Kinman AVn Traditional Mk 2 Set

Single coil passive
For specs refer to www.kinman.com

I have a '94 American Standard 45th Anniversary Strat with a maple neck. I got the Traditional MkII's with the K9 switching system to replace the stock pickups. I changed because the guitar didn't sound like the 3 L series Strats I used to own.

Here's the kicker. Don't buy pickups like this if you want to change a lousy sounding guitar into a toneful beast. It won't happen. Chris Kinman is the first to admit that (check out his website). There are many factors affecting a guitars' tone, and new pickups will only address pickup issues. When I first installed the Kinmans (which I must say, was simple), I was dissapointed. Not that there wasn't an improvement, just that the Kinmans were highlighting other problems. I was lucky enough to get in touch with a superb guitar tech (Shawn O'Neil) who corrected nut and fret problems. My reference is the L series Strats I had. I could plug those into anything, and good tone was always there- it was never an issue, I never worried too much about it, just plugged in and played. However, the Am Stan wasn't doing that. I then bit the (expensive) bullet and bought a Callaham Am Stan bridge block kit (www. Callaham.com)- and THAT was when I appreciated the Kinmans. I did a show using a Crate budget type tranny amp and heard my guitar getting a similar tone to my L series, something I haven't been able to do since the 60's. Since then I bought a Fender Deluxe amp. I mainly do shows of the cover variety, and have worked with other guitarists. Often my tone was compared unfavourably to other players, but not since I got the new setup. The shows we do cover a very wide range- from Abba to ZZ Top, even including Big Band Swing era. I wouldn't use the Strat for everything, but when I wasnt a Strat sound A and away. If you have a good sounding Strat and want it to be noiseless and sound great, these could be the pups for you.

If my guitar was lost or stolen, I wouldn't buy a Fender again. I'd have one built from parts, with a two piece body finished in red nitrocellulose, traditional Strat measurements, Callaham bridge- and most definately Kinmans. I'm 63, and have been playing since I was 14.I play a wide variety of styles, but strong ones are pop and classical (for which Kinmans are totally unsuitable). The K9 option is a bit overkill for me, as I really only use Fender type sounds (the bridge and neck combination is very Tele like, and other players who've tried my guitar with this setting don't want to put it down). If I replaced, it would be K7. Where I live it's difficult to get boutique stuff, so I wasn't able to compare with, say, Suhr, Fralin etc. The thing for me was noiseless, as I record into my computer with Lin6 Toneport UX2, and the stock pups were noisy, and didn't sound nice. The Kinmans are noiseless, except with very high gain settings- but no worse than humbuckers. I can't think of anything I'd like them to do that they don't. Really what I want is a Strat sound with no noise, and that's what they do.

Good looking Strat pickups - look traditional, none of the weird appearance of some other brands of pickups. They look "right". Dead noiseless, and perfect in every way imaginable.

These went into a 2001 American Series Stratocaster, which is my number 1 guitar to this day, in many respects due to the pickups. The original Fender Delta Tone pickups were okay, but they had that horrible hum when used in certain places with lighting issues, dimmers, beer signs, ad infinitum. I have used other Kinman pickups in other Strats and it was a no brainer to go once again with the Kinmans. These install easily and are top quality right down to the packaging. Sort of like a Porsche in a guitar pickup sense. Just the best quality, feel, vibe...nice in this day and age of cheap crap. And Mr. Kinman is a genuinely good guy to deal with as well...answers emails personally a lot of the time and he is passionate about his products and does not rest on his laurels, but constantly strives to improve what already seems perfect. Pretty cool all around!

The output level is just right. The amp I use is a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10 and I use a Barber Tone press, Cry Baby wha (modded inductor), Ibanez TS-808 reissue, MXR Distortion III, Boss Chorus.

There are no superlatives I can't apply to these pickups. I have used Fralins, Seymour Duncans, Lace Sensors, Dimarzios, all of Fender's noiseless offerings, EMG DG20 set...none of them even come close to giving me the total true Strat tone and response these do. They are responsive, sound good through anything I play 'em through. The Kinman product is as good as it is ever going to get in terms of the perfect Stratocaster pickup. Save yourself the frustration of searching and searching for "taht" sound and spend the little extra for the Kinman pickups. It will be the best all - around investment you can make to improve your stock Stratocaster setup.

I play classic rock, everything from Hendrix, ZZ Top, Elvis, CCR, Deep Purple, Cream, Aerosmith, etc. These pickups do clean and distorted sounds equally well and again I cannot stress how dynamic and enjoyable they are to use. I don't know what Chris Kinman came up with in order to achieve the results he has, but whatever it is, he got it right! This is coming from a gigging player since 1970, so I have been around the block a few times and have seen and owned it all and these do the job in spades, first - rate, professional, every bit the tone you expect from a Strat. All other so - called "noiseless" pickups I have used lack something or sound too modern and lose the character of the guitar in the translation. These pickups keep on delivering and amaze me still several years after installing them. One product you can actually count on as far as the claims made go and beyond. Just a good package, good service and a terrific product.

Wouldn't go without them. These are THE sound in my head. The sound of anybody who ever wielded a Strat since they first came into the world in 1954 is available from the pickups. As I said, I have a very critical ear and I am very critical of my own playing, and I am terribly fussy about my tone. Shitty tone does not inspire, it distracts. Great tone helps push you further and inspires when playing. Yes, my American Strat is great - I own several of them. But the particular one I mention as my number 1 is especially great because it has such a sound, and the heart of the tone in any guitar is the pickups (after your fingers, of course - they play a big role in tone as well). I plan on buying a set of the Woodstock pickups from Kinman very soon to put in my latest Strat acquisition!

Yeah, and by the way, somehow these manage to ship from Australia to your mailbox faster than UPS can get a ground shipment from California to the East Coast. Typically within 5 days from ordering. How do they do it? Aussie secret technology? Kangaroos? Who knows. But it takes no time at all to get these into your hot hands and into your axe!

Single Coil passive noiseless pickups with K9 no solder harness kit.

USA Custom rear routed Strat Alder/Flame Maple body & maple neck Ebony Board, Hipshot trem.
Using standard 3 pickup kit with K9 harness.
Going into a newly assembled guitar.
The reason for choosing these was that I was looking for clarity and old style Strat tone.

Output is strong and very clear. I have never had a normal Strat pickup so it is a little hard to evaluate. Kinman have other sets which would push the amp harder.
Using the guitar with a red knob Twin. But of late with a Peavey Classic 30. Via a TC Electronics GForce (overkill I know but beautiful delays)
Tweaking the pickup heights gives a nicely balanced tone. I mentioned the Ebony finger board because it introduces a bit more of a treble tendency than say Maple.
I am playing anything from rock through country - clean - crunch - screaming - you name it. These pickups in this guitar will handle most of what is required. Heavy overdriven sounds require a bit more effort to dial in amp wise, but they will do it.
Their big strength is their clean to crunchy lead sound such as found in modern Country music.
I have been listening to a lot of Richard Bennett's stuff with Knopfler, as well as his own stuff which made me want that retro sound. I got it.
Don't use them if you want them to howl with rage. Get one of Kinmans other sets. Maybe Woodstocks.

If this guitar/ pickup combo got lost, I would be on to USA Custom and Kinman to duplicate the lot down to the last detail. Can't get the gold plated pole pieces any more though.
Been playing for 35 years or so. Have another Fender "The Strat" from around 1981 with EMG's, a Maton acoustic, Fender red knob Twin, Peavey Classic 30, TC Electronics GForce.
I don't hate anything about them, as a matter of fact I am considering putting a Blues or Woodstock set in the Strat.

Passive Stacked humbuckers
Output is a little louder than Lace pickups
Nice balanced sound
Raised pole pieces for wound strings
Brilliant for C & W. Not the most suitable for Rock. Great for Shadows or Knopfler sound

'89 Strat Plus
Replacing Lace Sensor Golds
Lace pickups lacked some midrange bite and could sound a bit "plastic"
Installed with Kinman K7 wiring harness.

These pickups have been installed for 3 weeks now and I have been tesing their limits before writing this review. The installation process went smoothly and included the K7 wiring harness which gives you 7 pickup combinations. Installation took about 20 minutes for a novice.

First thing I noticed was that each pickup sound was very useful. I'm not going to get into the argument of whether or not these have that "genuine" single coil sound. I will just say that they have their own voice and sound very nice indeed. Sweet, VERY clean and chimey. With the Lace Golds, I never used the bridge pickup on its own - too much "icepick" in the ear and the middle pickup sounded bland in comparison the the Kinmans. Now I find myself favouring the middle pickup for its balance and sparkle.

A difference I've found is that the Kinmans don't sound as hollow as the Laces on positions 2 & 4. They seem to emphasise the overtones rather than the sparkle. A bit more "honk" than "hollow" if you know what I mean.

Because these pickups have such a clean sound, they are better suited to material that doesn't require a lot of distortion. This with their "honk" and clean vibe, they are fantastic for C&W or MOR material.

I must also mention what a bonus the K7 harness is as well. This provides a Bridge plus neck (pseudo telecaster) setting that is to die for. The tone control becomes more of a treble cut/mid boost type control which can really enhance the overtones and the volume doesn't make the sound dull as you turn it down. All very useful regardless of the pickups installed.

One word of caution. The pickup height adjustment is critical with these pickups. Because of the raised pole pieces, I found that if I came any closer than 5mm to the D string I would get "stratitis" and the string pull would start to affect the intonation. This is despite the manufacturers claim of 40% less string pull than normal pickups. So I find myself with the neck raised pickup about 2mm above the pickguard and the other pickups a bit higher to allow for string height.

It would be great to have a second guitar with a set of Kinman Woodstocks for the rockier material.
Been playing 35 yrs. Own a Martin D35 for acoustic & a Heritage Custom 575 for jazz material.
Read all the reviews but had to buy on faith after being seduced by all the hype.
The pickups do all that is claimed for them - no surprises.
These work great with Kinman's K7 wiring harness.

Kinman Traditional Mk 2 single coil set with a no solder K7 harness.
Cost approx ??205 These pickups are passive.

Mexican Standard Strat Upgrade 2007 model. I thought this guitar was very good even with the stock pups, better perhaps than my previous American 87 Standard which had less 'punch'.
I fitted the pups with the Kinman K7 harness- pre soldered.
Reason for fitting Kinmans? Much better, fuller sound, with loads of character & nuances- sounds like a real 'vintage' Strat- I don't mean an old aged Strat, but how they used to sound late 50s. The sounds have bite and cut, especially the base strings which really have that Strat 'growl' One major plus is even output, without that over strong 'G' string you always seem to get with other pups- as if everyone was still using wound third strings...

Output is good- you can make wide variations by adjusting height of pups.
I'm using a Kustom solid state amp- it sounds fine- to me, for clean sounds anyway.
The tone is clear and bell like with overtones and nuances I didn't get with other Fender stuff. Very 'musical' with good sustain. The Mexican Strat has good sustain anyway- surprisingly...
I play anything. I suppose I veer a bit towards finger picking and 'jazz'. The pups deliver a great performance using the balls of your fingers- the even output helps here, also you hear a full character- very dynamics sensitive, very Mark Knopfler.
Position wise: they are all useable. I mainly use neck, bridge/middle & bridge positions.

I'd buy again, both the Mex Strat and the Kinmans- a bargain set up, and you come out cheaper and certainly better than an American assembled model.
Oh dear, I've played for about 50 years, on & off... I've owned everything under the sun, Gibsons, Ovations, Yamahas, Epiphones, Hagstrom as well as one Telecaster, plus loads of rubbish, years ago. I only own one other guitar currently and that's a Gordon Smith Gypsy II.
I got the Kinmans without looking at anything else, apart from the great Kinman website. I don't want to run the risk of stating the bleeding obvious but Kinman pups are the best you can get for Strats, especially if you don't need any noise...

These are noiseless Stratocaster pickups. I ordered mine with the K7 wiring harness. This cool little extra means you get a complete ready-to-transfer kit of the pickups, very high quality pots and pickup selector, and a switchcraft output jack all ready to by mounted to your pickguard. The best part about it, the K7 wiring changes the knob setup for more useful sounds. (See sound.)

I installed these pickups on my HIGHLY customized 2001 mexican strat. FIrst of all, let me just say that the sound of the original pickups were beautiful. The only problem with them was the noise and hum would be far too much in many places. (Many argue that the cheaper, mexican strat pickups sound better and more vintage than those "Vintage Noiseless." I'm forced to agree.)

These pickups sound incredible. They sound just the way you'd imagine a Strat would, only they are dead silent. Check the website out, as Kinman is a very interesting scientist of a pickup maker. The K7 wiring means that rather than the traditional Strat setup of Master volume, Neck Tone, Middle Tone, and no tone on bridge, the knobs are Master Volume, Master Tone (including bridge), and a blending knob that allows you to bring the neck pickup back up when your on the bridge pickup, for a telecaster effect, or all 3 pickups for a very unique sound. There is also a K9 option, which has something to do with humbucker sounds.
Another effect of the K7 is the fact that the bridge pickup does pass throught the tone knob which (even on 10) takes some of the brightness out. This could be good or bad. It tooks some getting used to, as I was used to a much bigger contrast between the bridge and neck settings. If you really need that bright, damn-near-Rickenbacker sound in the bridge, it is possible to dissconnect the bridge pickup from the tone control. Another joy of this system was when I found that the proper amount of gain and the right eq combined with the bridge pickup with the tone all the way down produces a very vocal, Bohemian Rhapsody sounding lead tone. This makes me wonder if Brian May's "Red Special" had a similar wiring.
Excellant set of pickups. Modern technology at work.

If this guitar were stolen, I'd buy another Mexican Strat and modify to the same specs again. These pickups are the way a modern Strat pickup should be. Look more into these, I'm telling you. A pickup that sounds even better than Fender originals AND it's noiseless? It's true. I'm curious about the blues set as well.

Single Coil Kinman Mk2's with the K9 system - Passive..?? Solderless Harness took a while to get it connected right.
Came with no instructions...so sad :]
Had to solder some extra grounding lines to lessen humm.
No specs to offer..See Kinman's Website.

Installed Full Kit into a 99 Fender U.S. Strat ... Ash Body..??Maple/Rosewood Neck...I replaced the Stock Pups and a Seymore Lil' 59 at the bridge.
I needed a noisless system due to recordings having crap single coil noise on crucial quiet dynamic parts, and live, the 60 cycle humm just sucks.

I use a Rivera Chubster 55, Dan-Echo,DanElectro Chorus, AC Booster, Dan-E-Tremelo through the FX send-rtn loop..

There is now a Width & richness in my sound I cannot find the words to describe...
Perhaps.......
Stock P-Ups = B.B. Guns & Kinman's = Fully Armored Nuclear Battleship!!!! YES!

Knopfler/ Walter Becker/ Stevie Ray/ Robert Cray/ Clapton tones, but without the humm.. I am not into getting someon elses Strat sound, but if I wanted to I could, between Amp & PU height adjustments.
I am betting the Kinman Woodstocks would do that Hendrix / Texas Grind thing realy well.

I'd buy it again, although $400 is alot, I would bite the bullet.They are worth it to me.
I've been playing for 8-9 years and singing for 22.. I love the tone these produce. I have learned a lot in 8 years and I can confidently say that if you are open to changing your sound to a Rounder, Quieter, Warmer, Balanced, HUGE noisless sound, you will be happy. You've got to have a good amp too though..

The K9 system allows for 9 different pickup configurations..
Using the Bridge and Middle in Series you have the potential for Huge Humbucking Crunch with no harshness or noise. You can also use all 3 at once. It retains a strat like sound quality, but with a warmth and vastness of tone that is as impressive as any High end humbucking Pickup( SRAT ON STEROIDS ) IMOP you can't go wrong with these. Immagine if a Single Coil pickup had the power of a Humbucker, maybe even more depending on the Humbucker!... You need not immagine, they exist!

Stacked Humbuckers

Warmoth Strat (no whamy bar)

Sound is fantastic. They do have some humbucker traits ( a little sterile in some situations) but hey - they are passive and Dead Silent when needed! Very strat sounding and can do all the things you would expect a high quality pickup to do. Very height sensitive so spend time playing around with pickup hieght. I would buy these again if I needed some more. I play a lot of Christian rock and worship music and they do it very well through a aria turbo drive distortion pedal and a holy grail reverb and into a Fender Blues Junior with a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker.

Very good high quality pickup. No noise whatsoever. I bought them with the full pot (volume and two tones) kit from Kinmans - that may be making them sound a bit better than other peoples installations.
Had them for 18 months and very pleased.

Pickup features: Noiseless single coils with 'no-solder' harness
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: 2002 Fender American Series Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock delta-tones
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Varied
Reason for pickup change: Curious to find out if I was missing something

Perceived output level: Very slightly hotter than stock
Tone: Please see comments below
Sonic evaluation: Mesa/Boogie F-50

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Please see comments below

Comments: Very balanced string-to-string response. As per the advice on Chris's website, I experimented a lot with pickup heights. In the end I found that setting them quite low (about 4mm+ from the strings) produced the most 'dynamic', true single-coil response.
It's always difficult to give a sonic evaluation on a piece of kit - in this case, we all have our own ideas about how a strat pickup should sound. In order to be more objective, I'll occasionally draw comparisons with the original Fender delta-tone pickups.
The Kinman neck pickup has a nice smooth, fairly punchy sound. The pole-pieces are also spaced slightly closer together than usual, which is a great idea. Both of the in-between switch settings have the genuinely hollow strat tone. The bridge+middle combo in particular is very quacky... a bit too quacky for me, to be honest. This can be countered somewhat by raising the bridge pickup relative to the middle, but the compromise here is that harshness may be introduced in the bridge-only position.
I have to say that the bridge pickup is a bit of a disappointment to me. As per Chris's description - it is 'hotter' than the other two, but I personally don't find it as useful on its own as the original Fender delta-tone bridge pickup. The Fender pup seems to have a bit more middle, and perhaps slightly less bass and top-end, which to me makes for a smoother and fuller overdriven sound. The Avn-62b sounds a bit wiry and thin in comparison. Ironically, I also find that I can get a more convincing (well, convincing to me) Hank Marvin tone with the modern Fender bridge pickup (!). Now, the above isn't a criticism of Chris's voicing of this pickup - he isn't trying to create a replica of a Fender delta-tone pickup after all - he's going for a more traditional (of course) strat sound. So perhaps I had unrealistic expectations of the bridge pickup. However, it's hard to predict these things when you don't have the opportunity to audition a pickup in person. The website said the bridge is 'hotter' than the other two, which is true, but I guess it's just not hot enough for me (I'm no heavy rock guy though). Therefore, if you're thinking about buying these pickups, you might want to consider one of the custom options, where Chris can supply you with an even-hotter-than-usual bridge pickup in place of the AVn-62b.
Chris's volume control is brilliant. No treble loss when turning the volume down. However, one thing I find slightly frustrating is the master tone control. This control has a different 'voicing' to a traditional tone pot. Rather than going from 'full treble' to 'complete mud', it ranges from 'full treble' to 'more middly sound with less treble' (crude description, but you get the picture). This can yield some genuinely useful sounds, but I actually miss being able to roll a *lot* of treble off the bridge pickup - the pickup always seems too spiky when overdriven (turning down the treble on the amp is not the answer). Again, Chris may offer a custom 'traditional tone pot' option here - perhaps worth enquiring about. His website also offers advice on changing the tone pot cap, so full marks for customer support here.
Now is probably a good time to mention that, after a couple of months, I removed these pickups and replaced them with the original Fender delta-tones. The thing that swung it for me was my experience playing live with them. A reviewer below ('DM') said he sometimes found that the Kinmans sounded a bit 'harsh' and 'sterile' in a live situation. I have to say that I had exactly the same problem (using a Mesa/Boogie F-50 - mostly clean). Also, note separation didn't seem to be as good as before, and there was also a wee bit of compression that seemed to hinder the notes from really leaping out of the amp when hitting the strings hard. Lowering the pickups helped things a lot, but I was never totally satisfied.
On a positive note, the K7 sound mixer is a great feature. The bridge+neck setting sounds very like a

Pickup features: Single coil, hum cancelling I bought the 100% No Solder Kit
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: 1984 Fender Elite Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Carvin Single coil
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: David Gilmour
You musical style(s): Progressive Rock,Pop
Reason for pickup change: Noise and unsatisfied with tone

Perceived output level: Output is similar to my carvins. They are not overwound.
Tone: Clean, clear, sweet, NO HUM! no compromise for the lack of hum
Sonic evaluation: I use a line 6 PODxt Live. I have never submited a review before. My experience with these pickups and the company made me feel that I had to comment. I felt like I was hearing my guitar for the first time in 20 years. Every pickup position sounds amazing. It makes me turn off my Chorus, Compressor, and anything else that colors my sound.I have never felt that way before. The sound is natural, balanced, exciting.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: If you like single coils, strat sound in any style, you will love these pickups.

Comments: If these were lost or stolen I'd buy them again them instantly. I've been playing 30 years. I can't wait to pick up my guitar. I feel like I'm 16 again. I get up early just to play my guitar before work.Others here are much more articulate than I am. This is the bottom line: I am amazed by these pickups. The no solder kit is easy to install and worth the extra price. The service was excellent, personal, and fast! This sounds like hype but it's not. Go to Chris' web site. Everything I read there turned out to be true.