Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Abby Masterwound

Pickup features: SC, 3 strat pups, middle RWRP
Impedence or other specs: 5.8k to 6k

Model of guitar or bass: CS strat, relic 60s
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock relic pups
Other pickups on guitar: na
Artists using this pickup: na
You musical style(s): rock, blues, funk
Reason for pickup change: always tinkering

Perceived output level: moderate, about the same as stock pups
Tone: very well balanced, nice chime and grind, much much better than stock pickups. I would go so far as to say that these are the **best** strat pickups I have ever heard, including most vintage examples.
Sonic evaluation: These pickups sound beautiful - I have been looking for this tone forever. They sound full range and clear when played clean, and compress slightly when overdriven (very nice). I;m playing this pickups through classic Fender and Marshall designs.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: these pups are a great match for classic rock and blues. funk too. and just about anything except for heavy metal.

Comments: These pickups are the ultimate. They're not cheap, but I would buy another set in a heartbeat if I could find them (they're very rare). I finally decided to stop messing around with other aftermarket pickups, and to go for the real deal. Abby has been winding pups at Fender for over 40 years, and I believe that no one else can produce what she can. I'll never sell these pickups.

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: N/A

Model of guitar or bass: '97 60's Fender Custom Shop Relic Stratocaster
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Custom Shop 54's
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup: unknown
You musical style(s): Blues, Classic Rock, and Radio Alternative Top 40
Reason for pickup change: Already have a guitar with Custom 54's and heard about the handwound Abby's. These pickups are hand wound by Abigail Ybarra herself. The Custom 69's are wound by a machine and signed by Abby, but these are actually fed in the machine by Abby herself. Abby has been winding pickups for Fender since 1958 or something like that. I figured I'd buy a piece of Fender history. There were only 300 of these made and my set is #34. A Certificate of Authenticity is included with the pickups with M. Eldred & Abigails signature on the Certificate. The bottom of the pickups are hand signed and dated by Abby as well. Unlike the Custom 69 pickups that she also signs and dates, these are signed, "Abby" whereas the 69's are signed, "AY". Also a set of handwounds can only be custom ordered on a Custom Shop guitar along with a $300 up charge.

Perceived output level: A little hotter than vintage but not too much
Tone: Aaaahhhhhhh! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! The Holy Grail. Very balanced. Clarity without harshness, solid bass tone without flab, mids are perfectly in the middle. It's like recording your favorite guitar, then making just the right tweaks of EQ to get the perfect sound. I didn't have to adjust anything. Bridge is wound a little hotter than most vintage. Sounds very close to the Custom 69's but with a more overall uniform tone. I can emulate anyone of my guitar hero's with these. No need to reach for my other Strats for that other tone. Like a 60's vintage pickup but includes all the frequecies in the spectrum
Sonic evaluation: I use a variety of setups: 2 PreCBS Princeton Reverbs hooked up in stereo, '94 Fender Blues Deluxe w Ibanez TS-90, Dunlop Wah, Mesa V Twin 3 channel tube preamp, and a rack unit, soon to include a Mesa 55 watt Nomad head through Alesis compressor, Korg digital tuner, Furman power conditioner, Alesis Midiverb 4, and Carvin T-100 Power amp going through two separate closed back cabs with 2 12's per speaker.
Sounds fantastic through all setups. Can even hold its own through all that processed rack as well.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups fit every style I play except for maybe Metallica or Blink 182. I said perfect single coils not humbucker tone. All positions are usefull. What I particularly like it that there is no drop in volume between positions. It's the first time I've had that vintage tone and not have to ride my volume pedal. It is so hard to describe the tone of these exactly. Think of all the qualities you'd like in a single coil, then open your eyes and hear it come out of your amp. There has always been just one thing that I would have to live with in a set of pickups, like, "sounds great in all but one position, too dark in neck but ok in #4 & #2 positions.

Comments: I would die if these were stolen. That's why I've ordered another set since Fender only made 300 of these. I'd be happy to have these in my main guitar and my best backup. I've been playing guitar for 25 years and have tried all sorts of pickups; Rio Grande's: Tallboys, Muy Grande's, Fender: 57/62's, Texas Specials, Lace Sensors, Delta Tones, Custom 54's, Custom 69's, Fat 50's, Relic 56's, Dimarzio: Virtual Vintage, EMG's: SA's, S's, SAV's, SV's, DG120's, Duncan: Antiqueties, JB jr's, Duckbusters, Lil' 59's, etc. These are all very good pickups but in each one there has always been just a small elament that was lacking but small enough that I could live with. I played this guitar with the Abby's for 5 hours straight after popping them in my Relic. I'd imagine that this would be like being deaf for years and then one day being able to hear for the first time ever. Wow. I'll have to admit, I almost choked when I found out the price of these babies. But it was well worth the investment. These pickups will never leave this guitar. The search is over. Now Fender just needs to make a masterwound Tele set.