FAQ

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Q: Can I order another way, besides the online store?
A: We are happy to take orders through email and over the phone. We handle most of our payments through email invoices and the online store, but will consider payments by mail. Please contact us with your order by email/phone and we will help you be able to pay another way.

Q. What is the Return/Order Cancellation Policy?
A. We can not issue refunds or cancellations. If you don’t like the sound of pickups that you have purchased, we will do one(1) exchange within 15 days of delivery to help you get the sound that you are after. All shipping costs for exchanges sent to Porter Pickups LLC are the customer’s responsibility.

If you have any questions about our products, we encourage you to use our “Pickup Chooser” before you purchase. We are always happy to help and talk tone!

Q: How long does my order take?
A: Due to the custom options that we offer, most orders are around 10 business days, stock orders ship within a few days.

Q: When will my order ship?
A: You will receive a tracking email when it ships.

Q: Do you ship outside the USA?
A: Yes, we ship all over the world. Our cart should calculate shipping to your country.

Q: My Shipping seems high, what should I do?
A: Our shopping cart uses a fixed weight shipping and it can estimate high for international shipping. This is hard for us to measure due to the limitations of the software. Please contact us if your estimated shipping seems to high. We always refund the difference if shipping is too high and we can mail it cheaper. Many times a higher amount will qualify for express shipping in the case of International orders. 

Q: How do you determine the shipping pricing?
A: Pricing is set by weight and postal service rates.

Q: What methods do you use to ship?
A: Most orders are USPS for now, both US and International orders.

Q: Who is responsible for VAT or Import Fees?
A: Buyer is responsible for all import fees.

Q: What is String Spacing? What String Spacing Should I Get On My Humbuckers?
A: String spacing is the distance between the two “E” poles on the pickup.We can do any humbucker model in any spacing, but some models have specific spacing unless otherwise requested. All humbucker models are 50mm spacing standard.  All pickups are available in 53mm spacing (also called “F Spaced”). You would want to consider an “F Spaced” pickup in the bridge position of a Strat or in most HSS configurations.

Q: At What Height Should I Set My Pickups?
A: We don’t list any specific pickup heights on our site for a few reasons: 1. Each player is different and they may like the pickups in different places. 2. We encourage people to experiment and find a good balance for themselves. One of Brian’s personal preferences is backing off the neck pickup, but others would not like it. Try a combination of balancing volume by adjusting each pickups height and polepieces (If it has them)

Q: What happened to the Anthem PAF options?
A: All Anthem PAF’s are now available with choice of hookup wire and short leg baseplates only. F-Spaced Anthems can be made by request.

Q: What Type of Pots Do You Recommend With Your Pickups?
A: We like 250k pots with singles and 500k with humbuckers as a general rule. There’s no “right” answer, but if you aren’t sure, start there. With a P-90 pickup we like to experiment with a 500k, but you can change values to see what you like! You can get Emerson Custom pots from our Parts Store.

Q: What Hookup Wire Should I Choose For My Humbucker Set?
A: It depends on your needs and switching preferences. If you are planning on doing coil splitting, or custom wiring (Series/parallel, etc) then make sure you request 4-conductor wiring so your pickups are ready for those wiring mods. Metal braided is often used on our P90’s and Anthem PAF’s. All other humbucker models come standard with 4 Conductor wire.

Q: My Pickup Has Black, White And Bare Hookup Wire, How Do I Install It?
A: Our H90, PorterTron, and Mini Humbuckers come standard with the Black, White, Bare wire. Black and Bare are ground, White is hot to the switch or pot depending on your wiring diagram.

Q: Will My Other Brand Of Pickup Match With A Porter Pickup?
A: We don’t sell a lot of single pickups since we don’t know how each and every pickup maker builds their pickups. You may get an “Out of Phase” sound when combining pickups in the middle position for example. We also know that each pickup company builds and designs their pickups differently, so other brands (or ours) may be louder or a different flavor.

Q: I’m Not Sure How To Install My Pickups, Where Do I Start?
A: Turn off the soldering iron and STEP AWAY! (Kidding) It’s a good idea to watch some basic pickup install videos online (We plan on releasing some soon). Make sure you have a basic grip of soldering techniques, and the right tools. It’s not very hard to solder, but many feel comfortable to just take it to their local shops.

Q: Can You Help With A Custom Wiring Diagram?
A: In most cases, we can help with custom wiring diagrams. We can help point you in the right direction or translate your diagram to our color codes. Many wiring schemes can get very complicated, and we’ll do out best to make sure you have the right knowledge to wiring up your new Porters.

Q. What is the Return/Order Cancellation Policy?
A. We can not issue refunds. If you don’t like the sound of pickups that you have purchased, we will do one(1) exchange within 15 days of delivery to help you get the sound that you are after. Orders cancelled prior to shipping will be subject to a 15% processing fee. All shipping costs for exchanges sent to Porter Pickups LLC are the customer’s responsibility.

If you have any questions about our products, we encourage you to use our “Pickup Chooser” before you purchase. We are always happy to help and talk tone!

Q: My Porter Pickup Isn’t Working, Will You Fix It?
A: Yes, we will fix your pickup. If it was purchased within the last year, it will be no charge. Most repairs are more affordable on our own pickups, should you have an issue.

Q: Do You Offer Pickup Repairs On Other Pickups?
A: We are currently not taking any new pickup repairs or rewinds. Regular workload has prevented us from offering this, and we prefer to focus on our own pickups. Please consider using Tom Brantley Rewinds.

Q: Do You Do Custom Pickup Configurations?
A: Yes! We sell non traditional combinations such as Tele/P90 or two types of pickups not normally put together in a set. Price is determined by models chosen and number of pickups. Feel free to email us with special requests. Most model pages will have the ability to order single pickups and build your own set. If you don’t see the combo you want, let us know. We can build a matched set of any of our models.

Q: Will My Other Brand Of Pickup Match With A Porter Pickup?
A: Thats something we can’t gurantee. You may get an “Out of Phase” sound when combining pickups in the middle position for example. We also know that each pickup company builds and designs their pickups differently, so other brands (or ours) may be louder or a different flavor. We understand you may only want to replace one, but please keep this in mind when ordering. We do not accept returns for matching issues with other pickup company brands. You’re welcome to send another pickup in for testing and matching.

Q: What If I Don’t See The Cover/Bobbin Type Listed On Your Website, Can I Get Another Type?
A: Yes. We can special order other types or bobbin colors not listed on our site. What we have pictured is usually what’s in stock. We can special order things like black humbucker covers, metal p-90 covers etc. Don’t hesitate to ask about custom work as well. We have some great Custom Shop capabilities.

Q: Do You Make Other Types Of Pickups Not Listed On Your Site?
A: Yes. We’ve made custom pickups of different types as well as different replacement pickups we don’t have officially listed on the website. Please contact us with questions about custom pickup orders. Pricing on custom pickups will vary based on the amount of labor and design involved. Our primary focus is what we have listed on the website. Custom Shop pickups are also available.

Q: Do You Offer Pickup Installation Services Or Other Services?
A: We do a fair amount of local pickup installs of our loaded pickguards or new pickup purchases. We also do rewires and other guitar repairs. We will consider non-local repairs for any of these services, but with shipping costs it may make more sense to take it to a local repair person. Most of the time we won’t take any install or repair work because of regular workload.

Q: Will You Install Pickups In My Pickguard?
A: We can install pickups in a special pickguard you have for an extra charge or do additional mods. Please let us know what you have in mind before sending anything in.

Q: Do You Sell The Full Line Of Emerson Parts And Wiring Kits? I Don’t See All The Kits Listed.
A: We can get anything from Emerson they sell. We are a full line dealer, but don’t have all the cart items listed. We’re happy to recommend their kits with different pickup types. Each product page will have parts information on it.

Q: How Do I Become A Porter Pickups Dealer?
A: Email us at dealers@porterpickups.com with your store/shop information and we will reply with our dealer terms and basic info. We like stores to provide links to their shop’s website and other web pages, so we can verify they are a legitimate setup. You can also use the contact form here.

Q: I Own/Work For A Guitar Company That Wants To Use Porter Pickups, Whats My Next Step?
A: We really enjoy working with guitar companies! Use our Builder Inquiry form. Once we receive your basic information, we can talk about how we can best serve you. We offer a great service for guitar builders looking for a custom wound pickup for their production guitars or a specific wind for a new model. We offer a fast growing social media and great mutual promotion for builders we work with.

Q: Do You Do Endorsements For Artists?
A: We have gone through many changes in our artist/endorsement stance. All current artists have done some type of mutual promotion with us to help grow the brand. We want players who believe in the pickups and in turn will talk about it more so because they love TONE. With musicians changing gear so much, it has made sense for us to back off many requests looking for free pickups. Please contact us if you are interested in being listed on the “Who’s playing” section of the site.

Q: Do You Take Trade-ins For New Pickups?
A: Typically, no. We will not be able to apply older Porters to new purchases or exchange pickups. We occasionally trade gear for pickups but only in rare cases.

Q: I Want To Let Some Friends Know About You, How Can I Do That?
A: Word of mouth is our best advertising, so we’d love to send you some materials to pass out to friends. Let us know by filling out the contact form here.

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