Lace Music Products Lace Sensor Burgandy

Pickup features: passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: 8.9 k

Model of guitar or bass: Fender HM Strat Ultra (basswood body, maple neck, ebony finger board)
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Lace Hot Gold 13k
Other pickups on guitar: Lace Hot Gold 6k middle, Dimarzio Breed bridge
Artists using this pickup: ???
You musical style(s): jazz-fusion, jazz
Reason for pickup change: A Fender HM Strat Ultra orginally has three Lace pickups: A Blue 13k in neck, a Gold 6k in middle, and a Red dually humbucker in bridge. These pickup had difficulties to live up to what they were meant for - so I changed for a Dimarzio Breed in bridge and a Hot Gold 6k in the middle. Finally I put a Lace Hot Gold bridge pickup (with 13k) in neck, to retain the idea of having a shredding pickup there. The Lace Hot Gold 13k did the job quite well, but was very dark to have in neck. I decided to change for a less hot pickup, and the Burgundy seemed to be what I wanted. I?m very much into wine tasting too, so the name "Burgundy" was very interesting too. :)

Perceived output level: Definitely louder than a Fender stock single coil.
Tone: In neck: quite dark and punchy. Good for jazz licks. If one wants a vintage Fender Strat sound: go elsewhere.
Sonic evaluation: I use this HM Strat Ultra with a Fender Blues Deville, a Boss OD3, a Boss Chorus and a Boss Digital Delay. Important here: I play jazz fusion with a Strat, so my sound preferences are probably different compared to rockers. I used the Lace Hot Gold 13k in neck for some years. That is a bridge pickup, so it?s much darker and warmer than most Strat pickups. However it suited my style quite well, but I also put the TBX-pot on this guitar on 6-7 to get more treble. Finally Lace made this pickup, which is winded with thicker gauge wire to get a P90-sound from a single coil sized pickup. It is recommended for bridge, but is said to be OK for neck too. I still haven?t seen any reviews from people using it in neck position, so here?s one. This pickup is not for rockers to use in neck, but will probably suit the needs from jazz-fusion and jazz guitarists. It?s darker and warmer, and has a nice punchy tone and a long cool sustain and is very focused. A TBX tone pot is probably a must with this pickup in neck: when set on 6-7 there will be enough treble for most situations. Compared to a Blue Lace it is brighter and more punchy, and compared to the Hot Gold 13k in neck, it is more balanced, meatier and full bodied.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: jazz-fusion, jazz

Comments: I would probably buy it again. I have been playing for some 40 years now, and have some other Gibsons. I love the warm and jazzy sound from this pickup. I don?t hate anything, but it could probably be somewhat brighter - that?s an easy fix with a TBX-pot.

Pickup features: Passive near-field sensor
Impedence or other specs: 9.0K ohms

Model of guitar or bass: '99 Fender Deluxe Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Fender Vintage Noiseless
Other pickups on guitar: Lace Gold (mid) and Lace Lt. Blue (neck)
Artists using this pickup: Probably more than we know.
You musical style(s): Blues-Rock, Rockin' Blues, whatever.
Reason for pickup change: Can't deal with the Fender pickups anymore. I've been looking for a noiseless pickup to replace the fenders. I've gone through SD Hot Rails, Lawrence L-250s, full-sized humbuckers, was never satisfied. I wanted a real single-coil sound but noiseless so I could use this guitar in a computer-based recording environment.

Perceived output level: About the same as a Fender Texas Sepcial Tele bridge PU. Hotter than a vintage single-coil, but nowhere near al loud as a full-sized humbucker or a dual-rail pickup.
Tone: Spanky, like a really good tele bridge pickup.
Sonic evaluation: I use all kinds of amps, effects and processors. I use all kinds of sounds, from super-clean solid state through Fender tube clean sounds to high-gain Mesa sounds. I generally use this guitar through a Yamaha DG Stomp directly into a board for recording purposes. This pickup is clear but powerful, like a really good tele bridge pickup should be.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This PU won't do extreme metal well (too much of a single coil sound), but it's fine for everything else.

Comments: As I mentioned above, this pickup reminds me very much of a Fender Texas Special Tele bridge pickup. Aggressive, gritty, but still a single coil in every way. Some people critisize the Lace pickups as peing "sterile". What's relly happening here is that with a Lace pickup, they are not hearing the effect that staggered exposed polepieces have on the sound. A Polepiece has the effect of varying the ammount of signal sent to an amp depending on wether the string is vibrating directly over it or not. That effect translated into a "dynamic" sound, for lack of a better term. Rail pickups have also been critisized as being "sterile" for the same reason. You can also hear this "sterilizing" effect with conventional single coil pickups with non-staggered polepieces. I really like Lace pickups. They sound like regular single coils for the most part, are almost completely quiet, and translate the sound of the guitar to the amp while imparting their subtle sound-shaping quality without overwhelming it. Good stuff. And I got this set at a great price, too!

Pickup features: single coil, passive, noise reducing
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Mexican Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Red Fender Lace Sensor
Other pickups on guitar: hot gold, light blue lace sensor
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): punk, rock, classical (weird, I know), blues, jazz
Reason for pickup change: Red lace sensor has no highs, too muddy

Perceived output level: seems to have slightly less output than the red lace sensor, which is good because the sound is less muddy and more defined/clear
Tone: It's bright, but has some more bass than stock single coils, not wimpy, very useable, in my opinion
Sonic evaluation: I'm playing a MIM strat through a blues junior. Combined with a danelectro daddy-o and fab tone, I get some great punk rock distortion thats thick and gritty. The best part though, is that I can use this pickup clean too, has a fatter clean sound compared to stock coils. The sound is still punchy, too. There is a small bit of icepick with these pickups, but it is a lot less than stock.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I use this pickup with distortion and its great for that P-90/strat mix combination. I prefer this pickup in the bridge position and with overdrive or distortion.

Comments: I definately prefer this pickup to the old red fender lace sensor I had in it. The burgundy isn't nearly as muddy, has more highs, and is closer to a P-90 (which is what I want) unlike the red sensor which is closer in sound to a humbucker. Another plus is that there is barely any noise, lace sensors tend to be pretty darn quiet.

Pickup features: passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: 9.0 dc

Model of guitar or bass: 1999 american standard fender strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock delta tone
Other pickups on guitar: stock
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock / modern country
Reason for pickup change: wanted a more usable sound in the bridge

Perceived output level: slightly hotter than stock
Tone: more mids than a stock single coil
Sonic evaluation: I'm just playing at home these days so my setup is really simple.Peavey classic 30, fender strat,tube screamer, danelectro daddyo.I love the strat sound.Humbuckers have a cool sound and a lot of my favorite songs can't be played well with a single coil.However, when it comes to my personal style and the music i prefer to play,a strat with three singles is the only way to go.Having said that,I've had the usual problems with the bridge position(too bright and too thin!). The burgundy lace sensor is exactly what i was looking for.It doesn't sound at all like a humbucker.It sounds like a strat single coil with a little more warmth and output.I love that its louder than the neck because i've always hated the volume drop from neck to bridge.Also ,the extra midrange helps to round out the high end just enough to finally make this position usable by itself.Still,it is a single coil in the bridge position so you have to be smart with the treble on your amp or e.q.With stock bridge, i had to muddy it up so much the other pickups were useless.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great for rock ,country ,punk.For heavier stuff it would depend on your setup.Can't see getting metal out of this.been playing for about 15 years

Comments: Been playing for about 15 years and i'm not very good.I do know what kind of tone I want and for me this is a 10.You might think it's a 2 but fot $45 on ebay it can't hurt to give it a try.