GFS Pickups 1960's Repro Premium Alnico Strat Pickup Set

Single Coil set: bridge 5.8k, mid 5.5k, neck 5.35k. The set I was sent was 5.8k, 5.35k, 5.2k. Oversized Alnico magnets had me widening my scratch plate pickup holes.

Replacements for stock pickups in a 5 yr old Squire Strat.

In terms of basic tone, almost identical to the crappy, stock ceramic pickups. The improvements over the stock pickups are subtle: a more open 'air' with slightly better clarity; the high-end presence is not as harsh; a little more bottom-end and sustain. The Strat sound is there - balanced with good quack in positions 2 and 4. Position 2 makes single notes and simple intervals sing, and position 4(my fave)is good for big fat chords. The neck pickup on its own is nice and chunky for those more cutting chugs, chops and harmonics. The bridge by itself has all the high-end bite that you need - not too brittle. The middle pickup simply sounds similar to the neck pickup - no suprises there. Quite satisfactory and what I was expecting. And contrary to what other people say about low-output single coils, they provide for a heavy old-school metal sound - think Sabbath and early Metallica. Roll back the volume on the guitar and you can get some good rock vibes going. My Marshall Jackhammer in distortion mode loves these pickups. Background noise is no quieter or no louder than the stock pickups, with no squeals and undesirable feedback to contend with.

Strike 1: GFS didn't send me the right middle pickup - it was supposed to be one wound to 5.5k and RP/RW. Instead, I was given a 5.2k non-RP/RW pickup, which I suspect is actually a neck pickup from the Premium Alnico Strat Set(they seem to be built the same way with the same materials). I couldn't be bothered sending this wrong pickup back for replacement and decided to make do with what I had. So I used the wrong 5.2k for the neck, the 5.35k for the middle(which is actually the neck pickup in the set), and the 5.8k for the bridge(as it should be). In doing so, there's no hum-cancelling in positions 2 and 4, but this worked out to be good because the tone is slightly better than what it would be if there was hum-cancelling. So after all this mickey mouse affair, things worked out fine.
Strike 2: the build quality is rough. The exposed tops of the pole pieces still had machine marks on them - they're supposed to be polished - and they were not bevelled as they should have been. On one pickup, an end of the coil winding - that's soldered to the hookup wires - wasn't properly sitting in the notch(looking loose)on the base plate; but it works OK.
Overall, don't believe the GFS hype. These pickups do not rival the higher-end brands. Build quality seems to be a problem, and the assurance of getting the right merchandise in the box is not 100%. But if you're replacing some nasty and crude sounding pickups from a budget guitar, GFS is a low cost step-up worth the risk. Not the end destination of pickup upgrading.
I like the sound that I'm getting from these pickups, but in time I'll replace them with something better - in sound and build quality. Perhaps some BG Pups Vintage 60s.

Single Coil set, Bridge 5.8k, Mid 5.5k, neck 5.35k

Custom built ash bodied "Strat" style guitar.

These pickups sound just fine, and are what I was looking for in the sound for this guitar. They aren't amazing, but for the money, the sound is just fine.

OK, the sound is just fine, but the build quality of the pickups leaves something to be desired. For one thing, the leads are too short, and I had to solder extra wire on to the leads to get them long enough to reach the p/p phase switch on the 3rd pot. They are long enough to reach the 5-way ... but just barely! Also, the mounting holes were drilled slightly skewed, causing the pickups to be off-center with the strings when mounted on the pickguard. The polepiecees for the B and E strings were almost completely not covered by the string. This is a huge annoyance, and really makes me think twice about purchasing again. GFS likes to tout their pickups as a true alternative for "boutique" pickups, but, I would have to say not. They are decent for the money, and are a great way to get a better tone out of a budget guitar by replacing the nasty ceramic single coils, but, the quality really isn't on par with major manufacturers such as Fender C/S, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio etc ...