Kinman AVn Woodstock Plus

Three single coil authentic vintage noiseless strat style passive vertical humbucking pickups in 'K9' alternate switching easy installation no solder harness.. =whew=

Installed in Fender/Warmoth '62 style swamp ash stratocaster totally replacing all 3 Fender Texas Special pickups I had in there previously.

I loved the hot tone of the Texas Specials but was tired of the hum and noise I was having to deal with in various venues.. I've changed a lot of pickups in my 30+ years of playing and was looking for a 'noisless' pickup..

I was not ready for what I was about to experience!

The result of the installation was I was blown away!! Pure strat TONE!! The sound was ALL stratocaster, no noise or hum to interfere with pure
bell like tones..that were there before but had been muddied and hidden behind the noise..
The Woodstock Pluses are designed to be hotter than the other flavors of Kinmans.. To say I'm pleased is an understatement!!
The solderless installation was a total breeze and a pleasure to do! ..I had 'em in with a change of strings in under 40mins..(w/new pickguard)

I'm only giving these a ten 'cos I can't go to twenty!!!
The pickups installation was so easy and now I have 9 positions I can choose from! plus a variable mix of the neck pickup in any position..
I can easily pull tele style tones and P90s tone out of it with a push of the button..(the tone controls now become one master for all tone and one mix-series/parallel knob for neck mix and p/s switching..
All leaving the appearance totally stock..
I am totally happy with this purchase and I'll never use anything else!

***HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!**

Kinman Woodstock Plus pickups and K9 Harness. These were designed to match the best strat pickups of the Woodstock (60's) era, with a beefier bridge pickup for rock players. They are passive (extremely) noiseless pickups.

I installed these pickups into an Eric Johnson Strat that I put together from the Stratosphere. I had seen many good reviews about Kinman and had known of the brand since my early playing days. I was going to buy the MKII's but decided I wanted something a bit rockier.

At first I was totally un-happy. The pups were weedy, thin and brittle and didn't compare well to the stock pups in my US standard Strat. I spent ages trying to adjust them but to no avail. I started looking at different brands to put in and thought I'd email Kinmans and tell them of my issue. I emailed them the details of my issue and Chris Kinman responded immediatly (he was quite unhappy that one of his customers wasn't enjoying the experience). We tried a couple of things and Chris finally suggested I send my whole guitar to their factory to investigate my problem! As I only live an hour away from them I drove my guitar down and the guys at the factory pulled it apart. After replacing a faulty volume pot, the guitar was plugged into the factory amp and my jaw dropped. I thought they should sound good but I didn't expect them to sound THAT good. I drove home and plugged the guitar into my Rivera Venus 3 and was blown away. They are the best single coil pickups I've ever heard. Full stop. I play anything from clean blues to hard rock and these pups do it all and do it all quietly. They ARE powerful though, and will overdrive your amp easily. To get pure clean tone I have to pick softly. I honestly don't think I could ever buy a different brand of pickup now. Now only are they awesome, but Kinman offered me outstanding customer service that you rarely see these days.

I would definatly replace these if stolen. My only issue would be what other Kinman pickup to try. I've been playing for 19 years and currently (looking only at comparable guitars) own a US Strat and a US tele alongside the EJ. I'm selling them both as I now only play the EJ. the K9 harness alows you to get Tele like tones.

These pups are expensive though. But I guess if you want the best you pay for them. Chris details why they are so expensive on his website (basically, if you buy 3 pups, you're actually getting 6) and it's all to do with how he can make them noiseless while still using alnico magnets, and not the ceramic or SC based pups. While these pups are cheaper, they are totally different tonally.

Single Coil Passive

Installed in a Guitar Parts '62 Strat Kit Guitar

All positions with 9 way switching option

No previous pickups installed

Output Level - High

Amp Used - Marshall JCM2000 TSL 100 Combo

Tone - Very Stratty with total silence, a perfect fit for a Marshall Amps. I can't decide with postion I prefer, they all sound great. The Bridge Pickup sounds very "Bad Company" the Middle & Neck sound very Classic Strat.

Music Styles - 60's, 70's & 80's Rock

If Stolen I would definately buy them again. I'm now saving up for some AVn Blues for my '82 Ibanez Blazer

10. Kinman AVn Woodstock Plus set with controls and wiring harness. These are vintage sounding pickups that are DEAD quiet.

10. All three pickups and Kinmans controls were dropped into a mid-eighties Japanese strat with a rosewood board.

10. I took a chance on purchasing these from Chris Kinman in Australia, since I never actually heard a guitar with a set of them installed. I called a few of his dealers and got some glowing over-the-phone reports however. That along with the various excellent writeups I read convinced me that it was a good chance to take. The installation was very easy and I got everything installed and the guitar back to playing condition in about an hour. The original Japanese pickups were okay for what they are--a little thin sounding but they definately produced that strat 'quack'. When I played the Kinman's for the first time I had one of those 'oh my God' experiences. The tone is rich and sweet and made this Japanese model sound like a really good early 70's strat made be Leo himself. I was blown away--end of story (sort of). Clean sounds are as good as it gets, and in overdrive they break nicely and have a crunch that sits in the mix perfectly. The greatest thing about these pickups aside from the tone is that they really ARE dead quiet. This is one of those "take a chance" decisions I actually got right! Everything came well packed and the instructions were easy to read and understand. My guitar playing friends are already lusting after my strat--but they can't have it.

If you are looking at replacing the pickups in your strat, don't hesitate to give strong consideration to the ones that Chris Kinman makes. They are a little more expensive than what you can get from Lindy Fralin, Nordstrand, or just about anybody else, but they are well worth the price. If someone stole this guitar, I'd buy another one and replace the stock pickups with Kinman's in a New York minute!

Single coil, passive pickups for Strats

'73 Fender Stratocaster. The guitar is now on its 4th generation of pickups - originals - Di Marzio SDS1's (hot but noisy) - Lindy Fralins (great tone but still noisy) and now the Kinman's.

I installed the 9 way swithing system (totally intuitive) which provide the definitive range of Strat sounds - smoky blues to raspy (Sweet Home Alabama's) out-of-phase sounds to straight ahead rock. I haven't been able to gig this guitar for years and years using Les Pauls to get a quiet life (i.e. no hum). After 10 years with the LP's I saw myself as a Gibson player but these p/ups have re-awakened my love for my Strat. So many more tone options - if a little less focused than the LP's with heavy overdriven chords. I play through a Mesa Road King Combo - straight in with no effects and the combination of the Strat's new found tonal variations with the amps 4 channels gives me more options than I know what to do with.

The Kinman's have brought the Stratback to life - it was relegated to home practice if I didn't want to dirty up the Les Pauls. The guitar looks a mess (never was a good handyman) but is it a coincidence that the first time it was gigged I played to an audience that was literally screaming every time I soloed? Well actually it was a coincidence but in my humble option NO Strat should be allowed to leave home without a set of these puppies - ever. The search is over Strat players. By the way - if you have any kind of question, real people from Kinman's talk or email to you and if they make a commitment, they keep it.

Humbucking single coil replacements, passive.

I installed these pickups in a Godin LGX III, all 3 positions. Stock pickups were Seymour Duncan Duckbuckers. Also in this guitar is an LR Baggs piezo pickup setup. I changed the original because of the lack of "sweetness" from the Duckbuckers

The output of these pickups is slightly hotter than vintage, they drive my Mesa Stilleto well. Also included with the pickups is a capacitor/resistor circuit to install across the volume knob to allow you to back off the volume, cleaning up the distortion while retaining the highs. The tone of these puppies is Dave Gilmour sweet. I wasn't expecting greatness, this guitar is set up like a Les Paul with Strat pickups. I bought is because of the quality of the construction, and the piezo, but until I put the Kinmans in, this was definitely my second guitar. I play in two very different situations, one a church orchestra playing contemporary worship songs and also a club band playing rock music designed to get girls up and dancing. This covers a lot of classic rock, punk, alternative, one hit wonders, blues and originals. Maybe a little country flavor from time to time. The only time I feel the need to set this guitar down is for the heaviest tunes, where I go for my homade EVH style Warmoth with the Seymour Duncan JB/59 combo. I also have a 50th anniversary strat with their Samarium Cobalt pickups. As much as I love that guitar, I have to say the Kinmans are sweeter. Very balanced sound with angelic midrange. No sign of shrillness, nothing nasal. This guitar hangs on me more often than the rest.

If these pickups were destroyed, I would order two sets to have one for a backup. As a matter of fact, I wish Godin would team up with Kinman to offer this pickup configuration again!

Single coil noiseless pickups with all the options - Parchment, gold poles and screws and the K-9 switching system.

I put these in an Eric Johnson body with a custom shop neck strat. They replaced a set of Fender SCN's.

So much better than the Fender SCN's. It's a night and day difference. So much more bite and clarity and awesome "strat-y" tone. The SCN's sounded ok, but were pretty sterile sounding.

These pickups definately let me do my best Hendrix impersonation, but also sound great playing other styles. I'm also loving the new cool tone options provided by the K-9 system.

I've been playing for 20 years and have tried all kinds of pickups. These are really sweet. Well worth the extra money. I won't be buying any more pickups for this guitar, that's for sure.

Single coil, passive. For the specs, check out the Kinman site.

Guitar: Installed in a Fender Japan 1968 re-issue (Think Hendrix Woodstock)

Replacing: These are replacing the Fender Texas Specials that the guitar came with.

Reason: I just thought I'd like to have the hottest strat tone around. I think I made a mistake with that thought. These pickups are a bit wild. EVERYTHING you do is transferred to the amp. Every mistake, scrape, scratch, pick... everything. It's a bit wild for my playing, but I think it'll be fun learning how to control it. But despite all of this? It's still noiseless...

I play blues, prog rock, rock and even metal. I use this with anything I can get my hands on. It doesn't matter. Regardless of what I plug this into, the settings are always the same: Everything set to the middle, and no reverb on the amp. But the tone on the guitar is now so sweet, I don't have to add lots of distortion to make a point. Half gain on my AMT Tube Platinum pedal, and the tone projects itself very clearly, over and above everything else in the band. It's got everything: warmth, brightness, clean, nasty, full, you name it, it's got it.

I'm very happy with this set of pickups. I've already ordered the Avn Blues set to be installed in another guitar to give me some versatility. I think I've found the one option in this market that I'm totally satisfied with.

But if these were stolen? I might not buy another set. Because Chris Kinman never rests. He's always improving his products. You'll never know what he'll have out at the time these pickups are lost. Might have a better one coming, so I just might go for something else. But switch pickup companies for single coils? nah....

As for the price, they are a bit more expensive than whats out there, but when you hit the one note? you'll forget everything about the prices. it's well worth the dollar...

Single coils, set of AVn-62, AVn-69, Hx-85 with the K9 replacing the Lace gold pickups.

Fender Stratocaster Plus Deluxe, USA 1996, Celebration 1946-1996 50 years of excellence, replacing the Lace gold pickups. Lace pickup are neutral, very nice sounding but far from a Stratocaster sound. They have nice bass on the neck and very transparent clear sound with no hum or hiss. I wanted something with more character and much closer to a real good stratocaster sound also no hum or hiss. I found those in the Kinman kit. I had previously a very good old Strat but I could not stand the noise of those pickups even with their fantastic sounds I sold the thing ! ...

I just received and installed a set of AVn-62(neck), AVn-69, Hx-85(bridge) with the K9 replacing the Lace gold pickups. Installing it was very pleasant and easy.

First the sound is absolutely gorgeous, incredible. It's going into a split to two amps Mesa Boogie and Acoustic Image with Raezer Stealth 12ER. I have also a Gibson ES175, a Howard Roberts and a SG. My strat sounded cheap against those tree fantastic guitars. I kept the strat because of its perfect ease and action but now, this is a real impressive instrument with character, drive, nuances and finesse. Also, with the HX85, I get fantastic overdrive, crunch and whatever I want from it.

You will find from those pickups, a noticeable clearness witch is not empty or to neutral. The slight distortion and overdrive obtain pushing those pickups is characteristic of what you want to obtain from your instrument when comparing to know quality recordings from past renowned artists.

Naturally if you compare to Humbucker warness in an Gibson ES175, the neck pickup will not deliver such hollow sounds but it will surely give you a lot more brilliance, clarity and high definition and that's what you await from this type of pickups. Turning the tone pot to the dark side, you would find impressive the extreme range and finesse of that mellow sound.

Finally the K9 is also a big achievement particularly in the sound resulting from all three pickups together (hollow, dark and clear all mixed im a new sound) or the neck and bridge pickups together (effective telecaster sound).

Been playing pro free jazz, fusion, classical, since 35 years. Graduated in guitar and composition, master Univ. Montreal, head of electroacoustic research in Canada for a few years. The work of Mr. Kinman is impressive, achievement in perfect Stratocaster character, depth and coloration with no undesirable sounds. For a Strat purist, from what I remember from my old very good Strat, you may find a bit lacking direct brut rugged tone (except for the HX85) but it does not add up from what you gain overall...


I love it; Mr. Kinman is a true artist and sound master.

Outstanding! A+++

they are definitely noiseless and passive

installed in a worn out and heavily beat up early 80's strat with a warmoth neck. installed in all 3 pos. replacing texas specials . going to kinmans for tone and noise.

well boys and girls i really don't know where to start, other than saying i've got 4 decades of playin these things and now that i'm really gettin close to the end of great time and experience and i run into the perfect pickup [go figure].i installed these guys and did a couple bar jobs and blew the doors out. in all my years of i've never had so many complements on my playing. these things absolutly take my playing and tone to a new dimension. i've got my pedal board loaded with -starting, boss comp. digitech hendrix exp. pedal ,boss ds1 boss ce2, boss dd5 delay and boss tuner.i get a great tone with bypassing all these guys and just using the tone and volumn knobs. i'm playing all this through a Rivera Quiana head into a homemade 2 x 12 cab loaded with eminence tex heat. and my style of noise goes to blues, rock [heavy on the srv]country, jazz [duuh]old, new and really just about anything that people listen and dance to. but , here's really the rub ,i can take this set up now to new extreams, with the neck pick up and the ds1 and hendrix pedal i can produce some of the same tones that chris duarte gets on his last album .man chris kinman should be knighted , his web sight and products are superior. i've been playin with electronics for a long time and the detail and quality that chris and john and crew put in these pickups are flawless.

yes if ever my strat with these pups in it ever left my possession i would be one sad clown and i'd be on the phone for a replacement pronto. i can't begin to say how many different pups i've been through, but this is it folks, stop and order, nuff said and thanks for listening.