Are stock kiesel pickups any good or am I going to have to upgrade to duncan/dimarzio etc
Good question. The Lithiums are really good for high gain stuff, and really good for cleans. I personally don't like the rolloff or "feel" of rolling the pots back. IMO they don't feel very dynamic. I usually just have them all the way up and hot to get the best sound. Worth mentioning that across the board it seems that people think the Lithiums are very bright.
I gotta be honest though, I disagree with a lot of the claims in this thread. I'm just one guy but here's some words:
Resale value: Yes, the resale value to non Kiesel players is very low. However, I've sold 3 Kiesels (to fund new ones!) and have sold them for less than a 20% depreciation across all 3, where one of them I even made a profit because it had an option that they no longer offered. Kiesel people love Kiesels, so I actually disagree and would say that resale value is
better than other guitars, as long as your selling to other folks on the Kiesel page. With that being said, yes, your hot pink flame headless guitar would not hold well on this forum or craigslist
Quality. I also would have to disagree here. If anything, I think Kiesel's quality is the reason I would push for them the most. If you have any quality issue, they will absolutely fix it for you. I'd suggest joining the Kiesel owners page. There you can see a lot of stories of people not being happy only to have Kiesel really go and make it right. The customer service and quality is something you simply don't get anywhere else. Regarding cost, I really don't think you can get a $1000 guitar at higher quality. The dual carbon fiber truss rods that come with every guitar are a reason in buying alone. I have gibsons, PRS, fender, Mayones, etc and nothing holds tune like my Kiesels! The price trickles up with finishes and topwoods, but in terms of build quality, the $1000 base model is the same as the $3000 crazy lookin thing. You arent paying for build quality past the base model, but cosmetics.
To reiterate my point about re: pickups, I don't think they are for everyone. I left them in my shreddy guitars, but elsewhere I replaced them.