Handmade Pickups Go To Ireland

My friend Carlton wrote me a while back offering to trade an old wood violin case for a couple hand wound pickups for future CBG builds he has on the board.

I never know what to expect when the Irish lad makes me an offer, but one thing for sure whatever he offers is going to be really cool.

The case (I don't have a photo yet to share, but it's coming, so stay tuned) is really old, weather beaten, a little banged up, but it's going to make a great 'something'.  I have a notion to turn it into a mini stand up bass, but then again, I've been thinking about a really cool uke in the form of a 20's-era Thompson sub-machine-gun design . . . wouldn't that look super in the violin case . . . eat your heart out Capone.

Carl gave me a sales pitch about how he is crappy at soldering and begged me to make pickups complete with volume controls and output jacks, so I caved in to satisfy the lad.  After all, he's a great guy and a helluva lot bigger than me.

The pup on the left is made from coconut palm wood and the other is coca bola.  I like the look of the exotic woods, and they're nice to work with.  Most that I choose are quite dense and hard, but they finish out well. These particular pups are top mount, but I also create flush mount units as well.

If you would like a nice handmade pickup for your special build, let me know and I will try to work with  you.  Three-string pups are $25, and with volume pot and jack it's $35.  Add $10 for a four-string version.