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So I'm a week away from my Danelectro Wild Thing and I have been trying to find different pick-ups made for Danelectro guitars. I'm really hoping somewhere out there exist a Lipstick P-90 or something of the sort. So if you know if any different lipstick pick-ups please let me know.

I really don't think you've too many options. I know Duncan makes some, as does Kent Armstrong and probably GFS. IDK who else. I don't think you're going to find too much tonal variation either. Lipstick pickups have a pretty characteristic sound. If you don't like that basic sound, maybe getting a guitar with lipstick pickups isn't really for you.

I'd suggest you play the guitar with the stock pickups for a long while before you even think of swapping out the pickups.

Lipstick pickups tend to be fairly low output, but they sound pretty nice. They've a voice all their own. If I got a guitar with lipsticks, I wouldn't really wanna switch 'em out for anything else. If you really wanna expand your tonal palette, use pedals.

I don't like the Kent Armstrongs... I thought the "new" [90's] Dano pickups were better. I have yet to try Duncans but I like everything else they make so...

Chankgeez wrote:I really don't think you've too many options. I know Duncan makes some, as does Kent Armstrong and probably GFS. IDK who else. I don't think you're going to find too much tonal variation either. Lipstick pickups have a pretty characteristic sound. If you don't like that basic sound, maybe getting a guitar with lipstick pickups isn't really for you.

I'd suggest you play the guitar with the stock pickups for a long while before you even think of swapping out the pickups.

Lipstick pickups tend to be fairly low output, but they sound pretty nice. They've a voice all their own. If I got a guitar with lipsticks, I wouldn't really wanna switch 'em out for anything else. If you really wanna expand your tonal palette, use pedals.

I'm not against the pick-ups, I do like the twang, but having different pick-up option would be nice.

NihilistNixon wrote:I'm not against the pick-ups, I do like the twang, but having different pick-up option would be nice.

Playing devil's advocate here.

You're probably not gonna find a lipstick pickup that sounds too different than any other lipstick pickup. I think you'll find some that are a bit hotter and sound a touch more modern, but probably nothing with much of a difference tonally. If you're getting the Wild Thing because you like the body shape and eventually decide that lipstick pickups aren't for you, you may have to cut into the body to install different pickups. I'm not sure you're gonna find a drastically different sounding pickup that just drops in without some modification. Of course, you could always have someone custom wind some pickups for you that'll fit in the lipstick case. Then you'll have exactly what you want. Either way, it might end up costing you more than you've paid for the guitar itself in the first place.

The Duncan lipsticks are as close as you're going to get to the originals in sound.
Don't bother with GFS -- they're no better than the stock pu's. Alright but not great.
I put Duncans in my 90s U2 and it compared pretty well to my 65 Silvertone.
have't tried the Kent Armstrongs though but they were next on the list if the Duncans didn't work out.

Yeah, I like Duncans in general. They're decent quality pickups. They don't always have the most character, but they usually sound pretty good.

I just did some searchin' and found Curtis Novak makes some lipsticks (they're Strat drop ins though). I'm sure they sound really nice, but for what they're going for you're almost approaching the price of the guitar. Probably not worth it considering the quality of the original instrument.

With guitars that come equipped with lipsticks you just really don't have as many replacement options as with other kinds of guitars.

In the late 80's or early 90's I saw an original Dan-O where the guitar had been routed for a couple of distortion-y Dimarzio humbuckers.

Yeah, I think those lipstick pickups are really well suited to the type of body construction on Dano guitars.

Chankgeez wrote:I just did some searchin' and found Curtis Novak makes some lipsticks (they're Strat drop ins though). I'm sure they sound really nice, but for what they're going for you're almost approaching the price of the guitar. Probably not worth it considering the quality of the original instrument.

He makes drop-in for Strats but he also makes vintage-spec for Dans. So far as lipstick repros go I still like the sound of the first Dan reissues best.

uck wrote:

Chankgeez wrote:I just did some searchin' and found Curtis Novak makes some lipsticks (they're Strat drop ins though). I'm sure they sound really nice, but for what they're going for you're almost approaching the price of the guitar. Probably not worth it considering the quality of the original instrument.

He makes drop-in for Strats but he also makes vintage-spec for Dans. So far as lipstick repros go I still like the sound of the first Dan reissues best.

I guess I didn't look closely enough at his site.

My point being that he hasn't even gotten the guitar yet. I almost always feel that a person should play a guitar with the pickups that're already in it for awhile before even thinking about swapping them out. Buying replacement pickups can get kinda expensive. In most cases, it doesn't really make sense to throw $200 worth of pickups into a $300 guitar. And, yeah, not all lipstick pickups are created equal.

And hell, if you're getting up into the $500 and $600 range, just get an original 60's Dano or Silvertone. They're out there.

Chankgeez wrote:

uck wrote:

Chankgeez wrote:I just did some searchin' and found Curtis Novak makes some lipsticks (they're Strat drop ins though). I'm sure they sound really nice, but for what they're going for you're almost approaching the price of the guitar. Probably not worth it considering the quality of the original instrument.

He makes drop-in for Strats but he also makes vintage-spec for Dans. So far as lipstick repros go I still like the sound of the first Dan reissues best.

I guess I didn't look closely enough at his site.

My point being that he hasn't even gotten the guitar yet. I almost always feel that a person should play a guitar with the pickups that're already in it for awhile before even thinking about swapping them out. Buying replacement pickups can get kinda expensive. In most cases, it doesn't really make sense to throw $200 worth of pickups into a $300 guitar. And, yeah, not all lipstick pickups are created equal.

I got my Wild Thing finally and found out something very exciting about the pick-ups...they are incredible. And when both bridge and neck are on at once it is very different sounding. I was wrong to doubt the lipsticks. Its so clean and the guitar itself is nowhere near as large as I thought it'd be (which is great)..

If the Wild Thing is wired the same as the old Danos, the middle position is both pickups together in humbucking mode.

Glad you're liking it with the stock pickups.

Chankgeez wrote:If the Wild Thing is wired the same as the old Danos, the middle position is both pickups together in humbucking mode.

Glad you're liking it with the stock pickups.

Yeah, it sounds very different then my old Squire I had, but that is to be expected.lol
It is intense looking in person, photos do it no justice.