Right Guitar or Right Pickups? How to Spend Your Money Smartly!

Right Guitar or Right Pickups? How to Spend Your Money Smartly!
Upgrade your guitar with ThroBak Pickups: https://www.throbak.com/

Is your bad guitar tone caused by the wrong guitar or the wrong pickups? In ThroBak Guitar Lounge Podcast Episode 030, Jon Gundry and Matthew Quail break down one of the most common questions players ask: Should you buy the right guitar, or buy the right pickups?

📬 Viewer Mail & Vintage Gear Deep Dive

The episode kicks off with Jon answering viewer questions, followed by another Player Grade Vintage segment. Jon and Matthew explore the 1979 Fender Deluxe Reverb, discussing why it has a bad reputation among some players—and why pros like Marty Stuart swear by it. How can one amp be both underrated and iconic? We explain.

⚔️ Guitargument: Right Guitar vs Right Pickups

Matthew argues that pickups are the perfect tool to tailor and refine your tone, while Jon insists the guitar itself is the real culprit behind bad sound. Who’s right? Tune in to hear the debate.

😌 Cool Down + Black Friday Gear

In the Cool Down segment, Jon reveals his new Fender Squier Telecaster Custom, proving great guitars don’t have to cost a fortune and are deserving of great guitar pickup upgrades.

🎵 Rorschach Riffs + Musical Musings

Matthew challenges Jon and the audience with four new Rorschach Riffs, followed by his musical musings on concert films and why they matter to guitarists.

🎸 Gear Used in This Episode

Guitars:
• 2004 Gibson R7 Historic Reissue Les Paul — ThroBak '57 SteelHead MXV pickups
• 2006 Heritage H-150 — ThroBak SLE-101 MXV pickups
• 2025 Fender Squier Telecaster Custom

Amp:
• 1979 Fender Deluxe Reverb

Pedal:
• Nobels ODR-1 Overdrive

0:00:00 Intro
0:03:11 ThroBak Mailbox
0:09:23 Player Grade Vintage Amps: 1979 Fender Deluxe Reverb and Marty Stuart
0:23:38 Hear the 1979 Fender Deluxe Reverb and ThroBak '57 SteelHead MXV pickups
0:26:08 The Guitargument: Right Guitar or Right Pickups? How to Spend Your Money Smartly!
0:32:49 The Cool Down
0:44:39 Hear the Fender Squire Telecaster Custom
0:48:18 Rorschach Riffs with the ThroBak SLE-101 MXV Pickups
0:59:24 Matthew's Musical Musings
1:04:21 Outro

ThroBak Electronics is a world leader in classic reproduction guitar pickups. To learn more visit.:
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https://www.throbak.com/stratocaster-...
https://www.throbak.com/telecaster-pi...
https://www.throbak.com/alnico-magnet...
https://www.throbak.com/pedals.html
https://www.throbak.com/strings.html

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ThroBak Electronics, located in Grand Rapids Michigan, was established in 2002 to bring the best of vintage tone back to the guitar player of today.Make sure to watch the ThroBak Guitar Lounge Podcast each Saturday on YouTube.