Lace Music Products Gold Lace Sensor

Single coil or humbucking? Active or passive? Passive single coil.

Impedance or other specs? 5.8K

What model guitar or bass did you install this in? Deluxe AM Strat

What position is it in? ALL

Reason for changing the pickup? I wanted more chime than what I had.

What's the output level like? Low output but not wimpy. With these you can raise tham up to get a pretty lively and fat (for a strat) sound.

Tone - Bassy, middy, muddy, trebly, balanced? Definately trebly, but not ear peircing. Super strat chime. Lows are there as well and the mids are supported by my already middy guitar. In other words I'd tried other pups that were beefier but they lacked the lows and highs needed for a full range lively tone on this particular instrument. I don't think I could tell the differnce between these and some vintage alnico 5s. They warm up nicely with tone controls on guitar and amp. In fact they respond better to my tone controls than any pups I've tried. Usually its either wide open or blanket sound, but these give me options.

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match? I play blues and classic rock. Great match. These can do serious blues, fusion, counrty twang and rock.. Probably not the high gain stuff but...thats not what they're for.

The reason for this review is that these pickups have been laying around for years and I put them in on a whim, and they're magic with this guitar. I kid you not. Its not the pickups, its the combination of guitar and pickups, and in this instance it almost happened by accident. So try everything, you never know. The ACME website says to pick pups based on how your guitar already sounds: dark, bright etc. Thats the best advice, but I still went through some trial and error.

What amps and effects are you using it with? I'm one of the legions of guys with a hot rod deville 212, and an OCD box. You can acheive tone nirvana with this combo.

If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? Lindy Frailins are so hyped on this site that I really want to try some. But I really hope these don't get ripped. I've had sumarium cobalt, Van Zant Blues, and Klein 61s in this guitar. They are all very good. If I had to choose between them I'd pick the Kleins, but they were slightly less chimey than the Lace Sensors, so I think I've found the match for this guitar.

Passive shielded single coil Strat pickup set.
Similar impedance to standard Strat single coils.
Standard Strat pickup size.

These pickups were installed in a Strat I built from Warmoth parts: alder body with traditional pickup routing, Korina/ebony neck.

I installed a complete set of Gold Lace Sensors in place of a set of Duncan Classic Stack Plus, which replaced a set of vintage RI type pickups, first a set of Duncan SSL-1, then Fender Custom 54s.

I was not please with the SD STK-S4 set. I thought they sounded like the Fender Noiseless.

The output level is similar to vintage Strat pickups, maybe a touch higher. Although I have a number of Fender tube amps and a Marshall 50W plexi, I've been using a Fender M-80 1-12 combo with some DIST, OD and Delay in front.

I play a wide variety of styles: R&B, blues, country, roots rock, fusiony stuff.

I'm rather knocked out by the sound of these pickups. I've been ignoring them for years but a friend gave me a deal I couldn't pass up. And am I glad he did.

I find these are the best of both worlds: like single coils open and transparent, full low end. But very very quiet and virtually no magnet pull so the strings ring beautifully!

They sound great straight through to the amp, clean but no hint of "brightness". Just clear. But they sound wonderful though my OD and Dist pedals. Usually it's one or the other.

I would never be without at least one Strat with these pickups in it. I've been playing guitar since 1965. I have some old gear and a bunch pf partscasters with various types of pickups, Fender, SD, Van Zandt, EMGs, Duncan JB, Duncan Antiquity humbuckers.

I was in a great band until our frontman moved to Nashville two years ago. I only regret that I didn't have these pickups in this guitar when that band was working.

Single coil, but w/o hum. Very clear sounding. Plain white (Fender Lace Sensors).

Neck and middle on a H/S/S Squire Strat, bought used.

The reason I'm writing this is the wide range of opinions about these pickups. Some think they're great, others think they're not. IMHO the sound depends greatly on the amp. The closer you get to high fidelity, solid state equipment, the better they sound, at least as far as clarity is concerned, though there's still not a wide range of tone adjustment there. The higher end clarity of the neck and middle p'ups is lost on my tube amp but they sound terrific through a 100-watt Yamaha G100-III (head). I'm wondering if the reason why Clapton favored these (apart from his endorsement deal) had to do with sometimes using solid state equipment in the studio--have read that in the 90s he used a Princeton Chorus (solid state, 2 x 25 watts) on some recordings. These pickups sound good with this amp, which I also own (two 10" speakers upgraded to Eminence Copperheads). They even sound good w/ a 25-watt Fender Frontman practice amp (with a 10" Fender speaker from the Princeton). The rating is the average of 6 (tube) and 10 (SS).

Been playing since the mid 60s & was jonesing for a Strat recently. Tound a used Squire on Craig's List. The word "Squire" seems to have put other folks off, but the ad specified that it had replacement Gold Lace sensors + SD JB at the bridge; plus replacement maple Warmouth neck. One sweet-sounding and playing Strat that somebody worked on and loved but didn't play much since the red metalic body's still mint.
I really like the clarity these pickups have and the pop you can get out of them; I don't like having to think that much about amp / guitar combinations, but glad to add my 2 cents.
I like to play clean (jazz), but intended to use this guitar for blues. While not rethinking that plan, will have to rethink the amps. For the Clapton sound--admittedly, from the 90s, perhaps not his most legendary work--try these with a high power SS rig.

Set of 3 single coil pickups for Neck, Middle and Bridge.

I installed in my made-in-Mexico Fender Strat in the Neck, Middle and Bridge. These Lace Sensor Gold replaced the standard pickups that came with the guitar. I think the Lace Sensor pickup was the standard pickup for Fender until 1996 according to www.lacemusic.com website. Eric Clapton is still using it. The standard pickups that came with the guitar had the hums and noises, and that's why I replaced them.

I am using a Fender Hot Rod Deville (which is really loud!), and since it has the tubes, it really provides the clean, beautiful, sparkling pristine highs and harmonics. The Lace Sensor Gold pkups really bring out those beautiful highs and harmonics. I play some Jimi Hendrix and SRV stuffs, and on SRV's "Lenny" these Lace Sensor Gold babies just sings! I tried all positions, and I like them best at Middle and Bridge pickups. The pkup does have some twang, but not as much as the Texas Specials. If you like Eric Clapton stuffs, Mark Knopfler, or the Eagles' solo in "Hotel California", you'll like these pickups. These pickups are really clean! No noise! No muddled mid or bass, although the bass isn't the best, but I think it's because it's a Fender Strat rather than the pkups. I couldn't give it a 10 just because I haven't try other pickups yet.

If I lost these pickups I would buy them again. I've been playing on and off for 20 years. I also own a Parker Nitefly-M with Dimarzio pickups, which is a really nice guitar in itself, but for electric blues the Fender Strat with Lace Sensor is great. Overall I am very satisfied. I found this fella has a nice demo of the Lace Sensor Gold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=debKkS8OxgY

I had single coil Lace Sensor Golds in the neck and middle positions, a humbucker "dually" in the bridge

'91 Jeff Beck Strat. Came with the Lace Sensor Golds.

Very bright. Lifeless. Not a classic strat sound at all. Might be good if you play with a ton of cheesy digital effects and enjoy playing with a lot of chorus or something - maybe if you're really into '80s rock.

After owning the guitar for 10 years, I finally realized these pickups just stink after playing a Nash guitar with Lollars. I replaced the Lace Sensor Golds with Lollar Blondes in the neck and middle and a Rio Grande Stelly in the bridge. It's like a new guitar and all of the annoying "ice pick" sound from the Golds which just hurt my ears when I put my amp at a decent volume is gone.

Lace Sensor Golds are junk. I don't understand why Clapton and Beck played them in the 80s, but now I know why the don't anymore. Do yourself a favor and get Lollars or some other nice boutique pickup even if it costs you $10 or $20 more. I wish I had done that years ago.

Pickup features: single coil
Impedence or other specs: about 7 Kohm

Model of guitar or bass: Fender stratocaster Mexico
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Texas Specials in three positions
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Don't mind don't know
You musical style(s): Blues Bluesrock
Reason for pickup change: Wanted more pressure, sustain and fuller sound with no earpicking hights in it

Perceived output level: more than texas specials with much more pressure!
Tone: very balanced
Sonic evaluation: Fender strat Mexico then a POD2.0 and as amplifier a straight PA amp. with a 4" speaker line-array (ala Bose PAS)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Blues Bluesrock suitable for all the pos.

Comments: I bought my guitar back in ?96. I wanted to play blues and after a study of reviews on the net I decided to put a set of Texas Specials in my guitar. So I played all these years with them. But all that time a few things were not so satisfying. The three highest strings didn?t sound so well. A bit harsh and little sustain and above the 12?th fret there was no sustain at all. The solo?s dropped dead and didn?t come throught the bandmix. The lower strings sounded pretty good but with a high frequency part in it that made the sound a bit aggresive. But I?ve learned to live with that and the high frequency parts,which I didn?t like, I filtered them out whith a notch filter. In the band, playing through my Line6 POD and several sort of amps, the sound was allways from far behind me. A kind of background guitarplaying. When I want to play a solo, I had to put the volume so loud that I couldn?t stand it. I allways put the blame on myself and the middle-quality guitar I have. Why I?m telling this. Because I accidentical played on a Fender strat Plus equiped with Lace Gold pickups in our rehearsalroom. I plugged the guitar in my POD and played a little. The sound jumped out of the amp. With high pressure. I coldn?t believe my ears (and the other bandmembers too). This was not backgroundguitarplaying anymore, this kicks a....! I prompt bought these pickups and put them in my strat MIM and whooaa, there was the pressure , the smack in your face sound I was looking for. The sound is wonderful deep, round and clean whith a great sustain (NO stringpull!!! And almost NO HUMMM). My guitar came to live with beautiful sustain, even clean, above the 12?th frett and higher. The lower register is warm full etc. You can play SRV, JH, Hank B M etc etc with it. They do have the glassy bellsounds that made Fender famous. Some say they are steriel and plastic sounding, but I think they produce the sound, in a very accurate way, that YOU make with YOUR fingers. This is a fantastic piece of equipment, with very good defenition and pressure. The clean sounds are a joy to hear and overdrive sounds are to die for, great singing sustain. I put at the neck and middle a Lace Gold and at the bridge a Lace Silver. The in-between sounds (2 and 4) have the beautiful quack in it and I finally can USE the bridge element. Sounds very good and no earpicking hights anymore! Cuts beautiful through the mix of the band. I?m very glad with these pickups and ordered three more for my backup-guitar (see a review on Collins). I?ve tried them straight in a Vox solid state, a Fender Hybride and the results were the same. I sold my all tube Fender(almost broken back!) so I cannot tell if its the same, but I think it will be
.Highly recomended!

Pickup features: Single-coil, hum-cancelling
Impedence or other specs: Not sure.

Model of guitar or bass: Jackson soloist.
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Neck and Middle-Gold Lace Sensor
Other pickups on guitar: Seymour Duncan '59, Floyd-Spaced, installed in bridge.
Artists using this pickup: Why does it matter?It's MY guitar, NOT theirs!!!
You musical style(s): Mainly acoustic, but I like blues,oldies,classic rock, surf.
Reason for pickup change: I'm not a pro player, I mainly play in the bedroom.I like good tone, and I really like a Gold or Blue sensor in the neck/bridge position.The SD '59 is AWESOME in the bridge!

Perceived output level: The Lace Gold has a nice, FAT, strat sound, with NO HUM.I like'em, and own several of them.I have 3 stock Gold Lace Sensors in an '87 Strat Plus, and several different makes of Sensors in various guitars that I'm building/modifying.The only Lace-Sensors that I have tried and wasn't blown away by were the red ones.Why do I need a screamin' single-coil when I have a Seymour Duncan '59 in the bridge of my Soloist?
Tone: I like the clean tones of Fender-Lace sensors; the lack of noise is a BIG selling point for me.I'm tired of getting TV, radio. and other RF interference when I'm plugged in.I had a Blue,silver, and a red in a G&L, with some phlorescent lights in the room.Guess what? NO NOISE, HISS, OR HUM of any kind!! I'm hooked on the tone, but I LOVE the quiet, noise-free, operation of these pickups.
Sonic evaluation: I have a solid-state,35 watt Peavey Backstage Plus, and these pickups make that little booger sing!Nice fat tones, sounds good clean, sounds good cranked!I use Digitech pedals, and these little gems sound good no matter what I want'em to do!!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Mainly an acoustic guy, but I'm learning the electric! I listen to a variety of styles, but especially blues, oldies, some surf(beach boys,ventures,etc.). classic rock, contemporary christian/praise and worship.

Comments: I have been playing at the guitar since I was 17; I'm 33 now.I play in spurts, some times with several months between.Don't seem to have as much free time any more.I wish I had the clapton circuit in all 3 of the strats I want to put these in.What can I say?They have a good tone,( the tone I like!), and NO NOISE!!And for the money,they are easy to come by, and I like the choice of sounds.I can't wait to try some of the hotter pickups AGI/Lace makes.I'd also like to try different pots,wiring schemes,etc.If they were lost, I'd DEFINATELY replace them, in a heart beat!! If they were stolen, God probably wanted him to have 'em more than me!!I wish I could get a Fender endoresment when I get better at playing!!!!

Pickup features: single coil ( in appearance) passive
Impedence or other specs: not sure

Model of guitar or bass: Ibanez 440SII
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: stock Ibanez
Other pickups on guitar: stock ibanez middle, dimarzio dua humbucker bridge
Artists using this pickup: clapton a bunch of others
You musical style(s): blues Jazz rock country
Reason for pickup change: wanted a tone that was MINE

Perceived output level: hotter than the stoc ibanez single coil
Tone: pretty balanced a bit notched
Sonic evaluation: peavy stereo chorus 600, digital pre-amp into PA, or 69 bassman

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: not for metal

Comments: ok here's the gig screw your tone control throw it out learn to work a guitar not rely on electronics, if you spend a week or so working your guitar with a straight to volume set up there is Little you can't do with this pickup, a pick makes it a bit more treble than I would want but useful to cut through when needs be. I lay with my fingers , and I know how to play well enough to get the sound I want ( I E I don't blame my pickups for being soulless)
alot of people have called these things flat and lifeless in my area I am known for my tone and my heart being in my guitar, I ONLY use the gold in the neck for lead work it's just that I can play.