"As a long time user of Irongear pickups having regular use of the Hot Slags, Texas Locos, Pig Irons and JailhouseRails, I thought
I'd once again write to you to tell you how amazing your pickups are, in this case the Steam Hammers. I replaced a Lace Sensor Dually
set up with an HSH set up using Steam Hammers and a Texas Loco in the middle. It never fails to amaze me how easily I forget how amazing
these pickups are for the money and just when I think about going out and spending a hundred quid on a Bare Knuckle, I play one of
yours for £25 and am astonished. The Steam Hammers are a awesome rock pickup with great clarity and bite. It compares favourably to
my Suhr Aldrich humbuckers which are £90 a pop and sounds remarkably similar. Together with the Texas Loco in the middle, the set
up covers all the bases and Stratty 'in between' tones are possible even though the Steam Hammers are brutal with some dirt. The neck
is smooth and works well with lots of gain and the Steam Hammer cleans up well too when you roll off the volume. The next time I buy
pickups, I really need someone to remind me that I'd be throwing my money away buying anything else." - Jonathan Davison, Newton Abbot
"Man...
no words. Just put the Steam Hammer on -straight into my amp (hand-made inspired by Diezel/Bogner/Soldano) and a TS9. The BEST MID/BASS
RESPONSE EVER HEARD!!!!!! Tight, punchy extremely clean! Great punch, also on shredding, still hot, creamy and fluid, I can hear perfectly
each stroke... no words... brutal, extremely brutal! Thank you for this amazing WAR MACHINE!!" - Pier Marzano, Italy
"Subject: IRONGEAR
STEAM HAMMER- THE GOD OF METAL. Just thought I'd email you to say how much I like these pickups! - I bought a rather battered ESP
mh-50 off a friend recently, and I was impressed with the build quality and hardware for such an inexpensive guitar- except for that
bridge pickup. For absence of a better word, a pile of shit. So I dropped in a Steam Hammer. This is the first time I've ever tried
an IronGear in the bridge- I often used them in other guitars as neck pickups with a more expensive pickup such as a Duncan in the
bridge. Wow. Just wow. The Steam Hammer has twice the gain of the stock pickup, is less harsh, but yet somehow tighter, clearer and
more defined. I seriously hope people stop viewing IronGear pickups as good budget pickups, because they aren't. They are damn good
pickups full stop. They annihilate every pickup I've tried with only the exception of the Bill Lawrence l-500. (they are both about
equal) even better, they cost less for a set than one Duncan, so I can swap out Duncans in guitars, sell them, and actually make money.
Well done Axetec! Consider me another member of the army of IronGear users out there. The build quality is as good as any, and I can't
wait to see you introduce more amazing pickups!" – Joe Kingsbury, Wantage
"I fitted the Steam Hammer humbucker into the neck
position of my USA Fender Stratocaster (H-H configuration) to compliment the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge, and I am in love with
the tone it produces. I mainly use it for clean/slightly overdriven work, cleans up very nicely, beautiful tone through my Marshall
DSL100 into Marshall 1960B 4x12. Would definitely recommend, was very pleased with the clean tones as well as the overdriven tones. Will
definitely be using IronGear pickups again! Many thanks!" - Steve @ 100 Stories Down
"After looking at many pickups, for my one-off
mother-of-pearl and abalone bullseye Flying V, I thought I would give a matched pair of white Steam Hammers a go. At that kind of
price if they were no good I wouldn't be out of pocket too much,,,,,,,,,, I shouldn't have worried, these pickups are the poodles
privates. Clear, bright, and when cranked up they'll bite your friggin’ head off. Might just have to get a pair of Rolling =Mill 2s
for my next project, a candy orange Firebird, Shelby racing stripes, Bigsby etc. Keep up the good work!" – Joe,(new excuse) Sevenoaks.
"I
just put a Steam Hammer in my RG570 (bridge position) today. It sounds great, very high output, it drives my tube amp very nicely.
I will definitely be buying more for my other guitars in future." – Joe, Sheffield
"I recently bought a Steam Hammer bridge pup
to slap in an Ibanez RGR321EX. It came with 'Designed by EMG' Ibanez pickups, which were just plain shite, and then I had an EMG 81
& 60 set in it, but they were too harsh….the Steam Hammer was a revelation. I'd become disillusioned by overpriced pickups, and
I'd heard great things about IronGear by word-of-mouth, so I chose a Steam Hammer bridge model for in the neck of the Ibby. Needless
to say, I practically orgasmed at the result. Okay, it's voiced and spaced for the bridge, but I wanted something slightly hotter
in the neck.. and it delivers. It's smoother and fatter by far for clean and lead work, than my EMG 60, and annihilates the poor excuses
for pickups that manufacturers put in as stock. I've got my eye on a Hamer Standard (explorer style), which will get a Steam Hammer
set in it, as soon as it's mine. Seriously, I couldn't believe my luck - £22, and I got an awesome pickup, which actually looks killer
too, and you guys even ship them in cool boxes.. for £22! Legends, the lot of you. Anyway, thank you!" – Stu, Gloucester
"I finally
got my pair of SteamHammers installed into my Epiphone SG....WOW! I was expecting some kind of improvement in sound over the stock
hardware but nothing prepared me for the leap my instrument has taken since the SteamHammers have taken up residence. They are aggressive
and have bite and awesome sustain but are also incredibly versatile for the mellower end of the spectrum. I will definitely be getting
IronGear pickups when the time comes to update my Explorer. I got fantastic service from my first enquiries to delivery and even afterwards,
I said it before but I will say it again....WOW!" - Ben, London
"Thank you for the superb pair of Steam Hammer pickups. They've
turned a great guitar into something that, sound wise, blows the real thing out of the water, with not a hint of muddiness. Brilliant
:-) A very satisfied customer." - Ian, New Mills
"I was completely blown away (by the IronGear Steam Hammers)...so smooth, so
responsive and a hell of a good sustain." - Nev, Anglesey
"I replaced the stock pickups on my Hamer and hadn't heard much about
your gear until I read some of the feedback on the site, so I thought I would chance it (at £24 each they're an absolute steal), HOLY
SHIT! These babies are hot and sing like a metal choir, but back off on the gain and you're in flavour country, oh the redneck blues.The bridge really brings out pinched harmonics and the neck is just sweet fat heaven quite frankly. Clean they are very punchy and
with a new set of strings on my Hamer has never sounded better. I can't believe that a pickup that costs so little compared to the
"big boys" can sound so f*cking good! Right, enough gibber jabber I'm off for some serious Hendrix style feedbacking." – Big C, Glasgow
"Excellent
Steam Hammer pick up just fitted to my Pacifica bridge position. Has transformed the guitar at a fraction of the cost of more famous
brands." - Dave, Lincoln
"Just want to say thanks for the Steam Hammers, (I've) had a few days to appraise. I can't believe the
quality, both in presentation and performance, at such a price. The range of sounds I can get (fitted in a Patrick Eggle Berlin) is
amazing, and authentic. Split, Out-of-phase, and full on, they deliver. Thanks for a great service." - David, Worthing
"I bought
an IronGear Steam Hammer pickup from you and to be honest, I'm shocked at the price to performance ratio. I would gladly pay 3 times
the online price for one of these babies! The combination of the Steam Hammer with my down tuned, fixed bridged mahogany bodied Ibanez
creates a roaring metal tone worthy of a price tag far higher than what has been advertised. In addition to the excellent product,
I have also experienced excellent service from IronGear. All my emails were replied to in a speedy and courteous manner, with the
staff all too happy to provide me with a wiring diagram suitable for my particular guitar and recommendations/advice about pickup
selection and tone. I'm over the moon with my purchase and will seek to put these great pickups in all my future guitars. Thank you
for the great products and keep up the excellent work." - Praveen, South Harrow
"I decided to strip down and rebuild my ESP EX-50,
never had a problem with the pickups it came with until I compared it to this monster. It (the Steam Hammer) was so quiet in terms
of picking up background noise in comparison to the ESP, and yet so responsive to little string variations I make when playing. I
think all of my guitars are going to be getting an upgrade to this lad. The price is cheap as chips too. Very good value." – Oliver
Deegan, Dublin
"I thought I must put finger to keyboard to compliment you on your Steam Hammer pickup, which I have used for
year or so now. I was actually looking for something for my Tele, which has a humbucker in the bridge position. Something which could
remind you of that country twang yet be able to unleash the power of Satan amongst other things. A previous review mentioned this
country flavour when clean. After listening to sample after sample of all sorts of pickups I plunged for the Steam Hammer. I can report
that in this scenario it’s a real hit, so if you want to supercharge your humbucked Tele in this way and still retain some of its
character, I can't see there’s much alternative. From clear cutting cleans with an edge, to biting leads, and crunchy rhythm – it
seems to do the lot, and is very responsive to tone controls – all that bite keeps the muddiness at bay resulting in a great range
of sounds – I use a very low value cap in one of my switched tone positions which seems to boost the high mids into a pinched and
powerful smooth lead. Great stuff." - RH, Hampshire
"I just dropped a Steam Hammer into the bridge position of my Ibanez RG to
replace the Infinity 3 that came as stock which was ok but nothing special. WOW !!! I can't get over how good this pup sounds and
what a difference it has made to the tone. Tons of crunch for heavy rhythms and amazing overtones on leads – sounds almost like controlled
feedback as the note starts to decay. Sustain has improved significantly as well. Until now I thought Dimarzio was the way to go for
aftermarket pickups but I'm a lifelong Irongear man now. They're cheap at twice the price too!" - Adam, Romsley
"I was quite
sceptical when reading the posts on yer site. In the back of my mind, I suspected that Axetec had possibly posted those themselves
for promotional reasons. I seriously can't believe how good the Steam Hammer is and I've been playing through all sorts since 1989!
If you play the likes of Priest, DIO, Anthrax, Saxon, or Slayer, I Highly, Highly recommend this! And Yes its Great "dry" also! What
a purchase, best spend ever! ..in fact, you couldn't beat it with a big stick !" - Chris, Omagh, County Tyrone. Metal all the Way!
"Just
fitted a Steam Hammer into the bridge on my guitar, can only describe the difference in sound as wow! I'd been looking at a Dimarzio
Super Distortion, but didn't have the dosh ( like many I suspect). I gave it a try after listening to the soundclips, and I'm utterly
blown away by the sound, just what I was looking for, and I saved a fortune to boot! Seriously, if your looking for a top quality
pickup, look at IronGear!" - Richard Bell. Swansea
"I recently bought Steam Hammers from you and fitted them to my Dean ML Noir,
wow I'm so impressed. Have bought numerous Seymour Duncans but wasn't entirely happy with them, and didn't want to spend the outlay
on Dimarzios or BareKnuckels. After reading some reviews and listening to them decided on Steam Hammers, and can say I'm well impressed
through my Bugera 6262 their just awesome. Got the crunch and saturation I was after, got the right amount of highs,mids and lows
will certainly recommend IronGears and will certainly buy some myself in the future, thanks." - Ricky, Galashiels
"I bought an
Epiphone SG400 on Ebay, worn brown, vintage look. After being thoroughly impressed with the Hot Slags in my Epiphone Les Paul a few
years ago, I immediately ordered a set of zebra Steam Hammers for the SG, and had my luthier fit them for me. I play lead guitar in
a classic/hard rock covers band, and decided to use the SG with new Steam Hammers for a gig last night instead of my usual Schecter
Hellraiser Solo 6. Through my Orange OR50, I ended up using the SG for the whole gig; I took the Schecter just in case, but didn't
need it. The Steam Hammers were amazing, certainly high output, but very middle range heavy through the driven OR50 with overdrive
boost. Thick, articulate, clear, punchy, with loads of sustain. And the pinch harmonics were flying out! Very happy; and with a few
plastic hardware changes, and the zebra Steam Hammers, it looks like an old vintage SGJ, love it! Thanks again IronGear!" - Matthew
Aldridge, Buckley, Flintshire.
"I love my ESP Ltd. 103QM but the standard Humbucker was thin and brittle sounding so after the
success I had upgrading my Hamer, I got a Steam Hammer. Boom. I actually cannot say enough good things about these pickups. I didn't
think the sound would change much because it is a floating Floyd and the sustain is quite a bit lower than my fixed bridge guitar.
I was wrong. I play through a POD XT and because of all the modelling I thought I wouldn't notice much change but I had to completely
change my patches to accommodate the roar of these things. Amazing. Loaned out the Hamer I upgrade 2 years back to a fellow band member,
he couldn't believe how good the Steam Hammers sounded. I love you guys." - Colin Walls, Glasgow
"I simply had to send an email
to show how amazing the Steam Hammer humbucker is. I've started doing some YouTube cover songs for fun and a couple have required
me to tune down quite low so I dug my old shitty Ibanez SA160 out (about £200 worth) and threw the Steam Hammer in. It simply transforms
the guitar. For proof here's the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnYZDLrNSQ4. Listen to the main riff. It's insane! Just pure
power! This is a cheap old guitar which now sounds amazing. I've always lived by the motto 'you get what you pay for'. But I've learned
recently that there are exceptions to this rule and IronGear deliver massively. The pickups are better than any Seymour Duncans I've
tried, and trust me I've tried a few. I have numerous guitar builds on the horizon and I know where I'll be buying my hardware and
pickups. I can't recommend you highly enough, and more importantly - Isn't it nice to find an honest supplier?” - Dave Hunter, Birmingham(2/2/16)
"Gobsmacked! I fitted the IronGear Steam Hammer in the neck of my Les Paul Studio and I'm blown away! I Finally got rid of that
awful Seymour Duncan Jazz Blues, sounded like it was buried in a bucket of mud! Thanks. I would never have believed a pickup at that
price point could be so sweet!" - Dave Keane, Halesowen (10/3/16)
“I have an ESP with an EMG 81 nice clean sound but very harsh
and sterile sounding rock sound so I swapped it out for the Steam Hammer ...
wow totally unexpected. ....lovely clean ....bright focused
articulate for rock and then when coil tapped I can sound just like Richie Kotzen. Beautiful. I added the Jailhouse Rail in the neck
position they go together fab. I’d really love to try another Steam Hammer in the neck but I just don't want to cut a bigger hole.
My new favourite pickup.” - Steve Holt, Castleford.(25/7/16)
There are hot pickups, and then there's Steam Hammer. Stunning, controllable performance. Bolt everything down, turn up the wick & hold on! This pickup excels at high-gain rock sounds. It has real power in the midrange and plenty of top-end to really cut through with superb note definition. The Steam Hammer (along with the Hot Slag and Rolling Mill) is one of the "Big Three" humbuckers that were introduced back in 2007 and brought IronGear to the attention of thousands of guitarists in the world-wide community. Since then, it's gone from strength to strength and is a firm favourite with IronGear users.
If the pickup you need is out of stock, click on the "EMAIL" link, enter your details and we'll send you a message as soon as it is available again.
Copyright © 2007-2025 Axetec Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Free Shipping to UK mainland & N.I.
available on all orders over £50.00
Fender, Stratocaster, Telecaster are registered trademarks of Fender Music Corporation. Gibson, and Les Paul are registered trademarks of Gibson Music Corporation. Axetec Ltd is not affiliated with these manufacturers in any way.
For destinations outside of the UK, VAT @ 20% will be deducted at checkout