Reviews

“Hi Shep! Your pickups - Humbucker, Tribute Set, Custom made - have arrived, passed the customs office, are installed in my Gibson CS Murphy Les Paul and I have played it now for some days. THEY SOUND PHENOMENAL!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! That is the sound I was looking for! The guitar has increased in tone, unbelievable! Besides the phenomenal sound of the pickups, they look like an original of the '59-era! Your pickups are a piece of art! That is true craftsmanship!!! Thanks a lot for a phenomenal new - or should I say: old - sound!!!”

— Markus B.

“Hey Shep, I got the Patent Applied For Tribute set installed in my chambered reissue Goldtop & I have to tell you these pickups are the bees knees! I've had the pleasure over the last 3 days of comparing your pickups with an original set on a 1957 Goldtop, & in blindfold tests they were virtually indistinguishable. There is plenty of sizzle & punch with a fantastic clarity of tone that is missing from all the mass produced brands......& believe me I've tried a few! They clean up great when wound back using the guitars volume & when wide open I can get that great Paul Kossof tone I have been searching for all my life!! This may be my first set of Sheptones but believe me it wont be my last”

— Brad F.

“The pickups are outstanding! I played the guitar through several different amps, including a Deluxe Reverb, a Brown Note Dumble-style, and a custom amp that has some typography similarities to a Bassman or JTM45. The pickups remained so articulate through each of the amps, allowing the subtleties of the guitar and the amp to come through. Really impressed. My playing partner just went nuts. He's a dyed-in-the-wool Les Paul guy for 30 years, and now wants a Strat. Thanks again. Just wanted to tell you I appreciated your efforts.”

— Alan B.

“Yo shep, thank you 4 the best pick up ever!!! I installed my Tribute neck p/u in my Les Paul with a floyd rose.(I know that's not right..lol) I never thought a pickup could make such a difference. The harmonics & overtones are awesome!!! I'm blown away!!! I'm saving up 2 buy some more!! THANK YOU SHEP!!”

— Art B.

“Hey shep Never got a chance to tell you what I think about the pickups, just wow!!!! in both my strat and 83 custom shop les paul, these things the (AB customs), are the clearest most transparent biggest sounding pickups I've played, they are absolutely amazing, they are forcing me to clean up my playing and get a whole lot better, I cant see owning a guitar without a set of these in there, thanks again”

— Jeff T.

“Best humbuckers I ever punished!”

— John Norum

“Shep, got the PUP's, got them installed... and all I can say is WOW. Thank you so much for these. I already got the guys at my local guitar store (Rockin Robin in Houston) asking me "where the hell did you find those?!!". I will spread the word. The tone is just... amazing!”

— Giordano D.

“Hey Shep, Been in Korn's studio all week recording tracks for my Against All Will band The sheptone AB set in my Historic Makeover makes that guitar sing like a bird. Best PAF clone out there. Wow... Set for stun.”

— Jimi Allen - Against All Will

“Shep, Thanks...received the pickups (Blue Sky), installed this morning and....WOW!!! I cant go on enough about your attention to detail, super quality parts / craftsmanship, and last but not least..excellent tone and sound. I am going to be 50 this year and have had a lot of old Gibson's with real PAFs and you nailed it. I am done trying pickups out. My guitar sounds as good as it ever will and Im leaving it alone! Thanks again...The wait was worth it. I have a few die hard friends into vintage tone and come Monday I will let them try out your pickups and think you will probably be getting some emails from them. Hope to cross paths with you again.”

— James P.

“Shep,

These (Custom Jimmy Page set) are by far the most spectacular sounding humbuckers ever! Name a pickup maker, I have them all and none comes close! Even better than my real long magnet pafs! All the sounds I described to you are there in spades: the squawk, spit, sizzle, the chirp, sweet fatness when the treble strings are bent, the hollow rauchiness, the tight bass and stunning crisp and open neck pickup. The only pickups that nail the rythmn sound of Page's chords on Nobody's Fault But Mine! I could go on but you already know. You sir, should be knighted!!”

— Thorn

“Howdy! sorry for the long delay.

I really wanted to give the pickups the once over and listen to them again and again, to really make sure what I was hearing wasnt just a 'good ear day' thing. It wasnt! After trying several sets of humbuckers in my prized vintage les paul, THIS is the sound people talk about hearing. the previous pickups in that guitar were like trying to paint fine art with a set of crayons. My BK set ladles out amazing levels of subtlety and texture. they respond to pick attack like nothing I've ever played before. These pickups are pure inspiration and money in the bank if you are chasing a sweet singing sound. Try em!!”

— Nial McGaughey - Solid Cables

“Hi Shep

I went to a local shop recently to try out a used Eric Johnson model. It is a great guitar with nice pickups but the neck didn't suit me. While waiting for a friend, I picked up a very ordinary Strat just to noodle around, and was floored by the tone. It was the most toneful guitar I ever played, and it was basically just a partscaster with crappy neck. The guy in shop told me it was the pickups - Sheptone Custom AB. I bought the guitar, put a better neck on it, and now have THE richest sounding Strat ever. The tone of the bass strings makes me want to join a surf band or jam with Duane Eddy, but they are also fantastic right across the range. I play a lot of blues and these pickups have made me a better player by leading me to focus on tone more than speed. I don't know how you do this, but don't stop.”

— Don W.

“Hey shep .. I put one of those zebra sets in one of my favorite guitars .. I have been playing the s**t out of them .. they're the only pafs I like with the covers left on .. great sound ! ! ! .. I'm gonna need more ..”

— Max Baranet (Builder of the MAX Les Paul guitars)

“Shep,

Holy Smokes! I just installed my Tribute Bridge & tested it out w/my Les Paul & '74 Marshall Super Lead 100 & this pickup flat out rocks big time!!!, the only bad thing is that I feel I have wasted a lot of time foolin' around w/other pickups! oh well, now I know!!!”

— Chuck D.

“Hi Shep. I installed my tributes in my 68 Gibson 335 today and I must say that they are very very good! Last time i heard this sound was with a good original PAF from 59. The midrange are fantastic! The treble are just right and bass are also right not boomy. I`m a pro guitarplayer from Europe. Thanks for a good product.”

— Lars B.

“Hey Shep, just wanted to let you know the pickups arrived on Monday.
They look fantastic, and sound even better. I honestly can't think of anything I would change about them.
They went into a les paul replica I build myself (http://www.bartlettwoodworking.com/guitar.html ) and wanted something really special for pickups to finish it off.
Again, thanks a tonne, you were great to deal with, and you'll be hearing from me again I'm sure!”

— Tom B.

“Hi Shep

I finally managed to put the tributes into my 335 - F**K what a difference! This is the tone!”

— Petri N.

“I own about 30 guits, the two P.A.F sets you've made me are the best sounding of all the pickups I own! YOU'VE MADE ME A BELIEVER!! THANKS”

— Mike T.

“I have to admit that the first time I read on your Page "I will build the last Pickups you will buy", I thought, hmm, the guy is very convinced :-)

So I soldered the PAF Tributes first in my Cheapo, just to make it a bit harder for you. It's a 400-EUR Vintage Icon Les Paul Copy, plays great but sounded like s#?t. With your Pickups, I'm totally blown away. It sings, it screams, absolutely unbelievable! I used CTS Pots and Orange Drops, with my Keeley Overdrive and a small Blackheart Amp it sounds GREAT !!

Thanks Shep for building such a great piece of Workmanship.

Regards from Germany”

— Oliver G.

“Hi Shep,

I've finally had some time the past week or so to run the PAF tributes through the paces and all I can say is wow! I've had a hard time putting the guitar down and I've really spent a lot of time playing with the amp settings. These things really sing and pull out everything from a really chimey tone to all out quack when pushed a little. I'm really looking forward now to getting the P-90's I've got on order and get them installed. I'm sure I'll then have my two main axes.

Thanks again!”

— Scott W.

“Lovin the last set(AB custom strat), put them in an 1998 clapton strat"blackie"with CTS pots and jensen caps, sounds amazing, owned a few strats now and a few pickups, read about "the tone" never experienced till now thanx shep would like to try a set of your PAF next.”

— Rick L.

“Hey Shep

The PAF's are brilliant !

I love em :) my friends love em we all love em !”

— Tone G.

“Hey Shep

The strats are just as good as your PAF's.

We love them, tried them on three different strats a 62, a 56 and a JV 83, the response and the tone is awesome in clean, crunch or heavier sounds. The balance between all three and all 5 positions are just perfect. They respect the instrument and do not have these modern, artificial annoying over tones and plastic dynamics. I haven't been impressed by pickups in a long time but i must say that so far they're better than I was even expecting.”

— Tone G.