Sheptone Pickups: Hand Crafted Tone

By: Dr. Matt Warnock

As guitarists, we’re all about tone. Whether we play country, rock, blues, jazz or metal, there’s something about finding just the right tone that can keep us glued to our guitars and amps for hours, trying to get that perfect combination that makes our ears tingle.

While many of us will buy expensive guitars, made from very particular woods, or search pawnshops for vintage amps and pedals that we just need to have, we often overlook one of the most important aspects to defining any player’s tone, the pickups.

Finding just the right pickup can be a tedious and difficult process, as each manufacturer and style of pickup comes with its own unique tone quality that can sound different depending on which guitar they end up being used with.

Though many of us will rely, or rather settle, on the pups that come with our guitars in the first place, the seasoned pros often scour online auction sites for classic pickups, or work with custom makers such as the fine folks over at Sheptone.

Jeff and the crew at Sheptone know that it takes more than just some metal and a few magnets to get a solid tone. It’s both “a science and an art,” as he explains below, which guys like Jeff sweat over beforehand, but few of us think about once we’re tearing through a Van Halen or B.B. King song on our favorite guitar.

Though some people will be satisfied with the status quo when it comes to their pickups, for those looking to go that extra mile check out Sheptone’s selection of high-quality, handmade pickups. You just might find that they’re the missing ingredient to nailing down that dream tone you’ve been chasing all these years.

Guitar International recently sat down with Jeff “Shep” Shepherd to talk about how they build their pickups, their endorsees and what makes Sheptone pickups stand out from the crowd.

Sheptone Red Headed Step Child

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Matt Warnock: What kinds and styles of pickups do you offer customers right now at Sheptone?

Jeff “Shep” Shepherd: We currently offers several models of humbuckers in all string-spacings, mini-humbuckers both vintage and firebird style, pickups for Stratocaster, Telecaster, Soapbar, Dogeared, and Humbucker-sized P90s, Precision bass, and 4 and 5-string Jbass.

We also offer some unique pickups such as humbuckers for Jazzmasters, and P90 sized humbuckers. We also specialize in pickup aging, vintage pickup restoration, and custom pickup re-work.

Matt: Do you build each pickup for a particular customer when they call in and order, or do you pre-make the pickups and then ship them out as orders come in?

Jeff: We doesn’t currently carry any inventory, all pickups are built as ordered. We do have several dealers worldwide that carry some inventory of our most popular sets, but that’s it, everything else is built when ordered.

Matt: How much customization can customers request when ordering a pickup, or do they choose from pre-built models on the site?

Jeff: Customers can choose from a variety of standard models designed to cover a wide range of tastes and styles. We also frequently work with customers by phone or email to customize pickups for an individual player’s needs.

Matt: What makes Sheptone pickups different from other pickup manufactures out there today?

Jeff: Pickup building is both and art and a science. Our products are a result of many thousands of hours of research, development and testing; both here at Sheptone, and in real-world studio and live situations. While we constantly strive for superior tone, I believe our customer service is what really sets us apart from other pickup manufacturers out there today.

Sheptone Tele Pickup Standard

Matt: Who are some of the company’s endorsers and how did those relationships develop?

Jeff: Artist endorsements develop from the artist actually using our pickups and deciding to voluntarily endorse our products. Endorsements come from a wide variety of styles include Brian Kahanek, Keith Scott (Bryan Adams), John Norum, Michael Lee Jackson, Danny Kortchmar (James Taylor), Brian Wooten (Trace Adkins), Shawn Tubbs (Carrie Underwood), Jeff Kollman, Bill Connors, and Brian Pettit.

Matt: If a customer orders a pickup today, what’s the average wait time between now and them receiving their pickups?

Jeff: Due to high demand, the average wait time is approximately 4 weeks for all orders.

Matt: Do you have plans in the future to work with a large-scale guitar company to supply them pickups, or are you focusing on being a custom builder for the near future?

Jeff: I currently work with several small builders, but don’t have any plans to work with any large scale manufacturers. Should that opportunity present itself, a decision to move in that direction would depend on our ability to maintain our high quality and consistency, as well as still meet our demands. We won’t compromise quality for quantity.

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