Steel Twin II

"Frankly I'm STUNNED by the Steel Twins. If this thing was a car, it'd have a secret V8 with a turbo and nitrous lurking in the boot. Through the Mesa, these things sound awesome." — Paul, Dragondreams Music, Normanton

"I am always astonished by the Steel Twin. I have one in conjunction with a standard Telecaster neck pickup and the balance between soft overtones and unbridled power is simply amazing." — Dan Hawkes, Staffs

"Beautifully balanced range of sounds — and enormous power on tap when I want to upset the neighbours. Wired with a coil tap and phase reversal, the sheer range of sounds these pickups produce has blown away the rest of my collection." — Paul, Dragondreams Music

“I recently contacted you as I was interested in replacing my SD Hot Rails bridge pup in my Tele with something a bit less sterile-sounding. I thought the Steel Twin II looked like a decent candidate as it's probably the hottest SC pup out there for Teles. When you replied you SERIOUSLY undersold yourselves — just telling me it was not hum-cancelling and therefore not a direct replacement, which is true but simply does not do justice to this pickup. This pickup is amazing! Bought it on spec alone as the price is so reasonable and I have been blown away. Perfect for getting the power of a humbucker without losing the characteristics and flavour of a single coil. Has transformed my MiM Tele into a real bruiser without killing the tone like the SD Hot Rails. By tapping it I can still have the traditional Tele tone at the pull of a switch. The ST II has blown away the Duncan HR it replaced. Great pup. I love it!” — Phil Woollett, Kent

“I've had all makes of pickups in the past but I'm totally impressed with IronGear. Put the Steel Twin IIs in a cheap Tele copy to try and it sounds fantastic. So powerful yet with fantastic glassy treble that gives more clarity and bite than any other makes I've tried. I'll be putting these on all my guitars, and at a brilliant price. These pickups sound better than Bare Knuckle or SD at half the price — but the main thing is they have the sound I've been looking for. Amazing value for money.” — Steve, Leeds (Pink Floyd Trib: Diamon)

“I had my Steel Twin II (bridge) lying around for a while. Yesterday I installed it on my half-scrappy 'test Telecaster' in a combo with a Pig Iron I also bought from you, just to try it out. It's no longer a Telecaster — it's a Hellcaster! Holy moses, what a wonderful difference. I haven't been able to stop playing it — and my ears are ringing like crazy! Best buy in a long time if you want a hot Telecaster — and if you don't, buy it anyway and keep the switch on Coil 1 (you might change your mind). Amazing value for the kind of money you are charging.” — Ralph Hedstroem, Stavanger, Norway

“Just installed your Steel Twin II package into my Telecaster. Having been in the music business both as a musician and in the retail end for many years, I feel qualified to say these pickups are both amazing quality and value for money. They certainly outshine a lot of the more expensive brands that I have experience of.” — Harry Filmer, Bangor

“Fitted a Steel Twin II bridge in my 2013 MN Standard Tele. Decided to use my JCM 800 2x12 combo for initial impressions as it immediately highlights naff pickups. As soon as I plugged in with the gain dimmed, I thought — yep, it's single coil alright by the unmistakable buzz. But it was reasonably quiet for a single coil — no noise gate required. Hit a few power chords hard. WHAT THE F***, how can this be? More power, grunt, grit, punch, sustain and clarity than my other Pro Standard guitars loaded with Bare Knuckle Black Dogs, Seymour Duncan 59 and Custom Custom, DiMarzio '78 Super Distortions and Fujigen MMK45s (to name a few). I'm going to fit IronGear in all my guitars now and sell the overpriced big-name ones — I might even make a few quid to boot.” — Paul Males, Flitwick, Bedfordshire

“Just installed a Steel Twin II in my Tele Player Plus and it is astonishingly good! I have spent a lot of time and money trying to find the sound I wanted from my Teles, and this one compares well to all the hot Tele pickups I have tried from the well-known manufacturers — at a third of their prices. Brilliant job — keep making them!” — John

“Recently ordered a set of Steel Twin IIs. Wow, what a great set of pickups! I was expecting the single-coil circuit to be thinnish sounding — but no, it's rich and full with a classic Telecaster bite. And then, you hit the second circuit and the guitar becomes an absolute beast. It's perfect when you have the amp just on the verge of overdriving and playing clean sounds, because when you engage warp drive and hit the second set of coils you go into absolutely delicious overdrive. An absolute triumph — glad I went with IronGear for this Telecaster build. Highly recommended.” — Andy Bradshaw, Hertford, England

“Short review of the Steel Twin II and the TLKIT06 Tele wiring kit — I don't usually write reviews but I felt I had to give some credit! Been planning to restore and hot-rod an old Yamaha Pacifica Tele and was looking for a versatile, hard-hitting pickup set. My list included all the usual suspects but I was intrigued by the Steel Twin II '2 pickups in one' concept. Even though this was my first guitar re-wire it took less than an hour to install in an empty guitar. First thoughts: the guitar sounded like a really good Telecaster with up-front clarity and presence. Cranking it up I was even more impressed with the grit from both bridge and neck pickups. Then I engaged the 'boost' push-pot. Holy smoke! This thing screams! The pickups still retain their unique voicings but they're pushed hard. If you're on the fence about this set, especially if you're nervous about the installation, don't be! Pull the trigger and get yourself an amazing pickup set with high-quality parts. Frankly, if this pickup and wiring set was £150 I'd still say it was a great deal.” — James Osborne, Hornsea