Opinion On Dearmond Pickups?

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iHatePop

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My grandfather bought an old homemade guitar at a garage sale maybe 5 or 6 years ago. It didn't really play and it was bought as a wall hanger because it was funky looking. I ended up taking it apart and looking at the bridge pickup. It was a humbucker, nickel covered, looked somewhat old, and it had writing on the bottom. At the time there was very, very little info on Dearmond humbucker online, and so the pickup sat in a box for 3 or 4 years until I remembered I had it and checked again. I ended up finding out a bunch more info about the company and the pickup itself. It's a Rowe Dearmond Model 2400 Superbucker, made in the late 70s or early 80s, Gibson-size and has an output of about 16K. I was also really excited to see that they're worth $150-200 per pickup based on Ebay prices!

I recently got it installed in my PRS SE Custom 24 and the thing sings! I'm really impressed with the full tone it gives and the bite! I compared it to my friend's Seymour Duncan Distortion and found the 2400 to be warmer and have more mids (probably larger due to being Alnico vs. Ceramic).

My only issues with it are that the middle position on my guitar is now totally out of phase and doesn't really work. It's extremely thin and quiet sounding. I've heard I could take one of the pickups apart and flip the magnet, but that's effort and I'm not that worried as I pretty much only use my bridge pickup anyways. The other issue is that it's EXTREMELY microphonic and will definitely need to be potted in time, but until then I'll just play the guitar for quiet jams and cleans if I wanna keep it from squealing.

Anyone have any experience with Dearmond pickups? Or even any other cool vintage pickups from less-known manufacturers?
 
5 years later. Lol. I just got a es335 copy with the matched superbucker set. 17/18k bridge and 15/16k neck pickups. They are the clearest pickups Ive ever heard. Anyway I bought a 1981 Westbury SA260 and they are in it. I lucked out. Hope you still have that pick up.
 

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