Testimonials from Dr. Vintage Customers

The following comments are testimonials from Dr. Vintage customers regarding our products and services.

The Unburst Set
"The Rick Norman Unburst pickup is the most musical, open sounding pickup I've had. It cleans up like no other pickup, while maintaining that PAF like beautiful chimey, crystal-clear organic sound. I've been through a lot of pickups but the Unburst seem to do everything I wish for. It's never harsh and super well-balanced. Great overall feel and definition. Try one for yourself, Rick's pickups won't disappoint you in any way.
"Also, and very important: a great guy to deal with and really serious about GOOD tone!!! Looking forward in hearing the Raquel set also!" Ruben Hoeke (The Netherlands) Click here for more info on Ruben!

The Racquel Set
"Rick - I have been playing my R9 with your great pickups (also your Dr. Vintage Early-spec controls). These are the best sounding units I think I have ever had.
"I really love this guitar now; it so fits with the sound of my band. I get the great classic sounds for Rock and RnB. So far, with my JTM45 clone amp, I am pulling off all the classic, iconic guitar tones. It's like you can't help it - it just flows out the speakers. All the band member have mentioned my tones since I installed the pickups.
"I really love the Neck pickup - so clear and warm. You can hear every note, what tone! The middle position has so many voices/tones. Then the bridge is just killer - perfect quack. It sounds like a hot PAF. It's Heaven - no joke. I can't find any short comings at all. Thanks, Rick" Steve (at Welborn Music, Durant, OK)

"Having spent some time with the Early-Spec Control Kit and Racquel Set of pickups in my 2007 R9 I would like to share my impressions of the build quality and their performance.
"I own several amplifiers with various tube configurations and outputs. When I talked to Rick, I described my ideal of detailed, shimmering clean sounds using only the lightest touch, to sweating tubes grunting under the girth of total pigdom. Only one small batch maker of high dollar winds has been able to produce such devices of sonic reckoning-until now.
"I want fingerstyle passages, Scotty Moore/Merle Travis Hollywood Hillbilly, and greasy, corpulent grind from one instrument without the ubiquitous tap-dance. The Racquel Set delivers. Bridge Tele spank and neck pickup cholesterol are a toggle flip apart. The icing on the gravy, though, is the "Freddie King in the middle thang"-folks, it gets no better. That sweet fat grind awaits downstairs...Thank you, Rick...Thank you." Bryan (from Louisiana)

"I play rock music and mostly play with some form of grit. (Think GNR's Appetite for Destruction.) I was looking for a PUP that would breathe better than the A5 set I had in my guitar but still deliver tons of articulation in both positions.
"I would often find myself trying to dial out neck muddiness in my R8 and this neck pickup was EXACTLY what the guitar needed. The bridge position really opened up alot too, I felt like all of the subtleties of the guitar's actual sound came through like they should and the balance between the two pickups was second to none. Rick did an exquisite job in considering the middle position as well. If you're like me and always wanted to have the ability to blend both pickups together but always felt like something was just kind of "eh" sounding there, these PUPS solved that problem as well. In the middle position I would always feel like that neck PUP suffocated the sound from the bridge rather than blend well together. These PUPs were obviously designed with the intention of being able to blend together flawlessly.
"Love the PUP's Rick!" Scott (from California) Click here to hear Scott's new CD - recorded with Racquel pickups and Early-Spec controls!

The Dot-neck Set
"These pickups have more dynamic range and more tonal range than any humbuckers I've ever tried. When I pick hard, the notes really pop out. I like that. When I hit a low open E, I want to hear some twang, not a dull woof. These pickups do that better than most.
"I must admit that I never use my tone controls when playing live, just leave 'em wide open. Your tone controls, however have a very wide and smooth useable range, and the pickups put out plenty of highs, so I did find myself using them and enjoying the ability to roll off a little high end without getting instant mud.
"The neck pickup sounds sweet (for a humbucker) played clean, and does really well with some amp distortion for solos. Bridge pickups can be a problem for me because I need distortion but not too much. This one is just right. I want to commend you for the pots. The taper is just right, like my '50s guitars, and I appreciate that they're easy to turn. It seems hard to find pots that do these simple things well.
"Excellent pickups!" Eric (from Arizona)

"We played out last night and after about 3 songs with my '63 Esquire I gave the ('68) ES345 a whirl. It's hard to describe how impressed I was with the sound. Just a really fat sound with sustain that I can summon at will.
"I haven't adjusted the pole pieces yet - they're where you set them - I just set the overall height by my standard. Great balance front to back, the in-between sound, something I don't usually use, was suprisingly good. The neck pup, again, no mud whatsoever and just fat, fat, fat! The bridge pickup, which I thought was really good sounding when I 1st played it, just seemed to get better the more I played it. I have never switched between neck and bridge so much during the course of a show. I just couldn't decide which position sounded best. Both pups worked well in all the songs we did which is basically blues rock type stuff fm AC/DC, Free to Zeppelin, ZZTop. It actually affected my playing adversely because I spent so much time switching back and forth and working my tone knobs when I should of just been playing, I was that excited by what I was hearing.
"I'm fortunate in that I have a lot of vintage guitars and I don't get excited that much, I'm used to great tone. This 345 is all it can be now. If my '64 335 wasn't stock I think I would put some of your pups in there, I'm serious. My 335 sounds great but I think I prefer the 345.
"I guess you can tell that I like these. Thanks!" George M. (from Japan)

Dr. Vintage Early-Spec Control Kits

"I'm quite pleased with my new control set. Well worth the money, and the kit was shipped promptly.
"I installed the control kit in an otherwise stock 2003 Brazilian board Stinger R7 which has become a more practical "stand in" for my old sunburst Les Paul. The kit instructions are very well thought out, and the pics are very good. The kit also comes with some cool cardboard shields that help to keep your guitar from being hurt in the installation process by solder spatter or a shaky soldering hand. As you can see on the Dr. V web site the controls come with the caps already soldered in place, pot ground tabs bent over and soldered, ground buss wires in place, and the backs of the cans soldered a little where you connect the pickups. This does help make the job a little easier, and the spacing of the wired together pots was correct and they dropped right in.
"The tapers of these are very nice. Not quite as smooth as the ones in my original '59 burst, but they are very close. Closer than I've seen in any new pots. They swell up nice and smooth, and should please folks that play a cranked up amp that reacts well to control changes.
"The tone is a little more articulate in the highs with the slightly higher impedance loading. The tones work nicely, and the 50s wiring really gives you more range.
"This control kit is the only mod to my 2003 Stinger Blacktop I plan to make. Thumbs up!" - Glen (from Nashville, TN)

"Have had my Dr. Vintage Early Spec kit in one of my Les Paul's for a couple of weeks now. I have put it through the paces and am extremely impressed. Instantly I noticed an improvement in tone and function. The upper-mids are more present now and overall the guitar has more clarity. Awesome! I've been disappointed with other popular pots because they were always too stiff. You have addressed that issue. They are very loose/broken in feeling allowing for easy volume swells. Nice! I also really like your custom taper. Allowing subtle changes from 0 to 10 with no dead spots. I just wanted to drop you a note to say thanks for a wonderful sounding upgrade kit. Great job!!" - Regards, Sean (from Texas)

"I now have great range on my vol/tone controls. Meaning, when I turn down the volume, my guitar not only cleans up well, but it also doesn't lose volume (as quickly) like many other pots do. The main problem I had with the standard CTS pots is that I'd try to clean up my sound by turning the volume down but then I'd end up losing too much volume! So, these new pots definitely make great use of my vol controls.
"Regarding the tone, I obviously have more range just like the new vol controls. But what I really love compared to both my stock historic caps and some old bumble bee Sprague caps is that I got that cool "Wah" filter tone when I had my tone around 0-2. Unlike before, it was just too thick sounding and not musical. I couldn't get that "woman" tone that many try to achieve.
"Another great thing is how the controls work when both pups are selected. I can't quite explain it in words but they're VERY interactive." - Laurence (from Indiana)

Guitar Blueprinting

"I came upon the Dr. Vintage Blueprinting Service while seeking a more vintage tone than you get with the "straight from the factory" Gibson reissue VOS Historic.
"I didn't want to go through the likely trial and error associated with random parts swaps. I was hoping to find someone who had been at this for years; someone who had heard and actually PLAYED the real thing (real Bursts); someone who had experimented with almost every electronic component in the mix; and someone who shared the passion for the classic tonal qualities of the vintage Les Pauls of the late 1950s.
"I corresponded with Rick and knew that I had found the right man for the job. After putting the stock instrument through its paces, he recommended an integrated set of modifications, which included directing me to some of his many expert resources, who provided the very best in after-market gear, and of course, he installed a set of his Early-Spec controls.
"Following the installation of all of the new hardware, he performed a meticulous setup - neck adjustment, nut and bridge adjustments, intonation optimization, and action height. He used his experience and "ear" to "dial in" every component, especially the pickups, so that they all worked together, to make this particular guitar the very best it could be.
"The results were nothing short of miraculous. When I got the guitar back, the first thing I noticed was that the guitar sounded much better acoustically. In stock form, it sounded "dead". Upon return, it resonated. I knew right then that this was a brand new beast.
I plugged it in and was AMAZED. It sounded like the same guitar, but a hundred times better. Tone approaching the real thing. A much more musical sound, with the ability to better hear each string. The ability to shape the tonal qualities through the controls that the stock instrument didn't possess. And perfect setup - low action, zero buzzing, nice consistent string height - extremely comfortable. Absolute perfection.
"The level of customer service rivaled the sonic improvements. Rick treated me like I was the only customer in the world, and my guitar as if it were his own. This was a level of customer service you just don't find anymore. You can tell that he put his heart and soul into making this Historic sing. The range of sonic possibilities is so wide now that I find myself playing whenever I can. I've never had this much enjoyment from a guitar before - I feel like a kid again. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" - Bill (from Virginia)

Vintage Parts Restoration

"I purchased a 1953 Gibson Les Paul several years ago and upon receipt of the guitar discovered that the original pots were inoperable. I was referred to an aftermarket supplier and reluctantly replaced them with a pre-wired aftermarket set in order to play the guitar. While I was never completely happy with the tone I had nothing else to compare it to. I played it that way for a few years before I heard about Dr. Vintage. After contacting him and discussing the process I sent him my original pots to see what could be done. I had nothing to lose. They were really messed up both volume and tone. Well the good doctor delivered. When I installed them back in the instrument it was like the guitar came back to life. I finally had the tone I had been expecting when I first purchased the guitar. Dr Vintage did a fabulous job of restoring my original Les Paul pots and bringing my guitar back to life. I just wish I had found out about him sooner. It would have spared my two years of inferior tone." - Mark (from Arizona)