Curtis Novak Classic Pickups Custom Stratocaster

Novak single coil vintage strat.

I installed them in a project guitar (ash body, one piece maple neck, vintage tremolo)

They are lower output than other replacement pickups on the market, but they sound so much fuller. The clean sound is incredible. They produce the proper amount of thump in the lower end, and the highs have that vintage shimmer that seems to be missing in others I have tried. My first impression of them was this is how a Statocaster is supposed to sound.

If they were lost or damaged I would certainly replace them. As a matter of fact I bought a second set to replace the stock pickups in my American Standard Strat. (Same results)

* Calibrated Strat Set wound to Mid '60s Specs

* Mounted in a Project Strat with Trem and Alder Body, Maple Neck with Reosewood fretboard.

Output is vintage correct. The tone is very distinct and clear, with all the right Strat aspects in place! Great Strat tone without any aspect overemphasized! Most interestingly they sound perfect over a distorted signal chain, better than most of the vintage competitors. Clean they deliver the best Strat tones, too!

I've been playing for over 25 years and like to assembly project guitars with boutique PU. Curtis Novak have impressed me for their musicality and overlall good taste. They are among the best PU I've had. His service is perfect. They came shipped to Switzerland only ten days after ordering, which is extremely fast! I think the best other PU winders include Lollar, Don Mare and Wolfetone for Fender Style PU.

Single coil or humbucking? Active or passive? Set of passive single coil pickups
Impedance or other specs? DC resistances: Brdge 6.04K, Middle 5.43K, Neck 5.36K (Curtis will tell you that these readings do not have a great deal of significance. I tend to agree, because I measured the resistances of the pickups that these replaced - see below - and they were almost exactly the same except for the bridge).

What model guitar or bass did you install this in? Installed in a parts strat style guitar that I selected myself and had assembled by a professional. Swamp ash body and one piece fat bat maple neck with medium jumbo frets. These pickups replaced a set of Lollar Blondes, which are Alnico 2 magnets, medium low output with a warm and relatively soft sound. As mentioned above the DC resistance readings were almost the same except for the bridge which was 5.7 or 5.8K, yet sounded darker and mor middy than the Novak bridge P-U)
Reason for changing the pickup? I was looking for a brighter - but not brittle or glassy - sound, especially on the bridge pickup.

What's the output level like? Low output
What amps and effects are you using it with? 1960 Gibson Les Paul amp
Tone - Bassy, middy, muddy, trebly, balanced? Very well balanced sound: bright but not glassy and brittle with a strong full bottom end and just the right amount of mids. Responds well to the tone control, i.e. I can reduce the treble without losing the charactewr of the pickup's sound. Thus I can get 2 or 3 useful tones form each pickup setting.
What style of music do you play? Is this a good match? I play a variety of styles. I wanted the strat mainly for blues, but I find these pickups let me do country, rock and ballads and jazz very nicely.
For which positions is this pickup (un)suitable? Suitable for all positions. In fact excellent in all 5 positions.

If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? Would buy them again without hesitation.
How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own? I've been playing over 40 years. My first electric guityar was a 60's L series strat, which I sold in 1970 to get a gold top Les Paul Gibson. In the mid 70's I got myself a pre-L series Strat before the boom, but sold it a couple of years later to fund my university education (bad move, I know). The point is I have owned and played a couple of real strats. I knoe the sound I am looking for. Currently I own a parts-caster tele style guitar with Fred Stuart Blackguard pickups, in addition to the old amp.
What do you love about it? What do you hate? I emailed Curtis and described the tone I wanted and gave him some recorded examples. He told me what he could do and gave me a quote. I sent the money and the pickups arrived about 10 days ago. They nail the sound I was looking for - 100%. I have spent the last 10 days playing this guitar in various situations, and continually 'sneaking' out to the garage late at night for another sound check, just to see if these pickups are really as good as I think they are from the last session of playing. And getting totally blown away each time!
Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one? I have tried many strat pickups in the past, aside form the Lollars, I have used: Dimarzio blue velvets, Duncan antiquities, Fender 54/57's, Fender Lace sensors, Fralin 3-5% underwound. After heating about Curtis Novak on the TDPRI formu, I checked out his website and found myself in agreement with his philosophies, so I sent him an email.
Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for 'that' sound? Totally satisfied.
Anything else you'd like to share? Yes. I first installed them late in the evening and tried them out in my home office at low volume. I had not yet disovered the optimum height for reach pickup to get that 'sweet spot'. At this time, compared to the Lollars they seemed thin and, well, a bit puny. Next day I noticed a set of Fralin 3-5% underwound pickups (Callaham specs) on Australian e-bay at a reasonable cost. According to my calculations the DC readings should be ideal, so I purchased them. By the time they arrived I had set the pickups correctly and played them througn the amp at reasonable volume. They were sounding good, real good. So when I installed the Fralins I was very surprised to find that they were thinner sounding and way too bright and brittle. In addition they dis not respond well to adjustment of the tone controls - it was either over the top bright or complete loss of tone. It seems like the Fralins were lacking in mids or upper mids. They came out after two days and the Novaks are back in to stay.