I've been thinking about this for a while, and I looked for some examples on the net, but a search revealed only stuff about bigsbies and Rickenbacker horseshoe and similar pickups.

So, has anyone ever put a horseshoe on their guitar? It would look pretty cool, say on a tele but not only. Of course, one you find on a country road that's all black is much cooler than shiny tourist crap, but it would be interesting if anyone has done this.

My 40s Aloha Lap steel has a horseshoe of sorts:

I have to say it's a fabulous sounding pickup. Clean, clear, sparkly.

Sure.. it's what I hear and there is age (my ears AND the pickup) and lots of factors, but i think there could be something in revisiting this style of pickup.

I think there was some "practicality" of stringing and the aesthetics of the horseshoe. Many like to mute with the palm at an adjacent area to the pickup and it fell from favor. I have also read accounts of where Leo would cover the pickup of the tele with the ashtray for grounding -also pursued to some extent with the claw on the Jaguar/Bass VI. Well that may debated as well.

But certainly interesting to mix old and new tech on this.

Also.. those cylinders on each side of the pickup are magnets -and there is one under the pick up too.

Ry Cooder's main Strat has a horseshoe pickup.

ahem ahem ahem

read original post, I meant a real horseshoe

o.k., maybe it was not so clear

i think brian setzer had one with a pinup girl, but it was just a decal and it wore off. Plus i don't think you'd get a good sound out of them.

A bing search came up with a lot of cool looking candidates!

Link...

I don't think I'd try it on a hollow body, a Danelectro maybe but I don't know if there's enough wood there to hold it tight.

Mounting is easy though, they usually already have holes for the screws to go in.

Could go very wrong though

Flayer, is this kind of what you had in mind?

I agree that an actual weather-worn horseshoe looks better than a brand new novelty one. However, the trouble is that they are often too large to fit cleanly on a solidbody; and when they do come off the horse (whether intentionally or no), they are usually pretty deformed. A better solution might be to find a smaller novelty shoe and age it either chemically or just by leaving it outside for a few months.

Mule shoe is smaller

Oooh, good idea. I'll have to ask my farrier if he has any old mule shoes.

My great grandpa had a print of a mule shoe in his forehead. Got kicked as a kid. I've only seen pics. He has been gone a while. As his hair receded it was centered and perfect.

In keeping with the western theme, I was considering embedding old barbed wire into a plank. That is quite an undertaking, but I think the results would look incredible, especially on a knotty pine Tele, no?

I think it would look great... Just make sure your tetanus shot is up to date before you play

Crowbone, did you mean something like this....Link...

Yeah Tubs, but not that fancy.

All the BW I see is rusty and pointed on both sides.

That'll keep unwanted people from playing your guitar.

It'll also increase Keith Richards' combat effectiveness by 75%.

I love those cowhide pickguards!

And, as much as this sounds contradictory, that guitar was way over the top.

Who wants the barbed wired where you rest your arm? Looks painful.

I want to embed that barbed wire, along with a horseshoe, bullets and a sheriff's badge into the guitar's top, not somewhere where you could lose a finger, all into severely distressed knotty pine.