Kent Armstrong HRO-1A

see above

15k - matched pair - they come marked neck and bridge as the characterisitics are different

Cheap les Paul copy , but with mahogany body and set neck

Also Flying V copy with a bolt on neck.

The bridge position pickup is glorious - cuts through on lead work without the fizziness you often hear in other pups.
Definition and the quality of the sustain on the Les paul is astounding.
It is a very bluesy sound, but, perfectly at home with heavy overdriven metal or rock.

The neck postion is thick and creamy - sustain is again astounding, bringing out the best features of the set neck body and making this cheap copy sound easily as good as the real thing.


The flying V was a little experiment - stock pups were nasty, top endy fizzy beasts, fine for thrash metal but little else.
Oddly, given that the guitar is made of lightweight agathis with a bolt on neck, the tone is very similar to the Les paul .
The bridge position pickup is pure Hendrix in sound , pinched harmonics sound clear and crisp and it really drives the amp [Marshall valvestate] making it sound like a world class all valve affair.

Clean with both guitars is clear, bluesy and rich.

I bought these from a UK ebay store.
They come as OEM parts, and to be honest, you are best downloading the wiring diagram from the Kent site than use the crap photocopy that come with them.
Both guitars were shielded at the same time, and I would recommend doing this whilst the guitar is dismantled.
20 GBP each is a bargain frankly - they have transformed one beatifully playable guitar [the LP copy] with nasty pickups into my sons favourite instrument.
The Flying V was a cheap guitar bought for fun , and again , whilst the action and playability was excellent [build quality of some of these cheap far east made instruments is astounding] the pickups let it down.

I didnt expect much improvement with the V, but you could have knocked me down with a feather.
It is astounding.
If you like blues, rock, metal or indie, these pickups should make you smile.
The best ??40 I have ever spent on a guitar.
Dont be a badge snob - let your ears be the judge , and your wallet.

Passive humbucker /alinco v/cream/
15k ohm humbucking/7.5/single/4 conductor&earth

strat/alder body/maple neck/hb sc sc/trem/roller saddles/fender roller nut/spertzel locking tuners
bridge
none
fender hot noiseless/middle & bridge
on a planet of how many? Oh Yeah definitley
none trying to replicate beloved stolen strat of 15yrs that i had modded myself. i've had to wait for some of these technologys to be invented

medium hot/overwound paf vibe/similar to sd-jeff beck/dimarzio-breed/
ada mp1 valve preamp/alesis midiverb/peavey power amp/4x12/ ada footcrontroler/wah-wah/tuner
balanced/mid spike/ see mordan can-JB treble 6/mid 8/bass 5/ kent armstrong hro-a1 tr 6/mid 7/bass 6/ very responsive harmonics open or pinched too easy, usable tones all the way through vol changes
any electric guitar for about 3 numbers, except maybe calypso. though my home is 60s/70s/80s rock & blues, dash of jazz and some indie.
just put it trough its paces for about 3hrs hendrix/vai/ van halen/ledzepp/greenday/rollingstones//metallica/bo diddley/chuck berry. big smile very happy.

yes
28yrs/2 ibanez 550s/gibson sg/yamaha acoustic/ukeleyleyley/kazoo.
the price you gotta love/hate-it dont come in dayglow violet.
yes my other guitars which have sd-jb/dimarzio-breed/swineshaed-warthog.playing through a programmed rig i dont want my guitars to sound the same,the they must be of similar volume and frequency range.this is an excellent variant on above flavours. very similar to jeff beck with a tad of pafpro's clarity

Pickup features: Passive humbucker, Alnico magnet, two white open coils, 4-conductor wiring
Impedence or other specs: Alnico magnet, 15 k ohm impedance [humbucker], 7.5 k ohm [single coil].

Model of guitar or bass: WD component Strat.
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: Ibanez single coils [details unknown], ceramic magnet, 7 k ohm impedance.
Artists using this pickup: Nowhere near enough!
You musical style(s): Blues, Brit blues/rock.
Reason for pickup change: I wanted a tappable humbucker with 52mm string spacing to go in the bridge position of the WD Strat I was building. The inspiration behind the guitar was the Fender Jeff Beck Signature but I couldn?t afford one. So I pinched ideas from a variety of sources, raided music store bits boxes and put together my own variation on the Beck model at about one-third the price. The bridge pickup had to be a tappable humbucker and capable of a realistic single coil sound with the option of offering full-bore humbucker grunt but with sweetness.

Perceived output level: On par with a Seymour Duncan JB. I have a JB in a Les Paul and the Kent Armstrong is very close indeed, although the mahogany/maple of the LP will affect the tone and sustain.
Tone: Balanced. Rich crisp single coil sound; throaty yet clear humbucker.
Sonic evaluation: Better than I dared hope, even ignoring the ridiculously low retail price of the PU. The single coil sound is virtually impossible to identify as non-Fender when played head-to-head with a US Standard Strat. The bridge & middle position is sweet, honky and very usable indeed. Winding in the second coil brings out the beast in the HRO. Loud, gutsy, throaty but never harsh. Ah, the joy of alnico. And at a price that verges on the ridiculous.
In single coil mode the HRO reacts well with the TBX tone circuit, adding sparkle and a little zing to the sounds. Somehow the TBX also adds a bit of edge to the humbucker configuration, making the HRO a very useful bridge PU alone.
Good sounds into a Marshall MG30 for small gigs. Awesome going through a Hiwatt DR103.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Ideal for my style of music. Heavy riffing to chicken pickin' - it does it all pretty well. Seems to be an idal bridge PU althgough how it would respond mounted further forward is hard to predict. If I used one in the neck position of, say, a Les Paul I would probably use it parallel wired with a coil tap option. In my Strat it is series wired with a variable coil tap in place of the lower tone control. Some of the 'mixed' sounds arising from different proportions of coils have to be heard to be believed.

Comments: Great sounds, great variety of sounds, and what value for money. If my Seymour Duncan JB ever died I might just replace it with a Kent Armstrong HRO-1A. In my WD Strat I would have no hesitation in using another Kent Armstrong; indeed I am contemplating installing KA over-wound Alnico Strat Pus in the neck and middle positions ? when funds allow. I think that says it all.

Pickup features: Passive humbucker, Open Coils, 4 conductor wiring
Impedence or other specs: Alnico magnets, DC Coil Resistance 15 K Ohms

Model of guitar or bass: Wasburn Raven (Wings Series - Double cut-away H-H)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Goto stock pickup that came on the Raven.
Other pickups on guitar: Kent Armstrong Rainbow HPAO-1 (PAF Alnico) in neck.
Artists using this pickup: Me and Ian Logan.
You musical style(s): Classical Rock, Blues, Metal, tiny bit of Jazz.
Reason for pickup change: The standard Goto's were muddy and lacked the drive I wanted, and like Ian, I've also used Kent Armstrongs on all my other guitars. Kent recommended the HRO-1A in the Bridge position, as I wanted a pickup that could deliver warm but clear, clean sounds, and, crunchy, hi gain, overdriven sounds.

Perceived output level: Louder and easier to drive amps than PAF/PAF Plus/Goto. Gets great crunchy distortion and singing leads, but not quite got the level, drive or sustain of the Kent Armstrong's HSDO-1 Super Distortion Humbucker.
Tone: Well balanced pickup with warm, Sweet clean sound through to full, crunchy distortion sound. According to Kent Armstrong, it is sonically very similar to Seymour Duncan JB model.
Sonic evaluation: Compared side by side with my other Raven loaded with Kent Armstrong HSDO-1 and HPA+1 (PAF Plus) pickups, and Yamaha Pacifica that I customised with HDSO-1 and HRO-1 pickups, through BOSS GT5 and Peavey Classic 20.
As Ian says, this pickup has a nice crunchy overdriven sound that would be at home in anything from Rock through to Death Metal. Clean sound is warm, sweet and lacking the harsh, jangly treble of the HSDO-1 and Goto. It is warmer and sweeter than the standard HRO-1 that uses Ceramic magnets.
The single coil sounds are good too, especially when using a coil from each pickup to get PRS Inside Coils (Strat), Outside Coils (Tele) type tones.
Wiring the pickup coils in Parallel rather than in series, gives a quieter, thiner, hum cancelling, 'single coil on steroids' Tele type of sound.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: The HRO-01A is designed to beef up the bridge position of Strats without sacrificing the Bridge/Middle combination, but works well in Gibson/PRS type guitars too. This pickup should not be used in the Neck position unles you are installing a Super Distortion or MotherBucker pickup in the bridge, like I did on my Pacifica.

Comments: Kent Armstrong pickups deliver great sonics and fantastic value, yet are often overlooked in favour of Seymour Duncans and DiMarzios, despite the fact that many builders and manufacturers use them. If I get any more guitars, I'll be installing this pickup in the bridge. The HRO-1A costs less than half the price a Seymour Duncan JB. Even if the HRO-1A delivered just 90% the tone of the JB, it is difficult to justify paying another 125% just to get that extra 10% of tone.
Sound: 10/10
Value: 12/10

Pickup features: Passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Alnico magnets DC=15.0K

Model of guitar or bass: Home-made, hard-tail, Swamp-Ash Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: Single-coil sized humbuckers (Kent Armstrong again) in neck and middle
Artists using this pickup: None, but this is quite similar to SD's JB and plenty use that.
You musical style(s): Blues, to metal, AC/DC to Satch and Vai.
Reason for pickup change: These were the first pickups to be put into this guitar, but I had used Kent Armstrongs before.

Perceived output level: More push than Kent Armstrongs PAF, but these things can vary with amp settings and even the player
Tone: Pretty well balanced, but with a middly crunch
Sonic evaluation: Home-made guitar (actually best one I've played including high-end Strats and Gibsons) through Crybaby, BOSS GE7, occasional BOSS DS1 into Marshall DSL401. With judicious use of the amps controls this pickup can sound fantastic. It gives a great crunchy sound for AC/DC or Thin Lizzy riffs, but you can also pile on the gain a bit and get nice metal sounds, eg Megadeth, Metallica etc. Can also sound pretty punky. For soloing I use the EQ to add more mids which again sounds great. It is pretty easy to get Zakk Wylde pings, although these aren't as clear as the man himself (probably due to his EMGs). This pickup cleans up very nice if you roll the volume control back and all stages in between clean and dirty have a musical sound.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This is a very versatile pickup and works well in the bridge. I've not tried it it the neck, but it may work well.

Comments: I intend to build more guitars and would happily use Kent Armstrongs again. They are half the price of SDs, EMGs etc and sound as good if not better than many of these. I must admit that there is a certain snobbery about using these and many people would rather use "name" brands. Get past that and you have a great sounding pickup. I think I will probably give some of Kents other pickups a try as well.