Wilkinson products?

[Leonardo Silva]

as you may wonder, I'm doing a lot of posts since I'm starting to study some products in order to get on some new projects since the one I'm currently in is a week from done.

aaaaand, this one goes a looong way, where do Wilkinson products come from??, I've seen chinese wilkinson pickups that are really cheap, as well as chinese wilkinson locking tuners, also the classic 2 posts Japanese Gotoh Wilkinson trem (I love that tremolo), but I just don't know if what Ebay is offering me are counterfeit products or are all of this really wilkinson products? specially the pickups, they seem "suspicious" as they offer chinese wilkinson for over 10$, 40$ for a humbucker set, which is kinda, I don't know, never bought or tried a wilkinson product other than the gotoh trem & tuners.

so, any opinions, are wilkinson chinese products worth it?

[Perry Underwood]

I am of the belief that even products from the same manufacturer may not the same in different stores. For example, the CTS pots that you buy from one online store may not be the same as the ones you buy from Stewmac. The tolerances with the Stewmac pots may be better and also the material used. (The Stewmac ones use brass in areas where other sources use different metals.) In other words, if an online store is big enough, they can order products that are manufactured to their specifications.

With regard to Wilkinson, I purchased two sets of 6-in-line tuners from one online source and each set had one bad tuner--different problems though. When I contacted the company, they told me that someone else had received a set that had one of the problems I encountered. I had to return the defective tuners to them before they sent out replacements.

Two words of advice. Buy from an online store that you trust and know that if there is a problem, they will resolve it without a hassle. In another thread, Guitarfetish has been complimented on their return policies. My experience is different. I've bought a lot of hardware and pickups from them. The one time I contacted them because of a problem, I had to prove the defect (a cracked or possibly scratched P90 pickup cover) existed before they sent a replacement. I sent a photo. Perhaps that was a reasonable request, but I had been a long time customer and had spent a large amount of money buying from them. My purchases from Guitarfetish dropped off significantly after that. Second, don't buy too cheap. It's not worth it.

[Eric Baack]

I've bought 3 sets of tuners from GFS, had one bad one but they replaced it with no questions asked and didn't make me send the bad one back.

My first build has a TOM bridge that I got from amazon for really cheap and the plating is flaking off of it. I'm going to replace it soon with a roller bridge from GFS

[Dave Sayers]

Wilkinson products are, like so many other things, designed in one country and built in the far east. Wilkinson are designed in England. The quality control is generally good and for the tuners they usually have 'Wilkinson' embossed on the metal the same way as Gotoh have their name on. Wilkinson pickups are good value and they also made the first autotune bridge, if I am not mistaken. Be cautious if buying from certain dealers, they may list Wilkinson or Gotoh, but often as 'style'. These tuners have lower tolerances.

[Peter Wilcox]

With regard to Wilkinson, I purchased two sets of 6-in-line tuners from one online source and each set had one bad tuner--different problems though. When I contacted the company, they told me that someone else had received a set that had one of the problems I encountered.

I've had several sets of tuners and trem bridges that were fine. One set of tuners had a tuning post cockeyed to the housing. I too was told he ((Dragonfire Guitars) had to have it back, as he needed to send it in to his supplier to get his own replacement. But he sent me the replacement right away before he received the bad one.

I would also advise buying from a vendor you have confidence in. When I buy from China, I buy it through Amazon, so if there is a problem I have some recourse.

[Perry Underwood]

The Wilkinson turners I bought were from Guitarheads.net. One set had a bushing that wouldn't screw down far enough into the housing to be tight on a headstock. The other set had one tuner in which the post just sort of flopped around in the housing. They sent replacements after receiving the ones I sent.

I think it was after an earlier purchase from the same store that I decided not to buy too cheap. When I bought the Wilkinson turners, I thought, "What could go wrong?"

[Art Davila]

I've seen chinese wilkinson pickups that are really cheap, as well as chinese wilkinson locking tuners, also the classic 2 posts Japanese Gotoh Wilkinson trem (I love that tremolo), but I just don't know if what Ebay is offering me are counterfeit products or are all of this really wilkinson products?

Aren't gotoh and wilkinson 2 separate companies?

As dave sayers stated "Be cautious if buying from certain dealers, they may list Wilkinson or Gotoh, but often as 'style"

They might be the company contracted to manufacture the the product but sell the product made with cheaper metals to undercut the real branded product.

If your making guitars for your self its ok to try out cheaper sources, but if you intend to sell these guitars, your customers will think you do poor work if the parts you use start to fail. I am alway getting used parts that I can use in future projects if they do not show any wear.

[Leonardo Silva]

^the wilkinson 2 point trem is a tremolo designed by wilkinson but manufactured by gotoh in japan under wilk license (something like that), those are really amazing quality, I've tried wilkinson products and they are quite good.

I'm still worried the pickups might be chinese counterfeit :/, still not sure if I should try and buy them, for now I won't, I will try other brands first on pickups, for hardware I'll try wilkinson.

[Brian Curtis]

I've bought many Wilkinson products - their pickup are very good - be on the lookout for pickups using ceramic mags - not good - stick to Alnic0 2,3,4,5 - Wilkinson also make a Gibson knock off Tulip ( green colour) tuner - not the greatest - spend the extra dough and get Kluson or Tone Pro - you'll love these - better still when doing pickups -build your own -I do now - very easy using the Stew Mac winder. There built right here in Canada. Good luck.

[Leonardo Silva]

^I personally think that the cheap ceramic pups are kinda bad, but the high quality pickups with high gain goes well with ceramic magnets, if i want a more classic sound, no doubt I would go for some sort of alnico magnets.

and yes, of course I would love Kluson or Tone pro hardware, but budget is always a thing to consider.