Fender Samarium Cobalt Noiseless

This is an update on my previous review. I have now had a chance to evaluate two Hank strats , one with SCN's and the other with Fralins. I built both with alt switching, allowing all 3 pickups to be engaged and bridge and neck + normal switching.
The tone on the SCN Hank with all 3 p/ups engaged is simply the best I have experienced on any Strat, and I have played hundreds.
How the previous reviewer can suffer sounds that were bettered by a Tex Mex pup is beyond me. Even using standard switching these pickups are in a different league. Perhaps they were wired wrongly. The potential to overdrive these single coils are is considerable. YOU DO NEED TO OPEN THEM UP WITH A 500K VOL POT THOUGH........

As per my previous offering.

HIGH OUTPUT WITH A COOL 'COMFORTABLY NUMB' OVERDRIVEN SOUND WITH REASONABLE GAIN.
LIQUID CLEAN FOR HANK- ANALOGUE WARMTH BUT CRYSTAL CLEAR. I PREFER TO FRALINS.
I HAVEN'T FOUND A SEYMOUR , OTHER THAN PERHAPS THE JD SIGNATURE ( FANTASTIC TONE) P/UP THAT COMES CLOSE, AND THAT IS A VERY LOW OUTPUT PUP.

SIMPLY THE BEST IN MY OPINION FOR STRATS. I HAVE TRIED KINMAN WOODSTOCKS SINCE MY LAST REVIEW, AND THEY ARE NOT FOR ME.THE BARE KNUCKLE APACHE ARE NICE BUT NOT PARTICULARLY VERSATILE, AND VERY EXENSIVE.
You do need to take care with the installation of SCN's, but with a little extra effort, (500k Volume pot, treble bleed, master tone for all 3 pickups, quality wiring) they are simply hair raising.

These are single coil stacked humbuckers. They are sold in a set of 3, with each pickup marked for it's position on the Strat styled guitar. I don't know the specs, but I am sure some other reviewer has posted them. They are passive, and, as far as I know, meant to be similar to vintage tone Strat pickups.

I have a Mexican Fender Standard Strat, with the stock Mexican pickups in it. I liked the sound, but had some hum and microphonic problems, and wanted to fix that. I tried replacing all 3 positions, but the neck pickup was faulty, so the stock Mexican pickup got put back into that position. (Guitar Center would not take back the pickup once it had been soldered into the guitar)

I wouldn't know this if the one pickup hadn't been faulty, but the output of the SCNs is 2 or 3 db less than he Mexican, which dissapoints me. In the old days, when amps didn't have much gain, I would have been really t'd off, but with today's amps, I am able to make up for this. I am using a Fender eighty five amp and a DigiTech RP300 pedal, and can get a pretty awesome tone from the pickups. But I also find that the SCNs arn't quite a bright as the Mexican pickups were, so I have to turn up the treble. I am just not getting the twang I want in the bridge position. The good news is that I have not encountered any hum or microphonics. I play various styles of rock and blues, and need a versitle sound. Anything from John Lee Hooker to Hendrix to hard punk/metal. These pickups do the job, but I think something else would do the job better (too bad Tex-Mex pickups arn't hum canceling). I may move the middle to neck and bridge to middle, and then put something else in the bridge position, or I may replace them all.

When I bought these, I tried a guitar that had these (neck pickup worked fine in that guitar) and one with Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups. The Vintage Noiseless pickups had microphonic problems, so I choose these. I would not buy them again. I have been playing since 1969 (mostly strats), and just got a Yamaha Pacifica 012. Since the Yamaha has a humbucker in the bridge position, the SCNs may end up in that guitar, in the changed positions I mentioned above. I love the fact that they don't hum or squeal. I hate the lower output and duller tone. I wish the neck pickup had worked better (it was very bassy and lower output than the other two, clearly defective), as the sound of the neck pickup is why I like Strats. So, no, I am not satisfied with these pickups, and will be looking into what EMG and Bill Lawrence have. (I know Bill Lawrence designed these pickups, but they were made by Fender, and I want something his company built)

I wanted to put my 2 penn'orth in , because whilst I agree these pickups CAN be disappointing, a simple wiring adaption will open up the potential of these brilliant pickups.

3 wire, heavily made custom fender pups, almost as deep as a stacked humbucker.Passive but massive.....

I have used these in 3 different custom made stratocasters, all three positions.All with maple necks/fingerboards, one with S1 switching.
The first strat, they sounded dull and pretty lifeless, The tone and sound disappointing, belying the pickups output' - I found it difficult to believe custom shop Fenders could sound this bad!
Th answer was eventually a simple one.
I changed the volume pot to a brass spindled CTS 500k , and the difference was quite staggering. The sound was rich, unfettered, airy and with bags of tone, I was using the volume knob on the amp, (AC30 modern), at least 1 1/2 clicks lower, and tone knobs set to 12 noon.
The rest of the set up was fairly standard: .22 Sprague Cap, Callaham Block on the trem, Cryogenic Blend Pot, master tone control, and Tusq nut. I prefer these to all other Fender pups, and as much as the Lindy Fralin hot vintage, and Bare Knuckle 'Apaches' . Kinman may be better at twice the price, but I have no experience of them.
So if your SCN's disappoint, swap out the standard 250K volume pot, and hear the difference.

I play shads and blues mainly, make a better guitar than I play, and sell to commission, so tone is a never ending search.
The normal plus points here are the silent nature of these pickups, they are incredibly quiet, very well made, work well in all positions, and offer a balanced tone and lots of clarity, (subject to my comments in previous box).
I would not recommend them as an upgrade, unless you are prepared to get the best out of them by changing the standard vol pot.They do not o/d as well as, say the Fender 69's, but they do offer some truly great strat tones, and with a bit of grunt as well. They respond very well to a good quality clean boost, seems to open them up even more than other pickups with boost. I love them....

Would I use them as stock pickups in another strat - YES.
My own personal guitar is a Hank Marvin Signature replica, with Lindy Fralin Hot Vintage pickups throughout, blend pot, all maple neck, Grover machineheads. I am in process of building another with SCN's, and will keep whichever sound better....
There are a lot of very good single coil pickups out there, but SCN's can compete extremely well, with a few provisos. At their price they are heading the field.

Single Coil noiseless. Passive.

Installed a full set (SSS) on a Fender 2007 MIM Standard Strat. Replaced the OEM's. Wanted to eliminate the 60 cycle hum. Kept OEM pots and caps.

Output level is comparable to originals, slightly hotter. I like to run a compressor sustainer in my blues rig, so I needed this particular Strat to quiet down on positions 1,3 & 5. Blues signal chain= Boss CS3+Digitech Bad Monkey+BBE Sonic Stomp to greatly modded Fender Blues Jr. and or Fender Super-Sonic. Currently own 5 Strats, so I have plenty with different characteristics with which I can compare (MIA,MIJ, MIK & MIM). The SCN's retain about 90% of the single coil nuances and bell-like chime that Strats are known for. They are 100% noiseless on all switch positions. Attack is more defined and sustain is increased noticeably. They are a little muddy in the lower frequencies, but just barely noticeable. They sound clear and round when played clean, but really shine with some gain. Remember your amp is the other 50% of your sound. If some of the reviewers are understandably having issues with nuances, the BBE Sonic Stomp will bring the spotlight back to your picking attributes quite nicely. As far lacking character- that's more the player than the pickup. Always has been, always will be.

I love single coils. What makes them great is that they are able to capture your style in incredible detail, but they do have some drawbacks-noise and low power.
If you like to rock hard with medium to high gain, these SCN's are good pickups to get. They successfully cancel any and all hum and provide a nice Strat tone. Think David Gilmour. They will also do the edge-of-breakup thing very well. If you like ultra-clean, single coil tone with the noise, stay with the originals, or other pickups out there that are not single stack humbuckers. Been playing 35 years. Too much equipment to list.

Full set of Single Coil Passive pickups.
Go to http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0992104000
for a full spec sheet.

I replaced the stock pickups on my 1997 Inca Silver Maple fretboard USA strat with a set of the Fender Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups because the stockers were noisy (even in positions 2 and 4). I also bought a new Fender Pearloid pickguard,3 fender 500meg pots, Fender 5 position switch + a .47uf capacitor. This way I could take out all my electrics as a unit for storage in case I ever sell my strat(not going to happen).

I am very happy with these pickups. I also have a sunburst 1973 maple fretboard Strat that I did the same thing to except I used the Classic Vintage noiseless pickup set from Fender. The Classic set has more of an original bell like Strat sound which I love, but these pickups have more output/sustain and don't lose much of the original Strat tone/sound. The Samarium Cobalt pickups are more for a harder rock sound but still sound very nice clean. I think if you are playing blues or country straight into a combo tube amp I would stick with the Classic Vintage set, but if your more of a rocker use the Samarium Cobalt set. I play through a Johnson J station as a preamp into a Marshall EL34 100/100 using (2)1960A angled cabs setup as left and right for stereo. I love the single coil strat -> Marshall sound. Both sets of Fender noiseless pickups are great, it's more of a matter of music type and playing style as to which one you want. Either is a great choice for reducing the 60hz hum strats have while preserving the traditional strat single coil sound.

I would replace these if they were broken. I Have been playing 35 years. Also have 2 Jacksons(Soloist and Dinky DK2M) and a Gibson Es-175D as well as my Strats. I love all my guitars but the single coil strat sound just kicks ass, especially if it does not have the nasty 60 cycle hum. I investigated a bunch of other high end noiseless pickups (Lindy Fralin,Seymour Duncan, and Kinman) but settled on these because I trust Fender quality and thought they were a good value. I would love to try some of those expensive boutique pickups but you have to decide on something as time and $$ is limited. Given my experience with the Classic Vintage set it made the decision easier.

Three passive SC pickups.

I put them in my "FrankenStrat". Replaced Duncan Hot Rails set.

Output is slightly hotter in the bridge. Warm and nearly zero 60-cycle hum. Bass is slightly muddy w/distortion but you need to sink the pup on the bass side alittle lower than the treble side, cleaned it up nicley on my tube amp. With solid state you won't be able to really clean it up because of the nuance of solid state-they just don't have the "thang" anyway.

Good value for the dollar. If you are having tone problems with these you may want to buy a good amp and learn how to set up your own pickups to find the sweet spot. I hate it when 15 year olds try to speak with authority on this subject. I have played for 39 years and do luthiery. Take the time to learn kids, you will be glad you did.

single coils

Fender Stratocaster

The SCN pickups do NOT sound vintage but rather more modern and smoother. The bottom end lacks personality and clarity.
If they're used with the S-1 switch system they start to sound better. They are quieter than a humbucker for sure.
If you're looking for a true SRV type vintage tone, you may be disappointed. If you want something quiet with a modern sound, you may like these.

Part of me is so used to true vintage tone that I wasn't really blown away. What I do like is the S-1 switch system so what I've done is put a Fender Fat 50 pickup in the neck position, a SCN in the middle and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge position, using the S-1 switch.
Now I've got the best of three worlds. Variety!

single coil noiseless, passive. I don't understand the technology at all, i don't think they are a stack humbucker ala Dimarzio HS3?

I bought a fender custom shop pro which came stock with these pickups. I read a lot of lukewarm to negative reviews on these before buying the guitar but tried to keep an open mind. I bought the guitar for it's super sexy 12 inch radius, big headstock maple neck, sweet artic white aged nitro body, locking tuners etc. I wasn't worried if it didn't sound like I wanted stock because acoustically this guitar had unreal lively tone in spades and swapping pickups and an appropriate set up were all I needed. I'll review this guitar seperately of course.

I play a Marshall 1987x completely gutted and rebuilt with hand wired ptp board and a post phase inverter master volume. vintage 412 cab with old vintage 30's not resissue type. I drive the amp with a tweaked to perfection DOD 308 pedal and get the ultimate blackmore,yngwie, hendrix tones with this rig even at talking volume. Replaced stock ss loop with tube buffered loop and use an eventide for only subtle reverb and delays. I don't mean to brag but I feel I have a very good ear for tone and know how to get exactly what I want. I play what I call "rock metal" and lean into bluesy hendrixy stuff, sometimes a yngwie-ish riffs I do love his tone from his live in leningrad era and that is my reference for srat marshall god tone. I consider myself a mature player. I'm 43 and have been playing since junior high <p>
The overwound sounding bridge pick up was the most disagreeable to me and probably the biggest culprit for the not very good word on the street about these. The neck tone was big, warm, not bad sounding though without much of the focused peak I am used to with other strat type pickups. They are wide bandwidth sounding, and very stable and even sounding not the typical peaks and valleys you seem to get with more conventional single coils. In other words boring and unexciting in their response. Unless you live to play smashing pumpkins riffs you will probably hate the bridge pick up. It was like a strat was smothering in there trying to get out. The should call it the Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde pickup: Single notes picked cleanly on the higher strings sounded reasonably strat-like though still bland with a slow attack. But cords and low strings single notes sounded like a dull boring humbucker, the strat clarity and twang I love was not there at all. With my eyes closed I would never have guessed it was a strat. I hate in-between sounds so I won't comment on pick up combination settings.

I did my best to warm up to these for about a week then pulled out the entire set including tone controls, and replaced them with my long favorite Dimarzio HS-3s sans tone controls and shazam, there was my bigger than life, twangy, clanky, chirping, shattering clear but not over-bright, stratocaster-marshall tone in spades. I have other single coil pick ups like Duncan alnico pro, ssl's etc so no lectures please, I am well familar with the family of strat tones, pick-up wise. HS-3's do it for me for the old school strat-marshall tones. For steely dan type stuff, of couse there are better choices and noiseless are not necessary. I think Fender should immediately scrap at least the bridge pick up and redesign it for the more traditional strat twangy bell tone. The neck pick up sound has some promise though. Backing off the tone knob a hair got rid of the glassy sound that seemed to lay on top of an otherwise big, juicy tone. However, in the noiseless family I still get far more authentic tones with my HS-3's, yes even in the neck position. All in all, I would not consider using these again. They are an odd-ball in the family of stratocaster pick ups though to be fair, for the noiseless family, they are definately not nearly as sterile and creepy as lace sensors or emg's. I think these would appeal only to those seeking some sort of cross-over territory between a strat and a humbucker type guitar (bridge mostly) but definately not to vintage purist tone freaks. To proclaim them on par with the best vintage type pick up, and I mean traditional single coil is ludicrous.

Noisless and Authentic

2000 Am Standard

I think they are the best. Yes if you have an amp with limited tone this pickup may sound average. Butthru a Fender Vibro king or a similar amp they are the best I have heard, Balanced in all areas

Buy again for sure
Playing 40 years best set in a long time
Buy em if you are a giging pro. don't if you are always at home recording and have limited amp EQ
Love em I own 5 strats tried Stock Fender, Seymour, Lindy Fralin etc
Never tried Kinman's

Single coil, Strat SCN Noiseless, Neck Position. No specs.
My ears tell me what I need to know.

I installed this pickup on a Squier Affinity Strat, 2002 Model SSS,
in place of a Texas Special, which I moved to the bridge position.
The middle position has a 1989 American Strat pickup, which I'm planning on replacing with another SCN when I get the chance. I purchased this pickup to eliminate the 60 cycle hum that irritates the shit out of me when playing at low volumes at home, or when jamming at high volumes at the open mic sessions. I'm not aware of the artists, if any that use this pickup, and also don't care.

My only amp, currently, is a Fender Deluxe 90 (Solid State) which
delivers a nice tone for my applications, which are Jazz, Jazz Funk,
etc. The only effect I would use with it might be an old Ibanez Tube Screamer, along with a volume pedal. What I am seeking out in a strat
is the ultimate in strat tones without the noise, and it appears that I'm almost there. The output of this neck p/u is noticeably greater than the Texas Special, and dead quiet, with the tones being
perfect at lower volumes with the volume knob rolled back slightly
which cuts some of the highs off. (I did not install a capacitor on
the volume pot as suggested. Yet. I'll see about that as time goes by.
Currently there is a large difference in volume between the neck
and middle pickups, which I plan to cure with another SCN for the Mid. The way the guitar is set up at this time, I've got some of the
best quack I've ever had in a strat of any vintage or configuration.

I've played for about 40 years, and have owned at least 30 Fenders
over the years, (tele's & strats), and have tried Duncan's, Dimarzio's, Bill Lawrence's, etc., I think you get the picture, and
so far I've found that going for power, you lose tone, going for tone, you lose power. I'm going for tone on this strat, and will get a bit more power to boot with these pickups without the noise!!!!
My next project will be to put a screaming bitch humbucker of some
sort in my telecaster which will satisfy the need for loud sustaining
nasty overdriven crap which some people crave when they come out to listen to the sessions.