Lace Music Products Holy Grail

The Lace Holy Grails are exactly what they are advertised to be: 50's strat tone at its best. I was surprised at the tone. No they are not full-blown over-the-top, high gain stuff. They can handle a good bit of overdrive/distortion.

They are in a 2008 sunburst Fender American Strat. white pickups. I felt the stock strat p'ups couldn't handle enough overdrive and didnt quite have the tone i was looking for.

I run it into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 40 watt tube amp. Effects: Boss blues driver, boss bf2 flanger(not newer bf3 flanger). with flanger and driver on bridge p'up, it reminded me of Comfortably Numb solo. neck and middle (w/o flanger) are SRV-ish

I have to give it up for those people over there at Lace Music. Holy Grails are not for metal (why are you playing on a strat in the first place if you play metal?) These are awesome vintage tone. Let me say that again. VINTAGE. 50's TONE. awesome. the tone that made strats famous. Please if you have any questions, feel free to email me. guitarwhammy@gmail.com

Single coils Vintage style pickups. Semi-low output in comparison with other more traditional Strat style single coils.

Put two of them in a high quality 90's Mexican Strat (reissue series). I put one in neck position and one in middle position. Bridge I left my hum with coil split.

10 - Output levels are fairly modest - not very loud. I would agree with some people here that these pickups tend to be mids focused, though if you have a decent amp that really changes the treble, mid, and bass than you can get whatever sound you need. I play these through both a Fender Blued Junior and a 100 watt solid state crate amp. They sound great through both. When I installed them at first, I did not shield the guitar cavity. The sound was mediocre. I pulled it apart a few times - thought maybe a had a ground issue since they are supposed to be virtually silent, but were not. I finally took one more shot at cutting the noise by shielding the pickup cavity with tin foil. When I put it back together - AWESOME!!! Almost completely silent. I could really hear how good these pickups were once I got rid of the noise.

10 - Excellent quality - worth every penny. Honestly I wouldn't put a price on clear Strat tone. There isn't a guitar on the market that has this quality tone for less than a couple grand, and I just started with a nice 90's Mexican Strat. There may be some that are just not happy with the output of these pickups and that's OK! If you need something hotter and a little more punchy, go with G&L Alinico V's (also pretty quiet). I've heard a lot, ALOT of guitars over the years. Worked at a few guitar stores and heard so many. The best single coils I've come across are these HOLY GRAILS and the G&L Alnicos.

Set of 3 pickups,HG 1000x2,HG 1500 x1. Side mounted twin coils with a row of staggered alnico magnets in between giving humbucker noise suprresion.

I decided to do up a Cort 360 which has a nice two piece ash body with a wilkinson two point vibrato with stainless steel saddles.The original pickups were mighty mites and the less said about them the better! They were very harsh and unmusical. I had the neck shape altered and had the body sprayed in a nice nitro violin burst with a pickguard of my own design.

Firstly,I dont own a 54 strat so I can't say with any real authority how close these are but I have played a '63 strat for some years and these pickups do sound different to that but then I have'nt put them in a strat.This guitar has a very light body and the inetia block on the vibrato dosen'tt have quite the mass of a traditional fender unit so I think this is contributing to a slightly lighter sound.The pickups are very glassy and maybe not quite as woody in the bass notes as some strats but the have an attractive shimmer and clarity that appeals to me. They are not quite as aggressively voiced as many modern strats but I know many 50's Strats had weaker magnets.Output is fairly low but I was'nt looking for high output here.Positions 2&4 are very nice and have very good clarity. The pickups are a little smaller in the bass than some strats but that could be the light body wood of the guitar.I like them a lot.

I've been a working pro muso for over 30 years and currently have over 50 students and play in a DJANGO jazz band as well as blues rock gigs.I would get them again as the lack of noise in some situations is very desireable.The guys at lace were fantastic with answering any enquiries and responded within 24 hours and I live in Melbourne Australia with a substantial time difference.Jeff and the boys are are a 10 out of 10 for service.

Single coils with a patented noiseless system - 2 bobins vertical.
It's NOT like the usual Stack or Single coil sized humbuckers - the process seems similar but the result is different, so forget about the rest, this is just a new way of making noiseless pickups.
The Bridge pickups is hotter and fatter, which of course makes the whole set more balanced and avoids the usual flaw of a strat bridge pickup - you can use it without breaking your windows because of the ear piercing highs.

The pickups finally ended up on a highly desirable 1985 Squier E series, wich is also know as one of the best post CBS strat and beat any american made standard strat made in the last 20 years. Not the best strat ever, but one of these "classics" which price goes x2 or x3 on ebay.

It's a 60's strat, balanced, with a warm and fatter sound than my 57.
Try any Standard US 2008 with a rosewood FB or a classic player 60's and you'll get pretty close to it.

The stock pickups were cheap ceramic magnet single coils - looked and sounded like ****.

The output is low. Lower than my Bare Knuckle Irish Tour set.
I use a Koch Studiotone amp, which has the best clean sound i know and a nice marshal like overdrive.

The tone is balanced. Will not make tyour strat sound like anything else - it's your strat, as trebly or balanced as it is.

Now the sound : is it a vintage sounding pickup as advertised or a rather modern one ? Well, i'm sorry to say that but that's ust in between.

If you're looking for a true vintage single coil sound, just buy a true single coil set.
If you're looking for a noiseless set, you already know that it won't sound like a vintage SC. The Dimarzio's Virtual Vintage sucks, and sound as sterile as it can get. The DUncan's are ok.
These offer an interesting alternative : they dont have the vintage feel and tone, but they do have something very strat-ish to it. They really make your strat sound like it's supposed to, and in the end that's what i liked. SO no, it's not a vintage 54 pickup, but yes, it is an interesting alternative if you want to go noiseless and good sounding at the same time.

The clean sounds are very bell like, crisp and sustain a lot. Airy. Very 3D sounding, which i can't explain, but it makes the sound from your amp very atmospheric as the sound wave starts to loose power, and yet it's very reactive to the attack, very percussive. Really a good clean sound, makes you play arpeggio's over and over.

The crunch sounds are very crisp and tight. They keep the same clarity and attack, but the distortion now has a slightly different tonal identity compared to Fenders, Duncan's or DiMarzio.
You can get nice singing lead tones from the Neck pickup - think Eric Johnson in "SRV", or Pink Floyd.

WIth Distortion, your leads sound better than any other single coil i know. . Here the Bridge pickup turns out to be a monster - it's no humbucker but you can play any Iron Maiden Song and get enough chunky and powerful chords to sound both rock and heavy. Interesting since most strats bridge pickup is not suited for that. Smashing pumpkins, Eric Clapton or the strokes, just plug and play and you get the right tone. It's really really impressive to me and makes teh strat even more versatile.

So we have a very versatile set here, can play anything and sound good with or without effects, distortion or overdrive. The sound isn't sterile, in fact it does have its own identity. Will it make your strat sound better ? Yes, if you need a noiseless set, yes if your stock pickups are average, sterile or too modern.

Been playing for 6 years? I own a Jap Telecaster, 3 strats from 3 different countries (and i can't really feel much difference) , a Japanese les paul copy, a korean LP Junior, a Koch Studiotone, a big muff and a DOD overdrive.

There's always a better pickup out there for your guitar. I've tried countless humbuckers, and recently i got into strats so i did try a few single coil sets. It's very hard to find a good single coil, you have to know your guitar and focus on something particular. Fatter, brighter, cleaner etc.

I choosed these ones because most single coils wouldn't fit a guitar i had with narrow pickps cavities (no hips). Other choices were the sensors, DiMarzio Virtual VIntage (no thanks, i've tried them all they sound like an intent to emulate artificially a strat sound, the name says it all)

Eventualy they never made it on this guitar, it was a strat like expensive guitar but few weeks after i realised that nothing sounds like a real strat and sold all my expensive and useless"superstrat" guitars. I don't want to become one of these guitar geeks with long hair. Learn to say no...

I wished the 2 and 4 position sounds were more "metallic" and more "dirty". They sound good, don't get me wrong, but i like when strats sound dirty and rebel.

These pickups are just good. I don't know if the lollars or kinmans are better, but one thing i know is when i play my strat, what i hear is something i like, something that makes me want to play over and over. I usually associate versatility with sterile sounding pickups, but this set is really exceptional.

Overall this one is just the guitar i like best, i can just pick it up and play for hours, it's inspiring and can easily cross the borders between different musical styles.

So it's a 9 for me, because i can't really think of something that could make it much better. Most noiseless pickups out there are just intents to make a noiseless pickup sound like the real deal. It's like comparing a Vuitton to a chinese made copy to me.
These don't really try to reproduce any existing pickup, they just bring out something on their own, just like the sensors did before. Good job Mr Jeff Lace.

NOTE: i tried these with 250K pots but i think the 500k could work better, as i tend to use a slight overdrive to boost the signal and highs.

Passive single coils, but under the hood you can see its wounds kinda like a Humbucker. Not that these sound like humbuckers because THEY DON'T! Simply for hum-canceling.

Stratocaster made from warmoth parts. Like a half n' half version of a Eric Johnson strat and a Eric Clapton strat. I'm replacing EMG Humbuckers (I know, BIG STEP) because I wanted more old school sounds and not modern metal tone anymore.

Low output compared to EMG's but standard single coil. I use a Marshall JCM 2000 and a Twin. Both sound good in there own ways. One sound I feel is always there with these "buttery" which is something you may or may not like (I LIKE IT). As far as tone goes I would say they are balanced which is what I look for in Single coils (******* hate a boomy bass sound). Funk, Rock, Jazz, Ska whatevs... all good here. for a solid body its good for jazz but an archtop would obviously be better. Lemme put it this way. Clapton, Hendrix, Gilmour and other strat players from this era is what this guitar does best. UNSUITABLE for any humbucking music from like the 80's on. I give an 8 because its still great BUT not perfect.

If stolen I would buy some Fender Custom Shop 69' JUST because from what i've heard THAT is what I think a strat should sound like. But still happy with these. YOU KNOW THE QUEST FOR TONE IS NEVER OVER. Lets put it this way....FOR sure the best noiseless I've heard.

8
Set of 3.
Single Coil

Custom assembled "Strat". Musikraft NOS maple neck, Warmoth candy apple red alder body & hardware, custom built German vintage style bride, Spertzel chrome locking tuners, etc.
This was an original installation based upon Internet research.

Output - Good volume & tone balance between neck, middle & bridge. 10Kohm to 11.5Kohm. Play into Fender Hotrod Deville 2x12 x 50W though Digitech 2120 Valve Artist.

Very low noise in all conditions which is exceptional.

Compared to my regular Strats & modded Seymour Duncan equipped Frankensteins these pickups sound way too middy to my ears and as a result becomes seriously honky when using tube distortion or just about any other sound at higher levels.

Remember, when playing live your amp is much louder which in my case makes the Holy Grails sound much more middy & less musical.

I assumed that they would be cristal clear but I was mistaken.

Personally I prefer a nice loud but flat sounding pickup that is dead quiet and that does not need any overt equalization.

If it was destroyed I would buy an active set of EMG's
I have been playing for 30 years.
I love the fact that they are dead quiet.
I don't like the fact that they have a very distinc tone that is hard to eq on a desk and on an amp.
Seymour Duncan hot stacked vintage single coils have a more neutral and even toned sound that is much more suited to my recording and live needs.

Single coil.
Passive.

I install Holy Grail on my Fender Stratocaster American Standard 1983. I replace all 3 stock pickup with Holy Grail because I cannot stand "Noise" of stock pickup.

The reason is amazing. I only expect to have similar sound with stock pickup with no noise, but it just incredible sounds. I can play almost everything, rock, blue, and jazz. Its tone is well balance. These pickups can generate wide range of sounds. It is perfect match with my style of music. I like neck pickup the most. When you lower tone, it can reproduct semi-hollow jazz sound type. It gives your truely "TWANG" of fender signature sound. I would recommend everyone to replace stock pickup with this set.

I have been playing guitar for almost 20 years. I play almost every style, rock, blue, and jazz. I cannot put down my guitar since I have these pickup install. Just fell in love with them. I am very satisfied with set of three pickup and I only spent USD 160 for it.

Lace Holy Grail 3 Pack
10.7k(n), 10.7k(m), 11.5k(b)

Installed in two instruments:
1. Frankenstrat with the following configuration: 1-Volume (250K), 1-Tone (250K), and a Fishman Power Chip preamp taking the place of the third tome control.
2. Genuine Fender Strat Plus

I bought these pickups second hand in the hopes that I could install them in my Frankenstrat. This is my all around gigging guitar, and am sick of neon signs in bars taking out my higher gain tones. I removed the GFS pickups (I01 set - very nice!) and installed the Holy Grails one for one. The Grails lasted 10 minutes. Dead sounding - really killed a pretty good sounding guitar. I put the GFS's back in and packed up the Grails for a trip to eBay. I then had an idea using an old American Standard pickguard I had laying around, with a TBX tone control. I wired them up and dropped that pickguard in my Strat Plus. WOW - big difference. The Holy Grails sounded like someone painstakingly EQ'ed them back to normal. They sounded better than the Gold Lace Sensors do, with better pick attack and picking dynamics. Much more single coil-like than the Gold Lace Sensors.

I'm now much happier after finding that the TBX made all the difference. I will eventually install the original loaded pickguard back into the Strat Plus, pull the TBX out of the spare pickguard and install the Holy Grains and TBX in the Frankenstrat. These pickups are pretty good for noiseless, but are missing about 5% of the single coil mojo. If you are looking for noiseless drop ins's for your American Standard strat, these should be high on your list.

Pickup features: single coils noiseless
Impedence or other specs: bridge 11.5 K other dont know

Model of guitar or bass: G&L legacy USA
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: fralin blues specials
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: ??????
You musical style(s): rock, blues, fusion
Reason for pickup change: I wanted to go the noiseles way

Perceived output level: maybe hotter on the mids compare to fralins or fender original pickups
Tone: tone is very MIDDY,
Sonic evaluation: I am using a G&L USA made with ash body and rose wood finger board, this guitar sound realy great with fralin blues special pickups, I wanted to get pickups that sounded similar without the noise. I installed the holy grails and my first impression was that there is much less bass on the neck and middle pickup, the sound is ok. the sound lack the fluidity I was looking for. The bridge is on the hot side, and does sound thick enough for rock with distortion. But these pickups are not for me, they don't articulate enough, they don't inpsire me. To me there is no magic in there. The neck pickup sound brighter than the bridge ! I tried them for about 30 minutes and that was more than enough. the fralins are already back in there...Do the grails sound like 54 strat pickups or whatever?...I don't realy care, I am looking for pickups that will let me express my feelings with the guitar. these don't give me the sound I want.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play rock, blues, jazz, funk, heavy, fusion

Comments: I would not buy again, I would look for something else, maybe the kinman ? I have been playing for 25 years. I have own a lots of guitars, many strats, USA, Japan, Mexican, gibson, godin, G&L.
I would not say these pickups are crap, but they are just not for me.
I was not realy looking for "that sound", but for a good sound without noise. I can not say if these pickups sound like real vintage because I don't own 54 vintage pickups. I don't care about vintage or whatever, I care about what sound good to me. If you upgrade a mexican or cheap strat with these you might be happy, for the price it's ok if it's the sound your looking for. (especialy going noiseless).

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Highway 1 Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock pickups
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues, Rock
Reason for pickup change: Original pickups were too noisy and trebly

Perceived output level: Lower than stock pickups
Tone: Bassy and middy. No high pitch treble like stock pups, but overall fuller sounding. I additionally installed Delta Tone circuit to "open-up" middle and bridge pickups and also to have better #2 position. And last but not least, these pups are very quiet.
Sonic evaluation: I use Highway strat through various Fender amps. I get excellent clean and very solid distorted sounds.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I mostly play blues and rock. These pups are great for country, blues, pop, rock, funk, you name it... Not for heavy metal though.

Comments: If these were stolen or destroyed, I'd buy a new set. I guess these pups are one of the best (if not THE BEST) noiseless pups on the market today.