My new Temu-Caster Pickups...

[RXMoore]

I'm pretty stoked! I ordered a set of Vintage Noiseless Strat Pickups from Temu and they arrived today. They cost all of 11 bucks.

They're going into an absolutely dreadful, unbranded Strat that I bought from some dude for $75. I originally purchased it to hone my modding skills and it's turned out to be way more work than I bargained for, but that's a story for another time.

The link for these pickups is here.....

Temu pickups

The resistance is indicated as Neck = 5.5 - 6, Middle = 5.5 - 6, Bridge = 7 - 7.5. According to my meter, the neck and middle are pretty much spot-on at 5.55 and 5.61, respectively. The bridge is a little light, coming in at 6.61, but still not bad. It looks like they're well made, with good quality wire (not the blonde-hair thickness wire that some cheap pickups come with) and Alnico 5 magnets (so they say). The middle pickup is RW/RP, too.

I'm looking forward to trying them out, but me and the guitar body have a date with a can of Bondo first (did I mention that the guitar was dreadful?). I'll circle back and let everyone know how they sound when I get them installed.

They look pretty much exactly like this picture, also from the website.

 

[Robb]

Keep us posted.

 

[dpang2836]

I feel OLD! I couldn't crack the "Code" after many tries? Sounds too cheap to me and hope they sound nice. No ceramic bars and good Wires. Poles and Wire would cost me more?

 

[Viking]

I received my order of those very same pickups this afternoon(CAD$13.00). They look well made. I ordered some pots, a string winder and different colour pickup covers to get the order over $20 for free shipping. I get B-6.67, M-5.63, N-5.58 on my meter. Putting mine into a 87 MIK Squier Bullet1 that has really thin sounding ceramics in it. Going to donate the guitar to friends teenage daughter.

 

[DougMen]

Are they really "noiseless", because noiseless pickups are humbuckers and so there's no need for a RWRP middle. It won't make any difference.

 

[DougMen]

Let's see them without the covers. If they aren't stacks, then they aren't noiseless.

 

[stratmanshow]

Let's see them without the covers. If they aren't stacks, then they aren't noiseless.

No they are not, but they might sound good!

 

[DougMen]

No they are not, but they might sound good!

I would never give my money to any seller of anything that misrepresents what it is. I prefer to do business with ethical people, not crooks. I'm funny that way.

 

[JohnnyD]

Awesome sauce
I want to see the guitar rebuild too.

 

[Ringthane]

I'd take a look at them, but I just get some odd slider puzzle that never works.

 

[RXMoore]

I would never give my money to any seller of anything that misrepresents what it is. I prefer to do business with ethical people, not crooks. I'm funny that way.

A lot of these descriptions read like they're translated from Chinese to English by someone who doesn't speak either language, so I've learned to not read too much into them. The description I included was for reference only.

 

[stratmanshow]

I'm looking forward to trying them out

Have you tried them yet?
I ordered 2 ($12.82 CAD) sets just because they're so stupid cheap. I might swap the neck and bridge positions or even a mix and match of the two sets. I mostly use the bridge and middle combo and when the bridge is hotter it usually makes for a shrill thin tone (why I don't like a bridge humbucker). Pole spacing shouldn't matter much.
In the event that I really like them, I might remove some windings off of the bridge pup.
They even have a "manual" to download .
Canadians have to spend $35 cad for free shipping. Another tidbit I noted in another thread--when I wanted to return an item in a previous order, they told me to keep it and credited my account.

 

[2k5Bullet]

I would never give my money to any seller of anything that misrepresents what it is. I prefer to do business with ethical people, not crooks. I'm funny that way.

On the other hand, if I was/wasn't truly after Fender-like Noiseless, for $ 11 bucks it's not the end of the world if they are regular noisy pickups for what looks to be about what Fender has some set of their SSS Strat pickups for DCR & Henries specs. As long as they are Alnico V and sound enough like, perhaps even better than some Fender pickup set(s), that's a win for $ 11. I would be happy with their (TEMU sourced manufacturer) best effort to make them as close to the Fender Noiseless SSS set. Let's say they are quieter than a standard SSS set, but noisier than the Fender Noiseless SSS set. That's a win for even $ 30-60 for the set, let alone the $ 11 (free delivery if by TEMU source).

 

[Hal Nico]

I had a look at the Ad and they seem to be Alnico. No Ceramic bar magnets underneath. As for ,"Noiseless" I think some of these vendors think that if they are noise cancelling in positions 2 and 4 then they are noiseless

 

[stratfreak]

I've been surprised at how good the super-cheap Chinese pickups can sound.

My #1 guitar these days is a Squier body/Warmoth neck with a loaded HSS pickguard I got for about $25 from Ali Express. The pickups are ceramic, and didn't sound impressive until I changed the volume pot to 500k. I love the tones i'm now getting.

I don't think I will ever pay more than about $50-60 for a set of pickups.

I don't need any more SSS sets, but if I did, I'd order these:

 

[2k5Bullet]

I just hate it when the word "cheap", preferring real or affordable, is used to describe a product that hasn't really changed in the better part of the last century. It doesn't take any more of the same raw materials in 2024 than it did in 1950 or any decade in between. And the fact you like your ceramics for $ 25 with a loaded pickguard, I just see zero reason to ever buy the $ 100-250 sets Made in the USA for the sake of inflation or price gouging or whatever the economic political reason is for it. When one looks at how much money is spent, it's obscene what the profits are. Sad I got lied to for $ 11 dollars, but I can live with that, as opposed to being lied to for $ 100-250.

And it's everything , not just pickup sets to complete guitars. Couple years back, I need a automobile AC compressor. Dealership wants $ 999.99 for it, I get one online instead, brand new, Made in China for +/-$ 200. Don't get me started on the labor they charged for that installation. I could've gotten a refurbished AC compressor for +/-$ 165 online. I'm all about value added for anything I choose to maintain in this lifetime. I'm not cheap, but I'm also not millionaire/billionaire cash rich. Sometimes you gotta take back what's been stolen from you over the decades of your life. No better time to start reversing that trend, than right now & in the moment, also going forward. Done with paying for someone else that got cheap on me along the way for income. I don't care if they go homeless, better them than I for that.

 

[stratmanshow]

As for ,"Noiseless" I think some of these vendors think that if they are noise cancelling in positions 2 and 4 then they are noiseless

Sad I got lied to for $ 11

I don't think you were lied to @2k5Bullet , I think @Hal Nico has it right that it's a translation thing. These guys are all desperate to get good ratings.

I don't need any more SSS sets, but if I did, I'd order these:

I bought a set of quote- "V-70" grey bottoms but unbranded. There are usually some sellers that have unbranded items. In this case I messaged the seller "I don't want brand name", just to be sure.
I can say from personal knowledge of my 74 pickups that these are very similar tone wise. A much cleaner tone than most. They're about 5.9ish K with 6.4 on the bridge. 70s Strats were great for playing Funk especially on positions 2&4 but needed a lot of overdriven amp to get some meat to the sound. And many of them weren't potted enough and would squeal feedback on the bridge. I had to pot them before I could even use my Strat onstage.

 

[stratfreak]

70s Strats were great for playing Funk especially on positions 2&4 but needed a lot of overdriven amp to get some meat to the sound. And many of them weren't potted enough and would squeal feedback on the bridge. I had to pot them before I could even use my Strat onstage.

Yeah, back in the 80s and 90s when I was playing in punk bands, I used a Les Paul copy and then a Strat with EMG noiseless pickups. I wouldn't have been able to deal with the squealing.

 

[_897_]

I feel OLD! I couldn't crack the "Code" after many tries? Sounds too cheap to me and hope they sound nice. No ceramic bars and good Wires. Poles and Wire would cost me more?

I didn't know there were any security measures in existence more annoying than captcha's, I learned something new today! I tried for about 5 minutes.

 

[DougMen]

I just hate it when the word "cheap", preferring real or affordable, is used to describe a product that hasn't really changed in the better part of the last century. It doesn't take any more of the same raw materials in 2024 than it did in 1950 or any decade in between. And the fact you like your ceramics for $ 25 with a loaded pickguard, I just see zero reason to ever buy the $ 100-250 sets Made in the USA for the sake of inflation or price gouging or whatever the economic political reason is for it. When one looks at how much money is spent, it's obscene what the profits are. Sad I got lied to for $ 11 dollars, but I can live with that, as opposed to being lied to for $ 100-250.

And it's everything , not just pickup sets to complete guitars. Couple years back, I need a automobile AC compressor. Dealership wants $ 999.99 for it, I get one online instead, brand new, Made in China for +/-$ 200. Don't get me started on the labor they charged for that installation. I could've gotten a refurbished AC compressor for +/-$ 165 online. I'm all about value added for anything I choose to maintain in this lifetime. I'm not cheap, but I'm also not millionaire/billionaire cash rich. Sometimes you gotta take back what's been stolen from you over the decades of your life. No better time to start reversing that trend, than right now & in the moment, also going forward. Done with paying for someone else that got cheap on me along the way for income. I don't care if they go homeless, better them than I for that.

So, you are fine with people in China being paid slave wages, while to see fellow Americans make a decent living wage is "price gouging" and "obscene profits". You'd better hope that other people don't feel the same about your work being "price gouging" and "obscene profits" or you'll end up at the unemployment office.
Furthermore, do raw materials cost the same in 2024 as in 1950? Is your cost of living the same as in 1950?