In addition to his expert custom guitar and repair services, The Guitar World's own in-house Luthier, Michael "Smitty" Smyth, of MJS Custom Guitars also offers a full line of custom wound pickups. MJS produces custom hand-wound pickups for electric, acoustic and bass guitars. He has even incorporated the same concept into many other steel stringed instruments (i.e. banjos, violins, etc). MJS offers a variety of styles, custom power outputs and have a good selection of covers to chose from – including standard and exotic woods.

Click here to view the various MJS Custom Pickups that we offer.

All MJS Pickups are 100% Canadian Made. Local suppliers are used for the various components to ensure better quality assurance on parts and overall QA testing on the finished pickups. MJS takes a "consultative" approach with each individual interested in purchasing a MJS pickup. This is very important since each unit will be made to the specific request. He makes sure he gets it right! Every MJS Custom Wound Pickup is guaranteed for 2 years against manufacturing defects.

FEATURES

There is an infinite number of factors that play into the dynamics of a pickup – from bobbin construction, to magnets, to wire, to base and the cover…not to mention the instrument itself. MJS Custom Hand-Wound Pickups are made with:

• Hand-Made Bobbins - vulcanized fiberboard bobbin flanges for all but traditional humbucking bobbins which are extruded plastic. Custom Humbucking wood bobbins are also available.
• Canadian Cut & Calibrated Magnets - choice of Alnico2, Alnico5, & Ceramic.
• High tolerance pure copper magnet wire.
• Each Pickup is pot waxed individually then entire assembly is pot waxed a second time.
• Choice of Covers - gold, nickel, wood & plastic. All wood covers & bobbins are made with solid wood of your choice. Note: All woods used, are in their natural form and grain patterns. Colors will vary slightly.
• Each Pickup is thoroughly tested before being shipped to customer.

Advantages of having a MJS Custom Pickup

• Consistency: 1 Machine, 1 Person, 1 Pickup.
• Variable speed and wire guiding for best scatter winding results.
• Not gang wound.
• Consistent wire tension.
• No micro-shorts. Clean & clear signal from the source (instrument).
• Custom ordering to your requirements. Split Single and Acoustic also available in left handed models.
• Custom built in order to fit any size routing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Buy A Hand-Wound Pickup?

In a hand-wound pickup, you get 1 machine & 1 person operating it - the operator controls the tension & varying speeds. With mass produced pickups that are manufactured in a gang assembly with multiple coils being wound at once, the quality suffers. Micro shorts in the windings develop as a result of cracking in the insulation of the wire which in turn causes a “muddy” sound in the pickup. The cracking is caused by improper tension on the coil wire; which by the way is approximately 1/2 the thickness of a hair. When hand-winding, you can vary the speed and feed which produces a scattered winding that gives each pickup it’s charm and individualism. A pre-programmed machine cannot produce this by itself.

Will A MJS Pickup Work With My Existing Pickup or Pickups?

YES! The great thing about custom pickups is that you can fix the things that bother you about your guitar's original sound. We test and determine the power output of the remaining pickups and adjust the new one accordingly.

Can You Make Pickups For Any Guitar, Bass or Stringed Instrument?

Over the years, I have found that I can adapt pickups for use in almost any steel stringed instrument. These days, there are many basses (and some guitars) that have pickups and pickup cavities that the aftermarket industry do not make pickups for. However, I can make custom bobbins to fit any cavity and also make beautiful wood covers to match your guitar or bass.

Which Magnet is Better For Pickups – Alnico, Ceramic or Neodium?

This is a very common question with a very unpopular answer. The application of your guitar (i.e. Rock, Jazz, Blues, etc.) will dictate what materials & power output will be used. This would need to be discussed with the customer before the building of the pickup begins.

Which is Better - Active or Passive?

Again, this is a matter of personal taste. I have found that any sound that comes from an active pickup, you can also get from a passive pickup. Low impedance pickups are slightly quieter operationally but also have a generic sound from a lack of coil windings. Batteries are also a pain in the butt!