The Fender Pick For Single Coil Pups

[Slowhand]

So many pickups.. so many choices. I have had a number of different pups
over the years but I'm currently satisfied with my EC-Sig Strat Gold Lace Sensors.

Here's a short list of some popular picks-

Vintage noiseless? (currently EC's flavor)
Fender texas Specials
Fender Fat 50's
Fender Custom 54'
Fender standard
Fender Vintage upgrade
Lace Sensor series (no longer manufactured)
Seymour Duncans
EMG-SA (Gilmour style!)

What are your preferences? Likes or dislikes with the sigle coil for strats?

[jamstrat]

I absolutely love their Texas Special single coils. The best fender pickup by far.

[JoRich]

Vintage noiseless? (currently EC's flavor)
Fender texas Specials
Fender Fat 50's
Fender Custom 54'
Fender standard
Fender Vintage upgrade
Lace Sensor series (no longer manufactured)
Seymour Duncans
EMG-SA (Gilmour style!)

I have had the Vintage Noiseless pups in 3 guitars and hated them in all 3. They were hard to dial in and the sound was anything but vintage. I have a set of Fender Custom 54's love em. They are in a Swamp ash/Maple neck Strat this combo gives a nice bell like tone like brownie! I have also have the Fender 57/62's and they sound a bit more round and mellow. They are in an Alder/Rosewood Strat right now. As far as Fender Lace Sensor (FLS) they are still in production they can be found in the Buddy Guy Sig Strat. The Buddy Guy and the EC Strats are basically the same. You can get the Lace Sensors after market in many new flavors now. I have tried the Hot Gold Sensors and the Holy Grails from Lace. I have tried the Holy Grails in a EC mid-boosted Strat and it is killer. Better than the Golds IMO. The Hot Golds need no help they sound great. I can get some great Gilmore tones from these little puppies. They have a great bottom end focused mids and very smooth highs. The hot golds hold their own with distortion or clean.

My top 5 Favorites.
#1 Lace Hot Golds
#2 Fender Custom Shop 54's
#3 Fender 57/62's
#4 Lace Holy Grails/in EC Strat.
#5 Lace Golds
#9999999 Fender Vintage Noiseless

I still have a long list of pups I would like to try. Fender Fat 50s, Custom 69's (Gilmore tone) Some of the Antiquity's from Seymour Duncan, Frailins, and Kinmans. So many pups so little money or time... :music-smi

[rockindillo]

Fender US Standard pickups every time for me - and the best thing about them is that you can pick them up dirt cheap on eBay.

[john skelley]

I've heard some really good reports about lindy Fralins.

Texas specials are a pretty good option too, they were good enough for SRV. :music-smi

[Time Pieces]

The best?

Lace Hot Golds, hands down.

John, I don't think SRV ever heard what TS pup's sounded like. He never used them, just used plain 'ol stock Fenders from his guitars. Fender didn't start making the SRV model till after he died, although plans were in affect before 8/90.

Either way I sure SRV would have made them shine....... :)

[Old Tele man]

ain't a Strat, but I'm partial to the "original" (1970s) Fender/Seth Lover "wide-range" humbucker on my Tele...better'n the Gibson it replaced!

[Doctor Reggae]

The Hot Vintage Noiseless sound great in my Fat Strat, although I also had a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Plus humbucker installed too. I thought about TS's, but I'll probably wait until I get another Strat. As for my Standard, the pickups are stock, but man, do they wail, especially with the extra switching that I had installed (the Fat also has this).

[strat62plyr]

I have a set of DiMarzio H series pickups in one of my strats and they really kick. Each position has a different flavor that is amazing. And the fact they are a humbucking pickup really makes them drive the tone into a creamy distortion that I can only get when I use my other guitar with a hss setup. Haven't tried any other after market pickup besides these but imagine there are some good ones out there. Funny thing is of all of my guitars, my '62 with the original pickups always sounds the best to me, very fat, thick and defined :bannana_g

[frpax]

So many pickups.. so many choices. I have had a number of different pups
over the years but I'm currently satisfied with my EC-Sig Strat Gold Lace Sensors.

Here's a short list of some popular picks-

Vintage noiseless? (currently EC's flavor)
Fender texas Specials
Fender Fat 50's
Fender Custom 54'
Fender standard
Fender Vintage upgrade
Lace Sensor series (no longer manufactured)
Seymour Duncans
EMG-SA (Gilmour style!)

What are your preferences? Likes or dislikes with the sigle coil for strats?
Here is my opinion on all of these (at least the ones I have owned):
Vintage Noisless: A lot less hum, but not a "vintage" sound. I have them in my current Start and the are "OK"
Texas Specials: My favorite "FENDER" pup
Lace Sensors: Had them in 2 EC models and the original Jeff Beck model. Hated them. Glad they were discontinued.
Seymour Duncans: There are various models, and I had the '57's (I think) w/ the staggered pole pieces. Very good pup. I liked them right behind the Texas Specials.
EMG's I've owned the David Gilmour setup and the regular ones (the "S" model, I think). Great sound, but I hated having to change a battery all the time!

I've also heard wonderful reviews about the Lindy Fralin's.

I had a set of Rio Grande Muy Grande's and I loved them most of all, even ahead of the Texas Specials. When I get around to making another single coil Strat, I'll use them again.

[Doctor Reggae]

Kinman pickups are supposed to be excellent as well, but I haven't heard or tried them out myself. Hopefully someday...

[Jossy]

The 50th Aniversary Strat has pups designed by Bill Lawrence...you should check them out...very nice quality and a very fair prices...

Saludos.

[Ernie Ball 1988]

Yeah i got the texas specials put in my standard a while ago (sold it) and it screamed. DiMarzio also makes awesome single coils, check out the vintage noiseless ones.. :guitar:

[vintage_brat]

Fralins are awesome pickups. I've dealt with him for customers at the shop with great results. I have a freind that lives not far from Lindy and has had him do some custom pickup work. The man is awesome.

My preference is the matched noiseless in my 03 Custom shop and the Duncan
SSL'5 ,

For tele's the Jerry Donohues rock. nice bite and roll back to pristine with no effort.
VB

[stingx]

I have been really liking the sounds I have been recording with the DiMarizios in my Lonestar...in the neck is a Virtual Heavy Blues and in the middle is a HS-2.
They both match the Duncan Pearly Gates beautifully.

[trahx]

My '01 Am Deluxe Strat came with Vintage Noiseless - a contradiction in terms if you ask me - I think that 'Vintage' Strat sound includes a little 60 cycle hum, so I swapped them out for a set of Fender 57/62's and I'm a happy guy now! :)

My '01 Standard Tele has a set of Lindy Fralin Blues Specials - They are Incredible! Some of the best pups I have ever heard! :thumbsup:

[chugdish]

The usa standards in my 77 strat are heavenly, from smooth and creamy to biting and quacking, full of character that i'm sure has something to do with being nearly 30 years old!

I am eager to try the kinman woodstocks though. Although if i took the 60 cycle hum away, i think i'd miss it.

Anyone tried the kinman's??
:bannana_g

[Old Mojo]

Chalk up another vote for 57/62's. Big, full round sound but with plenty of bite and quack. Maybe not for everybody, not as hot as some others, but my fave anyway.

[Charley Wild]

Of the ones I've played I like what I have: Texas Specials in my Strat and Original Vintage in my Tele. I had an American Standard Strat in the early 90's and I like those pups real well also. I have to try some Texas Specials in a Tele one of these days. I'm easy to please. I'm of the school of thought that most Fender pups sound good but different. I can usually change my amp settings to make up for whatever I don't like about a certain set of pickups.

[jimihalen]

Seems like most everyone's partial to Tex Specials. I've played the SRV strat w/ the Tex Specials and was impressed...but I still love my Fender Custom Shop '69 pickups. I get the growl when I need it, the fuzzy sustain that I love (with the help of my FuzzFace), and the Knopfler/Buddy Guy clean/overdriven quack, too.

My friend has a Buddy Guy Sig Strat w/ Lace sensors...not a big fan. They just don't stack up to the vintage sound. The Noiseless are like that, too. Guy himself has said that the Sensors are fine, but they don't compare to the handmade pups from back then.

Here's another thing I find interesting...everyone wants whatever artist is using now as opposed to what they used when the song they want to imitate was recorded - Clapton and Guy's active mid boost and Sensors, Gilmour's active pups...wouldn't it make more sense to use what they used then to get as close to their classic sound as possible?

[buckkillr8]

EMG'S for me. But of coarse people know that by now. LOL:rlol:

[Time Pieces]

Seems like most everyone's partial to Tex Specials. I've played the SRV strat w/ the Tex Specials and was impressed...but I still love my Fender Custom Shop '69 pickups. I get the growl when I need it, the fuzzy sustain that I love (with the help of my FuzzFace), and the Knopfler/Buddy Guy clean/overdriven quack, too.

My friend has a Buddy Guy Sig Strat w/ Lace sensors...not a big fan. They just don't stack up to the vintage sound. The Noiseless are like that, too. Guy himself has said that the Sensors are fine, but they don't compare to the handmade pups from back then.

Here's another thing I find interesting...everyone wants whatever artist is using now as opposed to what they used when the song they want to imitate was recorded - Clapton and Guy's active mid boost and Sensors, Gilmour's active pups...wouldn't it make more sense to use what they used then to get as close to their classic sound as possible?

I'm not sure how to isolate certain parts of qoutes, but that last paragraph makes sence.

[buckkillr8]

time pieces,
I Agree with that last paragraph also, but take the song "Time" for instance. There's different floyd versions from the original to the 80's then the '94 pulse version. One might prefer the '94 version with the emg's in the guitar being used. But in reality if you want the original play the original gear.:)

[Time Pieces]

time pieces,
I Agree with that last paragraph also, but take the song "Time" for instance. There's different floyd versions from the original to the 80's then the '94 pulse version. One might prefer the '94 version with the emg's in the guitar being used. But in reality if you want the original play the original gear.:)

I agree with that aswell, Buckkillr8.

I suppose I'm stuck in the middle!

Perhaps you can start a thread reviewing the EMG's? For some reason whenever I have thought of Strat replacement pickups, EMG's have never came to my mind. I have always thought of them as '80 high-gain heavy metal Metallica sort of pup. Perhaps I'm wrong and have been missing out on something. I've never known anyone (personally) to have EMG's and you have me thinking......

[Bytor1975]

I believe Vince Gill uses EMG's in some of his Strats.... definately not an 80's high gain sound coming from him!

Personally, I loved Gilmour's EMG/Strat sounds off of Pulse. Very tasty! I find myself listening to that version of Dark Side more than the original.

[buckkillr8]

Yeah Bytor's right,
You can't play nothing hard or heavy with Gilmour's EMG's. It's just gonna sound like shat. EMG has humbuckers for that kind of stuff, and I've never played them so couldn't really comment on them. Personally I'd never play anything but Gilmour's EMG's other then just a standard set.