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.

we know the features

american fender deluxe strat...these pickups were standard

i run into a peavey ultra tube 112. i then send the signal out the preamp out into a 80's fender 75 tube amp. the fender has a 15 inch speaker and tends to compliment the not so nice speaker of the peavey(sheffield). i will be changing the peavey speaker in the future. but anywaythey sound ok together. the peavey has many features that are great. great blues amp especially with the low end of the fender. the strat does sound good with this set up. although i know what some mean about the somewhat flat sound. this can be improved with the amp setup used. i play blues with a moderate amount of distortion and these pickups seem to be fine at this point. i'm still adjusting them (up an down) to get just the right amount of output.

i've been playing since 1964. i have 17 guitars (i think) some vintage and some i just like. compared to my 72 strat these pickups aren't as bell like with the peavey in line but have almost the expected strat charactor with the fender 75 by itself. it would be a great jazz setup. i think they have enough of the fender strat sound to satisfy most people. maybe those who think they need to find the holy grail of tone that will make them famous by friday will turn up their nose but it's all subjective. that vintage crowd just wants to think the're cool like srv or some other notable by imitating their equipment.

Tele SCN pups.

Installed in a custom built Tele.

I purchased my first set new off the net. Installed them to find the bridge pup to be microphonic. Sent back got refund. Bought another set off net. Bridge pup again was microphonic. So I took the guitar to an authorized Fender Dealer here in Memphis, Yarborough's Music 901-761-0414 (ask form Mike). He ordered another bridge pup from Fender. Installed it only to find it to be microphonic also. They called Fender. Fender says it's the guitar not the pup. Fooie, I've been building guitars for almost 20 years and either a pup is microphonic or it's not. Fender said they would send another and test before shipment. They did and the Dealer installed it and guess what? It too was microphonic. At this point I have been without my guitar for 4 weeks. We finally gave up and I decided to put Fralins in the guitar. Fender has a real issue with these pups. Now I have a set of Strat SCN in a Strat I just built and I absolutely love their tone and they are not microphonic. My advice, stay away from the Tele SCN until Fender fixes their design issues with this pup. It's a shame, I really liked the tone but the squeeling has got to go.

I'd give these a zero if I could. I am toyally disguested with Fender for putting such a crappy pickup out with such a faulty design. A company this size should be ashamed. This is just unforgivable IMO. Fender should either get their act together or get out of the pickup business.

These are stacked single coil pickups. The reviewer below, Angus, has a few incorrect facts. Kinman did some pioneering work on his version of noiseless pickups, but Fender had some other designs they've been improving and developing since 1972 and their pickups are based on these original designs.

The SCN's are passive. I didn't measure the impedance. Frankly these were not mine, I had them on a borrowed guitar for 8 months and the owner (my brother) finally sold it off.

These were on a MIA standard American strat, alder body, rosewood fretboard. They were in all three pickup positions. They replaced the stock Fender strat pickups.

These pickups came my way when I was exploring single coil noiseless pickups. I'd looked at the DiMarzio virtual vintage, some Duncans, and Kinmans.

The amp was a stock Fender blues Jr and the fx chain had a mild TS type OD and an old Boss analog delay.

True, these pickups are noiseless, and sound pristine and neat. I was quite happy playing it for about a week. Then I listened to other strats, and slowly started to realize these nice noiseless SCN's lacked character, soul and feeling. I don't know how to put it - they're not lifeless, but there's no soul in the tone. I mean, go listen to some Kinmans and listen to these SCN's, you'll see what I'm talking about.

When played clean, the bass notes were a little muddy even compared to the stock strat single coils. It works fine in the huge gain territory since there's no hum, but they don't really sound like the classic fender single coils.

Well as I mentioned I had this for 8 months when my brother was deciding what to do with it. I played them less and less during the latter months. It was a pity, since the guitar was such an excellent instrument, a nice MIA strat. It would have done great with better pickups.

I guess I'm going to spring for the Kinmans or Lollars.

Mod Shop Samarim Cobalt Noiseless Stratocaster Pickup Set;
Stack Pickup;
Single coil sound (really?);
No hum;
Bridge: 11.5 kOhm / 3.8 Henries;
Middle: 6.5 kOhm / 2.4 Henries;
Neck: 6.5 kOhm / 2.4 Henries;
Color: White

I have installed a set of these babies in my Fender Stratocaster, because of the hum of the originals.

I really love the sound of the original pickup set. However, the hum is annoying. I just wanted the sound of the original pickups, but with no hum.

Good points:
- No hum. It is possible to use high gain levels without noise.
- Low magnectic pull: The Samarium Cobalt magnectic pull is lower than Alnico magnectic pull. It means that it is possible to adjust the pickups closer to the strings, without the pitch warble effect.
- The bridge pickup is hotter than the originals. It is possible to use it alone without bleed your ears.
- The output level is about the same as the originals.

Bad points:
- The botton end lacks of character. I mean that the E and A strings does not sound exactly as a single coil. Imagine an EMG SA. Than imagine a real single coil pickup. Mix them up. The sound is about this.
- Lack of presence: The original pickup set has much more presence than tha SCN. No matter what you do, like pickup height adjustment, amplifier tone adjustment, etc., it is no possible to get the same pleasent sound of a single coil pickup.
- Lack of dynamics: Although the dinamics of this pickup set was dramaticly increased compared to the previous Vintage or Hot Noiseless pickup versions, the original single coil is much more sensitive.

This is a good pickup set. It is a good alternative if you need to use high gain overdrive levels and maintain the Fender Stratocaster Sound.

The clean sound of this pickup set is not so good as the clean sound of the stock single coil pickup set. Do not change your pickups if you like their clean sound!

It is a good option for a second guitar, when it is necessary to play with lots of gain.

You know the specs, just scroll down the page. In short, it's a single coil design and size, but with two coils, one on top and one at the bottom, which work together to cancel hum. I believe this technology was pioneered by Chris Kinman, and ultimately found its way into other makes like DiMarzio, and fender.

I had this in my standard mexican strat. They replaced the stock pickups, and I was on the quest for "that" tone which would make me happy. I bought an SCN set and installed it in all positions. The stock fender pickups are weak, watery and tinny, and anything is an upgrade from them.

Volume wise these pickups are in the same ballpark as normal single coils, maybe a wee bit hotter. The tone is just different. They do sound like single coils, but they're different - you gotta hear them to know what I'm talking about.

The tone is quite ok clean, and does nicely with a bit of overdrive. You can't use a heavy distortion on these pickups, they sound like *(#&$@. and they are not meant for uber high gain metal stuff.

Though they're clean and nice, I somehow found them too sterile and lacking character. I had my guitar set up by a local luthier but the bass strings through this pickup still didn't sound all that crisp and clearly defined. The mids and treble was ok, but I didn't get that classic fender twang, the jangle and bell like tones. Ok ok, it was there to some extent, but not commensurate to the amount I paid for these pickups.

The pickups are suitable for all positions as long as you don't try death metal distortion with it.

As for the rating, sorry I have to give it a 6 since it just didn't appeal to me. Too sterile and lacking character.

I experimented with these for one and a half months but they simply didn't work for me. I switched to Van Zandts, and that's the last switch I'll make, those VZ Blues give me the tone, the character, and that liveliness I simply don't hear in the Fender's. For a comparison, you can listen to Chris Kinman's sound clips on his website (yeah I know he isn't playing Van Zandts but he does play the fender) here http://www.kinman.com/html/mediaCentre/sounds.htm

I'm giving this a middling rating because it doesn't do it for me, though the SCN's may work nicely for you.

Single Coil Passive for Strat
Noiseless

Model of guitar: Parker NiteFly S-S-S
Position: All (Matched Set)
Pickups being replaced: TrueTone Technologies Strat Blues Deluxe Set
Other pickups installed: N/A
Any artists using this pickup: None I am aware of
Reason for Pickup Change: Ready for something different

Perceived output level: about the same as any other strat pickup
Amp used: MESA Boogie Stiletto ACE Combo
Tone: Very well balanced, especially the different positions
Style of Music: Classic Rock, Country, Country Rock, Blues

I have tried all kinds of different pickups over the years in different guitars trying to get "that" sound, but there might be a little different character between different brands of pickups but most of them sound very similar. These new pickups from Fender (developed with Bill Lawrence) are phonemonal! They have that Classic Strat Clean and jingle but when overdriven they really scream. I'm not too easily impressed by new technology and according to some comments (usually by competing pickup makers) these pickups weren't supposed to be that good, but I think they sound great for just about anything you want to use them for. I'm sold on these pickups.

I don't want to knock the TrueTone pickups because for a Vintage pickup they sound great as well. I was just looking for something different and I found it. If this guitar was stolen with these pickups in it, I don't know that I would end up with another Parker but I would definitely look for another guitar with these pickups or buy something and install another set in it. I have been playing about 40 years off and on but maybe only the last 10 really serious about it. I use a MESA Boogie Stiletto ACE Combo amp, which by the way is a great amp too. I feel that with these pickups I have pretty much found that "Holy Grail" sound.

Pickup features: single coil but sacked design
Impedence or other specs: designed by Bill Lawrence

Model of guitar or bass: Fender 50th anniversary deluxe strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): blues jazz rock
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: about the same as any other strat pickup
Tone: it has a balanced soft tone on the brige pickup an even sharp crisp sound at the neck
Sonic evaluation: i am using a small 15watt Drive amp and a 40watt vavlestate marshall

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: neck for slow blues and back two pickups for distorted rock and heavy blues solos

Comments: very nice pickups
a nice tone on all settings and matchs what i play very well
lots of versatilitie with the s-1 switchings but in the volume pot
if the where stolen id get them again if i could

Pickup features: noiseless, passive
Impedence or other specs: dunno

Model of guitar or bass: Fender american deluxe strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: LOL...who cares
You musical style(s): varied
Reason for pickup change: didn't !

Perceived output level: seem about the same as a vintage single or possibly a tad less.
Tone: balanced
Sonic evaluation: I'm a person who is quite picky about single coil tone and have never been happy with the majority of offerings. Van Zandts being what i settled on a few years back. When i bought this strat i had no intention of keeping these pups in it. I knew (or so i thought!) there was no way i would like any noiseless pups enough to use them. Nothing to date in the noiseless category even came close in the past. But i gotta say i'm more than impressed. In medium to high gain territory, and i can't believe i'm saying this, these pups are better than van zandts ! In fact, there is an aspect of the attack that i can't describe that is more strat like than any strat i've had before. The medium to hi gain tones are the last word. To die for ! And to be noiseless makes them usable for high gain unlike a vintage style pup.
How about clean to lower gain sounds? Well, my fav sound is an amp set for a fair amount of gain then turning the volume down to about 5 to clean up giving to a very dynamic tone with a touch or grit in it but loaded with clean sparkle and the ability to get much more grindy as you pick harder. Think SRV. you know what i mean. Anyway, from that sound on down to completely clean sounds, these pups sound different than the Van Zandts. But not in a bad way. In some ways i like it as much, maybe better. And it still sounds very stratty. In fact these pups are truly amazing me because they actually sound more stratty than any strat i've owned with any pups in them ! But as far as the aforementioned and clean sounds, i wouldn't call these pups better than Van Zandts or other great vintage stype pups. I'd say they're in the ballpark and you may find yourself going either way. They have a bit less sparlke in the low strings, but this can be a good thing onstage.
All in all i'm beyond impressed. The medium to high gain tone would make those who use these sounds a lot or mostly love these pups more than anything. The overall sound in all categorys IMO puts them in direct contention with great vintage style pups like the Van Zandts, and if you happen to like these as much or more you're a luck man/woman because you then get the bonus of a noiseless strat !!!
One last but very important note.....fender did NOT put a treble bypass cap in my american deluxe, and i thing they didn't in all SCN equipped strats according to the wiring diagram i downloaded from fenders mr gearhead site. If like me you get a lot of your tones with the volume knob below 10, you're gonna think these pups suck. You MUST install the cap !!!!! These pups like all pups get muddy as the volume goes down w/o a TB cap installed. The thing is tho, these get way muddier than any other. So much so that they are unusable with the knob much under 10. So be sure to add a .001 capacitor to the in and output lugs of the volume pot !!! This is critical for these more than any other pup!

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

Comments: If lost i'd buy more if i could, but unfortunatly they are available only in certain fender models. Whether they will sell them seperatly in the future i don't know, but i think they will because they have done this with all they other pups they originally only sold in thier guitars.
There is a line i draw between pups that are so good that the difference between them and any other great pup is totally subjective only. These fit in that category. Some will dislike them, but others will love em.

Pickup features: single but stacked bill lawrence design
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass:
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: vintage noisless by fender , crap
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: me
You musical style(s): blues and funk, rock and the roll
Reason for pickup change: New ax.

Perceived output level: perfect strat sound and then some
Tone: glassy and swirly
Sonic evaluation: you name the amp i got it. 3 gibson 1 fender 2 silvertone 1 mesa 1vox

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

Comments: I don't give 10s so this is a 9. You will enjoy these with the new switching system very versitile.

Pickup features: Passive Sigle Coil of a Noiselss design
Impedence or other specs: Not given by Fender

Model of guitar or bass: American Deluxe 50th Anniversary Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: N/A
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup: Bill Lawrence helped design them so maybe he is....
You musical style(s): Blues, Classic Rock, Jazz, Fusion
Reason for pickup change: These came stock.

Perceived output level: Much hotter than the Vintage Noiseless that used to be in the Delux Strats
Tone: Well ballanced and very clear. Nearly no loss of sustain noted...
Sonic evaluation: As I said these come stock in the American Deluxe 50th Anniversary Strat, and they are much better than the Vintage Noiseless PUPs that used to come in this series. The quack. They growl. They swirl. They chime. They do everything a Stratocaster pickup ought to do and they don't hum -- ever as near as I can tell in 3 months of use. These PUPs are really amazing given that they are not the same design as a standard single coil because they sound like they are. Seriously, I doubt a double blind listening test would unearth any perceived differences in tone between these and a set of stock single coils. I play this guitar through either a 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, a cream board Blues Junior or a Tech 21 Tri-AC feeding into a Tech 21 Power Engine 60. Any of these combinations sounds fantastic, although you do have to dial these in different than a set of CS Fat 50s or other more traditional build single coils. These babies are HOT and don't need much encouragement to really growl! That said, they sound good at many different levels of gain, from glassy clean to triple rectified. I noted that these PUPs are worlds better than the VIntage Noiseless (which I also have) under higher gain scenarios. Very musical and clean to my ears as compared to other noiseless designs.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I will play a lot of different music styles with this guitar. Blues, jazz, fusion, classic rock and rockabilly styles are my favorites, but not necessarily in that order. So far, I have not found a style of music that I personally play that I would consider these to be unsuitable for.

Comments: Overall I rate these very highly based on the design goals, and my perceived thoughts on the attainment of those. These were designed to be noiseless PUPs that look and feel like single coils. Not necessarliy a vintage set of single coils, but single coils all the same. I think these fill that bill quite nicely indeed. Fender has apparently decided to ditch the "Vintage" thing in the naming of these and I think that was a good move on their part. The older Vintage Noiseless just couldn't live up to the vintage tone hound's expectations with that name. These probably won't either because they are built completely differently and couldn't possible sound exactly the same as a result. Instead with these, Fender lays their claim to the high end of the modern pickup market where good sound, high performance and versatility are more important than trying to sound like you dad's guitar. These PUPs sound great in many different situations and they do that very quietly indeed. As a nice fringe benefit, the Samarium Cobalt magnets on the pickups are really small in size and don't seem to interfere with the string's vibration pattern and for that reason these PUPS seem to really sustain. Good job Fender and Bill Lawrence!