Artec Hex Pole MM Humbuckers

[Malak the Mad]

Greetings, All!

I'm considering many options for an HH Projekt and the hex pole Artec humbuckers came to my attention as a possible, low-cost solution. If nothing else, the adjustable pole pieces are intriguing.

More than a few TB'ers have praised Artec's other offerings, but there seems to be little-to-no info or demo videos on these specific pups. Does anyone have any experiences to speak of?

 

[gtirard]

Greetings, All!

I'm considering many options for an HH Projekt and the hex pole Artec humbuckers came to my attention as a possible, low-cost solution. If nothing else, the adjustable pole pieces are intriguing.

More than a few TB'ers have praised Artec's other offerings, but there seems to be little-to-no info or demo videos on these specific pups. Does anyone have any experiences to speak of?

I don't know about these specific MM pickups, but I love the Artec sidewinder humbuckers on my Brooks 1.2.

I would say "go for it", since they are cheap you're not taking a huge risk, plus they seem to have standard dimensions so you can replace them easily if you don't like them.

And if you do, share your feedback...

 

[gtirard]

For amps and cabs I believe that "you get what you pay for", but when it comes to pickups, I don't think quality is proportional to price.
I bought cheap Ric style pickups for a project, it's not finished yet, but they seem to sound really good so far.

 

[newfuture]

I've had good luck with a few different artec pickups on acoustics at least

 

[Lo-E]

The little experience I have had with Artec has been good. They make a quality, affordable product.

If it’s important to you to have these p’ups sound like traditional MM p’ups, it’s unlikely that they will. The construction is completely different, using a bar magnet and adjustable steel poles. That’s not to say they won’t sound good, though. They just aren’t likely to sound like MM p’ups.
If you wire them in parallel and get the alnico version it might get you a little closer - or you could use Artec’s more conventional MM p’ups, which probably sound right on the money.

 

[Malak the Mad]

The little experience I have had with Artec has been good. They make a quality, affordable product.

Yeah, the prices are hard to beat. If they're still around when I can start buying parts again, I may give 'em a shot…even if it's just experimenting for the fun of it!

If it’s important to you to have these p’ups sound like traditional MM p’ups, it’s unlikely that they will. The construction is completely different, using a bar magnet and adjustable steel poles. That’s not to say they won’t sound good, though. They just aren’t likely to sound like MM p’ups.
If you wire them in parallel and get the alnico version it might get you a little closer - or you could use Artec’s more conventional MM p’ups, which probably sound right on the money.

Honestly, I'm not sure. I think I want something that's decidedly not going to sound like a traditional humbucker. I already have parts lined up for a Jazzy spin on a late-Seventies Stingray, so I have that covered.

What I do have lurking around my workshop is a TonePump preamp. Pairing it up with some inexpensive humbuckers that could potentially sound good, all while being their own thing, might be nice.