Tristan Johnson has been building guitars and pickups since he was 16 years old. "I really wanted a Music Man Stingray bass in the early 90's and needed to try and make something that looked like the reverse machine head on the Stingray". That led to a life of repairing guitars and amps for other people. "I got frustrated with how bad pickups were from the known brands. We started repairing pickups for folks and then that led to the moment we had to make bespoke pickup sets for musicians who wanted more. Those early days of thinking outside the box made us understand way more about how pickups work and how they actually interact with your rig". Inspired by the early days of rock n' roll, Tristan served his apprenticeship in pickup winding by re-creating the classic tones of the early 1950's. "The trouble is, a pickup in many ways IS the guitar. How it feels to play is a separate issue. I love the history of guitars and I love seeing the new innovations in pickup making, love hearing things that sound different".

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"I'm really excited for the future of this pickup company. We're innovating on pickup design, we just keep it all quiet". Be sure to follow Berlant Pickups on Instagram @berlantpickups