Hot Rod Pickups

The Sound of Your Guitar

The concept of integrating vintage pickups and replica’s designed to recreate the classic range of sounds is the center of the Hot Rod Guitar.

Hot Rod Guitars use a wide range of pickups, custom selected to give each instrument a beautiful and unique tone.

We work with several expert winders to get rewound antique pickups and new pickups, in both single and double coil configurations.

Brands: Seymour Duncan, TV Jones, Fralin, Lollar, Fender, Mojotone, Teisco, DeArmond, Rio Grande, DiMarzio

The visual of the guitar is customized in an effort to support and enhance the sonic concept of the instrument.

The Bridge Pickup is an opportunity to recreate two classic tele sounds: twangy or hot.

You can also utilize a humbucker or p9- for other variation in the bridge.

The Neck Pickup is an opportunity to get a single coil p90 or traditional tele sound. This pickup should match the bridge pickup: if the bridge is hot, the neck should be hot; if the bridge is twangy, the neck should match in terms of output.

The magic is in the middle position, where old sounds combine to create new sounds.

Special note: Studio players require the middle position to be quiet.

Mostly we reverse wind pickups so the middle position is reduces the noise much like a humbucker. In some case we wire the pickups out of phase to give the middle position that “nasal snarl,” reminiscent of the in-between strat positions (2 & 4 on a 5-position switch).