Oil City pickups

06/06/2026

https://www.patreon.com/posts/my-band-cobras-i-160333736?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

29/05/2026

Spent a happy twenty minutes goggling about on a step ladder (I hate heights) in the workshop fitting LED light banks ready to start filming for the launch of the YouTube channel. It'll be worth it ... it's amazing how much light it takes to get the space evenly lit. The first workshop sale is going well over on Patreon ... and getting a consignment of pickups ready to go out to Canada on Monday - busy busy!

27/05/2026

So here it is at last - my first Patreon based workshop clearout sale. This one is special as most everything is half price to celebrate this new direction. To remind you - this sale is open to tier one Oil City Patreon members (costs less than a average coffee a month) and you get 10% discount on all Oil City products anyway - plus articles and to cap it all give aways are in the pipeline ... more news on that soon.

And the first workshop clearout sale goes live! by Oil City Pickups UK on Patreon. Join Oil City Pickups UK's community for exclusive content and updates.

22/05/2026

We never stole nuffink ... honest guv!

Leo Fender was heavily influenced by the work of Paul Bigsby in the late 1940s, yet in all of the interviews he did, he never acknowledged it. Today we look ...

22/05/2026

One interesting fact coming out of the current Fender 'cease and desist letter' debacle - and because Fender list where all their components are sourced: it has been noted by at least one YouTuber is that Fender are not claiming that all the components used in their pickups are made in the USA anymore - which confirms what I have believed for some time by looking at examples of their pickups - that US companies are using Chinese wire and magnets as well as bobbins and covers in many instances.
This is great, as Chinese companies are making some of the best and most vintage accurate winding wire in the world (admittedly not particularly cheaply) and confirms my own decision to use Chinese sourced wire on all my pickups apart from my NOS ones that are actually made with British made wire from back when we had some industry! :-)
I will not use US made wire purely out of 'snob value' I use what is best for the job ... I would say 'like Fender' but I don't want a very nice German YouTuber calling me a 'Dickweasel' for emulating that companies corporate bully boy tactics :-)
Happy Friday Fender!

20/05/2026

A bit of a taster here ... though not all pickups in the sale are in the picture yet ... it costs about the same as a cup of coffee per month to be a tier one Oil City community member on Patreon - you get an automatic 10% discount on all Oil City pickups - plus the chance to get first dibs on our workshop clearout sales (up to 50% off)

Next weeks workshop sale! by Oil City Pickups UK on Patreon. Join Oil City Pickups UK's community for exclusive content and updates.

10/05/2026

Here for all my Patrion members ... my free short guide to the tools you need for trouble free pickup swapping. More in-depth pickup swapping advice and tech articles coming soon.

The tools you need for pickup swaps. by Oil City Pickups UK on Patreon. Join Oil City Pickups UK's community for exclusive content and updates.

08/05/2026

Are you not being told the whole picture with hand wound pickups?

The great 'hand wound' PAF rip off ... by Oil City Pickups UK on Patreon. Join Oil City Pickups UK's community for exclusive content and updates.

06/05/2026

Counting down to Oil City's first surplus stock clearance sale later in the month. Those who know me will be familiar with my 'workshop clearance' sales from a certain 'forum that shall not be named'. Essentially these are demo pickups, prototypes, cancelled orders but most often pickups made for site photography. They are new, guaranteed and anything up to 50% of retail price! They will be viewable by my tier one paid Patreon members ... it's only £3.50 per month but could save you hundreds! https://www.patreon.com/c/OilCityPickupsUK Paid members also get discount on all regular pickups too - plus access to articles, reviews and soon videos. For the price of a coffee you can save a bunch and in up coming articles read stuff other pickup makers would rather you didn't know! There's a wealth of historic pickup articles available for free members too. Watch this space.

29/07/2023