Carvin AP-11

Carvin Ap-11's are 4.3 ohms, better than some stock Fenders and copies. I got a new Carvin DC135 with these in it by mistake as I wanted the dual rail single coil size humbucklers. These are great pickups, of the best I have used on a strat, Tonal clean very low noise from the exvellent shielding Carvin does. If you love the single coil neck sound these are great pickups/ I used them through my updated effects board clean to dirty, combined well with any effects, very good musically sounding. The dual rails were better at 7.3 ohms which is more than a lot of standard size humbucklers. AP-11's are good, Carbins dual rails even better.

DC-146 Carvin, three pickup config, mahogany body and neck through the body with a maple board. Pickups mounted into the wood and a 24 fret neck with Spertzel locking tuners. Carvin is the best, it's all I own and all I will play, all custom made.

AP-11's are a good sounding warm single coil. Warm, bell tones, neck position and middle great, not enough push int he bridge but that is about like any strat. Switching to the dual rails was like an Ap-11 on steroids still all the clean warmth and tone but plenty of drive.

Great single coil I would not hesitate to use them. If you are prone to the want of a humbuckler noiseless pickup. I like their dual rails. Carvin makes some great pickups, I have their M22 and SD22 in my DC400 and they are great. If you have not looked into Carvin, you are missing the unknown gold mine in gear. I use their V3 amp and vintage 4x12 and it's just hard to imagine anything could sound better or be more versitile.

Passive single coil with individual adjustable height screw pole pieces, output seems to be a little higher than Fender standard single coils,

Pickups installed in a home assembled mahogany custom Strat type guitar,(Warmoth maple neck with Ebony fretboard,shielded cavities, Spurzel locking tuners, brass hardtail string through bridge from Guitarfetish.com), complete Carvin ptr-wired pickguard kit with 1 Master Tone and Volume, and a toggle to add bridge pickup to mix of pickups anytime. I purchased these second hand on Ebay for approximately 90.00

I use a Behringer GMX110 for amplification with built in effects/amp modelling...the tone from these pickups are superb..very well balanced with excellent lows, smoothe and well defined midrange and highs..excellent value for money, and very flexible in application..I play a variety of music(reggae, blues, classic rock, country), and can always find a nice sound to suite the music from these!..as noted before, the neck pickup application is awesome, but then again, all the rest of the combinationa are also vey likeable/useable..through the "Marshall" type channel mimic on the Behringer ...screems with that nice full and creamy but well defined wail.."ooooh"

These are definitely to be replaced if lost/sold
I have been playing 30 plus years, and has owned over 75 guitars in that time, prefering the sound of the single coil guitar, although i am also a sucker for a sweet sounding humbucker(shucks!..i'm just a guitar hog!!)Not much to hate about these pickups...feel good to say that these are definitely among the finest single coils available for sound and application, whatwith the individual screw type pole pieces that leave no area under the strings unrepresented...tonality is definitely different from the classic Strat sound, these being more "all around' sound wise, but definitely very very likeable nevertheless...

SC-- carvin's full set with pickguard.
Has micro switch to get Tele-like front and rear pups, and I think all pups.

Geat budget Strat copy.
Trem is flat and blocked. Rings out acoustically!!

Old pups were the big deficit for this guitar. Weak, unbalanced string to string

Fairly strong output.

GREAT front pup--deep and rich, and almost twangy-like rear pup. Knopfler-nothch positions are great. Middle pup is too.

I would assume it is good for all sounds/genres.

Would buy again.

I LOVE the adjustable 11 polepieces!!
Raise the weaker D, lower the strong G. Almost like having a blade pup-- esp for you pedal steel benders-- no loss on the bend as the area is covered good.

Had them installed 2 yrs ago. Haven't played the guitar much. Recently got it out and A/B'd it with my new Jimmy Vaughn Strat and new Jeff Beck Strat (returned it today: why have 3 Strats when I'm a Tele guy!!!). -The Carvins sounded best to my ears!

Single Coil "strat configuration". This is a Passive PU. Mine have a DC resistance of 4.27K ohms. Has 11 individual adjustable Pole Pieces.

Installed in a Warmoth "Strat", with a Carvin BTN neck. Installed in all three positions (Middle PU reverse magnet for Hum-canceling in the in-between positions. Fresh install, always use these in all my ground up builds.

Output is only slightly more then a stock "Strat" PU.
Amp used is a cloned Marshall Major 200 watt w/extra gain stage, Microvibe is the only toy.
Tone is very warm and very well balanced, not as bright as a modern Strat PU. The clean tone is very reminiscent of the early 60's strat with no harshness. With the gain maxed out you can get that ???rolling thunder tone??? very easily. Nice harmonics, very rich and good Sustain (Magnet structure is not too strong, no sustain killing string pull). I noticed a few of the guys saying that these pickup are not suitable for the Bridge position, in the Brdg pos in mine with the gain WOT I can get a great early Black Sabbath sound lots of High mid crunch.
I play mostly 70???s hardrock (Sabbath, Purple, Robin Trower) and these are a great match for my style of playing.

If it got broke I would get another AP-11. I have been playing for 15 years. Other gear a Marshall 2204 clone, 59' fender deluxe, 73' P bass. Love the overall tone, nothing that I really hated. I compared many other PU and got so frustrated that I just slapped some cash on the counter at Carvin and took them home and it worked out well for me. My only complaints are that the wire used is a bit cheap and hard to with (Stiff), wish it had single conductor with a shield braid. the area where the mounting screw is threaded into is weak and strips easy. A bit Noisy, but its a single coil. Sounds great for what I do and I recommned these to others.

Pickup features: Passive single coil with 12 pole pieces(cap head bolts)
Impedence or other specs: 4.25 ohms

Model of guitar or bass: Super strat
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: crappy stock sensor
Other pickups on guitar: fender humbucker, stock sensor in mid position
Artists using this pickup: a lot
You musical style(s): everything I can think of...
Reason for pickup change: Old one was garbage

Perceived output level: loud but not punchy or highly responsive..not for a novice's fingers that is for sure
Tone: Very bass and midrange dominant. Highs are incredibly smooth and can be pushed to from fuzzy to muddy but in a good way
Sonic evaluation: VERY jazzy! It's the ultimate jazz single coil for the neck position of s super strat. Very unflattering pickup in the pickguard of a traditional strat. Probably THE best pickup I have ever heard for playing jazz. The tone and response will work for everything but it's just not plunky like a Fender single coil. Keep this pickup AWAY from stratocasters.
In a super strat or wood instilation though, it's the greatest neck pickup you could ever use for sweeping. The cleans are absolutely beautiful as well. It's such a rich and thick tone that you and your audience will just fall in love...

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: everything really

Comments: Overall it's a really amazing pickup. The ultimate neck position single coil. Utterly useless anywhere else though. Too midsy and bassy for the mid position and the same goes for the bridge. Far too underpowered for a bridge pickup. Sure you may like it in those positions but it just will not perform. There are MUCH better pickups for those 2 positions. And SERIOUSLY, keep it away from pickguard mounting!

Even having said all that, I can not recommend this pickup enough. Stick it in the neck position of a super strat and you will find nirvana!

Pickup features: single coils
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Carvin DC135
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock in the neck and middle
Other pickups on guitar: C22T
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): "Indie" rock, old-school punk, Townshend aping, a touch of jazz,
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: The output is a bit more than a normal strat pickup - not HOT, but it hits hard.
Tone: Tends towards the brighter end, strong lows, wide frequency response.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using the DC135 with a Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve head and a J Design 1x12 with a 30 watt Weber Ceramic Blue Dog. I've had the guitar for a while now, but the amp is a (very welcome!) more recent addition.
I think the fellow below me must have wired something wrong, because Carvin uses 500K pots for these and they're certainly not dark. The treble can, like most single coils, be too much if you EQ it badly.
The overall tone is rounder than normal strat pickups. The bass seems to reach lower and the high end higher - it's this big, open, chimey tone that's really fantastic. Dig in and they snap and punch like mad. With the Silvertone/Weber setup they're just fantastic - perfectly balanced, wide-range punchy tone, sweet in the midrange. They're no more prone to noise than most single coils, and less prone than many, though I'd suspect that to be more related to cavity shielding that to the pickup itself.
The neck position has a fantastic bass response that seems to reach down to floor shaking lows, but is still clear and bright. If you're the sort of person who thinks jazz-on-a-telecaster is cool, you'd like this. It's got that great ca-chunk, too, when I stop playing nice. The middle position is snappy as heck, a fantastic, idealized mid single sound - seriously, it's exactly what a middle single coil OUGHT to sound like, amazing for funk. The neck-mid position isn't as stratty as a strat, to be vague about it, but that's more a function of the guitar (25" rather than 25.5", neckthrough rather than bolt-on) than the pickups. It IS dead silent under ANY amount of gain - seriously, I've abused it before, just to check. I don't live there, though - I prefer lone singles tone the strat notch positions, the dynamic range is better and the tone is bigger.
I prefer single coils in general because I like the snap and the sonic feedback I get when I hit the strings really hard - it SOUNDS like I'm hitting the strings really hard.
I'm playing mostly clean and lightly overdriven (from the Silvertone) with heavier gain from fuzz pedals. They do hold up nicely with the fuzz - I don't use the humbucker very often at all, these days, due to a dislike for the C22T (which is no longer the Carvin standard - good thing) and of bridge humbuckers in general.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This works perfectly for everything I do. Metal wouldn't go, obviously, but everything else should be fine.

Comments: I'd certainly replace these if they were stolen.
I've been playing guitar for... about five, six years now. My other guitars are a Martin DM acoustic and a Danelectro DC3 reissue (which covers all the unusual sounds). Most Carvins are custom ordered, but I bought this off the wall at the hollywood store on the strength of its tone compared to the Fender offerings across the street. The Fender guitars that I could afford sounded lifeless and boring, but this guitar was sweet and twitchingly alive.
I'm satisfied with the AP-11s. They're great pickups, and they're very good at getting across the way I play, sloppiness and string abuse and all. While I am going to replace the C22T, I'm not even considering taking these out.
If you want to improve a mexi-strat or such, I'd definitely suggest giving these a shot - heck, they're cheap, and a major step up tonally.

Pickup features: Single Coils
Impedence or other specs: Ceramic magnet High output

Model of guitar or bass: Carvin Bolt-T
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar: Carvin C22B Humbucker
Artists using this pickup: Hopefully no one
You musical style(s): Blues, Classic rock, surf.
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: High output with no character and a terrible unbalanced tone.
Tone: WAAAY too much bass, which is imposible to get rid of no matter how you adjust. Very flat lifeless tone. Notice that the only quote they have about these from any reviews says they produced "warm and jazzy lows". Unfortunately that is ALL they do.
Sonic evaluation: Used through a marshall TSL 602, Fender blues Jr, Vox valvetronix ad60vtx modeling amp, and a Peavey classic 30 tweed. No matter what height they were set at or what amp they were plugged into, they sucked. The absolute worst sounding pickup I have ever heard, including cheapos on squier strats. They had so much bass that I had them adjusted way off kilter trying to boost the mids and trebble and reduce the thumping bass sound. They had NO classic single coil character and sounded VERY sterile even through expensive tube amps. I fought them for three months before I finally found a used set of Fender American series single coils which I replaced them with. They aren't perfect either, but worlds better that the AP-11s. The Carvin humbucker that came with the kit (C22B) is quite nice. It is an alnico magnet pickup and sounds good mixed with single coils especially when coil tapped.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I can't think of any style of music that these would be suitable for.

Comments: These would literally have to be the last pickups in the last guitar on the planet before I would use them. I have heard some uninspriring single coil pickups in my life, but nothing more bafflingly useless than these.

Pickup features: Single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Squire Stratocaster Made In Japan
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock Squire Pickups
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Hard Rock, Blues, Old School Metal
Reason for pickup change: Stock pickup sound muddy and cheap.

Perceived output level: Provides more output then the stock pickups
Tone: More Midrange. and very balance. Very fat for single coils.
Sonic evaluation: I plugged this puppy to my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with my Boss Metal Zone and my Carvin 100XB head with half stack. I was not a big single fan but these pickups just rocks. They have a very sweet tone and they are very quiet. The neck pups has a nice woman tone. I have a Fender strat to compare it with and I must say, it blows away the Fender pups. I am in tone heaven. You have to play it and hear it to appreciate. I am replacing the pups on my Fender with Carvins. They are that good.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, Hard Rock, Blues, Old School Metal. The neck and the bridge pups are great for solos. The bridge is great for rock. Neck is great for blues and jazz.

Comments: I have been playing for 25 years. I will be sadden if someone stole my guitars. Any future upgrades, I will replace them with Carvin SG PUPs. If you are a single coil fan, these pickups are a must. If you are looking for an amazing single coil sound, look no more.

Pickup features: Single coil, passive. Star screws for poles.
Impedence or other specs: 4.25 ohms

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Frankencaster
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Squire stock strat pickup
Other pickups on guitar: Stock in the neck and Carvin M22SD in bridge
Artists using this pickup: Plenty I'm sure!
You musical style(s): MANY STYLES ACCEPT FLAMINGO AND SLIDE
Reason for pickup change: Wanted more midrange and just a warmer tone for my strat. I was looking for somthing that in 2,3 and four position of my switch could give a fat gutsy mid sound like a Les Paul. Does it DEAD ON with a little adjustment of my tone control.

Perceived output level: About a mid volumed pickup. Kind of softer sounding at the same time too though
Tone: Soft and a very warm midrange. treble and bass are VERY smooth and not overbearen by the pickups midrange. A nice full tone with a bit of extra midrange.
Sonic evaluation: Just about every combination posible. I no longer run through a tube because with what solid state has evolved into these days it's pointless.
Played through a variety of pedals and a Crate head with a NEW Behringer 4x12 cab and a custom built oversized 4x12 cabinet loaded with Carvin speakers. Play primarily straight in and through a Zoom 505. Sometimes through an Arion Tubulator and Danelectro Fab Tone.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play primarily metal, all variations of rock , blues and jazz but really a bit of everything. This pickup with the simple steel plate mod is suitable for all positions. I could tell Start guys I paid $150 for and once they heard it they'd believe me!

Comments: Overall this is the perfect single coil for the mid position, especially for strats. It was good in the neck but a little too warm with the mids for my taste. All in all though it is the ideal single coil because of its smoothness. Plenty of volume yet soft because it hits through the midrange before the bass and treble. Nice output but it needs a steel plate on the back to blend in with my other pickups or just higher output pickups in general I love the warm smooth mid sound it gives and there's absolutely nothing I hate about it! I wish it was louder but that would mean a higher impedance which would change the sound. I will steel plate it for more volume. I couldn't be more satisfied with this pickup. The degree of midrange it gives and the sounds it's helped me achieve are wonderful. Since I don't use it for any other position it truly deserves a 10 though it would sound great in the bridge position as well. If I had more strats I would own one with this pickup in all 3 positions. If it were stolen I would hunt the person down and strangle them with their underwear for added humiliation when they were found. YES I'D REPLACE IT WITH THE SAME!

Pickup features: Single Coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: DC135
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Came stock
Other pickups on guitar: C22T
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Punk, Metal, anything odd.
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: The middle is high for a single coil, the neck seems slightly lower
Tone: Middle is balanced, great jangle. Neck is bassier, smooth
Sonic evaluation: Ok, first off, I love the middle pickup. It's the greatest clean rhythm sound I have ever heard. Nothing sticks out too far, sharp attack, dang. It sounds great distorted, too - not a humbucker, but still strong. The neck position is smooth. Can do a decent jazz sound, and nice overdriven leads. I'm not as enthusiastic about the two singles mixed - it's kind of a weak sound. They both mix well with the humbucker, though - the neck and humbucker make a fantastic, smooth sound for distorted leads, and the middle and the humbucker make a great rhythm setting for distorted metal or rock.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These are incredibly versatile. The neck is good, the middle is INCREDIBLE

Comments: Overall, 12 for the middle, 8 for the neck. These are bang for the buck, too. If they stole the neck pickup, I'd be irritated, but I might experiment with a different pickup. If they stole the middle, I would hunt them down and slaughter them, then go after their friends and relatives. The middle pickup IS my sound.