Your Guide to Buying, Selling & Understanding Used Guitar Pickups
UsedGuitarPickups.com is designed to help players navigate the entire world of used pickups with clarity. Whether you’re looking for a boutique Strat set, a vintage Tele bridge, a collectible PAF clone, or a modern handcrafted design, this site gives you unbiased information to make informed decisions.
We organize the pickup world into four clear categories, mass-produced brands, elite boutique makers, respected mid-boutique builders, and budget options
Buy Used Pickups
Learn how to evaluate condition, verify authenticity, interpret signatures and labels, and understand common price ranges. Find fix prices listings on Reverb or Sweetwater Used Marketplace. Find $1 Auctions on Ebay.
Sell Your Pickups
Understand how to price, photograph, describe, and safely ship your pickups to maximize value.
Trade Pickup Options
Explore how trades work with private sellers, retailers, and builders. Full details are provided on the dedicated Trade Page.
Browse Pickups by Brand
Brand profiles include background, identifying traits, tonal tendencies, used-market behavior, and the paths players often take when moving between makers.
Brands are grouped by category and alphabetized by last name.
Major Mass-Produced Brands
Typically chosen by players who want reliability, predictable tone, wide availability.. Ideal for beginners, weekend players, and anyone mainly focused on low prices.
• DiMarzio
• Seymour Duncan
• EMG
• Fender
• Fishman
• Gibson
• Mojotone
Elite Boutique & Collector-Tier Brands
Used by professional players, recording musicians, collectors, and tone purists who value nuance, dynamics, touch sensitivity. Basically anyone that require elite tone.
• Virgil Arlo
• Ron Ellis
• Alan Hamel
• Throbak
• Tom Holmes
• ToneSpec
• Tim White
• Abby Ybarra
Respected / Mid-Boutique Builders
Chosen by experienced players who want something other than mass produced pickups with dependable craftsmanship without entering the ultra-collectible price tier. These makers offer great value to hobbyists and working musicians lesser used guitars.
• Arcane
• Bare Knuckle
• Budz
• OC Duff
• Peter Florance
• Fralin
• TV Jones
• Klein
• K-Line
• Lollar
• Manlius
• Curtis Novak
• OX4
• Porter Pickups
• ReWind
• JM Rolph
• Sheptone
• Slider’s
• Wizz
• Wolfetone
Low-Cost & Budget Brands
Often selected by new players, modders, DIY builders, or anyone experimenting with different types of tone on a tight budget. These brands offer accessible options for upgrading import guitars or testing tonal ideas without major investment.
• Artec
• Bootstrap
• GFS
• Tonerider
• Wilkinson
Why Players Choose Used Pickups
Used pickups are one of the most value-rich segments of the guitar world. They offer:
• better value retention than most guitar parts
• the ability to refine tone without permanent modification
• access to discontinued or retired boutique winders
• vintage-style feel at a fraction of vintage-instrument prices
• more freedom to experiment and evolve your sound
From collectible small-batch artisans to classic production models, used pickups give players more tonal range than any other upgrade.
Start Exploring
Browse the brand list, learn how buying and selling works, or explore the trade section to better understand the options available.
Your next great tone may already be out there waiting.
