Don Mare pickup review and buying exp.

[Stratocaster]

I got some Don Mare pups for my Tele. I ordered his Green Onions bridge pickup and his S-Telly for the neck, since I never liked the tone of any stock Tele neck pickup.

1. Great sounding bridge pickup. It is exactly what I expected. Exactly what I wanted to hear from the bridge. Measures at 7.2K ohms with alnico 5 magnets.
Features his "Rosie wrap," and vintage style bottom plate.

2. The neck pickup! BETTER than I expected. Way better. I like the neck pickup on my strats and use it more often than the middle or bridge pup. Don's S-Telly is better sounding than my strat neck pups. 6.5K ohms, longer alnico 5 magnets (strat length), Rosie wrap, no chrome cover, and he sealed the pickup for reliability, laquered and polished the top. Looks way cool. Sounds amazing! Best sounding Tele neck pup in the world. And it's on my guitar! Whoa!

3. Buying experience? Don's a national treasure. Very knowledgeable about guitars, tone, amps and especially pickups. He answers the phone usually on the first ring! He'll play stuff for you over the phone too. Prices are reasonable for a pickup that is custom made to your specs. Turnaround is quick too.

5 Stars

**Just so you know.....I also proudly have Vanzandt pups on my strat which I like very much, and I've had good luck with Seymour Duncans on my Gibson.

Have had some bad luck with some other makers which I will not mention here.

[Cogs]

A "national treasure"? It's good to know he's not really the whacko he appears to be.

[Stratocaster]

Two moderators on my thread!!!

Hey guys!

What's with the blue couch?

[pc]

Yeah, we know Don. Glad you like his stuff--many folks enjoy his pickups very much.

Me, I'll be behind the couch with Fezz keeping the rest of my comments to myself.

[Stratocaster]

Three moderators!!!!

Yes Don is cool. Passionate, opinionated, but with a big heart.

FYI - I looked at some other threads......didn't realise there was a history.

I'll be posting my Vanzandt story soon. Another positive experience.

[Falstaff]

That's good to hear. How do those pickups blend in the middle?

[Kap'n]

[Falstaff]

How.

[Stratocaster]

The pickups blend great. Beautiful funky tone with both pups engaged.

[Gravity Jim]

Kap'n - From reading some of the old posts, it seems this...

... woulda been appropriate as well.

[Kap'n]

[NeoFauve]

Yikes!

[jamisonst]

What the hell is this all about, someone email me.

I was about to order a custom set, I think.....

[Kap'n]

This gives but a small insight into the wonder that is Don Mare.

[pc]

What the hell is this all about, someone email me.

Not so much here at TFF, but over at TDPRI, there are plenty of folks who dig the heck out of his pickups. Some have posted clips--they sound no better or worse to my ears than the clips I've heard of Lollars, Fralins, Rio Grandes, or any other boutique maker you can name.

If you want the back story, here's the basics. Frankly I'm not afraid to tell it, because if he were to disagree with my retelling, I'd be happy to post the emails he sent to me, Lily and Fezz so the whole world can see what I'm quite sure he doesn't want any potential customers to see.

The short version is that he was a member of TFF for a long time as Don Mare. Later he rejoined as Buck Cannon, which at the time was a name he claimed to have legally changed to because of his new persona as a Roy Buchanan Tribute act.

His disagreement with TFF arose because we needed to enforce our policy of one screen-name per person, and for a brief time he (Buck) tried to infer that he was a different person than Don. After he eventually agreed that he was the same guy, he ran into trouble because his posts (often very knowledgeable about pickups from many different manufacturers) began to drift into sales pitches for his own pickups.

After repeated warnings about this, he was given a temporary suspension. It was at that point that he issued some of the most frightening and warped threats of lawsuits, bodily injury and even death to members of TFF staff I've ever seen. He made outrageous claims of power--that he could shut TFF down, remove Lily as the owner/admin, etc.

It was a really strange time in my history as a mod here. I make no claim that his pickup winding skills or sales practices are affected by his dementia, but I wouldn't buy one of his products for all the tea in China. I'm funny like that when you threaten to harm my friends.

[Joobsauce]

ohh wow...... that guy had some problems....... Glad I missed out on that!

[melody]

What A Drama..

[jamisonst]

Well, I had emailed him basically stating I may be looking into getting a custom set and that the Fralins in my new Grosh were harsh.

His reply started out by cursing Fralins..in a joking way?? I dunno, but it threw up a red flag right away.

[jamisonst]

This gives but a small insight into the wonder that is Don Mare.

I got nothing Kap'n????

[Kap'n]

I got nothing Kap'n????

It went away. It was a search for posts by "Buck Cannon."

The last thread has him, despite repeated warnings, insulting the mods while self destructing before your very eyes.

[pc]

Kap'n that's actually another glitch in the database software. For some reason all search threads have a timecode stamp on them, and if you try to put that search link into a new post, the timecode has expired and it says no such thread exists. But if anyone does the same search of posts by "Buck Cannon" they'll see what you were trying to link to.

[Kap'n]

Yep, I remember having that happen before, but I refreshed and clicked on the link, and it seemed to work, so I went with it.

[pc]

It apparently always works for the original searcher for the same day it was searched, but it won't work right away for other users.

I'll also note that if anyone does that Buck Cannon search it gets a little confusing because a couple of the really bad threads were moved to our "vault" and can't be viewed by members.

Secondly, Don had yet another original persona here at TFF which was "Sensor Techie." He eventually asked Admin to change that name to Buck Cannon, so if you search Buck Cannon, you'll also see posts originally made my Sensor Techie.

Either way, it does help one get a gist of what was up.

[Kap'n]

The place where bad threads go.....

[NeoFauve]

I don't mind an eccentric proprietor, if he knows his stuff.
But bodily harm and death threats are major tonesuckers.

[pc]

But bodily harm and death threats are major tonesuckers.

[elicross]

The distancing effect of the interwebs tends to reveal a person's true nature. Deep down, some people are just mindless thugs; point out that they're wrong, and they resort to ridiculous physical threats (doubly ridiculous since they almost invariably have no way of knowing where the target of their threats lives, let alone any real intention of showing up on their doorstep and pummeling them).

[pc]

...let alone any real intention of showing up on their doorstep...

Unfortunately, it's not as infrequent as you think. The problem is that its all too easy for the any given nut-job to find out where you live, and many of them do act on threats issued due to internet disagreements. I've seen it in my job far too often.

In this case, the person issuing the threats lived in the same city as one of the threat recipients and indeed knew exactly where he worked (at that time) and could have fairly easily gleaned where he lived as well.

[elicross]

Well, that's just plain scary.

[NTBluesGuitar]

When I worked in the campus Police Department, there were so many harassment and threat cases that we dealt with that originated on the internet, e-mail, and/or text messages.

It's not hard for the police to track down the threat in a lot of cases, either.

[pseudocat]

I notice he's banned on the TDPRI as well, with both pseudonyms (and maybe even more than two?).

[jamisonst]

Well, I called and talked to Don late last night for a while. I had asked about his pickups over at TGP also and he had already replied to that thread. Nothing but rave reviews also mind you.

He's actually a pretty jolly laid back guy, I'm sure he's just as eccentric and passionate about this stuff as we are. I enjoyed hearing his stories and the whole history of his journey. I also got the feeling that he knows a thing or two about pickups that are "non-conventional" and I'm sure that his hard work and dedication that has led up to this point in his craft are really the key to his pickup's secret mojo. I'm gonna buy a set eventually and I'm sure they will be as good as those who have come before me.

Acme Guitar Works used to be a Don Mare dealer, I'm not sure what's happened since then but I'll be ordering directly from Don anyways.

Sorry I missed the big fiasco that led to his demise. TEHO.

[Kap'n]

I'm sure he's just as eccentric and passionate about this stuff as we are.

Maybe more.

[jerryjg]

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Fruit/BananaFlaming.htm

I dunno. maybe the guys bi-polar or something.

[Kap'n]

I dunno. maybe the guys bi-polar or something.

Sure, the guy's got issues.

Maybe even a full subscription.

But when you cross the line from being a flake to being dangerous, you gotta take whatever control you've got, and fix it. Medication, whatever.

[DelsFan]

"when you cross the line from being a flake to being dangerous..."

I agree, I find that the best work is usually done by flakes, and I have no problem with "Fruits" or "loopies" either. However, I must agree with the above poster.

SO:

I'm looking for replacement pickups for my friend's newish Squire tele (it's cheap, but it chords mighty well). I was thinking (before I perused this thread) of the DonOcasters (his favorite) or the SuperSports (his best seller). Before that I considered the Kinman Broadcasters (I liked the 48's much better than the 60's) but haven't had time to research the Fralins.

Any suggestions for tele replacement pickups, for someone who plays a lot of classic rock and country (Skynard, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Rolling Stones...)? (My friend also has a '68 SG as an option for the "real" or heavier rock and roll.) For the tele, we are probably like everyone - we want more tone and less ice-pick. Maybe any of the botique pickups would do this!
I'd be glad to hear comments on:
Lollar?
Kinman?
Fralin?
Rio Grande?

Price is not a factor (up to $200 or a little more).

PLUS, if we are going to add new pickups I expect we'll just go to the trouble (expense) of gutting the other electronics, and add new wiring, pots, switch, and jack. In for a penny, in for a pound - yes?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[jamisonst]

Don Mare is a cool cat, I've talked with him on more than one occasion. His pickups are incredible and he gets lots of rave reviews and praise over at The Gear Page which has ALOT more members and stuff going on than here. Just sayin.....let the past be the past.

[pc]

Well, I had emailed him basically stating I may be looking into getting a custom set and that the Fralins in my new Grosh were harsh.

His reply started out by cursing Fralins..in a joking way?? I dunno, but it threw up a red flag right away.

I'm glad that things have come around for you. The past can definitely stay in the past--but if we forget the past we're doomed to get caught in the reruns.

TGP has tons of action each day, maybe they all like Don right now. TDPRI has just as much action each day. Are the veterans there wrong for feeling the opposite?

My point is this: inasmuch as you're trying to let people know you like his product--go for it. The more info we all have on what gear and options are out there on the market, the better off we all are as gear consumers, etc.

Inasmuch as you maybe trying to rewrite the history of what he did to some people here or seek forgiveness on his behalf, you're barking up the wrong tree. Not saying that to be mean--just telling you how I feel since you told us how you feel.

[Kap'n]

.

[Gris]

I'll chime in. I talked to him before. He was nice and knowledgable. I've tried his Tele PUs too - excellent. Everything else is hearsay to me.