Axesrus "Single Coil" Assembly

Main Description

What is an Assembly?

This is something I’ve been a little lax with over the years, because the photos were a little self explanatory, but because we’re putting out more and more information on the products nowadays, it’s a nice opportunity to actually explain what an Assembly is.

In short, its all of the electronics, all wired up and working, mounted onto a pickguard, and ready to drop into a guitar. It’s a VERY easy way to completely overhaul your guitar, without having to do an awful lot of soldering, or, frankly, really understanding what’s going on.

And that’s about it really – the pickups are complete pickups, they’re wired to the switch, which is then wired into the volume and tone pots, all the had works been done, and its just a case of dropping it into a guitar, getting some strings over it, and getting back to playing!

Now, with our assemblies, we cut no corners. Its CTS pots throughout, Cornell Dubilier caps, Oak Grigsby Switch, 22 AWG cloth covered wire and a Switchcraft mono socket.

We don’t connect the mono socket to the assemblies, but this is because on 99% of guitars, you’d only have to remove it to thread the wires through a hole into the sockets cavity, and, we obviously cant connect the ground wire to your bridge/trem claw to earth the strings.

so, whilst no completely solder free, what soldering you do need to do, is pretty minimal (and we’ll even throw in a little solder and heat shrink to do the job – purely to save you any extra expense)

You will need a soldering iron I’m afraid, that’s unavoidable, because of the way most guitars are designed, but beyond that? It’s a dream job installing assemblies frankly. Very little to go wrong, very little to actually learn, and it opens the door to making a huge modification to your instrument.

The Pickups

Late 60s - A timeless formula

Our Late 60s single coils are one of those pickups that are based on such a wide range of pickups, that, really, they could have been called the mid 60s, the 70s, most of the 80s and 90s – this spec was the “final” formula that answered all the questions the Stratocaster could ask.

Snapping, bright, raking, capable of playing cleaner then clean, crisper then crisp, but mainly, incredibly adept when driven, even at relatively high levels of gain! 60s Strats could do it all.

Wound using 42 AWG Plain enamel wire, wrapped drum tight around 3/16” Alnico 5 poles, the evolution of what would become “THE” Stratocaster pickup is actually driven a little more by cost cutting and stream lining then any sort of drive for tonal magic, but… whatever the root of the design, if worked, and with that in mind? Lets dig a little deeper.

Not quite Late 60s

So, right off the bat, we call these pickup the “Late” 60s, and that’s a little bit of an over simplification, purely because the original design started to appear in 1963, when Fender, in an effort to streamline production, changed from the wire they were using from 42 AWG Formvar (the bright orange, heavy build wire used on our late 50s singles) to the wire they’d been using to make Telecaster® pickups, 42 AWG, single build Plain enamel.

Some argue it was driven by cost, which would make sense (factoring in any quantity discount that may have existed on the wire, and the labour costs of swapping between wires etc) some argue that it was driven by a desire to decrease the failure rate of pickups (a 6K pickup wound with 42 Formvar is FULL thanks to that heavy build insulation taking up a lot of space – and the fuller you make a frame, the more likely it is that the coil will break!) some argue that it was driven by the never ending quest for tone (which I doubt, purely because VERY little in guitars is driven forward by “tone”, its cost first, sound second!)

Whatever the driving force behind the change, in 1963/64, we see the first plain enamel single coils turning up! Little brownie purplish coils.

And that highlighted a little flaw with the design (one which had been evident on the Telecaster® but never addressed!) – winding this brown wire onto a frame built with black fibre boards, was quite tricky! It was actually difficult to see the start and ends of the coils during termination, so, in 1965, we see Fender® switching over to grey fibre boards on the bottom of the frames (The Telecaster® and Jaguar® had the same treatment, whilst most other pickups changed both top and bottom boards to grey)

And that’s what were working with here – Grey base, Black top, Plain enamel wire – so, even though, electrically, a 1963 single coil is the same as a 1965, the boar colours differ. Nothing that really matters, but considering everything else about this build is historic, we might as well split hairs eh? (and Late 60s sounds miles catchier then “mid 60s” right?)

Tonal change
So, with that change from Heavy build, Formvar insulation to Single build plain enamel, the sound of the pickups changed ever so slightly. Strats became more “defined”, more “focused”, whilst not, strictly speaking, brighter, you’d be forgiven for perceiving them that way! They’d trimmed down a little bit of that “flab” that was present in the late 50s pickups, and honed the pickup into a razors edge.

Now, by modern standards, where we look upon the 1950s with some pretty hefty rose-tinted glasses, that seems like a terrible idea (idea is maybe the wrong word, because, remember, cost before tone!) – but at the time? It was timed to absolute perfection!

Guitar music had changed dramatically by 1965 – and it was being forced to, by the other component in the circuit we don’t really talk about – amplifiers!

In the early 60s, amplifiers “changed” – we see a big shift from relatively small amps designed to be played clean, to 100 watt amps designed to be pushed, and pushed hard.

Now, remember, this all happened by pure chance! Fender didn’t invent a more biting, snappy, defined pickup because amps were pencilled in for a big change, and Marshall didn’t design the JMT45 aiming to get the best out of a new pickup Fender were working on! It was just a perfect storm that worked, and it came together to make a genre of music that hasn’t ever really gone away! Rock! Pure, unadulterated, blistering, biting, aggressive, rock music!

Now, to understand why it works, we have to consider whats happening to a guitar signal when its hitting a “big” amp (or, even a small amp that’s being pushed to max volume) – so, I’ll keep this short and sweet, but, basically – the harder you push a valve amp (purely in terms of volume) the more likely it is to produce a square wave signal (clipping), and that signal is, by its very nature, causing compression. The transients between the bass frequencies and the treble, are shortened.

And in these situations? The best sounding guitars, are the ones that naturally have an absolute bucket load of definition, producing very little bass, and an insane amount of top of “ping”, because once its under compression at volume, once the wave form has been shortened to the point of clipping, you retain “most” of the character.

In simple terms, a late 50s Strat, didn’t benefit from being overly compressed/clipping because it was producing more bass and lacked a little of the definition in its highs, but the late 60s? Absolutely loved it.

The problem, however, is that you cant have your cake and eat it – a late 60s Strat® (and any pickup based off of it) is going to go great guns under gain (or fuzz, the overdrive of the day!) BUT its maybe not the best pickup for “warm and luxurious” cleans.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there hasn’t been a Stratocaster® invented that couldn’t clean up with the best of them – it’s a country instrument at heart, and the relatively minor changes made between 1954 and 1964 don’t really change that, but its worth bearing in mind that, in 1965? You weren’t hearing a lot of clean from a Strat®, so that slightly more brittle, snapping, dare I say, anaemic single coil tone, whilst perfectly usable, might be a little alien.

When you say “70s/80s/90s”… really?
Honestly, once Fender® had settled on the idea, and after a bit of teething problems with the board colours? They didn’t really change the design AT ALL until the 90s! It worked! (about the only thing that did change, was the hookup wire, changing from cloth covered wire to a plastic coated wire (cost over tone remember?!) – pretty much every Strat® produced, from 1963 until this morning, will have a pickup installed that’s 5.8-5.9K, plain enamel wire, with 3/16” Alnico 5 magnets. The grey boards disappear in the late 70s (because of the maligned X1 pickup turning up) but, on the whole? Yeah! The Late 60s design hasn’t ever really gone away!

There are exceptions, and that spec is unheard of on far eastern produced guitars, with an insistence on using 0.06mm wire rather then 42 AWG (and remember, not all American made guitars have American made pickups!) and there are times when preformed ABS bobbins are used rather then fibre boards to make the frames, and we’ve got account for “signature” models and vintage re-issues, but I’m not exaggerating when I say these are the exceptions. The “standard” remains, electrically, something very similar to the Late 60s.

How to use the late 60s

For me, these are a pickup that sound best when your playing them like you stole them! Hard, fast, aggressive, pushing the amp to the point of break up, and getting the guitar under as much compression as your comfortable with! They are an absolute dream in that regard.

Personally, I find them a little sterile and “over bright” when being played “cleaner then clean”, maybe that’s your thing, but if I was looking for that, I’d be seriously considering a 50s spec pickup myself, just to bump up the warmth a little – let the pickup give you a touch more compression because your amp isn’t.

So, bigger blues, big rock, blues rock… guitar music. If you’ve heard a Fender ®Stratocaster®, chances are, you’ve heard a pickup that was near identical to the Late 60s. They’ll do it all… but they wouldn’t be my first choice for cleans! I think that about sums it up eh?

Late 50s - Come and ride the tone!

The Late 50s single coils are one of a new range of pickups we're winding, along with the Late 60s, which aim to accurately re-create the pickup from certain notable points from the electric guitars history.

What you're looking at here is a pretty cool design, and one that really captured players imaginations right from the very off, because of some interesting little design ideas that weren't really seen before or since.

The most striking feature on offer here, is the actual height of the bobbins being used - slightly squater then most other single coils, the late 50s are wound up to a fairly weighty 5.8 Kohms in neck, middle and bridge positions, and whilst it might not seem the most suited of winds to give a beautifully warm, rounded tone, the way the coils lay really does give some fantastic results.

Tonally, the pickups are actually much warmer then you'd maybe expect too, a nice tight bottom end, a very chimy, bell like upper register, and a fair pressence in the mid range mean they're actually pretty far removed from some of the razor sharp 50s style pickups we've tried in the past. Think very early Rock & Roll - that sort of fairly thick, textured tone, capable of being delivered over a fairly broad spectrum of gain settings. Very biting, very throaty in the bridge, mellowing to a creamy, also chewy, marshmellowy warmth in the neck positon.

The magnets are, as you'd expect, an Alnico V, heavy bevel as standard to really focus the field of influence, and retain a little more "snap" in the EQ - obviously, all parts of a pickup work in combination to produce the overall tone, but for us, a heavy bevel on an Alnico 5 pole really does help bring out a healthy dose of pick attack, and in turn that goes a long way to really eccenuate your playing.
And keeping firmly with that 50s theme, we've wound these up with 42 AWG heavy build formvar, all by hand, here at Axesrus in the UK, all fed by hand, and wax potted in a 50/50 blend of parafin and bees wax.

Beyond that, its business as usual really - everything is pretty much customisable, huge range of colours on the covers, you can get them built up in right handed, left handed or non staggered, you can pick up a set with a RWRP middle or not, you can buy each pickup individually if you want to mix and match them with different pickups, and if you REALLY know your stuff, you can even stipulate the wind direction and polairy - all you'll ever need to get exactly what you want!

Strings Ransom

With the Strings Ransom single coil, we set out to make a pickup that’s primary purpose was as a “companion” for Alnico 2 Humbuckers – Pickups like our Bourbon City, The Mucky Puppy and the Knee Jerks – fantastic pickups, but very difficult to balance out with in a Fat Strat® - Alnico 2s generally lend so much mid-range to humbucker that single coils will sound incredibly brittle and scooped by comparison (doubly so in the same guitar, with the same amp on the same settings!)

So the strings Ransoms were originally conceived to give anyone using a Hum/Sing/Sing some real balance in their pickups voicing by using those all-important Alnico 2 poles – and, in fairness to them – they do that brilliantly! They’re full and rich in the mid-range, they’ll take similar levels of gain to an Alnico 2 bucker, and when they break up, they’ve got that rich, chewiness to them that means it really works.

However (and this came as a bit of a surprise to us too) – they’re an absolutely fantastic pickup in their own right! The tones capable from this little rascal when stuck in the bridge are absolutely amazing! There’s a classic Strat® rock vibe to them that’s to die for – real plug and play stuff, and you’re not dealing with huge amounts of output, so they’re actually very well behaved when it comes to string noise and hum.

Texas Blues - The Malice from Dallas

Our Texas Blues have been on the go for what feels like decades at this point, and, frankly, they've come a long way– originally part of the “cheap and cheerful” range of pickups we designed and had produced in the far east back in the dark old days, they survived, thrived and evolved into their current, hand wound, high spec incarnation you see today, and they’re doing what they do better then ever in my opinion.

Hotter, grittier, capable of being driven harder without becoming too brittle or loose, very much a classic Strat® tone, but with a more muscular feel, a throatiness and capability that really lends itself to that “play it like you stole it” attitude that makes a Strat® a Strat®! Absolutely ideal if you’re going at the harder end of Blues really! Hot Amps, tube screamers, fast, heavy picking, raking strings and breaking hearts, these things will lap it up without ever leaving you feeling under gunned.

Where does the idea come from?

So, on the face of it – the Texas blues just look like another one of those “modernized 1960s” pickups, and, honestly? Yeah – they kind of are – but there are a few little considerations built into that idea that, for me, inches them just outside of that rather broad category of “we’ve put more wire on a 60s!”, and into something a little more unique, so lets get into it.

Straight off the bat, this is a “matched set” of single coils – which means your getting a “specific bridge” pickup, which, as you’d expect, is a wound that little hotter and behaves little more aggressively then the neck and bridge, purely in an attempt to “beef up” the often acerbic pos 1/bridge position that has plagued the Stratocaster® since day one – its certainly not a unique idea to the Texas blues, and has been common place since this “style” of pickups came into being in the 1990s.

And when I say “this style”, and as I mentioned earlier, when we boil it down, what we’re dealing with here, are an evolution on the sixties spec used on single coils from 1964 right up 1983 (exclusively at least, the actual spec survives as “the norm” on most guitar to this very day!)

So, when we say “a modernized 60s pickup” – what we actually mean, is a single coil, wound with 42 AWG Plain enamel wire, on Alnico 5 rod magnet, generally with a little more wire on there to take them past the 5.8K you’d see on a “proper 60s” – not exactly revolutionary thinking really, but it did throw fuel on the fire of “resistance is everything!!” that was everywhere in the 90s and 2000s.

As these hotter 60s specs became a little more refined, we see the idea being fine tuned a little, and leaning heavily on the much maligned Fender® X1 “lets make a hot bridge pickup!” and the bridge pickups just start creeping up in resistance a little more and a little more, until we end up on “the spec” – and its common as muck – you go on any pickup winders page, you’ll find them making a set of single coils, with Alnico 5s, it’ll have a 6.0-6.2K neck and middle, and it’ll have a 6.5-6.7K bridge pickup – it’s a good spec frankly, and I wont call anyone for riding on its coat tails! (I’d maybe gripe that we could all come up with better names then “southern US State” Blues Pickup – but hey, we’re as guilty of that as the next man!) Some get it right, some get it wrong, but on the whole? It’s a nice refinement of the single coil idea, and it’ll cover a hell of a lot of ground! Musically, its more then capable of doing Rock, Blues, anything 60s, 70s, 80s, it’ll do a pretty decent swing at 50s frankly… If I could have one single coil for the rest of time? It’d be a modernized 60s pickup.

However, personally, I don’t think it gives quite enough of a difference to a “normal” 60s pickup to really justify its existence frankly – if you take a pickup from 1965, and shoe horn another 500 winds of 42 AWG on there… sure it’ll be a bit pokier, but its still going to have a that “60s” character!

So, with the Texas Blues, we changed something else – rather then slavishly sticking to the traditional 3/16” poles on the sixties spec, we swapped over to 5mm poles!

Now, this means the pickup has a higher inductance in comparison, because it contains more iron within the coil, and with an increase in inductance, not only do we get more “power” but also a much increased “darkening” of the pickup, with the resonant peak coming down, and bringing that characteristic single coil “ice pick” snap down just enough to be perceived as a more rasping, raucous snarl then the traditional “ping” – and I think that’s exactly what your looking for with a pickup like this – not just a 60s pickup “but more”, but a pickup that’s more aggressive, more capable, more composed, without losing that characteristic single coil-ness!

And that, for me, sums up toe Texas blues absolutely perfectly for me. It’s a Strat®, but it drives better!

TB754S

We've always had a thing for doing pickups a little bit differently over the years - lets be honest, if you want a historic recreation, or something quintessentially Fender® or Gibson® flavoured - there’s already a million and one pickup companies making something that'll tick the boxes - and whilst its true to say we do the traditional, and we do them very well, its not really where our heart lies.

And nothing sums up that ethos any better then the TB754S single coils!

Wound up HOT (the bridge coming in at a blistering 7.2K!) but using traditional 42 AWG plain enamel, all with an aim of giving you more heat, more spank and bite, but retaining all of that head room and inherent single coil tone you can only get with 42 AWG! (not into head room? Want compression and bite? Check out the Yorkshire jacks – the evil twin to the TB745)

Using Alnico 4 magnets to mute a little of the top end you’re going to get with an over wound coil, smoothing out a few of thouse piercing highs thanks to its slightly weaker pull – all in all, If you like a single coil but always wanted it to be a bit more lively, then these are the pickups for you.

Yamaha® and Pacific® are registered trademarks of the Yamaha Corporation. Strat® and Stratocaster® are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Gibson Musical Instruments Corporation. Axesrus® makes no claims to these marks.

Difference between modern and 50s switch on a Strat — Mounting Holes

Most of us are familiar with the classic Strat® pickguard featuring 11 mounting holes — it’s the final form in the plate’s evolution. Everything is positioned to minimize warping, and this layout appears everywhere. Not just on Fender® guitars, but on nearly any guitar with a “Strat-like” style — chances are, it’s using a modern-spec plate just like this.

1954 STratocaster counter sunk bolts — Pickup and Switch Bolts

Fender® used countersunk screws for pickup and switch mounting right up until U.S. production paused in late 1984. When manufacturing resumed in 1987 at the new Corona plant, dome-head screws began appearing on pickups and switches. It wasn’t a clean break — countersunk screws lingered into the late ’80s, and Japanese reissues continued the overlap — but generally speaking, from 1987 onward, most American Stratocasters® featured dome-head screws for pickup height adjustment and switch mounting.

1957 STratocaster trussrod Without Notch on scratch plate — Truss Rod Access

With the introduction of the “bullet” truss rod nut in 1971, Fender® Stratocasters® began to feature truss rod adjustment at the headstock rather than the heel. To accommodate this change, the pickguard was updated — the familiar “half moon” notch in the neck pocket (previously there to allow heel-end adjustment) was removed.

That revised pickguard design remained in place even through later changes, including the 1983–84 shift from countersunk to dome-head screws for pickups and switch mounting.

Edges

Although this plate design first appeared in the 1980s, it’s still in use today. While three-ply (and even four-ply) guards are by far the most common, single-ply versions do occasionally show up — so we stock both.

That said, since we’re well beyond the realm of strict historical accuracy with this style, we only carry the thicker single-ply plates — 2.3 mm, just like our 3- and 4-ply options — as they’re far more resistant to warping.

Fender®, Squier®, Stratocaster® and Strat® are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Axesrus® has no affiliation with FMIC

A few years back, we changed how we approached pickguards. For a while, we ran a full “custom pickguard” service — and to be honest, it was a headache from start to finish. Interestingly, the most common requests weren’t for wild custom shapes — just standard plates with slightly different control layouts.

So, when the full custom work wound down, we took a more practical approach: we started stocking “half-finished” pickguards — fully cut and finished, but without the control pot holes drilled. This allows us to offer a wide range of pickup and control options, drilling the holes in-house to your spec. It’s quick, simple, and keeps costs down — no need for a full custom build.

What’s Custom, and What Isn’t?

Let’s be clear — this isn’t a full-blown custom shop service. We’re not cutting new shapes, routing entirely new cavities, or making major structural changes.

Instead, we’re simply drilling different control layouts using jigs and a pillar drill. While that technically makes these pickguards “custom” (since they’re made to order), the scope is intentionally limited.

You’re choosing a pre-made plate — often something like a covered or uncovered HH layout — and we’re customising the pot holes, and occasionally routing a pickup if needed.

Any Extra Costs?

Pot hole drilling: Free of charge. It’s quick work, done in-house.
Routing a pickup or Switch Slot: This may carry an additional charge, depending on the pickup combination and complexity. It involves extra handling and setup, so pricing is determined on a case-by-case basis.

You Can Have Three Hole Sizes Drilled

We offer three sizes of holes, depending on your needs:

10 mm – for standard pots
½" – for full-size toggle switches
¼" – for mini toggle switches

The positions stay the same; only the diameters change depending on what you’re adding.

So — with all that in mind — let’s walk through how to understand where the holes go and how to get the layout you want.

This is, probably, easier with a diagram, but, be warned, whilst it makes sense - its pretty cluttered.

Diagram Key

10 mm Pot Holes: White
¼" Mini Switch Holes: Pink
½" Toggle Switch Holes: Grey
UFO Knobs (~1" diameter) and Switch Tips (9 mm over the slot): Green

The system is smart enough to prevent most overlap issues, but some combinations sneak through. For example, fitting a 10 mm pot in the Offset 2 position alongside any switch will get really tight once the knob is installed.

Pickups

Choose from a range of pickup styles to suit your build.

Single Coils

“The Normal Stratocaster® Pickup”

It’s a bit of an oversimplification to call these just “single coils.” Strictly speaking, Telecaster®, Jazzmaster®, Jaguar®, and even P90 pickups are all single coils as well. But for whatever reason, when someone says “single coil,” most of us immediately picture a Strat® pickup.

Strat-style pickups are very much “Fender®” in how they’re built — and unmistakably Fender® in how they sound. I think most of us know what a Strat-style single coil does, so I’ll spare you a full-length deep dive.

That said, there are a few quirks unique to the Stratocaster® layout that are worth touching on, along with some interesting alternative options we offer.

Standard Slanted Single coil bridge on a Fender Stratocaster pickguard — Slanted Bridge

The “unofficial” story behind the slanted bridge pickup on the Strat® (and the Telecaster®) is straightforward: it’s angled to make the treble strings brighter and the bass strings darker. And honestly, that’s exactly what it does.

It’s so common that we barely even question it. I’d say 99.99% of SSS guitars — Fender or otherwise — have a slanted bridge pickup. So even if it sounds odd when you stop and think about it, it’s very much the norm.

It’s also worth remembering that the bridge pickup is rarely wired to a tone pot. This makes it a real “what you see is what you get” situation. With no easy way to tame it, that sharp, cutting slant can leave the classic Strat® bridge pickup a bit… maligned.

Reverse Slanted Single Coil Bridge pickup compared to normal Slanted Stratocaster Pickup — Reverse Slanted - Bridge

You’ll sometimes see this mod referred to as the “Voodoo Mod.” Bit on the nose, if you ask me — but hey, it’s catchy!

The idea is that it mimics the tones you’d get from a left-handed player using a right-handed Strat® strung upside down. Which, let’s be honest, basically means Hendrix.

Functionally, it does the opposite of a standard slanted bridge single coil: the low strings get brighter and tighter, while the high strings get darker and a little more pronounced.

Now, I don’t put a huge amount of stock in pickup pole staggering — but if you’re really chasing that sound, a left-handed stagger might help you get that extra 5%.

And just to help me sleep at night, an honourable mention to the late, great Dick Dale and Fender®. His signature Strat® features a reverse-slanted bridge pickup — which is undeniably cool. Though to be fair, Dick himself played a regular slant… but strung the whole guitar upside down. So technically it’s “right” — but now we’re really getting into the thin end of the niche wedge.

Standard Neck Pickup with Notch — Neck and Middle "Standard"

Why? Honestly, I’m not sure — and I doubt it’s a particularly exciting story. Maybe it was A/B tested and “flat” just sounded better. Or maybe it was never questioned in the first place; the Telecaster® didn’t do it, and neither did most other early electrics.

It’s mostly academic, because (and I write this sentence more often than I care to admit): we like what we know. If you like a Strat®, chances are you like the sound of a flat neck and middle single coil.

Slanting those pickups would change the sound — but they’re not slanted, so they don’t. The high and low strings are picked up from the same position, which means the low strings tend to come through a little more prominently in the mix.

Slanted Single Coil Neck Pickup — Neck and Middle "Slanted"

With single coils, there’s really only so much you can do with the idea, but one of the more popular “tweaks” is to have them slanted at the same angle as the traditional bridge single coil pickup. And yes — it’ll have the same effect: the high strings feel a little tighter, and the bass strings feel a little fuller.

Personally (and I’ve written this a lot in this write-up) — this is getting dangerously close to being wildly unfamiliar. We usually only like what we know when it comes to guitar tones, so if you’re hunting for a tone you’ll instantly recognise, tread carefully.

Interestingly (and this comes up every so often) — Jake E. Lee? His single coils were reverse slanted, meaning tighter bass strings and fuller highs.

Reverse Slanted Single Coil in Neck — Neck & Middle — Reverse Slanted

This one’s really just a case of filling in the gaps. Angle aside, it’s what I’d class as the **Jake E. Lee setup** — reverse-slanted single coils in the neck and/or middle positions.

There’s not a lot of mystery to it: take the usual bridge slant, flip it the other way, and stick it in the neck or middle slot. That’s the whole trick.

In terms of real-world examples, Jake E. Lee is the only player I can think of who’s genuinely *used* it and made it part of his sound. I did see Paul Gilbert playing an Iceman recently with the middle single coil slanted in reverse (and the humbuckers as well), and tonally it did exactly what you’d expect — tighter, brighter lows and slightly thicker high strings.

Do I love it? Personally, I’m not sold — but it’s different, it works, and it definitely earns its place on the list.

Flat Single Coil Bridge Pickup — Bridge Flat

I hold this one in similar standing to slanting the neck and/or middle, frankly. It’s fine… if anything, it’s probably a little more familiar, because it’s not dissimilar to the way a Jaguar is laid out. Essentially, the bridge pickup is angled “flat,” just like the neck and middle traditionally are. Bass strings sound a little tighter, treble strings a little looser, and, without being overly negative, everything sounds a little foreign — but who knows?

I will say (and I’ve never tried it!) single coil–sized humbuckers might really benefit from being installed flat. It’s a bit “going round the houses” — partly because I don’t think single coil–sized humbuckers behave like their full-sized brothers purely because of the angle of install. There’s a whole mess of electrical issues going on too — but, maybe? It’s a vibe, isn’t it?

Colours

Ok, even I’ll concede this isn’t the most thrilling topic at this stage — but there’s a surprising amount of confusion around the various “off-white” pickguard colours. And seeing as we’re already ticking off pearls and tortoise shell variants, we might as well tackle the parchments, mints and creams too.

So, let’s get stuck in.

White Guitar Pickguards — White

All our white plates use this exact shade — a fully opaque pigment with no translucency or ageing tint. It’s exactly what most people picture when they think “white pickguard”: clean, crisp, and pristine.

It doesn’t try to mimic vintage plastics or look “aged in,” so if you’re after a bright factory-fresh look — or you’re pairing it with bold or modern colours — this is the one.

Parchment Guitar Pickguards — Parchment

Sometimes sold as “aged white,” parchment sits one step in from pure white. It’s a touch darker, with a hint of cream or yellow in the mix — think along the lines of old newspaper or paper that’s had a few decades to mellow.

It’s a great middle ground if you don’t want the starkness of bright white, but you’re not ready to dive into full-on cream or mint territory.

Mint A Guitar Pickguards — Mint A

The lighter of the two mint shades. It’s not actually all that common on production guitars, which surprises a lot of people, because this is the tone most folks picture when they think “mint green.” It’s subtle, soft, and only just tinted — enough to take the edge off white without straying into cream.

Mint B Guitar Pickguards — Mint B

The “proper” mint green. Darker than Mint A, with a subtle grey undertone that gives it depth. Be warned — it does **not** photograph well and will often be corrected by cameras into something lighter or more vibrant than it actually is. In real life, it’s a rich, deep green, much closer to the discoloured nitrate plastics of the 1960s, which this colour originally sought to replicate.

Ivory Guitar Pickguards — Ivory

Ivory — sometimes called “Creme,” particularly in Gibson parlance — is a warm, buttery shade with a hint of orange. It’s not commonly seen on Fender-style pickguards, which makes it a bit special, but personally, I absolutely love the richness it brings to a build.

Black Guitar Pickguards — Black

Black is, well… black. There’s not a huge amount to say about it — it’s opaque, crisp, and very classy. I particularly like the contrast it creates on 3-ply pickguards with a white middle layer; it just works.

Mint Green Notes

Before we dive any deeper into colours, a few things are worth flagging about Mint Green — it’s a tricky shade and often comes across completely differently in photos.

First, if you’ve looked at the “real” photos of Mint A and Mint B, you’ve probably noticed they look almost identical. That’s not a mistake — cameras genuinely struggle to capture the subtle differences. They tend to auto-correct everything toward a washed-out Mint A, regardless of the actual plate.

So, why bother showing photos at all? Well, the unedited images highlight how misleading camera shots can be. From here, you have to trust the edited examples above, or the colour swatch in the pickguard customiser — that’s a very accurate representation of what the plates look like in real life.

The takeaway? Don’t rely on photos when judging Mint Green. If I’ve had this problem, so has everyone else. A quick search online will show you at least ten subtly different mint shades on Fender guitars — but in reality, Fender almost always used Mint B (with the exception of Fender Japan). Over the last 20 years, I’ve come across just four actual Mint Green shades: B, A, a very bright “snot” green, and a slightly lighter version of B that’s still pretty close.

Mint B Guitar Pickguards without colour correction — Mint B

Unedited, Mint B looks nothing like this in real life. It’s a much darker green, with an almost greyish tint that gives it that classic, slightly aged 60s vibe.

Mint A pickguards without Colour correction — Mint A

Mint A is actually quite close to this, though in real life it’s a bit more vibrant and not quite as “washed out” as the photo suggests.

Mint Pickguards comared to white and Parchment — Comparison

When Mint A and Mint B are photographed side by side, alongside a few other colours (in this case, White and Parchment), it provides a much clearer sense of the differences between the shades.

Ivory PIckguards different — Ivory vs. Ivory/Black/Ivory

We actually carry two different Ivory plates. There is **Ivory**, available in a 3-ply Ivory/Ivory/Ivory version and a single-ply version, and we also have **Ivory/Black/Ivory** 3-ply, which is now obsolete but survives in old stock.

These are not the same colour. The **Ivory/Black/Ivory** plates will not match Ivory single-ply or Ivory/Ivory/Ivory plates. The I/B/I plates are closer to a nicotine yellow, whereas the I/I/I plates are much more of an orange “cream.”

Pearloids Explained

Pearloid pickguards are often lumped in with tortoiseshells, but they occupy their own, slightly shinier niche. They’re not as subtle as tortoiseshells — the swirls and patterns are more pronounced, with a pearlescent effect that catches the light beautifully. Historically, they’ve been a relatively straightforward affair: virtually all pearloid pickguards are made from PVC, and there isn’t a deep, mysterious backstory like some of the vintage materials.

What makes them interesting is less about origin and more about aesthetics. The colour and pattern variations are deliberate but consistent, making it fairly easy to anticipate how they’ll look on a finished guitar. Unlike tortoiseshell, which can shift dramatically from manufacturer to manufacturer, pearloid maintains a stable palette. That said, the swirl direction, density, and shine can give each plate a little personality — no two are ever perfectly identical.

In short, if you’re after a classic, eye-catching pickguard with a bit of sparkle, pearloid is a solid, no-fuss choice that’s stood the test of time.

White Pearloid Scratch Plate — White Pearl

White Pearl is the most common pearloid you’ll encounter, and its look is instantly recognisable: subtle, shimmering, and classic. Fun fact — pearloid was originally designed as a faux “mother of pearl,” meant to mimic the iridescent inner layer of oyster shells. The result is a clean, elegant pickguard that catches the light in a way that flat colours just can’t match.

Aged White Pearloid Pickguards — Aged White Pearl

Aged White Pearl is actually more common than you might expect. Think of it as the pearloid equivalent of Parchment — slightly warmer, with a subtle creamy tint. The “pearling” is a bit tighter than standard White Pearl, with fewer blank spots between the reflective areas, giving it a more consistent, refined shimmer.

Grey Pearl Stratocaster Pickguard — Grey Pearl

Grey Pearl isn’t my personal favourite. It started appearing a few years ago and was often misrepresented as “Black Pearl” in photos and marketing, but in reality, it’s nowhere near that dark. The grey tone gives a muted, subtle look, but it lacks the contrast and depth that makes other pearloids so appealing.

Avalon Mother of pearl pickguard for a stratocaster — Avalon

Avalon is a relatively new pearloid pattern, and it gets much closer to the “mother of pearl” aesthetic that the original pearloids were trying to emulate. Instead of being broken into small reflective squares, the pattern flows with swirls and blotches, giving it a crisp, natural finish that really catches the light.

Faux Abalone pickguard for a Strat — Abalone

If Avalon leans toward a mother-of-pearl look, Abalone is its more exotic counterpart, inspired by the iridescent inside of certain marine snail shells. The pattern is strikingly unique, favoring flowing swirls over the blocky reflective squares, giving it a vivid, eye-catching appearance.

Black pearl AM standard back plate — Black Pearl

Black Pearl is always a bit contentious—it's not truly black, more of a dark grey. There is a slightly deeper version known as "Moto Pearl" (though tracking it down is another story), but both shades have their uses depending on the aesthetic you’re after.

Pearloid Quirks

Pearloid plates do have a few quirks of their own. While the material is relatively consistent, the way the “pearl” swirls are distributed can vary a lot from sheet to sheet. You might find sections with tight, dense pearling or areas that are more open and sparse. This isn’t a defect—just the nature of how the pattern is formed.

Additionally, colors can shift slightly depending on lighting and viewing angle, so a plate that looks crisp under one light may appear softer or more muted under another. It’s worth keeping this in mind when matching to existing finishes or other pickguards.

Close Up of Pearloid Pickguards — Shade Differences

When viewed on their own, pearloid plates can be tricky to compare, as the swirling patterns and reflections tend to dominate the eye. This is why side-by-side comparisons are so useful.

A good example shows Black Pearl and Grey Pearl next to each other, alongside Aged White Pearl and standard White Pearl. In this arrangement, the subtle differences in base color, contrast, and reflectivity become much clearer, helping you make a more informed choice.

Pearloid Stratocaster Pickguards with matching Knobs — Knobs

Pearloid pickguards present a unique challenge when it comes to matching knobs, tips, and covers, simply because the base color isn’t uniform. Here’s a practical approach:

**Aged White Pearl** pairs best with Parchment-colored plastics.

**White Pearl** and **Avalon** work well with standard White plastics.

**Black Pearl** doesn’t match true black knobs perfectly. In fact, it highlights the fact that Black Pearl isn’t genuinely black—but it’s about as close as you’re going to get.

Pearloid Pickguards plys explained — 3 and 4 Ply

Pearloid pickguards can be a bit confusing when it comes to ply count, because they don’t always follow the standard dark/light/dark pattern we’ve come to expect.

Essentially, the pearloid layer on the front of the plate counts as a ply. This means:

**3-ply pearloid plates** can appear as just 2 plys, especially on lighter pearls where the pearloid layer is semi-transparent and looks white.

**4-ply pearloid plates** often appear as 3 plys.

In this photo, you can just make out the individual plys and how they layer together.

Tortoise Shells

You’ve probably noticed that we do a huge variety of tortoise shell pickguards – and even then, we barely scratch the surface of the available styles.

Originally, tortoise shell pickguards were made from actual tortoise shell – pieces carefully shaped, joined, and polished until semi-transparent. Some of the earliest acoustic pickguards were made this way. Of course, nobody wants to go back to that practice, but people loved the look. When plastics came along in the early 20th century, they offered a much cheaper and more practical alternative. (Trade in hawksbill turtle shells didn’t become illegal until the 1970s.)

The first plastic tortoise shells were made from celluloid. It’s semi-transparent, with a kind of leopard-skin effect, and it looked gorgeous. Celluloid made its way onto guitars, mostly acoustics, and eventually electrics by the late ’50s and early ’60s. The problem? Celluloid is extremely flammable. Cutting it generates heat, storage is risky, and it’s generally unstable – prone to warping, shrinking, and colour changes under sunlight.

Today, tortoise shells are mostly made from Polyoxymethylene (more stable, but still flammable) or PVC (extremely durable, though it gives off toxic fumes if burned).

For modern pickguards, we typically work with five main variants (ignoring the rare, historical celluloid options). While celluloid still exists and looks incredible for historical accuracy, it’s extremely expensive, difficult to source, and high risk to work with. As a rough guide, sourcing a single celluloid plate could cost upwards of £150.

Classic Tortoise Shell — Classic

This is a funny one. For the longest time, it was the only tortoise shell we had access to, and honestly – it’s fine. You see it fairly often on mid-priced guitars like the Squier® Classic Vibe and Vintage Modified lines.

Personally, I think of it as a “cheat” tortoise shell, because it appears to be a screen print sandwiched between layers of PVC. That gives it a slightly flat look, but it’s very uniform. So, if consistency is your goal and you want all your tortoise shells to look the same, Classic is the way to go.

3 Ply Brown Tortoise Shell — 3 Ply Brown

Now we’re talking. Unlike the “flat layer” version, 3 Ply Brown is the real deal – multiple semi-transparent PVC layers (usually one yellow, one brown) overlaid to create that classic tortoise shell effect.

For whatever reason, the 3-ply version tends to show a little more yellow in the mix than the 4-ply, giving it extra depth and richness. If pressed, I’d say it’s my favourite of the tortoise shells.

4 Ply Brown Tortoise Shell — 4 Ply Brown

Slightly darker than the 3-ply version, the 4-ply shows less yellow bleed-through in the mix—presumably because the yellow layer is thinner. The overall effect is a richer, more subdued tortoise shell look, while still retaining that classic depth.

3 Ply Red Tortoise Shell — 3 Ply Red

Much like the 3-ply brown, this version layers yellow and red PVC, one on top of the other. The principle is the same, but the result is a more vibrant, warmer tortoise shell, giving a slightly livelier appearance on the pickguard.

4 Ply Tortoise Shell Pickguard — 4 Ply Red

In the 4-ply red, the yellow layer is largely removed, leaving a deep, rich red that almost approaches a red pearloid. It’s clean, vibrant, and avoids the subtle yellow tinge you see in the 3-ply version — perfect if you want a striking, uniform red tortoise effect.

Celluloid Tortoise Shell Jazzmaster Pickguard — Celluloid

For completeness, here’s a look at a celluloid plate. It’s absolutely gorgeous, with incredible depth to the “shell” effect that PVC can’t quite replicate. That said, if you look closely, you’ll notice this Jazzmaster plate has warped significantly. It’s been stored under the same conditions as the PVC plates, but celluloid simply doesn’t age as well — beautiful, but far less stable.

In an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to write this section up, and, I really wish I didn’t have to, but, if I’m being honest and transparent about how pickups work, for better or worse, it’s probably worth being honest and open your rights as a consumer too, and maybe give a little insight into how we actually build pickups.

How we do it

Pickups, at our end of things – are “Custom made” – I cannot stress this enough. When you click the “Add To Cart” button, there is no pickup on the shelf, no bucket of pre-terminated bobbins or half complete pickups. It is made, entirely, from scratch using the parts we have available.

This means, if you order a Bourbon city, or a Hot Iron, or a Texas Blue, it is wound FOR YOU. It is being built to the specifications you have stipulated in the drop-down menus, even the most “normal” design, is still, essentially, built to order.

That entails our pickers collecting the parts from stores, delivering them to the winders, who then get the copper on there, and then the wound coils going to the techs to solder, terminate, test, polish, wax pot, clean, retest… you get the idea.

This is all done “in house” and, obviously, there is a queue, which is first in first out, so pickups will NEVER be shipped same day. Realistically, it takes about 2 weeks, but we do get busier at the beginning/end and middle of the month, so that can have a knock on effect.

And this is all being done, by hand, on a VERY small scale. At maximum, we can produce about 6 pickups a day.

It works wonderfully frankly, because we can make, pretty much, anything you can dream up, and keeping it small scale, means we have an exceptionally high attention to detail with each pickup sold.

Returns

So we have an item, when all is said and done, that didn’t exist until you purchased it, that has cost a lot of man hours to actually manufacture, and has been manufactured to your exact specifications.

As such, pickups come under the remit of “custom work” as laid out under the our terms and conditions, and as outlined in the UK governments distance selling regulations.

This means, in short, pickups are none returnable, and none refundable.
I understand, in this day and age, that may seem quite the hard-nosed approach, but, sadly, there’s no wiggle room in this. Once a pickup is wound, there’s no going back. It belongs to you. There is no “I’ll test it to see if I like it” or “I’ll return it if I don’t like the colour!”.

Warranty

All Axesrus pickups come with a “relaxed lifetime” warranty as far as I’m concerned. I’m never going to ask you to register the purchase, stop offering support 12 months after purchase or limit support to the initial customer in the case of second-hand stuff. We are incredibly proud of the pickups we produce, and I’ll help out wherever I can.

However, its worth laying out what I’d consider “realistic” expectations as to what we will cover as part of a warranty.

Repairs and replacements
Whilst we will not accept pickups as return for refund under any circumstances, we reserve the right to repair or replace any pickup that develops a manufacturing fault within a reasonable time frame.

I won’t put a scale on that time frame, but I will say, its at our discretion. If you’re lucky enough to have some of the VERY early hand wound stuff we made, and we (stupidly) thought we could do it at £20 a pickup, and the coil wires snapped after 10 years? I’m probably not in a position to repair or replace it free of charge, you know? You’ve had your fun; you’ve got your money’s worth!

On the flip side of that – if you’ve bought a £200 humbucker 2 years ago, and it’s developed a fault? You’d better believe Axes is bending over backwards to get it repaired and get you up and running again.

I’ll say this too, we won’t hang you out to dry – if that £20 pickup can be repaired, even if we’re not doing it as part of the warranty, we will offer to repair it at a reasonable price.

Damage vs. Fault
Pickups are delicate creatures I’m afraid. Nature of the beast I suppose, they were never designed, all those years ago, to be “presented” outside of a guitar, so go in knowing this, pickups can be damaged. Either in transit, whilst in storage, or during install.
It is VERY difficult to know how a pickup has developed a fault, so most of the time, we will go into all warranty claims with the mindset that “it’s a manufacturing fault”, frankly, because it keeps everyone happy, avoids any awkward conversations as to “who’s done what” and, normally, repairing damage done during install is the same work as repairing a manufacturing fault either way. Worst case, we might have a delicate email exchange about who’s covering the postage, but that’s about as bad as it gets.

However, we will take this approach only when a pickup, which is showing damage, is only showing minimal damage. I appreciate everyone makes mistakes.

Pickups that have been heavily damaged, have seen heavy wear and tear, or have been intentionally broken in an effort to raise a warranty claim, will see not be repaired, or replaced. Neither free of charge or “for a fee”

Lead times and cancellations
We do publish the lead times on all of our custom build work, and there is very little we can do to decrease the time it takes to actually manufacture this stuff I’m afraid, short of jumping you to the front of the queue (which is never fair, and we won’t do it)

Be aware that once an order is placed, work beings on your build, and as such, you’ve entered into the contract, and there is no backing out. Coils can often be wound within the hour or the order being placed, but they will sit in the work queue due to a back log at terminating/testing/cleaning.

Modifications
There are, occasionally, situations where someone buys a pickup or a wiring loom, installs it, plays it for a while, and then might want something a little different down the line. Maybe a different magnet, or a cover fitting, or a new hookup wire fitting.

I am happy to carry out this work, and, normally, regardless of the “time since purchase”, this will be done simply for the cost of parts and postage.

However, the “depth” of these modifications, and if we’re willing/capable of carrying them out, is at the discretion of Axesrus. We’re happy to discuss this on a case-to-case basis, but go in eyes open, that its unlikely to be part of the warranty.

“Warranty with initial purchase”
I’m not a stickler when it comes to this stuff, but I will say, we do have to draw the line somewhere, so, strictly speaking, this “relaxed warranty” is, officially, limited to the original purchaser of the product.

That said, I’m not a robot, nor am I a fool. I’m aware that sometimes, a pickup is moved on relatively quickly, or is bought by a 3rd party for someone else, so, in these cases, lets just be sensible about it. I’ll carry forward a “true” warranty on a pickup for 12 months after the initial purchase, regardless of who is contacting me in regards to any issue.

However, I will need to know who the initial customer was. Even if it’s just their name and a rough date of purchase.

This goes for technical support too – I’ve no problems offering support on Axesrus products, regardless of “time since purchase”, but I will ask for some proof that they are in fact, Axesrus products.

Modifications to second hand parts, will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis too.

Changes in specification/tolerances
Over the years, we’ve had a few “interesting” conversations regarding pickup specifications, especially when it comes to returns and warranty.

The published specs of our pickups, are published with a “within tolerance” subtext, based off of the readings from our testing equipment.

There will, always, be variation between one pickup and the next, and whilst we endeavor to keep those readings within the tolerances stated, they do occasionally wander outside of the 10% we stipulate as “acceptable” – this is usually due to temperature fluctuation, or specification changes outside of our control (wire diameter, alloy composition etc.) – any resulting change in readings based on these factors, will result in an updated technical spec on the website, but, as you can imagine, the first we know about an unforeseen spec change, is when the pickups come off the winder.

We do not consider these “out of spec” accidents to be cause for a warranty claim I’m afraid, and we endeavor to keep on top of them so the information we’re giving you at point of purchase, is as accurate as possible.

Warranty postage
Repairs or replacement postage cost, outside of an initial 14 day period, is at your cost. I appreciate, in some situations, that this is prohibitive (especially when shipping outside of the UK).

Main Description

Mounting Holes

Pickup and Switch Bolts

Truss Rod Access

Edges

Pickguard Specifications