Kent Armstrong WPU12

Pickup features: Passive single coil, with ceramic magnets and staggers.
Impedence or other specs: 7.6K Ohm on the multimeter, check www.kentarmstrongpickups.com

Model of guitar or bass: Vintage Strat,9.5"-maple,alder body, Gotoh Vinatge Trem, Gotuh Kluson Tuners,...
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock Fender pickups
Other pickups on guitar: Kent Armstrong TweedTone's in the neck and middle
Artists using this pickup: Kent does not enorese any artist i know of, to keep the price as low as possible.
You musical style(s): Rock, Bleus, Texas Bleus en Ballads in those styles.
Reason for pickup change: Fender stock pup was horribble, had to go as quickly as possible, shite fender pickups?... And i knew out of experience how these Armstrongs compared to most pick-ups, so when taking price in advantage, it was Kent Armstrong all the way.

Perceived output level: Louder than a stock Fender bridge pup, with more mids and bass (little P-90)
Tone: Very balanced, all these pups were disigned to work in a set, and OH GOD, they do in class!!
Sonic evaluation: Mostly Strats through tubeamps by Fender such as a Blackfaze etc,... More than great this sound! People you have see first(like i done)that you can buy pickups that cost you halve the price of names as;Duncan,DiMarzio, EMG, Rio Grande, Van Zandt? Kinman,... Really these pups are just the main deal! Kent Arsmtrong all the way from here for us at Customshop#13.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Texas moody mucic, and pure Strat sounds;can't be more happy!

Comments: I allways buy K.Armstrongs only if he realy does not make the model i am after. But when it s in the catalogue of Ken, and i am in need of that particular pickup? Well i ll buy it emediately!
Thanks Kent Asmtrong for SUPERB pups at such fair praice!! Keep on going bro!!

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: 7.6k Ceramic Magnet

Model of guitar or bass: '98 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Mexico)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock bridge PUP
Other pickups on guitar: At the present time stock models
Artists using this pickup: ???
You musical style(s): Most anything with the exceptions of Nu Metal or Country
Reason for pickup change: Wanted something a little beefier.

Perceived output level: Moderately Hot.
Tone: Middy to Bassy, but not an overload of either.
Sonic evaluation: I wanted something a little thicker and warmer than the stock bridge PUP. This delivers well! It definately warmed up the bridge position, but despite it being touted as a "High Output", I find it's not so hot. I don't mean that it's not hot just that I wouldn't call it "High Output". Try a Duncan SSL-3 or an SSL-4, or even a DiMarzio SDS-1 or Fralin Steel Pole 43, now those are "High Output". This is a very good pickup that rounds out the sound of my Strat. It keeps the single coil sound, but doesn't get to trebely. It's what I was looking for.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This does well for most any style of music, with the exception of Heavy Metal.

Comments: I've tried tons of PUPS over my 14 years of playing and I have to say that these Armstrongs' are excellent products. Some folks may stray away from these because they aren't American made, but they are high quality, expertly constructed pickups. Oh yeah, they sound great too! One drawback that I found was that this PUP was out of phase with the stock Fender middle position PUP. So, they have the same magnetic polarity as the mid PUP, which means that the #4 positon doesn't sound so good. I could swap the neck + mid PUPS which would give it a fuller sound, but then I wouldn't have noise cancelling due to the fact that the PUPS will have windings going in the same direction. But seeing as these Armstrongs' are such a good deal I'll be ordering the other 2 to complete the set soon. Don't be a "boutique gear bonehead" give these a try, you may be suprised just how good they sound.

Pickup features: Single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs: See wdmusic.com for specs

Model of guitar or bass: 1997 Fender American Stratocaster
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Texas Specials and SD Li'l 59
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Play mostly in contemporary church worship band
Reason for pickup change: I've done quite a bit of messing around with this guitar to try to find exactly what I'm looking for. At times the Texas Specials seemed too harsh, little too thin.

Perceived output level: Pretty hot single coil, I would go as far as to say pretty close to P-90
Tone: Very middy
Sonic evaluation: Use this guitar through a Line 6 POD straight into very nice 32-channel Mackie church soundboard. As I mentioned, the Texas Specials were alright, but sometimes sounded a tad harsh. I was hoping to, I don't know, get a little more beef and oomph behind the tone. They definitely have more beef and oomph, if that's what you want, than a standard Strat single coil.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: From heavy rock to country, everything in between. Power pop, roots rock type stuff, as well.

Comments: This pickup performed as advertised. It added a lot of mids to my tone, beefed it up. Unfortunately, I learned a lesson here. I use my volume control all the time to go from fairly clean to hard rock overdrive, and every place in between. The Texas Specials clean up pretty nicely when you back off on the guitar's volume knob (I use the Brit High Gain patch mostly, drive at noon, channel volume up full). The Kent Armstrong WPU12 Hot Single Coil did not, really, not the same way. Still significant dirt left when I lowered the volume, making it muddy. This is not what I wanted, and I think I've learned now that the lower the power of the pickups (or output) the better it will achieve this task (maneuvering volume knob to adjust gain). For instance, my $200 Danelectro with lipstick pickups does this the best, and that's as low power as you can get.
These pickups would be great for blues, I think. They definitely add a nice thickness to the tone, if you want that, while still retaining great single coil spank and chime. The 2 and 4 quack positions lost "some" of the quack, but it was still there for the most part. But not like a low-powered single coil pickup quacks. Not that really, really sweet airy, clucky tone. It's useable, though, if you like it.
Here's what I've done since: put my Texas Specials back in, taken out the bridge mini-humbucker (Duncan Li'l 59, which is a great pickup, but can sound kind of compressed and too dark sometimes, gets lost in mix easier) and put one of these Kent Armstrong hot single coils in the bridge position. Wow! Very, very sweet. Unlike any Strat bridge single coil I've heard. Not icepick-in-the-ears at all, very rich and thick and chocolatey, but definitely has single coil character, very much like a P-90. Sweet. Still does a nice chugging rhythm, or AC/DC grind, but just has beef. Oh, in all positions these Armstrongs are extremely noisy. Even the noise gate on my POD, which usually tones down the hum perfectly as a chord decays, doesn't stop these dudes. Just like a P-90 equipped Les Paul. So if you don't mind that, and want more of a P-90 sound in your Strat, these are great. And WD was easy to deal with. And $30 is easy to part with to check them out.
Except here's my new plan: I hate the hum and have been researching noiseless single coils. Looking at, reading reviews, pricing Jeff Kinmans, Fender Vintage Noiseless, Dimarzios, Duncans and Bill Lawrence. After reading lots and lots of reviews, and playing guitars with these various pickups, I've decided to go with the Bill Lawrence L-280s (and an L-290 in the bridge, which supposedly is similar to the Armstrong WPU12, in other words like a P-90). See BillLawrence.com for details and reviews. These are only $40 per pickup! Plus, they are supposedly supposed to emulate the classic Strat pickup, which I think is the direction I want to go, for that volume/gain control issue.
But the Kent Armstrongs are great, do as advertised. Just not for me, for the music I play.

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: 7.5k ohms claimed

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Japan Squire Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock squire buz-o-matics
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: No clue.
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, punk (heh)
Reason for pickup change: The stock pickups made the guitar almost unplayable!

Perceived output level: pretty good output for a single coil.
Tone: Punchy, not overly bright.
Sonic evaluation: The pickups that came with this guitar sounded like dropping a boat anchor into a box of broken glass, and the light Alder body probably didn't help... To make matters worse, the stock center pickup wasn't reverse wound, so you got lots of buzz at all switch positions.
The Ken Armstrong's have more output and WAY less noise than the stockers. They sound like how strat pickups should... Playing through both a Line 6 POD and my TubeWorks "Blue Tube" into a 2x10 or 4x12 cab, I get good, classic strat tones. I bought a wpu12R (reverse wound) for the center, so setting the pickup selector switch to positions 2 and 4 have a "humbucking" effect. Very low noise, with some of that bluesy "honk" tone that you've heard from everybody who thinks he's from Texas.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Good for rock and blues, with enough brass and thrash from the bridge for punk. Select the bridge and middle, and with the POD set to "Shred" you could even play metal! You'll want to get the set, so that the "in-between" sounds are balanced.

Comments: I bought these pickups as a cheap replacement set for a guitar I didn't like too much, but they turned out to be among the best single-coils I've ever used! The guitar is much more playable, and now it's one of my favorites. At $30 a pickup, around $100 for the set including shipping, I'm giving these pickups a "Fantastic Value" rating. Really, I've played $75 pickups that were not as versatile and playable.
The guitar is Alder, and the meaty, punchy tone works well with it. If the guitar was Ash or some other heavier, less resonate wood I might go for the AlNiCo pickup Kent sells, it's supposed to be brighter (and $10 more expensive!)
Installation was ok, I had to cut the pickguard a little 'cause these are a little fatter than the stockers. They come with fabric-covered leads, and if you're anal about noise you'll want to replace them with coax (but then, if you care that much about noise perhaps you would be happier with a humbucker?) The pickups are shallower than stock, and I couldn't bring them as close to the strings as the old pu's, but they make plenty of output anyway, probably due to the ceramic magnets.
I ordered these from http://www.wdmusicproducts.com, which distributes Kent Armstrong pickups. The order page was a little screwed up -- you have to click on the "closed cover" RW version to get the "regular cover" RW pickup -- so keep an eye on what you order, or maybe call... Why are online retailers always so lame?