Lace Music Products Transensor

Passive single-coil replacement of novel design. Specs do not correspond to conventional pickups. I've only recently gotten up the nerve to take a soldering iron to my guitars. My former guitar tech was the best known in my area and when he returned my guitar to me after installing the TranSensors, he said, "These are weird. They have a normal single-coil arrangement on top where it gets most of its sound and a little, square "dummy coil" underneath to soak up the hum and boost the power. It has an unusual effect on the tone, too." I asked if that was a good thing and he said he liked it but it really depends on your tastes. It's just very "different". I haven't actually looked to see what he was talking about but I can tell you what it sounds like and how it behaves on my guitar.

Dlx Strat +

Price is for set of three

Stock Lace Sensors

Just the TranSensors

Me, and I'm real famous (not.)

The stock setup was HSH and I wanted SSS. Actually, I don't dislike Sensors. The only one I hated was the red which is supposed to sound like a hot humbucker (which I didn't want). Worse, it's tone was completely sterile and lifeless, so it had to go. In retrospect, I could have moved the blue Sensor from the neck to the bridge (a nice PAF/Strat sound), left the silver where it was (70's hot strat) and bought a gold one for the neck. But for the price of that one gold Sensor I got all three TranSensors. I don't know why they're so inexpensive unless they're just less expensive to produce but I was sure I wanted more of a single-coil sound. I got it too, in spades.

Equal to a vintage humbucker.

I play through a ten-year-old BOSS GX-700 that still works as well as the day I bought it (knock on wood). That goes through an Alesis stereo 31-band EQ (to correct the cabs), then into a Peavey PV900 power amp and finally into a pair of Peavey TSL112H P.A speakers. I use a Roland FC-200 midi foot controller. I went this route because I hate lugging heavy equipment around and because my musical style requires so much flexibility that to do it with tubes and rack gear would cost way more than I have.

With 500K volume AND tone pots, TranSensors give you more frequency response than you need. The bass is deeper (which is fine because it's tight) and the treble is out at the far, razor's edge of "glassy". There's been some discussion here about controls. You have to treat TranSensors as if they were humbuckers, because that's really what they are. And if you have a humbucker on your guitar, you'll almost always need a 500K volume pot. HOWEVER, I've found the TranSensors high end to be a bit shrill with 500K tone pots. You _can_ mix pot, you know. Try a 500K vol and 250K tones. THEN, change the caps. I don't know what possessed Fender to put .042mf caps on their tone controls. The rolloff is way too low and when you turn down your tone control it just makes the sound muddy. There are a couple other viable options, including the now-popular so-called "woman tone" cap - a very low-value cap that Clapton used when he was with Cream. The high cutoff let him roll the twang out of his strat pickups while leaving the upper midrange. Very sweet. That will tame the excessive extreme-upper treble frequencies.

These pickups work especially well with my guitar. The Deluxe Plus has an alder body, the darkest sounding of the most commonly-used resonant tonewoods (along with poplar and basswood). The fingerboard wood makes all the difference. You can brighten the sound up and make it more balanced with a maple fingerboard or if, like myself, you like moodier players with darker tones like Robin Trower, David Gilmour and Ritchie Blackmore, a rosewood fingerboard might suit you better. I like the darker tone but my guitar also has an ash top and back. Ash has a shallow mid-scoop tone profile. It lifts the low lows and the high highs. The extra bass sounds fine and the extra treble gives the guitar a bit more articulation. TranSensors have exactly the same effect and enhance this particular guitar's natural tone - always something to keep in mind.

Tone-wise, the TranSensor is extraordinary. Right off, if you're looking for a traditional, late-50's/early 60's bluesy vintage strat sound, this pickup isn't for you. Through the clean channel, it sounds much closer to a 1969 Hendrix-era pickup or, with a little distortion, a 70's overwound "fat strat". But the way the TranSensor responds to the amount of gain used and to playing dynamics is downright scary. With a dynamic overdrive setting, as you increase the gain or dig in with the pick, the bass tightens up, the highs get reined in and the upper midrange fattens up like a darn P-90. A P-90 with PAF-style harmonics! It's a very modern sound that keeps its identity through a ton of processing and at high gain, gives me a nice smooth lead sound. It'll give you Gilmour's "Another Brick In The Wall" clean sound as well as the solo from "Comfortably Numb". It even sounds good through a fuzzy, searing Plexi model with a very hard pick attack like in "Purple Haze". If you know how to use it, there isn't much the TranSensor can't do. But it takes some getting used to. It isn't hot or blistering enough to make a good metal pickup though, not surprisingly.

I also did a little rewiring to suit my purposes and tweaked it a bit to find a sound that's definitely all-Strat and also all mine. :)

I play progressive rock with psychedelic, electronic and fusion influences.

If it were stolen I'd miss the guitar a lot more. That aside, I might consider trying a custom-matched set of the newer sensors. I've also got a new Godin xtSA that I can't wait to hook up to a guitar synth. Anyone here ever hear of Ozric Tentacles? I love that stuff. :)

Pickup features: Passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Not sure

Model of guitar or bass: Atilla Balogh Odyssey
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Dimarzio Super Distortion
Other pickups on guitar: Matching set of Transensors
Artists using this pickup: No idea...
You musical style(s): Blues, jazz, and rock in that order
Reason for pickup change: Got really sick of sounding of everything coming from the guitar sounding like Deep Purple (not that there's anything wrong with Deep Purple).

Perceived output level: Louder than a single coil strat, but not nearly as loud as the Dimarzio's I had in this guitar before. I would estimate the output to be about the same as a standard to tame humbucker.
Tone: Absolutely balanced with great individual string definition - warm and detailed in the neck position, more bite and a touch thinner (although still warm) in the bridge position.
Sonic evaluation: These are mounted on an Odyssey which is played through a Fender Blues Deluxe.
At first listen I was disappointed as these pickups didn't match the sound I had in mind. However, I got these because I wanted to hear the guitar, not the pickups (if that makes any sense) as the Super Distortions took over the sound with that high output distortion. I picked up the Odyssey (read my review if your interested) in a pawn shop, not knowing anything about the guitar or company - I bought it because it was simply one of the best pieces of guitar workmanship I had ever seen. I liked playing this guitar un-amplified due to it's sustain and sound, but wasn't pleased with the sound through my Blues Deluxe amp as they made even the clean channel go muddy even at low volumes. However, the Transensors simply take the existing sound of the guitar and make it louder without changing the natural tone of the guitar, so they do what I want them to do.
As mentioned, I was originally disappointed in the sound as it wasn't like anything I'd heard before. You can pick up some guitars, slap a few strings, and it's like, hey that's Stevie Ray, so that's the style you play on that guitar. These pickups won't do that for your guitar - they will only sound like what your guitar sounds like natively. They are very responsive to what you do with your fingers. They pick up bends and subtle finger movements better than any pickups I've used before - bends maintain volume and sustain. They sound very good when played clean, detailed and resposive to all finger movements (you can literally massage sounds out of the strings with these things). Distortion is also fun as it remains manageble - very controlable depending on attack.
Bottom line is these don't sound like a humbucker and they don't sound like a single coil, but kinda live somewhere in between. They have a sparkle to them without the ultra crunch of other humbuckers, but not quite the thin-character of singles.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: IMHO these are a good match for Jazz, and with the righ amp blues and rock (read rock not metal as I don't think these will do the metal, or grunge sounds).

Comments: If they were destroyed I would replace at least one of them (as I've grown to like the control and shimmer they add), but might try a California Special Transensor in one of the positions for a little more variety. I've been playing off and on for about 15 years now and try to keep my setup as simple as possible - guitar straight into a tube amp with no effects. I'm satisfied with the sound I can get out of these and will leave this guitar as is. It was not the sound I was looking for, but did yield great results for detailed, clean playing. Word of warning, if you are searching for a specific sound these will probably not do it - listen to your guitar unamplified and my guess is that's what these will sound like. They probably wouldn't be good for a cover-band guitar setup, but will produce a unique sound.

Pickup features: single coil, current mode
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Giles KL-200W
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: William Lawrence Designs S-280
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change: OEM pickups were too bright & had restrained dynamics.

Perceived output level: more than stock strat
Tone: warm, detailed
Sonic evaluation: Modified BBE 381 preamp, Hafler P100 rack amp,
2-10" celestions. Squeeky clean.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: generally good, versatile. Avoid use for jazz or metal

Comments: The purpose of this post is to address complaints that the
high E string is weak on a TranSensor. If you use 500K
volume and tone pots, there is no problem. Stock strat
electronics usually have 250K pots which load the pickup
excessively and roll off the highs unacceptably.
Using 500K pots, I get very detailed highs along with
a warm bass & low midrange. Haven't tried 1Meg pots
since they might brighten the sound too much.

Pickup features: smooth top - passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: current based design, see: www.agi-lace.com/trans.html

Model of guitar or bass: Samick Blues Saraceno TV Twenty
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Korean "Duncan Designed" mini HB's and a full HB
Other pickups on guitar: S/S/H Transensors in black.
Artists using this pickup: AGI's web page mentions a couple artists.
You musical style(s): rock/blues
Reason for pickup change: Korean "Duncan Designed" pickups (mini HB's sounded crappy).
When played thru a clean amp they had flat response and was just
loud. They had no character.

Perceived output level: fairly hot, nowhere near as loud as the duncan designed ones (I don't like way-too-loud pickups).
Tone: bright but the stock vol pot is 500k ohm
Sonic evaluation: At home: Samick TV-20 into a TS-9 into a 60's Princeton. At gigs:
same guitar (obviously) into wah->boss->blues driver->pro-co rat->
digitech rp7->60's bassman head->4x10 marshall cab. At home, the sound
was very sweet and sustainy even without the TS-9. I liked the way it
sounded into this combo (an earlier poster didn't like them into a combo,
but didn't specify if it was a good tube amp or a Gorilla :-). It kicked
butt thru the Princeton even clean (in my opinion). At gigs, the sound
was a bit bright, but I was able to remedy this by turning the presence
way down on the RP-7 unit. NOTE: I only use the clean tube 2 setting on
the RP-7 with EQ gain off, and compressor off on most presets. The unit
is mostly use for sporadic delay/modulation/reverb effects. Chord clarity
was good in all postions. Middle position alone was better than the
typical single coil in that situation. The 2 and 4 postions had good
strat cluck.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Good for all postions.

Comments: AGI-Lace calls it a current based design as opposed to voltage based.
I would need a detailed explanation to understand, but the main thing I like about this
company is they throw new ideas on the table rather than winding Fender
and Gibson clones with a few extra feet of copper :-)
This review is for single coils in the neck/mid and and HB in the
bridge position. A little about the HB: It has the drive/tone of an HB in
the bridge position. I also have it set to split the coil, and when doing
so, the output is WAY low. The previous PAF type pickup was, of course lower
in split mode, but you could play it by itself. The AGI split is only usable
with the middle PU phased, for a more vintage sound.
Really, the HB should have a separate category on this page,
but I did not do a separate write up because I'm not a real "bridge only"
kind of guy. If I ever put Transensors in a 2 HB guitar like a Les Paul
or 335, I would give it a separate review.
Overall, I am happy with the sound especially the neck position. The
tone control is usable, I guess it shouldn't be a sin to actually *use*
the tone control (to roll off a bit of brightness). These pickups brought
life to an otherwise dull sounding guitar.

Pickup features: Single coil, current based design
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Frankenstrat: Warmouth neck, Chandler body, traditional strat style
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: vaious: Duncans, EMGs, Fender 57/62 reissues
Other pickups on guitar: now have Fender Lace Sensors
Artists using this pickup: Shawn Lane, I think
You musical style(s): blues, rock, hard rock
Reason for pickup change: Heard great things about the Transensors, and I swap PUs in and out of this guitar a lot.

Perceived output level: hotter than stock single coil
Tone: good balance of bass & midrange, not as piercing as standard strat PUs can be.
Sonic evaluation: Used through a Sundown A-50, and stereo rack setup: ADA MP2 pre, Alesis Quadreverb, Mosvalve power amp, feeding two 1x12" Celestionl loaded cabs. Excellent sound for rack systems, w/heavy signal processing. Kinda dry & lifeless through combos. They sound pretty close to Silver Lace Sensors. There was a major design flaw with mine, the high E string was only about half as loud as the other string no matter what I tried.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play blues, rock, heavy/hard rock and these PUs are most suited for rock/hard rock. Blues players would probably not like them, they can sound a tad sterile through combo amps. They work best with lots of preamp distortion. There is only one type, and are not calibrated for any particular position. They do work well in all positions. I especially liked them in the bridge position which is normally not usable with stock Strat PUs.

Comments: Under no circumstances would I ever by another AGI-Lace product. Buying these was a big mistake. I had the aforementioned volume drop out problem with the high E string and tried to get AGI's help me out with it. To make a long story short, I sent the pickups to Jeff at AGI to take a look at them, AGI kept them for several months without doing squat, and only returned them to me after I got sick of waiting and threatened to contact the California Attorney General. I never did get an explanation for the extended period of time that AGI had the PUs but did nothing. After I got the PUs back and immediately sold them, good riddance. AGI-Lace really let me down, do yourself a favor and stick to manufacturers that stand behind their products. This incident is unfortunate as the PUs sound pretty decent through a rack setup, which is primarily what I use. The workmanship was okay, I compared them to a set of Duncan Hot Stacks, APS-IIs, EMGs SAs, Fender Lace Sensors, and Fender 57/62 Reissue Strat PUs. It is interesting to note that the Fender Lace Sensors (also made by AGI) have the same problem with high E string volume drop out. Must be a design flaw in the PU.

Pickup features: Single-coil, current-based design
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Carvin Bolt (non-tremolo bridge)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock (Carvin AP-11s, I think)
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: none that I know of
You musical style(s): a little of this, a little of that...
Reason for pickup change: The AP-11s, being single-coils, have a great clean tone, and sound fairly good distorted as well. But of course, the noise they generated when overdriven was too much for me to ignore. It's not that they are particularly noisy pickups, but that ALL single-coils are too noisy for my sensitive constitution. I heard that since the Transensors are current-based, they are very quiet but retain the single-coil tone.

Perceived output level: These are slightly hotter than the stock pickups, maybe about the level of a lower-output humbucker.
Tone: The tone is very balanced, with a nice, clear distinction of notes. Kind of like a high-tech single coil with a little more juice.
Sonic evaluation: I am running the guitar into my Roland BC-60 BluesCube, and the sounds are really quite good. Just a high-output single-coil pick-up, not as responsive as the real deal, but pretty close. This would all be fine, but - These things are NOT that much more quiet than a plain old single-coil. There may be SOME noise reduction, but definitely not as much as I wanted.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I flip-flop back and forth between various musical styles, and I wanted a pickup that could handle clean and overdrive with equal panache, as well as being punchy enough to get a little raunchy on occasion. Well, these have the punch and sound pretty good overdriven, but they hum way too much for me. If you want clean strat tones, you could do a lot worse than these.

Comments: I believe I'm going to replace them for a Seymour Duncan JB-Jr. in the bridge and some Duckbuckers in the neck and mid. I have come to the conclusion that no one guitar is going to be able to do everything I need it to, but at least I could get the thing to quiet down when I'm using overdrive (about 50% of the time). When I first started playing about 10 years ago, I got a Hot Rails humbucker for a Strat that I used to have. I kept the thing in the bridge for the whole time, and it always did me right. Maybe I'm a power junkie after all, and I'm not the best guy to talk to about Strat pickups! Anyways, these are good pickups, not too expensive, and fairly loud for single-coils. If you don't mind hum, check them out (before installing them, which I should have done!).

Pickup features: Sigle Coil, ultra low noise.
Impedence or other specs: 1.45K (not a typo). Epoxy-bedded, current based design.

Model of guitar or bass: Chandler "Stratocopy"
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: None; new installation.
Other pickups on guitar: 3 Transensors only
Artists using this pickup: See their web site (agi-lace.com)
You musical style(s): Varied
Reason for pickup change: Was building up a Strat-style guitar. Review in 3/98 "Maximum Guitar" magazine gushed about the properties of the Transensor.
They seemed to be what I was seeking in tone, and for the price, it was worth the experiment.

Perceived output level: As much presence and volume as Gibson 490 humbuckers on my Les Paul, but broader sonic spectrum.
Tone: Sparkling clear, brilliantly chimey with ringing overtones.
Sonic evaluation: Playing through Chandler Strat (alder body/maple neck/rosewood fingerboard) strung w/GHS Boomer mediums (11-50)
and 1978 Traynor TS-50 solid state amp - 1-12" speaker @ 50 watts.
Practically noiseless pickups. I can put the guitar next to the amp's transformer and get no 60Hz hum.
The three Transensors give a sound distinctly different from traditional single coil pickups.
When moving the selector switch through all 5 positions, neck to bridge, the best way to describe
the "tone color" I get is by the sounds "ee-ay-ah-oh-oo".
Neck alone is very bright, but still full sounding. Bass tones are clearly present.
Middle alone is warmer, with more mid and bass, treble slightly diminished.
Neck alone is much more bass-prevalent, as expected. It is full and warm sounding, still with clear high end.
Tone pots can bleed off enough treble from mid and neck pickups to practically remove it.
When driven at high volume, no feedback. When gain is maxed out and boost added, they retain their character
and gain added "warmth" with the amp-distortion derived overtones. They are never uncontrollable.
Single coil brilliance with humbucker strength and presence. Very low impedance gives them their crystaline
clarity and powerful sound, I suspect.
Downside: if you want to replicate any classic Stratocaster tones, these may not be the best choice.
With EQ box, it may be possible to change the curves to suit that use. I have not tried.
I would like to try one of their humbucker pickups in the near future to see how they compare to my
stock Gibson 490's and my old DiMarzio Super Distortions. I can guess they will be louder than either, and
broader of tone than the 490's. Probably more drive than the DiMarzios, but brighter and clearer.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play "a little bit of everything" as a hobbyist. Have played in 70's cover band, and big band settings.

Comments: If I were to do another guitar calling for single coils, I would definitely consider the Transensor in on of the positions.
It would likely be the neck and/or mid position, using a high-output rail or humbucker in the bridge slot.
This is on the condition I could keep the 3 Transensor model I have now. Other Don Lace models cost more and have tones
closer to a classic single coil - Fender uses various Lace Sensors on a number of their own models. Quality is first rate.
For the cost vs. performance aspect, I know that I could have spent more on pickups and been less pleased with the
overall results.
I can get a close "Boston" sound in the mid-neck position, and a ZZ Top kind of tone if I roll down some treble on the amp.
I could probably get by in a big band rhythm section if I had to. I'm satisfied.

Pickup features: New technology, equivalent of a single coil
Impedence or other specs: A new type of pickup

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Start Plus
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Fender Gold Lace Sensor
Other pickups on guitar: two Gold Lace Sensors in middle and bridge
Artists using this pickup: Haven't found any yet
You musical style(s): Just about anything I can figure out
Reason for pickup change: To try out the new technology. The price was right and I'm very glad I bought it.

Perceived output level: slightly more than the Lace's
Tone: clear, warm, full-spectrum
Sonic evaluation: I installed it in the neck position of my '89 Fender Start Plus and instantly "fell in love." I have played it through my modified Crate VC3112 and two of my self built amps (one a Fenderish blackface design and the other a Vox AC30 variant, both through my Marshall 2x12 cab).

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I've only tried it in the neck position, but I think it would work well in any position.

Comments: I would definitely buy it again. In fact, I plan on getting two more as soon as the pocketbook supports it. Definitely the right price compared to other pick-ups. I love the full-bodied, full-spectrum sound of the pick-up. It sounds great both clean and overdriven. I am now very satisfied with my sound.
Don't forget that AGI makes the Lace's for Fender.