pickups: vintage 54 vs vintage noiseless vs lace

[smopo24]

i have crappy-sounding pickups in my strat, and i'm looking for some advice on some new pickups to get a better sound. i have thought about the vintage 54s, vintage noiseless, and lace pickups...but i'm open to some suggestions. i am looking for some passive single-coil pickups that are clean, not too noisy, and have a bit of bite to them. i do a lot of odd chords, and need some that can push subtle articulations well, and don't have too hot of an output (for this reason i don't think i want texas specials). am i going in the right direction? i've always heard good things about seymour duncans, but i've never used any myself.

[GearJunkie]

Vintage 54's= Midrangey, good bite to them, not a lot of low end.
Vintage noiseless= A good pickup, somewhat lower output, better for jazzier type things.
Lace pickups= Love them. Golds are closer to the vintage 54's. Silver's are a little hotter, Blues are like a PAF pickup, and the reds are like a full blown humbucker.

As far as seymour duncans, i've never used any in a strat. I've got Jazzmaster HOT's in my 65 Reissue Jazzmaster that I think are great but a bit bright.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by GearJunkie

Vintage 54's= Midrangey, good bite to them, not a lot of low end.
Vintage noiseless= A good pickup, somewhat lower output, better for jazzier type things.
Lace pickups= Love them. Golds are closer to the vintage 54's. Silver's are a little hotter, Blues are like a PAF pickup, and the reds are like a full blown humbucker.

As far as seymour duncans, i've never used any in a strat. I've got Jazzmaster HOT's in my 65 Reissue Jazzmaster that I think are great but a bit bright.

cool, thanks.....i think the vintage noiseless are more up my alley from the description; but are they clear and articulate?

[Whoopysnorp]

A common complaint I read about Lace Sensors is that they sound kind of sterile and clinical. I guess Billy Corgan uses them, so you could probably just put on a Smashing Pumpkins record if you want to get an idea of how they sound.

Personally, I just went on eBay and got some standard stock Strat pickups from real Fenders for pretty cheap and shielded the interior of the guitar to deal with the noise. It actually sounds really good. Check out the shielding instructions; it makes a world of difference: http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

[oxtone]

I just attended a show by Lincoln Brewster, who used an Eric Johnson Strat loaded with Dimarzio Virtual 2 pickups, which are noiseless. They sounded GREAT!!

If noiseless is not important, I LOVE my Vintage Vibe SP-90 pickups! Check them out at: www.vintagevibeguitars.com. My Walnut "The STRAT" is featured on there with the SP-90's.

[gtrdr]

I personally think just about all noiseless single coils sound like CRAP, with two exceptions: Kinmans and Bardens. Otherwise, stay away.

I use Duncan Antiquities, Surfer in Neck and Mid and Custom Bridge. I love them - classic Strat tone all the way. I have a blender pot to get the "7 combination." For me, the hum is not objectionable - shield it the best you can and live with the rest. Other recommendations are Lindy Fralin and Rio Grande. The Fralins give some crazy nice balanced tone, and the set that Bill Callaham puts together, underwound and cryo-treated, well, if I had an extra $220 to check em out I would instantly. The weak pickups, in fact, are just so clear and even, and the cryo helps with the output (get cryo wire and pots, and add the trem block - OMG the bridge block is frickin AMAZING! I'm telling you, it did more for my Strat than the pickups! PLEEEEASE spend the $60 on this item. http://www.callahamguitars.com/blocks.htm)

December 2000 issue of The ToneQuest Report.
Here is David Wilson's preface to the interview.
"Thanks to one of your fellow TQR readers for pointing us to Bill Callaham. In January of this year, we published an article on the Japanese Vintage Reissue Stratocasters in which we related our failed attempt to install a replacement tremolo block. A few months later we received a note from a reader who advised us to contact Bill. We did, he promptly sent us a block that fit our Strat, and the results were astounding. We thought this guitar sounded pretty good before the new block was added, but the difference between the original and Bill's obsessively faithful replica of the real thing has to be experienced first-hand. If you play a Stratocaster, any Stratocaster... we urge you to install one of Bill Callaham's tremolo blocks now. There's your ToneQuest tone-tip of the year, but there is a lot more going on at Callaham's shop in northern Virginia, as you'll discover in the following interview with the man himself. Enjoy!"




And the worst - Texas Specials. I'd definitely get the $90 '57/'62 Fender set before these. Actually, those American Vintage Strats sound quite good...