Fender Custom Shop 50's Fat Strat Set

Single coil

Don't remember

1965 Fender Strat

All

El Cheapos

Don't Know

Hated the El Cheapos

Medium Output

Fender '59 Bassman LTD

Very bassy but in a good way.Has plenty of thump on the bridge for Telesque tones and awesome distorted.I love the 2 and 4 pos.Neck is very bluesy and gets a great SRV tone.

I'd definatly get another set.

passive single coil set of three.dont remember specs

put these in a 2 piece,nice resonant alder body,excellent density and quality,with a maple neck,replacing lawrence L280's and a L290 bridge p.u.Nice pickups,but wanted a different vibe.Couldn't begin to say if any name player uses them,but I can't see why they wouldn't use these Fat 50's.

Output level is average,neither hot,nor weak as far as i can tell.Lovepedal,menatone,xotic,TC G major for pitch based effects and reverbs,and a few other stomps if needed.I like the tone better than any other set of Fenders I have tried.Not as brite as most,yet plenty of snap,and a surprising amount of warmth,middle p.u.is rwrp.Shielded the guitar,and they are fairly quiet as a result.I had to set p.u. height low to avoid overtone dissonance,but they sound much sweeter set low than higher .Running guitar into an old boogie studio pre with good tubes,into a old boogie power amp,a 395 simul-class,loaded with the same brand of tubes,tungsols.4x12 cab w/v30's.Also use a DR Z maz 2-10 combo.Guitar does great things with both.Cover everything from country to pretty heavy handed rock nicely,tho they dont sound like humbuckers,I do like the voice they give my guitar.Have a roll off kit to reduce high loss when backing off vol,and run bridge and mid pickup thru tone control,neck thru other tone control.Pretty flexible,and responsive,and these pickups will drive od boxes very nicely,great tonality,dynamics transfer superbly.These pickups seem to handle everything short of metal & the rectified sounds.

I would replace these,in fact I have to fight myself from putting them in my other strats,and some of them are loaded with lollars and fralins,and those are great pickups.Playing over 35 yrs,started playing in bands at 14,so I'm getting old,but the phone keeps ringing,and they keep paying me.Go figure.It seems to me these pickups were designed for maple fretboards.With the high end not as ice-picky as a lot of Fender p.u.'s,and the mids a little smoother,the bottom end seems a little more pronounced,tho not excessively so.They definitely sound better with maple rather than rosewood,at least to my ears.I feel these are the best set of vintage pickups that Fender produces,and I have tried all of them.Maybe its the stage i'm currently going thru in this evolution called guitarist,but right now I absolutely love what these fat 50's do.Ask me 2 yrs from now,who knows what i'll say.

I read from multimeter Neck: 6.48k, Middle: 6.35k, Bridge: 6.58k, and I also add the Bassplate on Bridge PU, after Baseplate the impedance is 6.7k.

A assemble guitar was parts from ebay, 1 piece maple neck, 2 piece alder body, the set of Fender Standard Single-Coil Strat Pickups (Ceramic Magnets), and all 250K Pots with 0.02uf Tone capacitor.

I use my Stratocaster to play Hendrix song, the Ceramic PU set give me the sound very Hot that's like 80's sound, not very thin or sharp either bass, just only without mid.

Firstly, the Ceramic PU set output wasn't not balance, when clean sound the neck very loud, bridge very quiet.

Second, I want more "Jimi Tone".

When I search for the other PU information, I find this site have several sound sample, I think this is useful for the PU hunter.

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Strat_Pickup_Sound_Clips_W1.cfm

My gear Peavey Bravo 112 amp, RM Axis Fuzz, Coloround Tonebender (Si), V847 wah-wah.

The new PU set was give me much mid sound, it is very FAT, but have a bit strange from the sound, when I playing clean sound of 1st to 12nd on G B E String have a little bit wave sound feature, on neck, middle and bridge position also, this not seem to be my soldering problem, actually my soldering is very good.

When playing dirt sound, this was very muddy. and nothing strange sound. When playing Wah-Wah with Fuzz it is very outstanding.

The major point, my PU set still not output balance, even I added the Baseplate, and the overall output level of Fat 50's PU was VERY LOW!!!!

If I have a choose I won't buy this again, I think I'll buy Bare Knuckle Mother's Mike Set. That's not meaning the Fat 50's not good, but only I can say "I still looking for the other PU set".

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: I don't remember.

Model of guitar or bass: G&L Legacy
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock G&L Alnico V Handwounds
Other pickups on guitar: all positions replaced
Artists using this pickup: Don't know
You musical style(s): Rock, Country, Jazz & Blues
Reason for pickup change: The stock G&Ls are good, but for my guitar and it's laqured maple neck, they sounded a bit too punchy and bassy. I've always been curious about the Fat 50s and wanted to back off the attack for such a vintage looking instrument.

Perceived output level: To me, they are not as hot as american standard pickups. They are only slightly hotter than '54s in the neck and middle positions only. By no means overpowering or too hot.
Tone: Very balanced and clear. Glassy highs, smooth mids and slightly weak on the bass, but nothing ultra noticeable.
Sonic evaluation: Very nice. Just what I was looking for. I was worried these were going to be American Tex-Mex pickups (which are great pickups but not what I was wanting for this guitar). I was hoping I wasn't going to have to spend over $200.00 for Fralins. Well, thus far, I am satisfied. It almost sounds like these pickups have a built in chorus because they have such a nice ring and jangle when I play chords. On any setting I get lovely sounds. I hate to use words and expressions that show my age, but in being candid, I am telling you, these pickups are smooth, clean and respond well to clean or dirty amps. They bring out the best sonic qualities of this legacy, where the other pickups were competing for all the attention.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play blues, jazz rock and country. With this guitar I play a lot of country and blues, but as I said, the versatility of these pickups are great for all styles.

Comments: I would definitely get these again and I recommend them for anyone looking to enhance the sonic quality of your strat. Let me back up. If you have a good strat with a high acoustic resonance, these pickups are the real deal. I'm sure Fralins and others are great, but I'm not sure they are $100.00 better. In fact, in a blind fold test, these would be hard to pass up, so you be the judge.
I have single coils with higher output which I like, but I really wanted a truer vintage strat sound. These pickups deliver for me. I was tempted to go with the '54s, but I thought these would offer a little more warmth. Plus the middle pickup on the fat 50s is revers wound for hum cancelling in the 2 & 4 positions. I've heard great things about the Custom Shop '69s, and as far as smooth and warm, the Seymour Alnico II pros sound great. But for that original strat sound with the glassiness and jangle other pickups seem to be lacking, the fat 50s do a nice job. And for the money, these pickups are a great value. PS: Want a great sounding set of pickups that don't cost anything? The Tex-Mex pickups are awesome and in my opinion kick the Texas Specials up and down the street.

Pickup features: Single coil set
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Highway 1 Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: OEM
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Me
You musical style(s): Blues/funk/oldies/country
Reason for pickup change: Wanted more bottem-end and output.

Perceived output level: Somewhere between OEM and Texas Specials
Tone: Bassy with clarity and a bit more mid-punch compared to stock pickups.
Sonic evaluation: Highway 1 Strat, wah, compressor, phaser, overdrive, Super Reverb reissue.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: A great match for what I use them for.

Comments: Been playing since 1983. Also own a Les Paul, Tweed Fender Princeton and a couple vintage mandolins. The Fat 50's are a nice improvement over the stock pickups for the Highway 1 strat. They have a deeper bottom and clearer top & midrange compared to the original pickups. A couple years ago, I installed some Texas Specials in this guitar & didn't care much for them. They are also good pickups, but they just weren't what I was looking for. They did, however, sound good in an old strat clone I had at the time. Anyway, I'm happy with the Fat 50's in my Highway 1 & plan on keeping them. They sound nice & drive a tube amp pretty well.

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: mexican stratocaster
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): modern and classic rock, country
Reason for pickup change: I bought the mexican strat for $150 as a backup for my american std strat.
I replaced the elcetronics and the pickups and had the guitar set up by the local guitar tech guru.
Bringing the total cost of the guitar to about $425.

Perceived output level: about the same as the american standard.
Tone: very well balanced. The neck and middle pickups sound wonderful. Nice and chimey with just enough quack.
Sonic evaluation: the bridge pickup is a definite improvement from the stock pickup but still a little too brittle for my taste on overdriven stuff. I play through a mesa boogie maverick and a variety of pedals. The amp has plenty of high end already , so I think Im going to swap out the bridge pickup with a seymour Duncan hot strat pickup.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: classic rock, a lot of John Mellencamp and Tom Petty.

Comments: As I said earlier, the neck and middle positions sound wonderful, as good as my american strat. But the bridge...well...it isnt quite there when overdriven. A little too harsh for my tastes. If the bridge would have been better, the rating would have been an 8 or 9.

Pickup features: passive single coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender mexican strat circa 1996 or so
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): most rock styles
Reason for pickup change: stock pickups sounded OK for stock, but the middle pickup was waaaaay too dark (meaning that it was useless on its own) and the bridge pickup was too thin (your typical bridge position strat problem)

Perceived output level: pretty much as advertised, not a high output pickup but more than a typical vintage strat pickup
Tone: very well balanced, more bass and a touch more mid than typical vintage strat
Sonic evaluation: I am using this mexican strat into a crybaby wah, into a Budda Zenman tube overdrive pedal into a Fender 112 Deluxe amp.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play everything from prog-rock influenced stuff to neil young style oldies and most stuff in between. these pickups would work for anything you use a strat for

Comments: I have been playing for about 5 years and i decided i would rather have one really special guitar than 3 mediocre ones so i souped up this strat. When I had these guys installed i also added an on/off switch for the neck pickup so that i could combine the neck and bridge or all three pickups. It took an hour or two of playing to get used to the sound of these pickups and to adjust my amp and effects settings to better suit them but after that i am very happy with them. They sound nice and shimmery with the guitar volume up around 10 and backed off they are nice and woody. The attack of the sound is a little delayed to my ears, you strike the strings and you can hear it through the amp and then a half-second later the tone really blossoms and becomes fuller. This works great alot of the time. However, for heavier distorted sounds it can get a little complex. I think I need to have a more modern sounding bridge pickup for this reason, maybe an Anderson humbucker will find its way in there in a year or so but for right now these will more than do the trick!

Pickup features: single
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: G&L Legacy Special
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock blade type
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): blues - rock
Reason for pickup change: Forever looking for better tone.

Perceived output level: normalish
Tone: pretty
Sonic evaluation: trace elliot speed twin

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

Comments: Been playing for 25 years, have tried a lot of pickups. If you are looking for a nice, normal strat tone, these do well. Depending on what I do with the gain of the amp and the tone control on the guitar, I can nail Hendrix' Little Wing and chris duarte stuff. It is just a good set of pickups.

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: Bridge- 6.69k, Middle- 6.54k, Neck- 6.36k

Model of guitar or bass: 68 Strat Copy
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Incredibly crappy set of single coils
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock/Blues
Reason for pickup change: Pickups were very very bad on guitar

Perceived output level: Stronger than my buddies' Fender Noisless PUs in all positions
Tone: This is a very well balanced set of PUs. Capable of going low or high without muddiness or harsh trebly tone
Sonic evaluation: These PUs are in a 68 Strat project guitar. Side Note:Want to build an excellent Strat that plays and sounds incredible? Look around your local stores for a "Crafted in China" Strat copy. Mine has a very very nice neck and body..cost me $100. You might need to do some routing and the electronics are crap. Maybe I got very lucky..? Anyway..I play this through a customized Peavey Classic 30 with a Kendrick Black Frame 1X12 extension cab..oh it's so sweet sounding. The Fat 50s respond extremely well to your style..great harmonics!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Suitable for all positions..great for rocking type blues that I play..they have genuine balls.

Comments: I would definitely replace these PUs if something happened to them. I've been playing for over 30 years..with a 10 year layoff due to an injury. Also play a '77 Gibson LP Custom, 58 Strat copy w/EMG SA set (wow!), 56 Tele copy w/Harmonic Design/Stacked Seymour Duncan PUs (you can tell I prefer to build my own guitars). Use old TS9, CS9, Ernie Ball Volume, Arion SAD-1 Delay, Vox Wah.
Nothing to hate about these PUs..I love the clean tones to the balzy drive they produce..and the ease of grabbing those harmonics. I compared them to the Fender Noisless..much better..Fralin Blues Specials (nice..but that price..) and were very close, I actually liked the balance of these better...and the EMG SAs on my 58 copy..not a fair comparison as the SAs are very hot with a totally different tone..but the Fat 50s are equally good for what they do.
The Fat 50s deliver the exact tone I want with that particular guitar. Rich..balanced..ballzy vintage Fender sound

Pickup features: Single Coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: 70's Reissue Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan Nashville Studio
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Country, Surf,
Reason for pickup change: Looking for a warm Strat TONE

Perceived output level: hotter than the stock mex pickups , much more tone.
Tone: balanced, sounds like an old strat. The seymour duncans sounded good, I have the Nashville Studio in my Tele and love them, but it just didn't suit me in this strat. These pickups are just what I wanted- a vintage strat tone. I sat done with the guitar tonight and played some jazz, then country, then I gave it to my son and he plugged in his wah wah pedal and started playing Jimi Hendrix. The guitar just sounds good. The pickups aren't any kind of magic fix, they just have a true Fender tone. I've had Seymour Duncan and Seymour Duncan pickups and they're good, but this is pure Fender tone, which is what I was looking for.
Sonic evaluation: I've got these pickups in a 70's reissue strat with a maple neck. I play it through an old Mesa Boogie Mk2 unless I've got a country or surf gig then I play through a Fender Twin Reverb.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups are suitable for anyone who wants an honest Fender vintage tone! If you need distortion - go get a pedal, you need something hot? - turn up tour amp or kick your tube screamer.

Comments: These pickups are perfect for what I wanted, pure vintage Fender Tone.

Pickup features: Three single coils. Passive. Middle pickup reverse wound.
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: 1999 50'Reissue Fender Stratocaster
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Celtic rock
Reason for pickup change: Old pickups sounded too sterile and lifeless.

Perceived output level: Much higher output than stock pickups.
Tone: Balanced, with more mid-range than stock pickups. A hint more edge and growl.
Sonic evaluation: I am using the Strat with a Peavey Classic 30 tube amp. The
pickups give this combination a very nice, crystalline sound.
It's not a simple clean sound at all - there's a lot going on,
particularly in the bridge-middle position, and it changes with
attack dynamics.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play in a Celtic rock band. These are a great match. Probably would't work for heavy metal.

Comments: I've been playing for about 25 years, but have only recently
begun appreciating the tone and sound of nice equipment. I've
wanted to change the pickups for awhile, and briefly considered
DiMarzios and the Fender 54's. But everyone I spoke to about this
has said that the Fender 54's lose too much gain in the out of phase
positions. So I went with the Fat 50's, which are basically like the
54's with a few hundred more turns around the magnet.
I am very happy with these pickups. They give me a vintage
sound but with more growl and edge. The bridge pickup is still a
bit bright but has just the right edge when used with the middle
pickup, which is where I keep it set almost exclusively. If they
were stolen, I'd replace them.
Another reason why I'm happy with these pickups is that they've
proven my theory - if you get a Mexican Strat with a neck and
feel you like (and you _must_ try them out!!) you can change the
pickups and get something you'd choose over an American Standard.
The interesting thing is that these very nice vintage sounding
pickups are only stock in the Fender Showmaster series, a very non-
vintage guitar. I guess their true market are guys like me who buy
MIM Strats and want a pickup change.

Pickup features: 3 Singles passive
Impedence or other specs: www.fender.com

Model of guitar or bass: 1988 Amer Stand Strat w/Alder body and maple fret board
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: EMG-SA with SPC
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: No Clue?
You musical style(s): Everything!
Reason for pickup change: Well along with a EMG 89 from time to time I would change the config of this strat to change my sounds. Well they all started to sound bland, dry, sterl, too tight, not glassy at all, plastic, non-vintage! So they've been replaced!

Perceived output level: VINTAGE! Bell like tones!
Tone: BALANCED in every position!
Sonic evaluation: I use a POD 2.0 w/Floorboard. I can run this bad boy through anything and get just about any tone and sound I've every heard in my life!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, Pop, Alt, Country, Clapton, Blackmore, SRV.........

Comments: Destroyed or Stolen What!!!! Yes I would buy these again in a second. I've never had a strat that sounds so good. I've been playing for 17 years and I finally have the strat sound of my dreams! What took so long??? Well I've gotten into this Vintage tone thing lately. :) My metal days are over! Now to the sound. Man-O-Man these pickups bring out tones I never thought this guitar had. I was considering just getting one of those vintage reissues or something. See I've been trying out the Fender line of single coil pickups for some time now and the one thing I notice no one could keep the 50s in stock! At lunch I would run over to the JOKE I mean MarMusic and plug in the strats with the Tex-Mex, Texas Specials, Delta's, Noiseless...... I just couldn't find the sound I was looking for. I keep reading these reviews and made my move and boy has it paid off!!! I'm using the Fender 250k pots and the caps supplied with them. I also lined the cavity of the guitar with Copper shielding. It really helps keep the noise down. Another thing I had to get use to was the magnetic pull of the pickups (see EMGs really don't have any). I read somewere about messuring 13/64 at the lower E and 12/64 at the high. Right on the money. Great sustain, stays in tune and no noticeable string wobble. The tone is very rich. The pickups are very response but not over responsive(like picking up pick taps on the pickguard and stuff)The bridge pickup up sings and rips with out making your ears bleed. The middle pickup is reverse wound so it cancels all noise with the Bridge in the 2 position for a bell like cristal clear SWEET sound that is to dye for. I live in the 2 and 4 positions. But when its time for the blues watch out for the Mid and Neck pickups Watch out Stevie here I come! I love the clarity of the Mid and Neck pickups no mud at all at the lower notes. Believe it or not I can really drive these pickups into some serious Dis/OD and man they are clean and clear. But I stay away from that I just get a kick at how well they sound driven. Well I know I'm all over the place but I want to get back to jamming. All in All this is the perfect set of picks for this guitar my search is over! Good luck to you and your quest.

Pickup features: passive single coils
Impedence or other specs: 6. something (balanced->diff. for each position)

Model of guitar or bass: 1999 Standard Strat(mexican)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: all
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Blues, Rock, Pop, experimental
Reason for pickup change: Wanted better quality than stock - i.e. something with more clarity and better tone.

Perceived output level: Less output than stock, more than Custom 54's
Tone: Well balanced, sometimes the in-between positions are a bit duller sounding than the other three, but I do have to play with the pickup height a bit yet.
Sonic evaluation: I use this through a Trace Elliott Custom Shop Bonneville(Pre-Gibson, 4x10, 50 watt, all tube(6L6 or EL34) combo. This amp lets the character of whatever guitar's used through it to come out. In this case, there was a noticeable improvement in my Strat's tone when I put these p.u.'s in -- clearer, brighter(I had to change my EQ settings) with less output than stocks'. This latter fact is fine with me because I was going for that classic clean Strat thing. I had the tech that put them in wire the bridge and middle to one of the tone controls - I can take some edge off if I want(although with these I haven't had to yet). They sound great clean, or naturally overdriven, or through a signal processor(eg. Korg ax1000g); they can handle ALOT of distortion and are quiet. Basically I wanted to have a pickup that would allow me to get a glassy, chimey tone,(a la Chris Isaak's guitarist) that would also let the sound of the wood come through(a la SRV clean stuff). They give me EXACTLY what I was looking for and then I can process the shit out of them too if I want and they still sound good. I guess the only thing I don't like is that there's some high end roll off when using positions 2 and 4. I plan on playing with adjusting height etc to try and balance this out. In the meantime, I just EQ to where I want my in-btw and back off the tone at the guitar.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups are a good match for mine or any one elses styles(don't know about super heavy though)

Comments: I'd get these again if something happened. Playing 25 years. These pickups sound great and are the real deal if your looking for the "vintage" or original type Strat tone. If you start off with as "pure" a tone as possible, you can then alter it to suit your taste while always being able to get back to that pure tone when you want it - these pickups give you that.

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: Bridge- 6.68k, Middle- 6.56k, Neck- 6.38k

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Custom Shop 1960 Stratocaster
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Texas Specials
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): For this guitar: Blues, classic rock & roll, some jazz
Reason for pickup change: The Texas Specials were good but had too much midrange for my tastes and at times I found them too hot for the early 60's vintage Strat sound I was after.

Perceived output level: Hotter than the Custom '54s but not as hot as the Texas Specials - a nice middle ground.
Tone: Vintage territory. A little bit more midrange than the Custom '54's. Less Than Texas Specials.
Sonic evaluation: I put these in one of the older Custom Shop 1960 Strats, the ones made before the Time Machine series when they started putting hand-wound pickups in them. I also own a Custom Shop '54 Strat and absolutely love the Custom '54s that came stock in it. I wanted something with similar tone, but slightly hotter for the Texas blues sound that was popularized by SRV. I used the Texas Specials for about six months. they are good pickups, but just had too much midrange and were too hot for what I consider a classic, vintage Strat pickup sound. I wanted something that would offer a good contrast with the very clean and glassy '54s while still maintaining an authentic Strat sound. According to the Fender literature, the Fat 50's are modeled after the 1958 pickups, which were the hottest ones made until the Texas Specials. I think they are basically the '54s but with a few hundred more turns on the coil. Perfect! Just what I was looking for. They have a little more midrange, but not over the top like the Texas Specials. The output is increased over the '54s just enough to be noticeable and give it a souped-up sound. These sound great and, in my opinion, have a more authentic SRV sound than the Texas Specials. The bridge pickup is not overly bright or piercing.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This is a great general purpose Strat pickup for when you want a vintage Strat sound for both clean and dirty applications.

Comments: I'm going to give these a 10 because they really are a "fantastic value" at just over $130 for a calibrated set. In my opinion, they are as good as many of the more expensive hand-wound pickups out there that cost almost twice as much. I actually had a set of Seymour Duncan Antiquities in this guitar at one point, and while I prefered them over the Texas Specials, I still thought they were too hot and middy to pass as authentic late 50's/early 60's Strat pickups (although the humbucker Antiquities are superb!). I'm happy with the Fat 50's and will stick with them.

Pickup features: Passive single coils, vintage
Impedence or other specs: Bridge=6.3k, Middle=6.1k, Neck=6.2k

Model of guitar or bass: Fender American Standard Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup: Don't know
You musical style(s): Blues & Classic Rock
Reason for pickup change: Thought the stock pickups were lifeless & the bridge pickup was way too bright. I wanted real vintage tone, but couldn't afford Seymour Duncan Antiquities ($125 per pickup!).

Perceived output level: Moderate output. No louder than stock but less output than Texas Specials.
Tone: Nicely balanced with just enough midrange. Not too trebly.
Sonic evaluation: I play this through a 50w 2x12 Crate (VC5212). It sounds great. Now, it's the best sounding Strat I've played, (& that included real vintage Strats). These pickups are rich sounding and have plenty of "quack" in the in-between settings. Better sounding that Texas Specials, Vintage Noisless, Seymour Duncan Alnico Pros, SD Custom Staggered. The Fat '50's are plenty loud without leaving the vintage territory. They're simply masterful.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play blues, & these get the Rory Gallagher, SRV, Clapton, etc.. tone down nicely. For classic rock they're great also.

Comments: If they were destroyed or stolen, I'd definitely replace them. I'd like to compare them to SD Antiquities, though. But, I'd probably stick with the Fat '50's. For my money, they're THE Strat pickup.

Pickup features: single coil passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: '56 strat copy
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: ?????
You musical style(s): rock, blues, jazz
Reason for pickup change: installed into homemade strat

Perceived output level: ...thought that they would be slightly hotter, ok fatter than stock 50's reissue
Tone: ...very thin, sterile, with none of that "vintage transparency" i sought
Sonic evaluation: ...i bought these pickups to put into a '56 strat copy i was building.. the guitar has an ash body and a maple neck..i thought that these pickups would be suited for the guitar and i got a real good deal on them...i played a few of the relic strats from fender and liked the sound from the custom shop pickups..i play thru a fender vibrolux reissue and a fender super 210 combo...the pickups sounded real thin and sterile, not "fat" in any way..i was looking for more from the pickup in every position...i replaced them with a set of handwound pickups and could really tell the difference....

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

Comments: i have since heard fralin pickups and am looking into a set of those..the pickup set did have relatively less noise than a few other sets that i heard (texas specials, regular CS 50's reissues, '57/'62 reissue pu), maybe due to the reverse wound middle pu...the set stayed in the guitar for about two months for evaluation...

Pickup features: single-coil, passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Japanese Strat, mid-'80s
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock in neck and middle, Seymour Duncan Classic Stack in bridge
Other pickups on guitar: changed them all
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): rock, blues-rock, country-rock
Reason for pickup change: The stock pickups never sounded good, but didn't sound terrible. I finally got tired of hearing them, knowing that bettertone was available. I replaced the awfull sounding bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Classic Stack almost immediately after buying the guitar. I'll keep that pickup and eventually put in another guitar.

Perceived output level: Output is higher than my stock pickups, higher than the other Custom Shop pickups, but not as high as Texas Specials.
Tone: Well-balanced, with excellent tones distinctive to each position. The hum-cancelled 2 and 4 positions have a nice warmth while the other 3 positions have a piercing, but not shrill, tone that really cuts through.
Sonic evaluation: I play through a Seymour Duncan convertible, and they sound terrific together for leads, the only problem being amp-related. It can be difficult to get a truly clean tone out of the Duncan, but the overdriven tones I get with the new pickups have a clearer tone with better independence of the individual strings, and wonderful harmonics and overtones. There is no mud to speak of. These are very musical pickups with great sensitivity to picking techniques and dynamics. My only difficulty with the pickups is that there is such a clear tonal change from one pickup to another, I'm going to have to re-evaluate how I play all the stuff I've been playing to maximize this revitalized guitar. As an added bonus, these pickups have very little noise.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups are great for what I play. I recommend them highly for playing rock/classic rock styles (not hard rock). They may not be warm enough for blues.

Comments: I tried these pickups side by side against the rest of the Fender line, and I've tried EMGs and Duncans before. I preferred them whole-heartedly over everything else (though I did not try Fralins, Van Zandts or Rio Grandes- couldn't justify $250 on a 12-year-old $300 guitar). I found them less noisy and better tonally than Texas Specials, and slightly louder than the other Custom Shop RI pickups. Honestly, these pickups are exactly what I've been looking for: a vintage sounding pickup with higher output and less hum/noise than the standard vintage pickups. Only hassle: putting them into my Jap Fender was a major pain. The wire configuration should have been housed better to facilitate installation, and to relieve the risk of damaging the pickups while putting them in. Minor gripe given the sonic improvement. I'd give them a 10 if the housing had been a little more solid.