write letters or reviews which I am sure you can tell as this letter was terrible. All I wanted to say was thank you. You are a master of this craft and it should be recognized. I am more than thrilled with the outcome, thank you again. Hope this finds you well. Mike Cibura
Irwin Silbernik, (Facebook); Got my Gibson ES-Les Paul back from Pete Flynn with his pickups installed. Amazing difference! The guitar sounds more open, bigger and just much better. If you are a guitar player, you should really check out his pickups! Give them a try! You won't be disappointed. I'm delighted.
Vic DaPra, Burst Believers; is with Pete Flynn. Breathe new life into your guitar with a set of PAF pickups by Pete Flynn . He made this set for me with a lead pickup reading of 8.5 and a 7.8 reading for the neck .
Steven Fish, (Facebook); Pete - all the thanks should go to you for the time and effort you devoted to creating these pickups. I was totally blown away by how much better my Les Paul sounds after they were put in. And it wasn't like it didn't sound great before! There is more defined clarity and openness as well as harmonic overtones that just put smiles on my face. Thank you again for getting it right!!
Matt McCulloch; Pete, I can't thank you enough for the set of P.A.F humbuckers and the lifetime of experience that you've put into creating them. I'm a 335 or Les Paul into a vintage Fender amp type of player (blues/jazz/R&B), so I really rely on each guitar and its pickups to react to my playing approach and produce clear, articulate, and pleasant tones. I was in disbelief after hitting just the first chord with your pickups in one of my 335 style guitars (a Collings I35 LC), and this is after 30 years of playing countless instruments, a multi-decade search for the "right tone." With your P.A.Fs in place, it's as if the guitar, which I thought was excellent before, matured from having the voice of a teenager to one of an adult...each string has authority, clarity and definition, and it feels so good to play. Perhaps most amazing (although it's all really incredible), is how you've created compression at exactly the right place such that the pickups give a little without losing clarity and avoid any harshness from emerging on the top end. My other guitars are all sounding a little smeared, thin and harsh now, which isn't something I ever thought was possible. No hyperbole here - as you know, I've already ordered additional sets from you. Thanks Pete! Best, Matt