Klein Pickups S3

The pickups made for me were for my tele 53 relic copy. Chris has several differnt tele models to choose from. I chose to have him spec a set of no-casters. With aged cover etc. While I didn't specify 7.7k, They were almost on the money! These are a 9+ on everything I asked for. 10 is for when I get sponsored!! A cool feature is the guy is in north texas. I hope all pickers south of the mason-dixon, start to use his pickups! Look at the price, You will be pleased, I mean you wife will!!

My axe is a 53 relic tele bought off ebay. They were requested to be aged no-caster on the neck pickup. The bridge was spec to be closer to a p-90, also age and waxed. The pickups that came on the tele were ok but not special. The bridge pickup was really bright. hard on the ears.

The kliens were awesome. Aged cover on the neck pickup,looks like it has been played for 40 years, and never cleaned. The Neck was to be low end for blues. Sounds like an old strat. Back the tone down and get some cool jazzbox tone. Always heard of bell like tones never had them on single coils until now. I play thru all rack mounted equipt. 3 different effects, and a line 6 live floor pedal. These go into 2 leslie cabs for stereo effect. and a 10" faceing me.The Middle setting is cool. Not as quacky as most teles. Almost strat like in between. The bridge is a single wound to almost p-90. As soon as I can. I will have Chris build a set for my Mex tele. Same specs

If these were stolen or damaged I would replace them with the same specs. I have been playing for 40 years. Starting in gospel playing in most of the U.S. Then playing in in bar bands in the 80's. Then back in church. Playing in a praise band. Also at a local Opry type show. I have always played a blues style. My tele gets played hard, my style is a cross between Bugs Henderson, Glen Campbell, Ronnie Earl. So it gets played on both pickups. I have several PRS, Gretsch, and Gibson's. The tele just is working for me now.

Single coil, flat pole piece, scatter wound, wax patted, enamel wire.

These (full 3 pickup set) Klien S-3's are installed in a Kemmery Custom "Strat" guitar w/ alder body and a rosewood fingerboard.
I was looking for a wide range of Strst type from one guitar for recording.

Higher output that Antiquities and Fender vintage type Strat pickups.
They have great bass and mids for a Strat pickup. The highs are smooth and articulate. I like the way the highs are't too pronounced.
These pickups are used for recording in a wide variety of situations.
This is where they really excell. They are very versitile and record beautifully through a wide range of amps and pedals both vintage and modern.

I'd recommend these pickups to anyone looking for a high output slightly hot-rodded Srat pickup.

I call these "Vintage Hot", they are fairly hot wound with Alnico 2 magnets to soften the tone a bit. What you wind up with is a ballsy tone that still retains the single coil character without being too thin or reedy. Very nice set, I have installed 3 in custom guitars that I have built for my customers, including professional guitarist Larry Carter, who is quite pleased with the tone of the guitar/pickup combo.

Custom Aged Vintage style Double Cutaway Single Coil guitars ... you get the picture. All had alder bodies, maple necks and rosewood fingerboards. Wired with Maste tone and blender. These are the types of guitars I have been building recently.

The tone of these pups is on the bassy side, but still distinclty single coil. They are wound "hot" for a single coil but are not "high output" type pickups, they just give you a smooth ballsy tone. All of the pickups, but especially the middle pickup should be adjusted for height to find the right mix. These are Alnico 2, so you can go a little closer to the strings without adversely effecting the sustain ... You get great combinations of tones in all 5 positions, very useful, very much a classic single coil sound, very similar tone to Fral!n vintage hots ... at about 1/3 of the price, and are true hand wound pups. The first set I installed and played, I was truly blown away. Beats the snot out of FCS, ANY noiseless crap, Antiquities, and most, if not all "boutique" pickups.

Chris is a great guy. I build custom guitars, and he has been very helpful working with me to meet the needs of my customers. This set is really one of those that nails it if you are a single coil player looking to achieve a deeper, more ballsy tone without going overboard, or like playing with 13 strings (very few of us have SRV's fingers and hands). I have and do wholeheartedly recommend this set to my customers. It may not be what everyone is looking for, but for most players, because most players are looking for a better tone, this set will meet or exceed your needs and expectations. I have been building guitars for a couple years now and have used most of the better pups out there ... this set is one of my favorites, hands down.

From Chris' website description for the S3:

"High Output Pickup; flat pole Alnico 2 magnets, scatter wound & wax-potted. The S-3 pickup has a bit less attack with a lot of mid-range and clean highs. This has a well rounded range of bass/mids/highs. All S-3 pickups are matched with RWRP in position 2 & 4. Contains vintage cloth lead wires."

And the reality is just like he writes them to be.

Check out the sound bytes at: http://www.kleinpickups.com/p-18-s-3-high-output-pro-pickup-a2.aspx

Order your covers separately, you can get white, cream, or black, for a mere $6 more.

It all comes out to less than $100 for a custom wound set of awesome p/ups, covers and shipping.

Installed on my Hiway 1 bodied partsocaster, alder body, rosewood fretboard/maple Classic 60's neck (with 7.25" radius)

I replaced the Fender Custom Shop '54's I had in, although they were sweet, it seems the '54's don't like pedals as much as these new S3's. :) :)

Plenty of top quality cloth wire, trim excess and use it for pot wires !!!

So far I've tried 54's, Hot Gold Lace, and these S3's.

I'm getting a new compound radius neck from USACG, and I'm thinking the flat pole design will work better with the flatter radius, although Tommy at USACG assured me the staggered poles work ok, too.

The sound. Wow. Just what I was wanting, and just as Chris described on his page. More bass / mids, and a little less chimey highs, but takes my pedals a LOT better than the '54's.
Clean, articulate sounds coming from each string as you hit a chord, as opposed to a muddy blend of notes.
I play a mix of bluesy-rock style stuff, some space notes here and there...
These p/ups are perfect for my taste and style so far :)

Also, you can position them a little closer to the strings because the magnets aren't as powerful as the '54's Al. 5.

All in all, I really really like them.
So much, I'm considering selling my CS '54's or else build another partsocaster for them...

Not only would I buy a replacement set if lost/stolen/damaged/drowned, but I'm probaby going to buy another set of a different style to see how they sound, maybe his '69s.

Chris hand-winds your p/ups when you order them. Not that 'freshness' counts, but he'll custom wind anything you want.
The price is totally less expensive than anything else you'll find for this quality and tone. It only took less than a week for custom wind and delivered to my door.

AND, he actually answers your emails ! Seems like a pretty upstanding individual, and the quality of the p/ups speaks volumes.