Fender Vintage Noiseless Strat

Pickup features: Lipstick and Bridge Stacked Noiseless
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: MIM Telecaster
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock MIM Telecaster
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Various
Reason for pickup change: Wanted "Noiseless Technology"

Perceived output level: Hotter then stock
Tone: Smooth Sounding Lipstick, great tone. Neck still twangy but can sound metal when boosted
Sonic evaluation: Hand Made High Octane, with a Emminence Red Fang

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, Southern Rock, Funk Dance

Comments: Got a set of these, put both in, and it sounded great. Two weeks later, dead bridge pickup. Bought another one since the place would not take a return on the installed pickup. Ordered antoher one in, Prior to soldering in, tested resistance,... Infinite. WTF. Two bad bridge pickups. Had to open up to see what was wrong.
Let me just say it was all too clear when you looked at it closely, The winding wire, is smaller than a human hair, and enamel coated. The failure really lies in the the shotty winding, which on both bridge pickups were spilling out over the guides, with visable loose strands, even with potted wax.
The method for fixing it to a terminal is insane, winding it around the edge and soldering in.... would work, but since the wire is enamal coated, it increases the chance for failure, you can see the solder not gripping the wire.
Though the lipstick is definately worth 44 bucks, the bridge, is a crappy product. I don't know if they changed some process and place which the pickup is now made, but it sucks.
One bad install yeah maybe my fault, but two? nope, besides you can see the shotty design, the windings from the upper stack have no recess, so it just goes over the center partition on the outside, at the same location you have to squeeze rubber tube for a spring like fit. Its bad design and poor quality. Hope the lipstick holds out....

Pickup features: stacked single coil, 2 wires only, all same magnetic pole.
Impedence or other specs: about 4.85k ish per coil, 2 coils stacked wired in series.

Model of guitar or bass: Handmade alder strat copy
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: SSH configuration, all coils 6.2k.
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Don't care. That doesn't influence my decision making process.
You musical style(s): I play everything. I tend toward bluesy things on this guitar.
Reason for pickup change: The 6.2k single coils sounded great but got sick of the noise.

Perceived output level: Don't cause my rack overload indicator to trip that means fairly low output.
Tone: All positions are edgy, lack bass, no warmth, all three 'ice pick' with gain.
Sonic evaluation: I have all sorts of handmade combo and rack equipment. The rack is in the studio so I tend to test there where the environment is controlled.
I have a set of Tom Anderson SD series on my Ash strat. Those pickups sound incredible except I always wanted just a little more edge to them.
These pickups are the opposite. All they have is edge. These might work great for a player in a band with a bunch of Gibsons. These will cut through!
I wired these up per the schematic (though the copy was so bad thank god I didn't have to follow it). Mine had a 220k resistor and 680pf cap across the two hot leads on the 500k volume pot. That's an amazingly bright cap choice for pickups that are already too edgy. I put a lighter cap in but still am not happy. Working on that.
My rack tube setup has a 'crunch' channel to die for. These pickups work best in that mode though the neck and middle have a nasty drop-out that someone else has described as a compressed feel. I know what that reviewer was describing now. I find myself using the tone controls to take out some ice-pick in the neck and middle pickups.
Never really liked the bridge position pickup on the Anderson SD set. I like the bridge pickup in this set in crunch mode. That's when I want that ice-pick edge.
They are thin and boring clean. Very dissappointed in the 2 position. 4 is ok. I can't play this setup clean -- no character to the tone.
Dissappointed that the pickups are two wire only and the neck and middle are the same pickup polarity. If there were four wires and the middle was opposite polarity, the top coils could be turned on in positions 2 and 4 by themselves and still be hum cancelling. That might help out positions 2 and 4.
The magnets worry me. I am afraid they might pull the iron out of my blood! When I loosen the strings, they attach themselves to the pickup magnets like those wrecking yard magnetic cranes.
On a more serious note, the magnets are so strong, I could not intonate the guitar! The magnetic pull made the low-E 'wobble' funny enough that the intonation/tuning analyzer could not lock onto the low-E. I screwed the pickups into the body as far as they would go and they still acted funny. I had to put a piece of metal across the neck and middle position pickups and use the bridge pickup so I could intonate the guitar. This is of serious concern to me.
The pickups are poorly made. I was glad to see they were potted but the wax was all over the pickup covers. The magnets are staggered but not consistantly between the three pickups. I am debating about playing with the magnet heights. I have a feeling these pickup would be helped out by pushing them all into the pickup a little.
I find these pickups of no use without a preamp to increase the output. The same is true for the Tom Anderson's mentioned above.
I use the first transistor circuit from the circuit in the Eric Clapton signature strat. I built that preamp off schematic on the net and put it in an old wha pedal. I don't find the mid-boost circuit useful but the first stage still has a gain of around 4. That extra gain restores the level to something more typical/usable. Note that the original schematic has treble boost on the first stage. I put a switch in to turn that on and off. I leave it off with these pickups.
I haven't tried the 250k pots like some have suggested in other reviews. It makes sense that a little load that takes out some of the edge might appeal to many people. I am debating about trying to find the original Fender TBX tone control. Fender stopped using them in favor of no-load tone controls that open when the pot is turned all the way up. Again, a little load might help tame these pickups.
I keep thinking these should have a few more windings

Comments: I have been playing for 35 years. I build my own equipement (guitars and amps) as a hobbiest. I play mainly in my home studio. I play my own music and am not trying to sound like any one else. I am just interested in anything that sounds good to me. I don't care if it sounds like 'so-and-so' or if it sounds 'vintage' or whatever.
I am, at this time, unimpressed with these pickups but I have not given up. They are completely different than my Tom Anderson setup and that might be good since I don't need duplicate instruments.
These pickups have already taken more effort than I had hoped but I will continue to 'tweak' them.
They are relatively cost-effective compared to other name brand pickups of this type. I am not afraid to do 'unholy' experiments on them! ;-)
I definitely would not buy these again but I am not so mad that I am going to get rid of them just yet.

Pickup features: Stacked humbucking, passive
Impedence or other specs: 9.8 kOhm

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Stratocaster '62 specs
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: None, since I assembled the guitar myself from parts
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, funk, jazzrock, classical
Reason for pickup change: Only because I got these in a bargain deal

Perceived output level: A little hotter than normal Strat output
Tone: On this guitar they sound very clear and open, well balanced with a bit more bass than usual from a Strat
Sonic evaluation: Self assembled '62 type Strat, very lightweight body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, Kluson type machineheads, standard tremolo unit with a small lightweight block beneath.
I run it through an old Ibanez PT5 floorboard which has a great Tub Screamer built in. Works faster than warming up my old Boogie ;-)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup sounds well in all positions in my perception, clean or distorted. I can play just about any style with them, slightly distorted I get that nice EvH brown sound

Comments: If it were stolen I would certainly look for some others although I doubt I would buy them new, they're pricy! I like the fact that (although I shielded this Strat very thoroughly) it's completely silent, even when I don't touch ground.
I am very satisfied with what they do, it makes this guitar sound very much like the perfect Strat to me so no reason to swap them.

Pickup features: single without hum noise
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Stratocaster American Standard
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: All
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Don't know
You musical style(s): zepellin-kravitz
Reason for pickup change: Remove hum noise on position 1 3 and 6 and try to experiment something new

Perceived output level: in position 1 i preceive more gain
Tone: middy-bassy! with much more mid in position 1
Sonic evaluation: FENDER STRATOCASTER WITH MARSHALL JCM 900 COMBO

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

Comments: THE HUM NOISE WAS REMOVED IN A 92% REALLY!! ITS AMAZING, THE SOUND IS VERY CLEAN, I DON'T LIKE THAT VERY MUCH, THAT DEPENDS THE SOUND EVERYONE LIKES, ITS SOUND MORE LIKE CLAPTON STYLE, I PREFER MORE A JIMMY PAGE SOUND. WARNING!! AFTER INSERT THE MICS DON'T FORGET TO PUT MUCH FAR FROM STRING BECAUSE THESE MAGNETS HAS MORE POWER THAN THE ORIGINALS, FAR AND CLOSE WILL CHANGE THE SOUND FROM THE DAY TO THE THE NIGHT

Pickup features: Single Coil, passive
Impedence or other specs: not sure

Model of guitar or bass: 2000 American Stratocaster
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: All
Other pickups on guitar: non
Artists using this pickup: not sure
You musical style(s): Alternative Rock, Blues, Jazz
Reason for pickup change: Wanted to kill Hum

Perceived output level: Same for all positions except the bridge. The bridge is weaker than the other positions.
Tone: Overrall very good. Not too different from a regular set of American Standards. The Neck and the Center both sound excellent. The problems are with the Neck/Center, Center/Bridge, and Bridge pickups positions. the Neck/CEnter and Center/Bridge do kill the hum. However they do have a stale tone in comparison to say, a Texas Special or a American Standard pickup. I was very unimpressed with the tone of the Center/Bridge position. It sounds weak. The output of the bridge pickup is very weak also. The output is significantly weaker compared to the other 4 positions. When bridge gives great lead sound when cranked but it sounds weak when clean.
Sonic evaluation: I use a Fender Cyber-twin Half Stack. I'm not a big effects guitarist but I do LOVE the tone and reverb that the Cyber-Twin gives. I only use two pedals. 1). Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer and 2). Boss Compressor Sustain pedal.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Blues-based stuff. Mostly Alt. Rock (radiohead, Pink Floyd, U2). But I am also a huge fan of Blues (Eric Clapton, Robin Trower, SRV). These pickups are great for killing hum. They are noiseless that is for sure. The tone is simply not as good as other pickups. That's why I am switiching to Rio Grande's.

Comments: I would recommend these to anyone who hates Hum. I do and that's why I bought the pickups. They do work as they're described. However the tone is a bit weak. If the tone was just as good or better than regular American stds than I would give them a 9 or 10 but they aren't. These pickups are great but not the best.

Pickup features: Stacked SC
Impedence or other specs: 9.8

Model of guitar or bass: Schecter Diamond VS Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Duncan Design SC
Other pickups on guitar: DD bridge HB
Artists using this pickup: Clapton I believe
You musical style(s): Blues, rock, other
Reason for pickup change: Got them sent to me by error, and decided to try them. I popped them into the neck bridge positions.

Perceived output level: Much more clairity than DDs
Tone: trebly, and chimey. Clear and ringy...
Sonic evaluation: Schecter VS Strat with Basswood body 500k Pots. Flextone IIXL by Line6.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Good for all things strat where clarity is desired, Unsuitaboe for Metal.

Comments: Might buy them again, bt there are a lot more I'd try first.
Playing off and on for 30 years. Like the clear distintive tone. Hate: well they are a bit shill on the top, but easily EQed. They pretty much gave this basswood body Start the tone I never figured it could have. I spent an hour or so A/B ing them with my Texas Special 97 MIA Strat. The Schecter w/ these is way more clear and vintage soundsing.

Pickup features: single coils
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender start (the sexiest guitar in the world)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Mr. Clapton among others
You musical style(s): psychedelic rock, classical, heavy metal (not "nu metal"), funk, & blues
Reason for pickup change: I didn't have much of a say in it, they came with the guitar I wanted.

Perceived output level: The output seems to be a bit more than the stock pickups. I noticed these pickups had more upper mid and treble response and "sqwak" than the stock ones.
Tone: Tone is a very subjective thing. But to me these pickups sound a bit brighter than other pickups I've tried.
Sonic evaluation: Well, first of all allow me to explain why so many players using these pickups are getting that annoying treble or overkilling squak...Check your volume and tone pots! How are your vintage pickups wired?
This particular strat came with, get this: ONE MEG pots!!!! Total Blasphemny in my opinion. Now I've heard of people having to switch out the 500k pots but ONE MEG pots???? man , no wonder!
Thats what you use on Gibson Les Pauls or other guitars with TRADITIONAL HUMBUCKING pickups! The 'pick up pattern of the magnetic field on these are NOT the same as in the side by side humbucking pickups. So you don't need one meg pots.
500k and above will get you that very bright and slightly hotter output that YOU MAY NOT DESIRE. True, you can adjust the treble on your amps, but what about when you switch over to the neck pickup? why fool around with your guitar's natural tone?
So that is something to think about. The first thing I did was replace the volume pot with a 250k pot, and I simply soldered a .0012uF (1.2nF) 63 volt Polyester capacitor in series with a 130K Ohm resistor (1/4 watt) across the two hot terminals of the volume pot.
Now one of my set ups is as follows: Obviously I am using a Fender strat. for recording, I use a Mogami or a monster cable (ten foot) going into a Fulltone Clyde wah, going into a DOD Yngwie malmsteen 308 overdrive pedal (for a clean boost) into a stereo tube pre amp made by rocktron. (The mighty piranha folks)
I am not using a boss or a digitech transitor box (pedal) to get my overdrive or distortion "effect". And I dont wear my pants halfway down my ass or tune my guitars so low that my bass player becomes obsolete. I am very picky about my tone, whether Im pounding out Pantera like riffs, Zakk Wylde or Frank Zappa ok?
So anyway, the Rocktron stereo tube preamp is going out into the mixing board via two XLR outputs.

When I play on a clean preset with flat eq I get a pretty classic strat tone with the 308 boost pedal off. Noise level? with or without the 308 boost pedal, if I do not use the built in noise reduction on the rocktron preamp, then Yes I hear a little hiss and slight hum, but they aren't nearly as hissy as the stock pickups. I can get the Hendrixy tones and mellow jazzy flavors on my neck pickup. Very nice and smooth. Keep in mind that alot of it has to do with how YOU attack the strings and WHERE you pick, near the neck pickup or near the bridge pickup, etc.
With the eq on the preamp settings: 180 Hz @ +4, 150kHz @+6, Treble at -2 gain @ 47, level @ 12'0' clock and the 308 engaged, I get a pretty smooth 80's metal overdrive, like Eric Clapton on steroids.
On this particular preamp, I have to cut the treble a bit but adding a little more than +5 it starts to fuzz like 60's type of fuzz, which isnt a bad thing, just not the sound I am after.
The only thing I can complain about is that these pickups ARE NOT NOISLESS. I think they should not market them as being "noiseless" because they do in fact produce slight hum and hissing, even without overdrive. Just turn up your amp and listen. They are certainly quiter than stock Fender pus' but they are not nearly as clean and quiet as the Dimarzio Hs3's.
Othe than that, these sound very good for any type of music, I men ANY genere! from shredding to blues, to funk & jazz. For Jazz I would of course turn the treble down almost all the way, and add a bit of bass (not much though)
Live, I will either use a similar set up, only with a CRATE club 60 Joe Walsh's signature amp (60 watts of Tube power) and an extension cab (sometimes) or run through the Rocktron and into two Carvin power amps (stereo set up) and I use an Ev

Comments: Being that these pickups came installed in the strat I got, and being that I like the Dimarzio Hs3's better for their balance and TRUE NOISLESS features, I wouldn't feel the need to replace these with another set of vintage noisless. I'd be bummed out because it means I'd have to buy another set of pick ups. But chances are if someone stole the pickups or if I lost them, the guitar went with them. I'd be very disgusted.
I can't imagine someone wanting to "steal" my pickups, especially out of my strat! Most musicians who are at a level of understanding tone and love and respect other musicians wouldn't have this type of mentality, to steal your pickups, LOL! I mean how does that work? "hey can I borrow your strat, I'll bring it right back (without the pickups)"
I have been playing for 20 years now. (damn, time flies no?) I own a lot of other gear, mostly rackmount stuff and a few analog pedals like the Voodoo Lab's Chorus and the Clyde, A Lexicon unit, Eventide H3000, blah blah blah...Oh I own a killer sitar too, from India! i love that thing, maybe I'll install a Floyd Rose tremolo and a George Lynch Screamin' demon pickup on it! LOL!
What I love about the these vintage noisless pickups is that they sound crisp and clean (I'm reminded of that old 7up commercial)and have a good brilliance to them....IF you don't use the 500k or 1 meg tone pots with them. Otherwise its overkill. You want a natural sounding pickup that wont add shrill to your picking attack. What I hate about them? They are NOT truly noisless. I wont use them to record. But thats just me....what a pompous ass I am.
Listen, try the Dimarzios Hs3s and compare the two. THEN come back and tell me these are noise-less. BTW, Eric Johnson uses the Hs3's (He is the king of tone)
You know, I own several guitars, most of them Strats, which I have modified to a greater or lesser degree LOL! I don't mind experimenting with pickups If I have the extra cash lying around. I tried the EMG 81 (active pickup) and its all right, but its very sensative to Electromagnetic fields caused by nearby gear, and it doesnt allow the little nuances to cut through like single coils do.They are one trick ponies.
I am scoping out the Lace line of single coil pickups and I even bought some Kent Armstrong pickups for one of my strats. Unfortunatley, they did not fit any of my pickguards and I didn't want to cut into these nice pickguards and risk ruining them, so I returned the Kents. I don't have time to mess with routing- I dont have the proper tools to do so anyway. So yes, I compared these Fender "noise-less" pickups to other pus I have and have had before.
The vintage "noisless" are not extraordinary by any menas, but they are better sounding than the stocks and not too hot. I would use them for clean arpegios and country pickin, jazz....with a chorus effect, manthey shine! I wouldn't discourage anyone from using them. But if you think you'll sound like Clapton or Kenny wyane shepherd, just because they use these too,think again!
Take into consideration what amps they use and if they are modified in any way. Also what type of strings are YOU using with THESE pickups and guages....STAINLESS STEELS? OMG! No! unless you want that metallic bright clangy sound. I use 008s' somtimes 009s sets but the bottom strings are very heavy with high action on my guitars, something like,52! Just depends on what I want for a specifc recording or feel.
In my opinion pickups shouldn't be too hot. wehn I first started playing I thought the hotter the better and the closer the pickups to the strings the better. What fucking moron! Im glad I don't think like that anymore LOL!
Hey, why bother buying a 3 thousand dollar guitar made out of exotic woods if you're going to kill the guitar's beautiful and natural tone with hot pickups and a box made of transitors??? I dont get it.
If you want hot WITH good tone, crank your amp and mic it accordingly! use a clean boost to slam the front end of your tube

Pickup features: Single Coils
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock MIM
Other pickups on guitar: na
Artists using this pickup: na
You musical style(s): Blues, Classic Rock
Reason for pickup change: na

Perceived output level: na
Tone: na
Sonic evaluation: na

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

Comments: This is a follow up to an earlier review I submitted. I have read that the most recent purchasers of these VN pick-ups were less than satisfied. Well I don't know if this makes any sense, but the sound you get depends as much on the cord to the amp as anything else. I use a variety of cords, and all but one sounds pretty bad, tinny, trebly, scratchy, think of a cat choking on a hairball...you get the picture.
But when I run a "monster rock" cable, the sound is amazingly different, and I run this into a S/S amp. Not sure how to explain other than this seems to sound like a strat meant for either blues, or classic rock, which is what I play. Crisp, clear, sharp, and of course, noiseless. When I use the overdrive, sounds thick, crisp, and a very much desirable sound. I think another reviewer put it best when they indicated "not for everyone", but if you are looking for a Hendrix and Clapton(current) sound, these are defintely it! Should you try these out, and indeed you should, ask the store for monster cables, believe me, they make a world of difference. If you are installing these, also make sure you replace with the pots that come with the set as well. My salesperson/installer advised me, one of his other customers installed themselves, a mexican strat too, and didn't replace the pots, sounded so bad the bowling alley accross the street was complaining. Once again, you get the picture. A little touchy on how these things work. I'm not a techy guy so I won't begin to tell you why and how except some helpful hints that either save you from ripping them out of your axe, or help educate you if you are interesting in purchasing new.

Pickup features: stacked design humbucker designed to sound like single coil
Impedence or other specs: not known

Model of guitar or bass: year 2000 american deluxe strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: n/a
Other pickups on guitar: n/a
Artists using this pickup: could not care!!!!!
You musical style(s): blues to classic rock
Reason for pickup change: n/a

Perceived output level: vintage type output - not hot
Tone: neck and middle great but bridge can be treble treble treble
Sonic evaluation: when i bought the guitar, i bought more for the look than the sound!!!!!!!! I have come to like these pickups but i will say you need to be very careful with the pickup heights. Over the time of owning i started to dislike the p/ups ( especially the bridge) and founs them very trebly (ash body and maple neck) Over the last month or so i have been experimenting with pickup height and have fallen in love with them now!!!!!! The trick is to set them lower than you might think and some of the harshness will disappear leaving you with a quiet pickup that indeed to my ears sounds like a "strat" The neck p/up can handle all manner of blues type solos with varying degrees of overdrive while the middle is great for chords/rhythm licks and the bridge can now produce overdriven power chords and heavy overdrive solos. The bottom tone control on my strat also affects the bridge p/up and i have found rolling this back to "7" provides a smoother tone from the bridge.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: i personally think these p/ups are better suited to clean/mild overdriven tones but with tweaking can handle heavier sounds aswell

Comments: These pickups are wonderful for their noise cancelling abilities and considering they are a humbucker tuned to sound like old single coils I think they are great - if you a purist then nothing will obviously touch a real single coil, but all things considered they do what they say on the tin!!!!!!!!!!My only wish is that the bridge pickup was slightly more "meaty" and i did not have to spend so much time altering the heights to achieve the right sort of sound.

Pickup features: single coil
Impedence or other specs: 9kohm

Model of guitar or bass: usa strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: standard strat
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change: sick of the buzz

Perceived output level: weakk weedy tone lower than standard p.u,s
Tone: flat as a fart no tone at all
Sonic evaluation: these pick ups are real dog turds youd be better off getting taiwanese shit buckers to these they absolutely honk like pigs

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

Comments: if these were stolen id pay the thief for doing such a a good job.they are the worst pickups ive heard horrible thin brittle tone bring back the buzz aLL IS FORGIVEN