Tone Specific

TS - 1965 Deluxe Gray Bottom Set

  • TS - 1965 Deluxe Gray Bottom Set

Tone Specific

TS - 1965 Deluxe Gray Bottom Set

You Deserve The Best Tone.

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    Tonal Details:

    • Pickups are made to sound a warmer and clearer than most vintage pickups.
    • Bridge pickup is very warm and stronger to cut the mix and drive the amp without losing the “Straty-ness”
    • Middle is RWRP to eliminate hum in positions 2 & 4
    • Neck Pickup is very warm and clear & won't not get muddy when overdriven.
    • They clean up well by rolling off volume without losing clarity or getting muddy.

    Vintage Tone - Modern Innovation.

    This set was inspired by a really terrific 1965 set. This set was formerly called the "Gray Bottom Blues Set" but player from all genres were telling us this should be called the "everything set" because it covered so much ground.

    Our painstaking design and testing process has yielded pickups that that sound great with tube amps, pedals, solid state amps, digital devices and even software. 

    This is the set preferred by most pro players.  It takes a little longer to make than our typical set so it cost a more but you'll appreciate the attention to detail from the first note.

    We have a hard time making these quickly enough because pro's are putting these in all of their main guitars including their vintage guitars.


    Studio Ready 

    In this era of technology, everyone seems to have a home recording studio. As a result, the session scene has never been more competitive. If you want to make it these days, then you need to make every note count. Top Session Players understand this & choose Tone Specific to equip all of their main studio guitars.

    Your next session date might be in a real studio. The producer might ask you to just bring your guitar, when you show up they might have you plug into a modeler or computer rig. If you show up with average pickups, you might not get a second chance. Our pickups are optimized to work well with vintage style amps as well as modern modeling digital devices. This is why serious session guitarists use Tone Specific Pickups.

    RECORDING SESSION


    Stage Worthy

    Life as a Professional Guitarist is filled with ups and downs. All gigs and tours end eventually, this reality makes every performance an audition. Top Pros know this & this is why they suffer over every detail. 

    You've spent a lifetime finding the right instrument, don't come up short with stock or average sounding pickups. Top Pros realize that an amplifiers circuitry actually starts in your guitar, precisely at the location of your pickups. Anything less than the best in your guitar will make your tone less than it should be.

    Mark Whitfield says these are the best Strat Pickups ever made. Dani Robinson plays Jimi Hendrix in the Billy Cox Experience & uses this set in his #1 Strat that was gifted to him by Eric Johnson. Will Crosby plays in the BB King Band is Blown away every time he grabs his Strat. From Nashville to LA, Austin to NYC, Prague to Japan top touring Pros load up all of their main gigging guitars with Tone Specific Pickups. After hearing these pickups, you'll for the same. 

    Luthier Approved

    Pro Guitarists & Luthiers have a few things in common. They both work in very competitive fields & the both want their instruments to sound as good as possible. 

    Luthiers spend years perfecting their craft & many hours testing various hardware and components to get the best out of their instruments. We are honored that so many top luthiers and guitar builders choose to use Tone Specific Pickups. Stephen Marchione discusses his approach to crafting some of the worlds finest guitars in the video below.

    BUILDING A MASTERPIECE - STEPHEN MARCHIONE

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    “You are a Genius. These things make a solid state amp sound like it has Tubes in it. They have this 3-D thing going on. I’ve tried every important pickup upgrade since 1983 & the pickups are the best by far. I want these in all of my guitars.”

    -Mark Whitfield, Legendary Guitarist

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    "I was knocked out by your pickups! Plugged straight in, it sounds like it was going through a top shelf tube compressor—only better. I’m the luthier/owner of Stonetree Custom Guitars for over 20 years now. My goal is to craft a “brand new old guitar”. I have relied on a couple of the biggest boutique pickup makers for the most part, but your pickups are a game changer. I have built guitars for many pros including Eric ‘Roscoe’ Ambel & Joe Bonamassa."

    -Scott Platts, Luthier

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    "These are the best pickups I've ever used. I'm so happy to have these in my guitars. They are better than vintage pickups. I was shocked to discover they are even better than the Arlo's. They just feel & sound amazing. Man you are a Genius. "

    - Will Crosby, Legendary Guitarist (BB King, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Stables)

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    “It sounds like the have Tubes in them...almost three dimensional. They just sound really sweet. I don’t how they do it but they even feel sweet. Just like vintage pickups but with more sustain and less noise. They are just amazing”

    -Mike Gallaher, Legendary Guitarist - Joe Cocker, Leon Russell

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    "Just like vintage pickups only better. They have this dynamic thing going on kind of like a great tube amp. I imagine this is what new vintage pickups sounded like back in the 50's & 60's"

    -Dani Robinson, Blues Guitarist (Performs Jimi parts w/Billy Cox Experience)

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    "Something about the way they feel when you play...the way they make you play & respond to you guitar is so important because it's inspiring & let you play better. They are the most sensitive pickups I've ever played...the best!"

    -Marty Pelto, Guitarist

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    "I love your pickups. I put them in my guitar and it is exactly what I was looking for. We play old honky tonk and Western swing, so I have to cover a lot of ground between twang and warm arch top tones. The bridge pickup is the first one that has made me happy other than an original 55 bridge pickup. The whole set has that great 50’s sound and feel. I don’t use any pedals and the combo sounds awesome plugged straight into my Princeton. Keep doing what you do!"

    -Sam Platts, Guitarist

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    “Hey Maestro, the pickups sound amazing. There’s more depth to these than the stock pickups for sure. There’s a boat load of sustain too.”

    -Will Brahm, Virtuoso Guitarist

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    "I can't thank you enough for my pickup set. They are an answer to a prayer that I could create the perfect guitar. I spent a great deal of money for a Strandberg only to find the sound was not up to par. Now, it is fabulous. Thanks Again & God Bless You."

    -Stephen Lalonde, Guitarist

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    “It's like plugging into a nice Studio Tube Compressor...you hear every nuance of every note. Tone Specific pickups are more dynamic sounding, I'd say they're organic sounding. With other pickups you don’t get that. They sound very fat but very clear.  When you hit it harder you hear the dynamics you want to hear. I’ve been trying for years and with other pickups you don’t get that. They sound like vintage pickups”

    -Leo Amuedo, Virtuoso Guitarist

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    “They sound amazing. A big improvement over the other pickups I had. I use them in my #1 guitar for gigs and sessions.”

    -Aaron Lebos, Jazz Recording Artist

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    “Fascinating recording the Les Paul Gold Top with the 57/61 Deluxe PAF's and comparing to my other Les Paul with stock pickups! At higher gain levels the Tone Specific's has great definition. There are harmonics coming out of the amp in the room I’m not used to with when using the Tone Specific's & it translate's beautifully when recorded! Interesting!!”

    Doug Rappoport, Session & Touring Guitarist

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    “Amazing pickups. They really capture the harmonics of each instrument. I use them in as many of my builds as possible.”

    -Stephen Marchione, Legendary Luthier

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    "I wanted to thank you again for making these great pickups. At first I thought it was a subtle change, but the more I play, the more I can’t STOP playing! These things are sounding better every day.  Anyhow, I am totally in love with these! I now own 2 sets & I can't get enough. I just bought another set for my brother."

    -Mark Malin, Amp Builder

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    “I’ve had over 8 different sets of pickups in my guitar…I can honestly say without a doubt…these are the best sounding pickups I have ever heard... Well done gentleman…thanks for ending my tone search.”

    -Benjamin Fargen, Legendary Amp Builder

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    “I noticed the difference right away. I’ve tried every pickup you can imagine and the these pickups exceed everything else. Hands down the best pickups on the market. Just pure tone…the only pickups I’ll ever use”

    -Lefty Ferguson, Nashville Guitarist

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    “You guys are Geniuses. I can’t put my guitar down...the response is very Tube like..very 3-D sounding. I just played a gig with the Tone Specific’s and I got so many compliments. It’s really amazing what you guys are doing over there. You've made all other pickups obsolete."

    -Cali Freeman, Session Guitarist in NYC

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    "I freaked out when a first heard the Tone Specific's...very musical pickups...your can actually hear them bloom."

    -Andrew Kumar, Guitarist

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    “These pickups respond just like vintage pickups. What makes them better than vintage pickups is that each set is consistent. You don’t don’t get that with vintage pickups…some are great & some are duds.  The Tone Specific’s always sound amazing. There's nothing else like these on the market.”

    -Dan Courtenay, Vintage Guitar Expert/Buyer in NYC

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    "They sound better than all of the other pickups I've used. I think they even send better than the Arlo's. I'll be using them in my future builds."

    -Ken McKay, Luthier

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    “The sustain is really amazing. They’re really easy on the hands...they just feel

    right. They are so dynamic...I just love them.”

    -Mike Machado, Blues Guitarist

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    “You are a Tone Wizard. My guitar has never sounded or felt so good. They respond to my playing in such an incredible way. It's just like playing an incredible tube amp. These pickups are so much better than everything else out there.”

    -Breck Phillip, Guitarist

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    “They bloom just like a vintage tube amplifier. There are just really vintage sounding pickups. Super warm, dynamic & they sustain forever. They just agree with all of my amps. There's nothing else like them. I put them in all of my guitars, even my vintage guitars. 

    -Ford Thurston, Guitarist for Randy Houser based in Nashville, TN

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    “Very present, warm & fat. Big improvement over thin sounding stock pickups. They just sound huge”

    -Alexander Flock, Session Guitarist

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    “They sound great & complement each other very well. They play just like butter & sustain forever. Other pickups seem very stiff compared to these.”

    -Rob Phillips, Guitarist

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    “These are the quintessential sounding P.A.F. style pickups. They give you all of that warmth, bloom & sustain you’d expect in a vintage pickups without being overly wound.”

    -Jay Leonard, Session & Touring Pro

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    “These pickups sound absolutely fantastic. Perfectly matched and more versatile than my vintage pickups”.  (He likes them so much, he put the box sticker on his guitar)

    -Steve Ouimette, Session Guitarist - Alice Cooper, Guitar Hero, Public Enemy

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    “Tone Specific always delivers a masterpiece. These responsive pickups catch the essence of my guitars & enables the musician to create the sounds he wants”

    -Vincent Cleroux, Luthier

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    “Super warm & articulate with great sustain. The best pickups you can get”

    -Pete Mroz, Nashville Musician

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    “Your pickups sound superb….they sound great in every guitar I’ve put them in…lots of sustain…clear”

    -Dean Gordon, Guitar Builder

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    “Tone Specific makes the best pickups. The sustain and warmth is incredible. They are very dynamic, very tubey. They destroy all other pickups. They go in all of my guitars. It's kind of like plugging into and old Neve console”

    -Mike Severson, Guitarist for Robert Glasper, Phillip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire)

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    "Your pickups are killer. I've played a lot of guitar in my life but these pickups are the best I've played. I know you've worked hard at your craft but you should be very proud. You deserve all the kudos you get. Thank you very much".

    -Lightnin Willie, Blues Recording Artist

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       How to Buy/Pricing

      This set cost $592 - There is a lot extra TLC that goes into this set & you'll hear it when you play them - Made by hand right here in the USA - Due to overwhelming demand, the current wait is 6 to 10 weeks. To order click the "Add to Cart" at the top of the page.

      The demand from Professional Guitarists & Luthiers is about enough to sustain us but we really enjoy sharing our creations with the general public.  If you are willing to be patient, then we will be happy to make a set for you.

      Our building process takes a little longer than most pickup winders and we have rigorous testing that is performed on all pickups before they ship. This includes sound test. The goal is to make pickups that will not only inspire you when you get them but also 20 or 30 years down the road. Our goal is for these to be the last pickups you have to install in your guitar. We work hard & in a mindful way to make the perfect pickup, this is why you rarely see our pickups for sale on the used market.

      Players with good ears seem to hear the difference right away. In fact, just about every pro we've dealt with has ordered multiple sets altering hearing how these pickups transform the feel & the tone of their instrument. We are sure you will appreciate the attention to detail when you hear your new pickups.

      Sound is something you hear. Tone is something you feel. Great Tone has the ability to move you & the audience too. When you are able to grasp this concept, then you've arrived & we can't wait to make you an amazing set of pickups.

      Want to Skip the Wait? Contact a Dealer...