Kinman AVn Warm Classic Set

Pickup features: Single Coil Replacements For Stratocasters
Impedence or other specs: Dunno. Go to www.Kinman.com

Model of guitar or bass: 1995 American Standard Strat Maple Fretboard
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: 1995 American Standard Pickups
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock,Blues,Jazz
Reason for pickup change: The never ending search for better tone.

Perceived output level: The same or slightly more that stock. These are vintage type pickups.
Tone: Crisp treble, strong mids and tight bass
Sonic evaluation: I play them through a classic 50 Peavey and a Tech 21 modeling amp.
I wired the pickups with a push/pull Tone Control to Get the all 7 combinations.
I try to set the height of them to Kinmans specs and was not satisfied. Then to Fenders Specs and not statisfied. The problem is that I use medium gauge strings 11's and I also have a strond pick attack. The bass strings were producing to much volumne and been a pick-up with a tight bass response it was producing mud and an unbalnced response. You have to remmenber for what this pickups were tailord for! Bluesy sound with crisp high end strong mids and tight bass. This is a Avn62/Avn62/Avn59 set. So get more information about them on Kinmans web site.
I sat for about 2 hours with the guitar connected to the tech 21 amp with the tweed clean setting and grade them to my satisfaction with the bass end lower than the treble end. Use your ears.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Good match for blues and jazz (neck/middle) and rock and surf (bridge) Also i get convincing Tele twang with the neck/bridge combination

Comments: Statisfied, great investment for my number one strat. I think they are fantastic value for what they were built for. Don't complaint if you cant sound like Metallica or Antrax with them.

Pickup features: Single-coil, noiseless
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Highway 1 Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock Fender
Other pickups on guitar: AVn-62 neck and middle, AVn-59 bridge
Artists using this pickup: quite a few
You musical style(s): blues, classic rock, jazz
Reason for pickup change: stock pickups were noisy, sounded thin, and lacked tonal clarity

Perceived output level: noticeably hotter than stock
Tone: the tone of these pickups is very bright and chimey, not very transparent but amazingly well balanced without sounding sterile or brittle
Sonic evaluation: I installed these pickups in a Fender Highway 1 Strat (alder body/ maple fretboard) and play directly through a Fender Cyber Deluxe amp. I immediately noticed the higher output of these pickups from the stock pickups, but was suprised that the Kinmans produce a much brighter sound since they are less transparent and have more midrange. This could be attributed to several factors though, because these pickups also provide enhanced note definition and tonal balance, as well as better sustain because of less string pull - combine these attributes and you get a guitar sound that is more vibrant and responds more sensitively to pick attack. I appreciate how ALL pickup positions are now very useful with the AVn Warm Classic set, even the middle and bridge pickups by themselves have their place which was not the case with the stock pickups. I particularly like the bridge pickup (AVn-59) because it has a very Telecaster-like twang and mixes well with the AVn-62 to provide a nice hollow quack. I also like how versatile this set is. You can get a nice Knopfleresque tone with position 4 (neck + middle), an excellent blues tone due to the tremendous responsiveness of these pickups, and with the right amount of reverb and delay you can get an excellent jangly clean tone. Almost forgot to mention that they really are noiseless!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups are well-suited for blues, rock, country, and jazz

Comments: These pickups greatly improved the overall sound of my guitar and virtually elimintated the single-coil hum, so I feel confident in recommending them and giving them a '10' rating.

Pickup features: Passive stacked single coil
Impedence or other specs: AVn-62: 6kohms; AVn-59: 6.4kohms

Model of guitar or bass: '1997 Fender American Deluxe Strat Plus
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Blue Lace Sensor (neck), Silver Lace Sensor (middle), Red Lace Sensor (bridge)
Other pickups on guitar: Kinman AVn-62 (neck, middle), Kinman AVn-59 (bridge)
Artists using this pickup: Hank Marvin
You musical style(s): Blues-rock (Satriani style)
Reason for pickup change: Lace Sensors were quite quiet, but lacked versatility and dynamic response. They were one-trick ponies and didn't work well except for the exact application they were designed for. For example, the Blue Lace Sensor at the neck position didn't sound right unless I use it as a blues humbucker. Moreover, they had bad harmonic response and lacked the shimmering high-end of a Strat. "Quack" was almost non-existent.

Perceived output level: Slightly lower than Lace Sensors. More like traditional single-coils.
Tone: Tight bass, smooth mids and sweet highs without the overwheming treble spike
Sonic evaluation: I installed this set of pickups on my Deluxe Strat Plus and plug it into a BOSS ME-8 multi-effects then into a Marshall DSL-401 1x12 combo. The first thing I did was to turn off the noise gate of my effects and turned on the metal distortion. I also switched my amp to the distortion channel. Then I placed my Strat centimeters away from my computer screen. It was totally quiet until I move the cable nearer. Apparently the noise was picked up by the cable, not the guitar. The sound was bright, but not brittle. If the traditional single-coil is a hard and sharp icepick, this is a cold glass of latte. Sweet, smooth and cool, but yet not freezing.

I took it to the studio the next day for practice, and I was only one to two meters away from the Roland JC-120. It was quiet and sounded even better at high volumes. In clean setting, it is the best single-coil pickup you can hope for with shimmering high end and tight bottom. When distorted it is edgy but yet slightly creamy - perfect for the instrumental rock I play. Then a few days later I brought it to a major ballroom gig. It was noiseless, with the bite to cut through the mix. Controlled feedbacking was easy, and amazing-sounding. Harmonic response was good and so were the dynamics. I had installed the high-pass circuit provided with the pickups and it was very useful when I rolled off the volume for rhythm work. My Strat sounded great when I played Satriani's "Love Thing", and even better when we broke into a fast blues funk jam.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Blues-rock (Satriani style). This set of pickups is definitely my dream. It is perfect for my playing style and brings out the tone from my guitar. It is a must-have for all Strat lovers. I even played some Impellitteri with these pickups and they held their own!

Comments: I will definitely buy them again if they were stolen or damaged. I might try out two Kinman pickups and a DiMarzio bridge humbucker though. I have always wanted to try the Norton. Anyway, I've played electric for 3 years and classical for more. I have another Epiphone Les Paul Standard that I use as backup, and also a small solid-state practice amp. These pickups are really great. They are buck the hum, but they can feedback like a screaming soprano if you want them to. I have tried Seymour Duncan stacks, and heard DiMarzio Virtual Vintage and Fender Vintage Noiseless. They are no match for Kinman AVn pickups. I have finally found my tone. This is THE sound I want. Big thanks to Chris Kinman for his superb customer service and fast transaction.