My previous IronGear Pickups comparisons: ● Blues Engine vs Overwound Rolling Mill: ua-cam.com/video/WEHbeQdd9t4/v-deo.html ● Blues Engine vs Hot Slag: ua-cam.com/video/igFYSMbNcZs/v-deo.html ● Dirty Torque vs Hot Slagua-cam.com/video/GWj2-VmhRHM/v-deo.html
I compared my Rolling Mills Bridge pickup to my Seymour Duncan 59 and Gibson SG stock bridge pickup.The Rolling Mills is not as spongy and comes accross as "stiff". This can be a good thing not necesarily an unwanted characteristic. I like a littel spongyness in my bass strings, seems to round out the notes and soften pick attack (smoothness). The Rolling Mills is tight, and gives a more pronounced attack, great for heavey distortion and this also helps the Rolling Mills to keep greater definition on notes on lead runs. The Rolling Mills does not quite blend overtones as well as 59 and Gibson PU's when using overdrive pedals but seem to deliver more of crucnch style overdrive (again this can be a desirable charateristic). The Rolling Mills is not as touch sensive as the 59 or Gibson, so strumming dynamics etc seem similar when strumming hard or light on the Rolling Mills. The Rolling Mills do not seem to be as scoop as the 59, more midrange but not an overly pronounced midrange, this help the Rolling Mills balance well with my neck pickup. So its seem to be tigher, more focussed and has some extra midrange creating a well balanced sound accross all strings and no sharp piecring highs. The 59 and Gibson have a slighly softer attack and seem to blend overtones smoother when using overdrive. Well thats my 2 cents, I hope it helps!
Yep, same experience. The ow rolling mill it's another story, it has more balls and sound almost like dimarzio transition. I didn't like the 59, neither the dimarzio paf anniversary. I'm gonna put a blues engine on my china cnc sg though and see what happens.
Just placed my second order for iron gear pickups, loving how you demonstrate them (there's really not a lot of it on their site). Rolling Mill OW + Rolling Mill for me this time.
Just loaded an O/W steel foundry set into a T-style I built and those bad boys sound epic. Also built a Strandberg copy and put a dirty torque bridge will a rolling mill neck in. Superb combination. Each sound great individually, and the split coils combine brilliantly for the in between positions. Nice job on the tests. It’s interesting. What I hear on the video must sound very different to your in the room experience. The recorded sound of the Tesla’s to my ears is warmer, smoother and altogether more pleasing to my ears.
Thank you, mate! I've heard great things about their tele pickups. I'd love to demo them on the channel at some stage. The dirty Torque could be my favourite IronGear pickup so far, but they all do different things so well haha! I love reading comments about what people heard in each pickup, it's so interesting what we all pick out! Thanks for commenting :)
Thanks for another great demo! That was surprising. I was expecting the Tesla Shark to sound darker and rounder, because of the alnico II. Both sound like excellent choices though. It all depends on the guitar and application. I spent more time listening to as many samples as I could find and while I changed my mind many times, I think I'm settling towards the Tesla Shark for the bridge and Rolling Mill for the neck, for my father's PRS Custom24. Either that combination or the Tonerider Alnico II Classic set.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :) I didn't know what to expect from these two but really liked the tones I got in each sound test. It's really hard to choose pickups. There's no way of knowing how it'll sound in your guitar, but hopefully these comparison videos give idea what qualities each pickup might being out! I've also heard good things about tonerider but never tried any.
@@matthieuc8115 Because of Brexit, I couldn't get IronGear pickups from the UK without paying extra for customs etc., so I got the Tonerider Alnico II set from Spain. They sound wonderful as expected. Vintage PAF voiced. Excellent for Santana tones, which was what I got them for.
Interesting. I bought a Rolling Mill and I didn't like it. It had a kind of out-of-phase "honk" which I think i can hear on your review. I'll now be switching over to Tesla Sharks (thanks for pointing out that about the name - missed that one!). They seem to have a much crisper tone. If I want "honk" I can do that with a wiring option. So the Rolling Mills are not for me. They used to do a Rolling Mill 2 which was a mini humbucker. That one was fantastic - no honk there! Sadly though they've deleted it and you can't get them any more. Good review, thanks.
Thank you very much, Alexander! Yes the RM can be a bit full sounding. I have the overwound RM on one of my main guitars which I really like, though some days I do think a bit more high end coming through would be desirable. Other days I love it.. The Tesla sharks had less low end oomph which in a bad setting is also really helpful (from memory... This review was the last time I played a Tesla sharks!)
Thank you very much! I do have a set of alchemist p90s which I'll be doing a review on. Just finishing up a series on guitar building and then will go back to reviews and demos :) Thanks for watching!
Both great sounding. I love both guitarists slash and kossoff, but it's the rolling mill pick ups for me that kossoff tone is just the best tone in my opinion
@@AlexisGuitars I have two telecasters! one Squire Affinity that I've modded to an inch of its life, removed the neck pickup completely, I have also removed the tone knob and replaced the bridge pickup with a steel foundry pickup and it sounds great! I liked it so much I replaced the bridge pickup in my second Telecaster, a 2016 Nashville Deluxe Telecaster, with the steel foundry as well! I've just literally in the last 25 minutes finished putting in an Iron Gear Pig Iron Strat pickup in the middle position of my Nashville Tele and that sound great too!
That's cool! They must have just got it right with the steel foundry because other than an overwound version that's their only Tele pickup I think! Still so many IronGears to try haha one day I'll have a video on them all...
@@tomhornbuckle6991 Have been tarting up a cheap Shine Tele copy I picked up for £40, sorted almost all the frets with a full fret level and re-radius, and resoldered the electrics. But I do really want to upscale the pickups for something overwound. When I've finished my Les Paul project I do plan on getting the Steel Foundry overwounds, and adding a 4 position switch for them in series. What I'm wondering is.... Should I just get the Steel Foundry Overwounds, OR try the dual pickup one that's switchable? The Steel Twin set? The thing is when you read the specs, they're different outputs, other than the normal position been hotter than the Steel Foundrys, when you switch to the dual coil(NOT a humbucker) it literally doubles the output, so they're way hotter than the overwounds... But are they really, in the room? That's what I'd like to find out, :-)
I hadn't noticed that they all have different kOhms values. I too would be interested to hear the differences actually. I just read the IronGear page and it doesn't actually say it's meant to be exactly the steel foundry and overwound version in one, but it's meant to give the clarity of the foundry and the "extra poke" of the overwound. Still, would be cool to see how they compare! I do love hotter tele pickups, so the for me it's between the overwound and the dual coils. Hopefully I can get my hands on a set of both to review them. I doubt it'll be any time soon though, unfortunately.
Thanks, I put some some Iron Gear Single coils in my Jet Strat, really well defined sound, listening to this, the Tesla sound better at Gain Settings, good video very helpful
I think that the Tesla Shark is inherently more brittle where the Rolling Mill is a more warmer, fuller, and rounder sound. The bottom end of the Tesla is lacking it is more like a Hot Rail versus a full range humbucker.
I would agree with that. The RM is very full sounding. Great for cleans and with a bit of amp EQ setting you can balance out some of the lows if necessary
@@AlexisGuitars I prefer a pickup that has a full dynamic range. I thought the Tesla Shark was a bit to bright myself. I am not saying it sounded bad but it is like an engine built for topend speed it lacks bottom end grunt. The Rolling Mill was a more all around performer IMO.
Great video, I still can't decide, but I'm after some Irongear pickups to put in my Epiphone Les Paul, I want that thick, warm classic Les Paul tone, pickup set, what would you recommend out of these two you compared?
Thank you very much Ben! If a thick, warm tone is what you are after then out of these two, I think the RM might be a better fit for the bridge position. The only Irongear neck pickups I've tried are the rolling mill and blues engine and of the two I prefer the blues engine as the RM neck is a bit too bassy for me. Might just be my guitars, though! Let me know what you go for and how you find them :)
I have my Rolling Mills (N&B) positioned low which to me optimises the tonal balance and clarity of them; musical. Low output set thus but I use a TC Electronic Spark boost most of the time so power not an issue if required.
Thanks for the tip. I have a set of RM in one guitar and find the Neck position far too bassy, so I'll adjust the posiiton a bit to see what that brings. TC Spark is a real secret weapon on the pedalboard. Thanks for watching!
Haha! I actually ignored the pedal for ages but then made a video on the channel on how it also works as a great make-shift EQ pedal. Since then it's always on the board to brighten the tone up or fatten things up if needed
Liked and subd. What about the iron gear blues engine vs Tesla Shark pups, have you compared them? I can't decide between the two. I want blues pickups, and alnico 2 is supposed to be good for the blues sound, but blues engines are alnico 4. Sharks are 2. Thx.
Amazing job. Thoroughly enjoyed the comparison videos on the IG PUPs. Plan to buy IG PUPs as a replacement for my Tokai SG factory PUPs, but also plan to install the full push-pull 500k set for split coil and out of phase option. ATM I am leaning toward standard Rolling Mill at bridge and Blues Engine in the neck (mostly classic rock, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, blues and perhaps some funk). Any thoughts or perhaps a different suggestion?
Thank you very much! Really glad you enjoyed the comparisons. I think the RM and BE would be a great combo. The RM bridge is quite full sounding, great for chords and riffs. The BE neck from memory has a lot of clarity to it. Let me know what you think once you install them!
@@AlexisGuitars This was fast :) Will advise of course. The original pick-ups are not all that bad either, but do not have the wiring for split coil option and I do not think I am not skilled enough to deal with it. Again, great channel... half through the second video I just had to subscribe!
For my ears listening with my pro studio monitors, the "Rolling Mills" are the winner. They are way smoother and well rounded fuller sounding, whereas the Tesla have that fizziness that doesn't record well.
Plinkiness is a great adjective for it haha. It's been a while since I've played either of these pickups, actually. I have a full set of both, so I might have to do a full set shootout at some point and remind myself but from memory the RM is quite full sounding. Great for cleans. Thanks for stopping by again haha, these irongear pickups can be addictive
Yes I'd love to try some of their single coils. We'll see. Uploads are coming very slowly on the channel at the moment. Hopefully in the new year more videos can come. Thanks for watching!
To me the rolling mill has great clarity in the bridge position but brings some low end in the mix. In the guitar in my video which tends to be bright it sounded great but I'd pick the other two for guitars which tend to be a bit darker sounding. The tesla shark is a great choice for a brighter, janglier pickup that can handle classic rock really well, but my favourite is the blues engine of the three. Just seems to sound balanced and handle whatever you give it (apart from metal tones obviously haha!) Also, from memory, the blues engine neck position is great, and the rolling mill neck position is too bassy for me (though I haven't done a proper review on Irongear neck positions yet)
I think both highlight the point that magnets don't make a huge difference. As very similar output pickups, they both sound good and would give a pro gigging sound. Worth starting the RMs are a tad cheaper.
Yey they both sound really good and I think I'd give the upper hand to the tesla shark, which is interesting because I normally favour AlNiCo V pickups. I can't choose pickups based on specs alone. They do help put certain things in categories, but until it's in the guitar I won't know how it'll sound! Thanks for watching!
@@AlexisGuitars yeah, it's weird isn't it? I always find the Dimarzio Norton a great example of that: sounds like a super hot pickup but it's 10k DC. Sounds like a JB. Great comparison vid mate.
It's really interesting what goes into making a pickup sound the way it does. Sounds like a whole other rabbit hole to dive into. I'm happy just trying them out and seeing what sounds good haha
Will you be doing any reviews of the Texas Loco single coils. I have 2 in my HSS Strat and and they sound awesome. I was either leaning towards the Rolling Mill in the bridge or just making my guitar a three pickup single coil with a Texas Loco in the bridge. Thanks for your help.
Thank you so much Mike, really glad you found the video helpful. I do plan on moving to IronGear's single coils at some stage, but not for a while unfortunately. They will come, though, one day! I'm interested in comparing the Texas locos and Vintage 6Ts
@@AlexisGuitars Do you prefer the Rolling Mill overwound to the regular Rolling Mill. I was actually leaning towards the Blues engine, but after watching your video on the side by side comparison, I’m leaning towards the Rolling Mill. Thanks for your input. Glad I came across your videos.
I remember when I installed and played the o/w rolling mill in this guitar I absolutely loved it. Until I tried the Dirty Torque I was considering keeping it in there. The difference could be the pickup cover, but I found more balance and clarity with the standard rolling mill, but the overwound could be pushed more to some more modern sounding hard rock tones which were awesome. I tend to go for hotter pickups myself because I like a tighter high gain sound for hard rock style riffs. Hope this long-winded answer helps somehow! Which are you leaning towards?
I should point out that I installed the overwound rolling mill in another guitar which is darker sounding and I really had to compensate with the treble knob of the EQ, but then it was alright! You can hear it in my video called "TC electronic spark boost as an EQ pedal"
Haha thank you mate! I agree about the t-shirt! Did you like the Tesla sharks more in each sound test? Or was there one deciding clip that swung it in its favour?
Hi, I haven't had the pleasure of trying a JB unfortunately, but from what I hear, the IronGear Dirty Torque is a copy of one. The hot slag pickup is a bit higher output and brighter than the dirty torque, which has a bit more low end and balance in the tone. I have a video comparing the two which might give you an idea of how it might compare to the JB. Hope that helps!
@@AlexisGuitars I'll probably go with the Dirty Torgue. I've already got a few guitars with high output out pickups. I've got one that I wanna have a more traditional rock sound.
Nice, I really like the dirty torque. After all the videos I've done, that's the pickup I've kept in the guitar...for now haha still have more vids to do
@@AlexisGuitars I like both... maybe I put Tesla Shark on my LP style guitar to test how it sounds with my Blacksrar amp. I already own Blues engine and Steam hammer and I like it very much.
@@AlexisGuitars The Steam Hammer is very good! It is very clean and when you plug it to high gain metal pedal it is killer. I coil split it and it sounds awsome, like a strat..., sounds great with all of my high gain and modulation pedals. But I ike the sound of Blues Engine more, with low gain MXR custom badass and Mojo Mojo. That's why I wish to have another guitar packet with Tesla Shark or Rolling Mill.:-))))
I can only speak about the bridge position tesla shark but I was really impressed with it so I would hope that the neck position matches up nicely. Are you thinking blues engine in the bridge and Tesla in the neck?
Both sound awesome! Ordered a set of Rolling Mill pickups today to replace stock Squier Humbuckers, looks like I've made a great choice. Wasn't sure what to go for between the Rolling Mill, Blues Engine & Tesla Sharks but I'm sure the improvement I'll get will be vast! 😊
Should have used a double humbucker guitar. Because the teSLASHarks neck pup is the star of that set. Bell tone like Slash plays about every use your illusion solo on the neck pup
Yes I should do more neck pickup comparisons, good idea! I did feature the Tesla shark set, as well as a couple other IronGear sets in a video called "how helpful are pickup specs". Thanks for watching!
My previous IronGear Pickups comparisons:
● Blues Engine vs Overwound Rolling Mill: ua-cam.com/video/WEHbeQdd9t4/v-deo.html
● Blues Engine vs Hot Slag: ua-cam.com/video/igFYSMbNcZs/v-deo.html
● Dirty Torque vs Hot Slagua-cam.com/video/GWj2-VmhRHM/v-deo.html
I compared my Rolling Mills Bridge pickup to my Seymour Duncan 59 and Gibson SG stock bridge pickup.The Rolling Mills is not as spongy and comes accross as "stiff". This can be a good thing not necesarily an unwanted characteristic. I like a littel spongyness in my bass strings, seems to round out the notes and soften pick attack (smoothness). The Rolling Mills is tight, and gives a more pronounced attack, great for heavey distortion and this also helps the Rolling Mills to keep greater definition on notes on lead runs. The Rolling Mills does not quite blend overtones as well as 59 and Gibson PU's when using overdrive pedals but seem to deliver more of crucnch style overdrive (again this can be a desirable charateristic). The Rolling Mills is not as touch sensive as the 59 or Gibson, so strumming dynamics etc seem similar when strumming hard or light on the Rolling Mills. The Rolling Mills do not seem to be as scoop as the 59, more midrange but not an overly pronounced midrange, this help the Rolling Mills balance well with my neck pickup. So its seem to be tigher, more focussed and has some extra midrange creating a well balanced sound accross all strings and no sharp piecring highs. The 59 and Gibson have a slighly softer attack and seem to blend overtones smoother when using overdrive. Well thats my 2 cents, I hope it helps!
Yep, same experience. The ow rolling mill it's another story, it has more balls and sound almost like dimarzio transition. I didn't like the 59, neither the dimarzio paf anniversary. I'm gonna put a blues engine on my china cnc sg though and see what happens.
Fantastic review. Both sets of pickups sounds amazing, especially given their price.
Thank you very much, Chris!
Just placed my second order for iron gear pickups, loving how you demonstrate them (there's really not a lot of it on their site). Rolling Mill OW + Rolling Mill for me this time.
Thank you! Hoping to do more irongear comparisons/demos eventually...
Just loaded an O/W steel foundry set into a T-style I built and those bad boys sound epic. Also built a Strandberg copy and put a dirty torque bridge will a rolling mill neck in. Superb combination. Each sound great individually, and the split coils combine brilliantly for the in between positions. Nice job on the tests. It’s interesting. What I hear on the video must sound very different to your in the room experience. The recorded sound of the Tesla’s to my ears is warmer, smoother and altogether more pleasing to my ears.
Thank you, mate! I've heard great things about their tele pickups. I'd love to demo them on the channel at some stage. The dirty Torque could be my favourite IronGear pickup so far, but they all do different things so well haha!
I love reading comments about what people heard in each pickup, it's so interesting what we all pick out! Thanks for commenting :)
Thanks for another great demo!
That was surprising. I was expecting the Tesla Shark to sound darker and rounder, because of the alnico II.
Both sound like excellent choices though. It all depends on the guitar and application.
I spent more time listening to as many samples as I could find and while I changed my mind many times, I think I'm settling towards the Tesla Shark for the bridge and Rolling Mill for the neck, for my father's PRS Custom24. Either that combination or the Tonerider Alnico II Classic set.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :) I didn't know what to expect from these two but really liked the tones I got in each sound test.
It's really hard to choose pickups. There's no way of knowing how it'll sound in your guitar, but hopefully these comparison videos give idea what qualities each pickup might being out!
I've also heard good things about tonerider but never tried any.
Hey ErebosGR, about to make the same choice, what's your view on it one year later?
@@matthieuc8115 Because of Brexit, I couldn't get IronGear pickups from the UK without paying extra for customs etc., so I got the Tonerider Alnico II set from Spain.
They sound wonderful as expected. Vintage PAF voiced. Excellent for Santana tones, which was what I got them for.
What guitar is that? Love it
Iron Gear pickups always have great clarity
Yes I have had great experiences with all the ones I've tried
Interesting. I bought a Rolling Mill and I didn't like it. It had a kind of out-of-phase "honk" which I think i can hear on your review. I'll now be switching over to Tesla Sharks (thanks for pointing out that about the name - missed that one!). They seem to have a much crisper tone. If I want "honk" I can do that with a wiring option. So the Rolling Mills are not for me. They used to do a Rolling Mill 2 which was a mini humbucker. That one was fantastic - no honk there! Sadly though they've deleted it and you can't get them any more. Good review, thanks.
Thank you very much, Alexander! Yes the RM can be a bit full sounding. I have the overwound RM on one of my main guitars which I really like, though some days I do think a bit more high end coming through would be desirable. Other days I love it.. The Tesla sharks had less low end oomph which in a bad setting is also really helpful (from memory... This review was the last time I played a Tesla sharks!)
The alchemist p90 and the overwound Rolling Mill would be an interesting combo to hear.
Love the reviews, well organized.
Thank you very much! I do have a set of alchemist p90s which I'll be doing a review on. Just finishing up a series on guitar building and then will go back to reviews and demos :) Thanks for watching!
Both great sounding. I love both guitarists slash and kossoff, but it's the rolling mill pick ups for me that kossoff tone is just the best tone in my opinion
Haha yes you can't really make a wrong decision with these two. Thanks for watching mate!
Would love a comparison of both the rolling mill bridge pickups, the 9k vs the 13k?
That's a great idea for a video. Not sure when I'll have time to record it, but I'll add it to the list!
Great Video! Been using IronGear pickups for ages! Are you going to do a comparison of the Tele pickups?
Thank you mate! I'd love to try their Tele pickups. I've just been working my way through the Humbuckers first! Which Irongear pickups do you use?
@@AlexisGuitars I have two telecasters! one Squire Affinity that I've modded to an inch of its life, removed the neck pickup completely, I have also removed the tone knob and replaced the bridge pickup with a steel foundry pickup and it sounds great! I liked it so much I replaced the bridge pickup in my second Telecaster, a 2016 Nashville Deluxe Telecaster, with the steel foundry as well! I've just literally in the last 25 minutes finished putting in an Iron Gear Pig Iron Strat pickup in the middle position of my Nashville Tele and that sound great too!
That's cool! They must have just got it right with the steel foundry because other than an overwound version that's their only Tele pickup I think! Still so many IronGears to try haha one day I'll have a video on them all...
@@tomhornbuckle6991 Have been tarting up a cheap Shine Tele copy I picked up for £40, sorted almost all the frets with a full fret level and re-radius, and resoldered the electrics. But I do really want to upscale the pickups for something overwound. When I've finished my Les Paul project I do plan on getting the Steel Foundry overwounds, and adding a 4 position switch for them in series.
What I'm wondering is.... Should I just get the Steel Foundry Overwounds, OR try the dual pickup one that's switchable? The Steel Twin set?
The thing is when you read the specs, they're different outputs, other than the normal position been hotter than the Steel Foundrys, when you switch to the dual coil(NOT a humbucker) it literally doubles the output, so they're way hotter than the overwounds... But are they really, in the room?
That's what I'd like to find out, :-)
I hadn't noticed that they all have different kOhms values. I too would be interested to hear the differences actually. I just read the IronGear page and it doesn't actually say it's meant to be exactly the steel foundry and overwound version in one, but it's meant to give the clarity of the foundry and the "extra poke" of the overwound. Still, would be cool to see how they compare!
I do love hotter tele pickups, so the for me it's between the overwound and the dual coils.
Hopefully I can get my hands on a set of both to review them. I doubt it'll be any time soon though, unfortunately.
Great video. Imoressed eith the Orange too!
Thank you!
Thanks, I put some some Iron Gear Single coils in my Jet Strat, really well defined sound, listening to this, the Tesla sound better at Gain Settings, good video very helpful
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful
I think that the Tesla Shark is inherently more brittle where the Rolling Mill is a more warmer, fuller, and rounder sound. The bottom end of the Tesla is lacking it is more like a Hot Rail versus a full range humbucker.
I would agree with that. The RM is very full sounding. Great for cleans and with a bit of amp EQ setting you can balance out some of the lows if necessary
@@AlexisGuitars I prefer a pickup that has a full dynamic range. I thought the Tesla Shark was a bit to bright myself. I am not saying it sounded bad but it is like an engine built for topend speed it lacks bottom end grunt. The Rolling Mill was a more all around performer IMO.
Very informative videos. Thanks!
Great video, I still can't decide, but I'm after some Irongear pickups to put in my Epiphone Les Paul, I want that thick, warm classic Les Paul tone, pickup set, what would you recommend out of these two you compared?
Thank you very much Ben! If a thick, warm tone is what you are after then out of these two, I think the RM might be a better fit for the bridge position.
The only Irongear neck pickups I've tried are the rolling mill and blues engine and of the two I prefer the blues engine as the RM neck is a bit too bassy for me. Might just be my guitars, though!
Let me know what you go for and how you find them :)
If you’re on the fence, the teSLASHarks neck pup is really sweet. It nails the illusions epic solos Slash plays on the neck pup
I have my Rolling Mills (N&B) positioned low which to me optimises the tonal balance and clarity of them; musical. Low output set thus but I use a TC Electronic Spark boost most of the time so power not an issue if required.
Thanks for the tip. I have a set of RM in one guitar and find the Neck position far too bassy, so I'll adjust the posiiton a bit to see what that brings. TC Spark is a real secret weapon on the pedalboard. Thanks for watching!
@@AlexisGuitars Yep. The Spark (full version) is a must have for me now. One of those _where have you been all my life_ things . Cheers.
Haha! I actually ignored the pedal for ages but then made a video on the channel on how it also works as a great make-shift EQ pedal. Since then it's always on the board to brighten the tone up or fatten things up if needed
Liked and subd. What about the iron gear blues engine vs Tesla Shark pups, have you compared them? I can't decide between the two. I want blues pickups, and alnico 2 is supposed to be good for the blues sound, but blues engines are alnico 4. Sharks are 2. Thx.
Thank you! That would be a great comparison idea. I'll add it to my list of videos but it will be a while before I'm filming anything.
Amazing job. Thoroughly enjoyed the comparison videos on the IG PUPs.
Plan to buy IG PUPs as a replacement for my Tokai SG factory PUPs, but also plan to install the full push-pull 500k set for split coil and out of phase option.
ATM I am leaning toward standard Rolling Mill at bridge and Blues Engine in the neck (mostly classic rock, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, blues and perhaps some funk).
Any thoughts or perhaps a different suggestion?
Thank you very much! Really glad you enjoyed the comparisons. I think the RM and BE would be a great combo. The RM bridge is quite full sounding, great for chords and riffs. The BE neck from memory has a lot of clarity to it. Let me know what you think once you install them!
@@AlexisGuitars This was fast :)
Will advise of course. The original pick-ups are not all that bad either, but do not have the wiring for split coil option and I do not think I am not skilled enough to deal with it.
Again, great channel... half through the second video I just had to subscribe!
For my ears listening with my pro studio monitors, the "Rolling Mills" are the winner. They are way smoother and well rounded fuller sounding, whereas the Tesla have that fizziness that doesn't record well.
Cool! Yes the rolling mills are definitely fuller sounding. Thanks for watching
i think the rolling mill sounds like it has some extended plinkiness as well as maybe a little extra bass end. (yes, i'm back watching again haha)
Plinkiness is a great adjective for it haha. It's been a while since I've played either of these pickups, actually. I have a full set of both, so I might have to do a full set shootout at some point and remind myself but from memory the RM is quite full sounding. Great for cleans. Thanks for stopping by again haha, these irongear pickups can be addictive
would love to hear some Pig Iron comparisons/demos
Yes I'd love to try some of their single coils. We'll see. Uploads are coming very slowly on the channel at the moment. Hopefully in the new year more videos can come. Thanks for watching!
how would you compare the (non overwound) rolling mill to the tesla shark and blues engine? :)
To me the rolling mill has great clarity in the bridge position but brings some low end in the mix. In the guitar in my video which tends to be bright it sounded great but I'd pick the other two for guitars which tend to be a bit darker sounding.
The tesla shark is a great choice for a brighter, janglier pickup that can handle classic rock really well, but my favourite is the blues engine of the three. Just seems to sound balanced and handle whatever you give it (apart from metal tones obviously haha!)
Also, from memory, the blues engine neck position is great, and the rolling mill neck position is too bassy for me (though I haven't done a proper review on Irongear neck positions yet)
@@AlexisGuitars thanks a lot! :)
You're welcome, thanks for watching and commenting :)
I think both highlight the point that magnets don't make a huge difference. As very similar output pickups, they both sound good and would give a pro gigging sound. Worth starting the RMs are a tad cheaper.
Yey they both sound really good and I think I'd give the upper hand to the tesla shark, which is interesting because I normally favour AlNiCo V pickups. I can't choose pickups based on specs alone. They do help put certain things in categories, but until it's in the guitar I won't know how it'll sound! Thanks for watching!
@@AlexisGuitars yeah, it's weird isn't it? I always find the Dimarzio Norton a great example of that: sounds like a super hot pickup but it's 10k DC. Sounds like a JB. Great comparison vid mate.
It's really interesting what goes into making a pickup sound the way it does. Sounds like a whole other rabbit hole to dive into. I'm happy just trying them out and seeing what sounds good haha
Will you be doing any reviews of the Texas Loco single coils. I have 2 in my HSS Strat and and they sound awesome. I was either leaning towards the Rolling Mill in the bridge or just making my guitar a three pickup single coil with a Texas Loco in the bridge. Thanks for your help.
Thank you so much Mike, really glad you found the video helpful.
I do plan on moving to IronGear's single coils at some stage, but not for a while unfortunately. They will come, though, one day!
I'm interested in comparing the Texas locos and Vintage 6Ts
@@AlexisGuitars Do you prefer the Rolling Mill overwound to the regular Rolling Mill. I was actually leaning towards the Blues engine, but after watching your video on the side by side comparison, I’m leaning towards the Rolling Mill. Thanks for your input. Glad I came across your videos.
I remember when I installed and played the o/w rolling mill in this guitar I absolutely loved it. Until I tried the Dirty Torque I was considering keeping it in there.
The difference could be the pickup cover, but I found more balance and clarity with the standard rolling mill, but the overwound could be pushed more to some more modern sounding hard rock tones which were awesome.
I tend to go for hotter pickups myself because I like a tighter high gain sound for hard rock style riffs.
Hope this long-winded answer helps somehow! Which are you leaning towards?
I should point out that I installed the overwound rolling mill in another guitar which is darker sounding and I really had to compensate with the treble knob of the EQ, but then it was alright! You can hear it in my video called "TC electronic spark boost as an EQ pedal"
Cool video man I love that bear t-shirt but think he should be holding a guitar oh and btw telsa sharks for me
Haha thank you mate! I agree about the t-shirt! Did you like the Tesla sharks more in each sound test? Or was there one deciding clip that swung it in its favour?
Love the T shirt, where did you get it?
Thank you. Do you mean the bear tshirt? I think it's a company called absolutely bear (not sponsored - I think I have to say this!)
How do you think the hot slag compares to a duncan JB?
Hi, I haven't had the pleasure of trying a JB unfortunately, but from what I hear, the IronGear Dirty Torque is a copy of one. The hot slag pickup is a bit higher output and brighter than the dirty torque, which has a bit more low end and balance in the tone. I have a video comparing the two which might give you an idea of how it might compare to the JB. Hope that helps!
@@AlexisGuitars thank you! I've already watched all your Iron Gear vids and this was the answer I was looking for lol
Great! Thank you for watching and glad to have helped :) are you thinking of getting the hot slag pickup then?
@@AlexisGuitars I'll probably go with the Dirty Torgue. I've already got a few guitars with high output out pickups. I've got one that I wanna have a more traditional rock sound.
Nice, I really like the dirty torque. After all the videos I've done, that's the pickup I've kept in the guitar...for now haha still have more vids to do
Great video, Thanks.. Good job.
Thank you mate! Really appreciate it. Which pickup did you prefer?
@@AlexisGuitars I like both... maybe I put Tesla Shark on my LP style guitar to test how it sounds with my Blacksrar amp. I already own Blues engine and Steam hammer and I like it very much.
Nice! I haven't tried a steam hammer yet but I've only heard good things!
@@AlexisGuitars The Steam Hammer is very good! It is very clean and when you plug it to high gain metal pedal it is killer. I coil split it and it sounds awsome, like a strat..., sounds great with all of my high gain and modulation pedals. But I ike the sound of Blues Engine more, with low gain MXR custom badass and Mojo Mojo. That's why I wish to have another guitar packet with Tesla Shark or Rolling Mill.:-))))
Haha I agree, one guitar for every pickup combination! That's how I felt when I tried the Blues Engine, I need a new guitar to install it in
I like the Tesla. What you you think of installing a Blues Engine and a Tesla. What that be a good combination.
I can only speak about the bridge position tesla shark but I was really impressed with it so I would hope that the neck position matches up nicely. Are you thinking blues engine in the bridge and Tesla in the neck?
@@AlexisGuitars Yes exactly, Blues bridge and Tesla neck
@@rush2124u2 Nice! If you go for it, please let me know what you think of the combo :)
Pickup height for the Tesla shark?
Hi, unfortunately I did not keep a record of the pickup heights for either pickup, though they were similar to each other.
Both sound awesome! Ordered a set of Rolling Mill pickups today to replace stock Squier Humbuckers, looks like I've made a great choice.
Wasn't sure what to go for between the Rolling Mill, Blues Engine & Tesla Sharks but I'm sure the improvement I'll get will be vast! 😊
Awesome! Hope you enjoy the new pickups :)
Rollin mill👍🏻
Nice choice 😎
Should have used a double humbucker guitar. Because the teSLASHarks neck pup is the star of that set. Bell tone like Slash plays about every use your illusion solo on the neck pup
Yes I should do more neck pickup comparisons, good idea! I did feature the Tesla shark set, as well as a couple other IronGear sets in a video called "how helpful are pickup specs". Thanks for watching!