Blues Engine

Soundclips

Four soundclips by Ainsley Stones — clean and dirty, bridge and neck. Hit play below.

What customers are saying

Eighteen unedited reviews from real Blues Engine owners. 18 reviews

1. I have played so many pickups — DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, Gibson USA, Fender USA, Kent Armstrong, Bare Knuckle, EMG, Fishman. The Blues Engine is the best neck humbucker I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot. It’s smooth, clean, full-bodied and is perfect for clean runs, full chords and crunchy/overdriven rhythm and lead. When split it delivers a perfect single-coil snappy tone, reminiscent of a Fender Custom Shop ‘54 neck coil. Truly sublime.

   — Mitchell, Salford

2. In a word… amazing. I have two custom shop historics with burstbuckers of various flavours and these Blues Engine pickups sound as good if not better. The Gibsonesque sounds from each humbucker are very much what I was looking for, and the split coil Fenderish tones are way beyond what I expected. I am tempted to try the Blues Engines in one of my custom shop guitars, they are that good.

   — Paul W, NE England

3. I play a lot of arpeggios. Now they spring out with this wonderful detail and I only have to dig in to solo — in the clean channel — to obtain a sound with that lush, slightly compressed authority. The Blues Engine is a staggeringly good pickup — versatile, responsive and capable of making even very good guitars sound better. My experience is that they’re capable of transforming high-end instruments as well.

   — Kev Morris, Bradford

4. I have just had two Blues Engine chrome pickups fitted professionally by Tomson Guitars of Wigan to my Gordon Smith Graduate, to replace the DiMarzio and Schaller humbuckers that had both failed. The improvement in the sound quality and tone is incredible, and has attracted numerous positive comments already. Well done!

   — Richard Hart, Wigan

5. Installed the Dirty Torque / Blues Engine into my Epi Les Paul. I was blown away by the sound these things churn out! The Blues Engine is very impressive and has that classic flute-like tone the Les Paul neck setting is famous for. None of the muddiness often associated with many neck pickups. Compared to a Seymour Duncan JB I have on a Jackson Dinky Pro this is far, far superior.

   — Mark M, London

6. I never really used the neck pickup on this guitar before because it sounded awful and muddy. It absolutely sings, and with both pickups on it sounds unbelievable with the ringing treble of the Dirty Torque complimented by the warm bass of the Blues Engine. These pickups are unbelievable value for money and are at least as good as the much more expensive makes.

   — Richard, Widnes

7. I recorded clips with my Fernandes Ravelle with the previous pickups (Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz), then with the Dirty Torque (bridge) and Blues Engine (neck) using the same settings. The new IronGear pickups were in a different dimension altogether. The Dirty Torque and Blues Engine is the best combination I’ve ever heard. The Blues Engine has opened new doors for my sound.

   — Rob, Awsworth

8. I put the IronGear Blues Engines into an Epiphone 335 after taking out a set costing three times the price. What these pickups bring is character. Before the sound was clean but clinical and did not move me. The sound is far more in keeping with a 335 and that “woody” sound it’s noted for comes through now.

   — Clive, Kent

9. Got a pair of Blues Engine pickups recently for a Les Paul I was building. Wired it all up, plugged it in, could not believe the sound. Damned thing squeals like a banshee in heat swinging an angry cat — more balls than an army of Rambos! Really nice clean tones as well, especially in the middle position. These were my first pair of pickups from you guys. I am so impressed I have since bought three more sets.

   — Paul, Aeolian Guitars, Dublin

10. Into a really nice Tokai Love Rock. I’d replaced the rear pickup with a Bare Knuckle Riff Raff and had planned to stick a “Stormy Monday” into the neck — until I saw the Blues Engine. The Blues Engine is simply stunning. It wasn’t a surprise that it’s absolutely perfect for blues, but it also sounds fantastic for the more rocky Gilmour/Floyd stuff that we play — singing like a bird and sustaining forever.

    — Mike H, Preston

11. Well, I woke up this morning & my dog had died, and my lady ran off with the garbage man… Still, my Blues Engine neck & bridge pickups have arrived. These things bark like my old dawg used to but still retain perfect clarity & definition. Even though my old dog is dead, my woman has legged it, and my house has burned down, I don’t have the blues no more. These pickups are good, very good.

    — Neil Houghton, Bolton

12. Put a pair of Blues Engines in my Ibanez AL73 Artcore semi-acoustic 335 lookalike. The stock pickups were trebly and didn’t give a good rock sound. With a pair of Blues Engines this is now a real 335 beater, sounds fabulous and so versatile from rock through to jazz. The pickups have a wide dynamic sound with good mids which suits blues-type rock.

    — David Acklam, Brighton

13. Just fitted a matched pair to my Samick Greg Bennett LP, replacing the original Duncan HB102/101N. The sound is like taking a cover off the speakers. No more muddy noise. Beautiful clean sounds from the neck and nice clear tones from the bridge. I thought Duncans were supposed to be the business but the Blues Engines leave them in the cold.

    — Derek, St Leonards-on-Sea

14. Put a pair in my Hudson 335 copy and they’ve really brought the guitar to life. The stock pickups were OK but a bit muddy. The Blues Engines are classic PAF tone — great tone, great clarity, enough balls to rock but clean up really sweetly. Love them!

    — Matt, Belgium

15. Put the Blues Engine in my Gibson SG bridge and played it through my Blackstar HT5R — the sound that came out was truly amazing. I was able to nail the Shadows early hits to a T. These pickups are the best I have ever heard (I have a Gibson LP Standard and a Fender Strat as well), and the Blues Engine blows them away.

    — F.L. Hunt, Stoke-on-Trent

16. Bought the Blues Engine/Dirty Torque combo for my Epiphone Les Paul. The Blues Engine in the neck position has a lovely warmth and clarity when used both clean and overdriven. It’s a real quality high-end sound. Sonically, my Epi now sounds as good as or even better than my other guitars. These pickups are not just incredible for the money, they are just incredible full stop.

    — Peter Taylor, Colne

17. Took a chance on the Blues Engine set in my 1999 Gibson ES335 to replace dark, lifeless ‘57 Classics. I waited almost a year before writing this because I wanted to be sure. Of all the pickup changes I’ve done this was the biggest difference and the most satisfying. By a long shot, the best bang-for-the-buck pickups for vintage tones out there.

    — Brad, Canada

18. Installed in my Epiphone Sheraton and I am completely blown away. The pickups can easily go from BB King to brit pop to ACDC and everything in between. Playing back-to-back against two other 335-style guitars fitted with Gibsons and SDs (which cost at least twice the price), the Blues Engines sound better 90% of the time. Thank you IronGear from one very happy guitarist.

    — Andy White, Newcastle-upon-Tyne