Testimonials:

If your instrument, pickup, or service when dealing with Heckler Custom Guitars was so good that you want to tell the world then please email me a "quote" and I will be sure to post your testimonial here.  Thanks! -Chad

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"A few months ago I asked Chad Heckler of Heckler Custom Guitars to wind a couple humbuckers for a 1971 Les Paul Custom that was the dullest sounding of the three Les Pauls I own. My 1970 Les Paul Custom has Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups in it, and my other 1971 Les Paul standard has Lindy Fralin pickups in it. I asked Chad if he could wind me a set of nickel covered humbuckers similar to both the Fralins and Duncan’s, but a little less output for a brighter cleaner sound. I also asked if he would stagger wind the coils to give a more believable single coil sound when split.

After installing the pickups and adjusting the height I immediately knew they were what I was looking for. Clean and clear without any harshness in the top end and plenty of bottom end spank. Dynamic and defined.  As stated the Les Paul Custom I put these in was my least favorite, least played Les Paul. It is now my # 1 go to guitar and the standard for comparing amps, pedals, and other guitars. I have recently put a set in PH Naffah’s Les Paul classic that is being used by Jim Dalton as a backup guitar. I am completely satisfied with these pickups and look forward to trying a Strat pickup set soon.”

Jamie Lopez – Tour Manager
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers

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"This was so much more than placing an order and taking delivery.  I was actually a participant in the process. Chad shared progress photos and updates throughout and even made time to host a visit to the shop to learn about the process.  My guitar was the product of a collaborative project and I was part of it. What a great experience!"

Mike Auquier - Repeat Customer

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“I shopped for pickups for nearly six months, trying everything from the normal Seymour Duncan/Dimarzio/Gibson pickup route to more unique offerings from Lollar Pickups.

The Seymours, Dimarzios, and Gibson pickups were all the same sounds I've heard over my fifteen years of playing guitars.  The sound is good, but it seems as if these pickup have lost something through time, maybe soul?  These pickups are found in so many guitars these days.  It seems as if their quality and consistancy has went down pretty heavily.  A great pickup should make an okay guitar sound great...  I haven't seen this lately.

The Lollars were amazing pickups, but quite expensive.

But here where Chad comes in.  He's been studying these guys' work for years now, and he's doing what they do with the quality of Lollar and the prices more like Seymour and Gibson.  He didn't say, "what's your sound?" and recommend me a model from a lineup.  He made these pickups totally custom for me.  These went in my 93' G&L Legacy equipped with Seymour Duncan SSL1 pickups.  The bridge pickup was lifeless, so I asked for a humbucker with a little more clarity, but still wanted to retain the punch.  The middle and neck pickups were chimey and had no punch. I also asked for two single coil with punch, but still wanted to retain the clarity. 

So the pickups came out as follows:
Bridge HB : Alnico 5 Magnet w/ 8.91k Output--This pickup is great clean, and with overdrive retains it's punch.  This isn't just because these pickups are custom made for my guitar, but this has to be my favorite humbucker I've ever played.  Fits my style nicely (from hard blues to more classic sounding rock to the thick sounding soundgarden-like distortion).

Middle Single : Alnico 5 Magnet w/ 7.65k Output--This is my clean sound pickup.  Chimey with a bit of grit.  Great for the Trower classics.

Neck Single : Alnico 5 Magnet w/ 8.08k Output--This pickup drives overdrive pedal and channels crazy.  This is like a Strat pickup married with a P90.  Try this through a Big Muff into a slightly driven Marshall and crank it.  Super thick and punchy for a classic single.  Turn the tone pot down halfway and get the woman tone instantly.

The Mid/Neck position 4 on this guitar invokes beautiful Mark Knoffler tones easy. 

Note that these pickups are made especially to my standards and for my like.  You like it hotter, he'll make it hotter.  Super high quality, and he didn't stop till I was completely satisfied.  For his prices, who does that?”

Adam W. Dorough -- Complete Tone Freak...

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“Chad Heckler of HCG goes above & beyond his duties as a luthier. He not only built me a custom GRIFF model to my specs, but after a month of gigs we came to the conclusion that the pickups just didn’t have the bite and tone that my Gibson LP Classic had. So, Chad went that extra mile to make guitars that exceed what his customers want by researching the ins and outs of pickups. He then built his own pickup winder and proceeded to prototype a few sets until he found the tones he was looking for with the ability to tweak it for each customer. Chad then loaded my HCG GRIFF with a custom set of LoverBucker pickups. This thing screams now along with the ability to control my clean tone the way I like. This guitar is incredible and is now taking me on a tour of tone and playability every time I pick her up.  Thanks Chad!”

Tim Smith - The Catz Ass

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"A few years ago I started playing and collecting guitars again . I was utilizing several different people to work on my guitars . Chad Heckler by far was the one most professional and honest luthier to work on my collection . His attention to detail and finish are second to none . People who work on and build string instruments are known as luthiers. Chad is certainly a luthier, but one who excels at his chosen craft."

Detroit Bob - rpb