GEARTALK INTERVIEW: DYLAN McKERCHIE OF DYLAN PICKUPS January 26, 2016 / by John "Stoney" Cannon Like any other city Augusta has its fair share of musical gearheads. Whether it be area musicians in love with gear, or hobby musicians who are attracted to the latest gadgets, Augusta has them all. Over the years the area has also seen a fair amount of "go to" guys as far as the person musicians most trust to handle their gear. For years you could walk into the front room of Brian Hoyt's home and see a line of guitar cases tagged with a who's who list of names from the Augusta music community. Since Hoyt has pulled back from working on musical equipment, a small group of gearheads outside of the area music stores have emerged to provide quality custom work. One of the guys getting some positive comments recently is Dylan McKerchie of Dylan Pickups. LL - OK for the peeps who have yet to have met you, gearheads in particular, give us a brief introduction. DM – My name is Dylan McKerchie and I own DylanPickups.com based right outside of North Augusta SC. I build hand wound custom pickups for electric guitars and Basses, and I have a weekly Podcast and Internet TV Show Called Dylan Talks Tone on Itunes and Youtube. LL - So just to clear up some confusion that some peeps may have, you build custom guitar pickups ala Dylan pickups...what is your connection to Nikita guitars? DM – Nikita Guitars was one of the first custom luthiers that started using our pickups way back in the day. We toss a lot of ideas around, and he has given me some creative freedom with some guitar designs. He was the first brand that we started carrying at Dylanpickups.com. These days we build for custom luthiers all over the world and over the next few months, you will see some of them represented as well. LL - OK let's jump on the pickups, with so many tried and true pickups on the market, why should a local independent artist look into a independent pickup builder? DM – These days the market is thick with advertising tag lines and tech jargon. For me, music is about a feeling and holding an instrument that inspires you to play, no matter the skill or experience level. When a client calls me about pickups, I want to know what your tonal goals are, and understand you as a player. I want you to have tone that is YOURS. This is something you don’t get with “off the shelf” companies. Couple that with our extensive knowledge base on Youtube, and our private Facebook group, it is an owner experience that you just don’t get anywhere else. LL - Being not a techie myself, I know what sound I like but not remotely clear what achieving that would entail, how does the musician who is more knowledgeable of the sound as opposed to the technical side communicate what they might be looking for? For that matter, how might they even be sure what is even right for them? DM – That is the fun part! We just chat tone and gear all the time. When a client calls, we just listen. This is where we are different. Tone isn’t always about specs and numbers. We don’t calculate music… we hear and feel it. We just try to understand what you hear, or what you want to hear. LL - So tell me this, gear isn't cheap. What would make a person take say their expensive Les Paul or Telecaster and take a chance on the work and products provided by Dylan Pickups? DM – When it comes to the pickups themselves, we build with USA made parts. Many companies buy parts from Asia and assemble them here. Not us. Everything from the coil wire, to the bobbins to the screws are made in the USA. We have traveled to the plants and seen the parts ourselves. As far as the tone goes, it speaks for itself. World class tone for prices that are competitive with other builders. LL - So what can you tell us about Nikita guitars? I've seen a couple in action and they seem to be pretty sweet. DM – They make some really cool stuff. Jim likes to fly in the face of tradition and do some pretty one of a kind stuff. It makes it fun to design pickups for him because there is always something new. LL - Are they build for sale or custom made per customer? DM – There are usually 10-12 guitars completed that can be bought at any time, and then there are USA made kits that you can assemble yourself, as well as custom build to order guitars. He uses Dylanpickups in all of them. LL - So now that we've learned about you work, how about a bit of info on the dude behind Dylan Pickups. You are quite the guitar player yourself. What groups do you play in? DM – I play a bit with the Gin Jockeys, I have sat in with a bunch of people around town. I love playing live, but I REALLY love listening to everyone else. I always say, “I am better at making you sound good than making me sound good” LL - And favorite guitar payers? DM – SRV is top of the stack for me. My wife teases me about a man crush on John 5, and I like a lot of country players too. I do a lot of work in Nashville so a lot of those studio players blow my mind. LL - And where can peeps find you to get more info or to get some work/products? DM – Dylanpickups.com for the pickups as well as some of the guitar companies we build for Youtube.com/dylanpickups for our Internet TV show and instructional videos Dylan Talks Tone Podcast on Itunes. LL - Thanks! DM – Thank YOU for having me. I really dig supporting local music any way I can. No matter how big we get, we are always a local musician somewhere.