Lindy Fralin Vintage Hot

single coil, passive 6.0-6.8 ohms

I put this set into a 97 US Standard Strat I've had from new. The stock pickups were OK but had no character. I wanted some pickups that got close to the sound of the 62 Strat I sadly sold many years ago.

The sound is brilliant - classic early 60s. Glassy hollowed out sounds in positions 2 and 4, great blues sound on neck pickup. Sharp bridge position but without the usual over-edgy tone because of a Fralin base plate. Also installed his blender pot which enables neck pickup to blended with bridge pickup to great effect. First time I've ever been able to use a strat bridge pickup!!

Complex harmonics, very responsive to touch and feel, strong clear bass. Takes crunch really well - don't bother with heavy overdrive or pedals - these pickups are too good to waste on that as their pure sound is awesome.

I play mainly blues through a boogie express 5:25 with 10" with boogie 12" extension cab - sounds great.

I mainly play Gibsons which are great for blues, but sometimes I like to switch to a Strat for a change. These pickups have transormed my Strat and its going to get more outings at gigs in future.

Great company to deal with - I called up from England for some advice and Lindy picked up the call. He spent half an hour talking through mods - great guy to spend that time with a customer.

I'm not known for giving unequivocal praise, but there is nothing to fault - just get these pickups they're awesome!!

These pickups are the best sounding I have heard in any guitar ( I have ten) and my new favorites.

MIM Strat - replaced stock pickups, which I liked for their Stratiness, but they were weak. These are strong!

I replaced the stock pickups in my Mexican Strat with Fralins after much research, review reading, and blogging. I decided on the Vintage Hots. After looking on Lindy Fralin???s website, I found a luthier in Wisconsin who also installs Fralin pickups, Mark Schuster, at Guitarbody.net. I decided to keep my current pick guard intact, and asked him to put together a pick guard with the Fralins and a push-pull pot to enable the neck and bridge pickups at the same time. Mark used all top notch components and was extremely helpful with technical details and suggestions. The end result was that all I had to do was solder the ground to the trem claw and solder the shielded wire to the ????? jack. The pickups are amazing. I play a wide variety of styles and guitars, and noticed right away that the tones these things produce are very complex. Quiet finger picking produces overtones and resonance that compares to my Taylor 6 string. Blues sounds terrific with these, with lots of Strat macho and incredible bite and intensity when loud, and sweet, heart-wrenching soulfulness when played with varied dynamics. Yow. I am neglecting my chores and playing this thing whenever I can. Get these pickups! Check out Mark???s website!

If it were stolen I would get another Strat with Vintage Hots. I actually plan to have Mark at Guitbody.net build me a custom Strat with Fralin's, Swamp ash body, custom neck, and a brass bridge plate/tremolo block assembly from Sandy at KillerGuitarComponents.com. His stuff is fantastic also.

Strat passive single coil pickups

I have them mounted in a Don Grosh Retro Clasic with a maple fingerboard, a Don Grosh Reto Classic with a rosewood fingerboard, a Fender Japanese strat with a nitrocellulose finish and rosewood fingerboard (neck and middle position...the bridge position is a Fralin with higher output) and a Fender American Standard strat with a maple fingerboard.

The output is a little hotter than a vintage strat.

I have a 50 watt Kendrick Texas crude, a 120 watt VHT Bulldog, a 30 watt Orange, a lexicon recording amp, a Fender Champ and a Carvin. I use a Carl Martin Hot Drive'n Boost, an Ibanez Analog Delay and Rotary Chorus, and a Fender stand-alone reverb unit.

The tone is excellent in every guitar. However, at one time I had them mounted in a Fender Ultra, and they were just too bright for the ebony fingerboard. I've been using Fralins since 1993, and I've found that although some other brands come close, none seem to duplicate the sweetness of the Fralins. There are others that sound just as good or maybe even better when cranked, but when you want that near perfect clarity and subtle nuance of every note (think Mark Knofler and Chet Atkins) nothing does it like a Fralin. I like to turn the volume knob back to around 3 to 5 and hear that awesome blend of sparkle and complexity. Obviously I love Fralin pickups, and I'm looking forward to mounting my Blues Specials in another Fender Japanese Strat, but there are other great pickups out there for less money. The Fralins are definitely for the connoisseur...if you can distinguish between a Stradivarius and a fiddle, then they may be right for you.

They sound great with every set-up.

I play pretty much every style: Country, blues, jazz, classic rock, alternative and even heavy metal when I'm not afraid of going deaf.

The set is suitable for all positions.

If lost I'd but several more sets.

I've been playing for about 30 years.

I love the pickups...I hate the price.

I have compared the Fralins to many other brands including Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Fender, Gibson, EMG and other brands but I can't remember their names. At present I own 12 electric quitars, but I've also owned many others during the past 30 years.

Single coil passive pickups. They came with a baseplate installed on the bridge pickup(this adds 10% bass without affecting the mids or highs). I haven't heard it without the baseplate, but what i have heard is truly amazing as far as the bridge is concerned. Reverse wound middle pickup so there's hum cancelling in positions 2 and 4.

Installed into all 3 positions 2005 made in mexico fender strat. A definite upgrade from stock pickups.

The output level is slightly higher than the stock pickups, I've ran them through a Divided by 13 amp as well as a line6 spider amp, it really shines in the tube amp and, surprisingly, brings some life to the line6. As far as tone goes these things are so buttery smooth and balanced. Each string is captured so well that they all perfectly resonate with each other, that was the first thing that really blew me away about the pickups. The bends are absolutely astonishing and smooth and unison bends don't break up anymore like they used to when driven. Each pickup does its job extremely well, the bridge gives nice bright highs and the neck delivers indescribably warm lows and the mid and other slots pick up all those tones in between. I play mostly classic rock, blues, and some contemporary stuff, nothing too heavy. These pickups definitely aren't meant for super high gain metally stuff, all though they can pull off a nice 80s hair metal tone with some tweaking. Great classic rock tone, but i just can't get over how great they sound clean, it's heavenly. Overall a very satisfying vintage strat sound(although i haven't played the real thing) that is sure to please.

The bottom line: I was looking for a major tone upgrade in my MIM strat and the Fralins gave me everything i hoped for, and more. These are really top of the line pickups, hand wound in virginia by a small company and not mass produced. It brought life into my electric guitar which i had almost given up on (it was competing against my martin acoustic) and now inspired me to keep on rockin the Strat. I did alot of research before purchasing these and these reviews don't lie, Fralin offers some of the best pickups out there and now I think I'm a lifelong fan.

The Lindy fralin Vintage Hot pickups are accurate reproductions of late 50's Fender Strat
passive single coils, with one exception. The middle pickup is reverse wound in order to
provide a humbucking effect in switch positions 2 & 4 (Mid mixed with neck or bridge pickup). I also had Lindy install a base plate onthe bridge pickup which also
helps keep the sound cleaner.

I installed this set in a Clapton Strat. I was tired of the Lace pickups and the active electronics and wanted a true Strat sound that was more alive. I always loved the feel of my Clapton strat, but it was just sitting in the case because the sound was truly dull. WELL..... the Lindy Fralin's did the trick!!!

I pulled out the entire electrical circuit & replaced everything with late 50's correct parts
(including cloth wire, etc.). I also shielded the entire cavity with copper foil.

The guitar now sounds like a '57 Strat ought to sound. All the chime, twang, touch sensitivity, etc. you could ask for. Every switch position now provides a true, useable,
Strat tone. These pickups provided exactly what I was looking for.

These are true vintage style pickups. They have a low output, but just like Alnico speakers
they provide all the sweetness and expression that the high output types can't recreate.
My other Fenders include a stock '52 reissue Tele and a stock Hot Rod '62 Strat, and these pickups give away nothing to either of them in the tone department.

I play thru a Fender Blues Jr. loaded with a Jensen P12R, or directly to Logic Pro. I record mostly Blues, 60's English Blues, R&B, etc. And the Fralin's are right there for me.

The set is very balanced & volume levels are very equal thru the three of them. Again, this
is a true vintage sound all the way, and as good as it gets.

The Clapton Strat is one of the best feeling guitars I have put my hands around & now the
sound is appropriate. The Lace sensors & active electronics may be great for the stage, but
in my studio the Fralin's blow them away. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!!

I've been playing for 47 years (ouch!!) so I finally do know what I like & I like these pickups.

The build quality was excellent & a 10 year warrantee can't be beat.

single coil passive Strat pickups

Sadowsky Strat alder body with maple neck and ebony fingerboard - replacing EMG SV pickups, which were smooth and polite, but totally gritless and nondescript sounding.

I am using a modified Peavey Classic 30, with JJ tubes and Weber Blue Dog speaker. The Fralins have an absolutely beautiful, balanced, rich, full Strat sound, without much hum. They are sweet sounding, and have a wonderful quality when pushing the amp or working off the volume control. They work extremely well with my setup, especially when using a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 for some extra gain. I cannot imagine a nicer Strat sound that that captures a vintage-like tone, but also gives a better bottom end without losing any of the highs that make a Strat sound like a Strat - especially in the 2 and 4 positions on the 5 way switch. IMHO, I think that this is a superb, musical pickup, and I couldn't ask for anything better.

Here is why I wrote this review today: I bought these pickps used, and after calling the Fralin company to buy new pots and switch, they offered me the option to mail them the pickups to be wired into a new harness by them for a very small charge. After receiving them back, playing with them for a while, and loving the tone, I noticed that the tone pot did not seem to work and that there was a ground buzz from that pot. Calling the Fralin tech guy that had done the work, he spent a good deal of time trying to help me find the source of the problem, and after we could not come up with a solution, he offered to send me a new pot to see if that worked. It didn't, and I called the company back today to try to talk to him about sending the entire harness back to him to be checked. He wasn't in today, but another young sounding, enthusiastic, extremely friendly guy who answered the phone asked if possibly he could help. We were on the phone for about 15 minutes patiently tracing the wiring, after which he uncovered the fact that the problem was due to my plastic pickguard not having a piece of metallic tape grounding the pots together. When I asked him his name to thank him for patiently taking so much time to help me save the effort and expense to ship the harness back, he told me that his name was "Lindy". Until now, I had no idea that I was talking to the owner/founder of the company the whole time, since I wouldn't have expected someone so presumably busy to take that type of time to walk me through this process. He was so friendly and upbeat that I simply figured that some new employee must be so thrilled about his new job, but I was dead wrong. Lindy talked to me about the pickups in general some more as if he had all the time in the world, and as you can easily tell, I was extremely impressed!! How could a company possibly provide any better customer service than when the boss treats a small wiring problem the same way he would as if I was placing an order for 500 sets of pickups for a chain of stores? I was pleasantly shocked, as well as appreciative, and this incident tells me worlds about the commitment of this company to their customers - no matter how small. Bravo, Lindy!!

A set of strat single coils:
Neck: 6K
Middle: 6K, reverse
Bridge: 6.8K

I installed those on a 76 Strat, all three positions, replaced custom shop 69s.

The pickups on my '62 strat have gone bad (demagnetized? dunno, anyways, they started to suck), so i bought a set of Fralins, put them in the '76 and put the CS69s into the 62. The best move I have ever done, soundwise.

I couldn't really compare these A/B, since I took one set pickups out and put another set in, but the level seemed pretty much normal, maybe a tiny little bit hotter than the CS69s.
I tried them out on a 73 Vibrloux Reverb and on a 73 Super Reverb (my gigging amps).
The tone? I couldn't believe my ears. And the funny thing is that the CS69s that I replaced worked way better in the 62 Strat. Talking about two for the price of one.
Anyways, I could go on and on about clear bass response, harmonics and alliquotes, sharp but not annoying highs... the thing is you have got to hear them. The most responsive pickup I have ever played. I like the sound of a little underwound pickups so maybe if these were a bit underwound they would sound even more like what I prefer, but I didn't have too much choice when buying these, it was a one-time deal.
You can go from clean to overdriven sound just with the dynamics of playing. Extremely responsive and dynamic pickups. These came with the Bass Plate so I don't know what they would sound like without it, but I really like what I hear. Suddenly I found a use for the bridge pickup.
If 10 in this category is "sounds great" then these are 10.

I think that my quest for tone is on hold for the time being. I really like these. I will have to try them out in a gig setting this coming weekend. The thing is I have always been complimented on my tone but I was always a little disatisfied with it. Now I think I can rest for a while and just bask in the sound of my guitar.

I have never tried any other non-stock pickups besides the CS69s and I like Fralins Better. Well, not totally, the 69s work really great with the rosewood fretboard 62 strat while Fralins are just awesome in the 76. I might try other non-stock pickups in the future but I really don't feel any urge to change anything.
That's it, a good pickup that can enhance whatever you already have. Really happy I got them.

Single coils, check his site for details...

SRV Strat middle and neck, replaces the stock Texas Specials. Stock pickups sounded OK clean, terrible with any gain. Didn't have chimey highs or nice lows, just big mids.

Lower output than stock. These pickups have the nice, 3D highs I wanted and big lows for clean tones. Also, sound much better with any kind of distortion. The Texas Specials had a terrible, hollow tone with distorted sounds of any kind. The Fralins took care of that along with better cleans than the stock PuPs. Using a Fralin SP43 in the bridge for harder rock tones. My current setup is axe> Fulltone 69> RC Booster> Choralflange> VHT Deliverance. I also have a '68 Bassman around here somewhere.

Will continue to use Fralin pickups, although I'm sure Ill experiment with other brands, too. There are a lot of custom winders these days who'll wind pickups to your liking, and Fralin is one. I've been playing for 25 years, tried tons of Strats (including 50s and 60s models) and these are truly some of the best pickups I've ever used. Don't even bother wasting money on stock Fender sets, which are now about the same price as a set of Fralins. The Texas Specials were in my Strat for 10 years. The Fralins do everything I wish they had done.

Single Coil Strat pickup 6k

Middle RWRP

Strat

Excellent refined tone. Magnificent pickups! This is a pickup to own whether or not you're a vintage buff. I wind pickups and build guitars for a living and can say that If I were to own 3 Strats, one would have this set in it.

These are not the end all if you're searching for all out Raw vintage Tone. Undoubtedly, they do very well for vintage but not quite as nasty and raw as the real deal 60's in my opinion. They're more of a great session tone. They are hands down one of the best Strat sets ever made.

I love these pickups. Lindy's a great guy. He makes his money not by hype but by making good stuff and having good business sense. Some of the best pickups on the market. Period.

One note... these are handwound pickups and every set sounds a little different. I've tried about 15 sets and I've heard a few sets that really shined. I'd buy a few sets if you have the money.

Pickup features: Single Coil Passive
Impedence or other specs: Neck 6K Impedance Middle 6K Impedance

Model of guitar or bass: Dillion Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Neck Middle & Bridge (2 Vintage Hots w/SP43 BRIDGE PUP)
Other pickups on guitar: Stock Dillion Pickups
Artists using this pickup: unknown
You musical style(s): Blues, Classic Rock, Hard Rock
Reason for pickup change: Stock Pickups while not too bad on clean tones (for cheap pickups) were a bit thin sounding and lacked something when using fuzz (distortion).

Perceived output level: Perceived output seemed a bit lower than the Stock Dillion Pups, but the TONE IS FAT!
Tone: Clean Tone is Thick, a bit Dark, Simmers, Sustains, FANTASTIC CLEAN TONE!
Sonic evaluation: Adjusting Pickup height is so important to getting the RIGHT sound. The RIGHT sound is different for each person. Classic Fender-Style pickups have the magnets within the coil wrap which means that you have to be very careful that you don't get them too close to the strings or you may end up with Stratitis or Intonation/Tunning problems. But, the closer the pickups are to the strings = more output = less perceived noise & usually better Fuzz Tone. The bottom line is, it's a delicate balance, so keep tweaking them until YOU are happy with the resulting tones.
Using a Dillion Strat copy through a Fender Blues Deville 4x10 60 watt all TUBE AMP. There are a lot of great pickups out there including Lollar, Van Zandt, and even certain Fender Pups. These Fralin Vintage Hot sound fantastic for CLEAN TONE which I think is their biggest STRENGTH. Very Shimmery with THICK sustaining BASS. I got a mixed set with Vintage Hots in the Neck & Middle & Steel Pole 43 for the bridge pickup. Also, I purchased a whole new wiring harness with Blender Wiring which alows me to get a nice Telecaster sound out of my Strat BONUS! The parts are all excellent quality (Thanks AcmeGuitarWorks.com!) although the switch 5-way switch is a bit taller than stock & took a bit to get used to it. I would not reccomend this mix of Vintage Hot + SP43 for everybody because it does not give the most balanced sound, but I wanted a guitar that SINGS on the clean tones while cutting through the FUZZ (distortion) when switching to the bridge pickup(SP 43).
I have read some bad reviews on these Vintage Hot pickups and I can only think that those people may have had some bad wiring, poor choice of amplifier, bad guitar, or just chose the wrong pickup for their purposes. Fralin will always allow exchanges within a certain time frame for a small fee because they want you to be happy with your tone.
The Fralin Vintage Hots are a bit darker through Fuzz (distortion) than for example the Woodstocks, or SP43. Life is full of tradeoffs. If you want the best CLEAN TONE, you will not have the best FUZZ TONE. If you want something that cuts through the Fuzz, you will give up some of that Fat Shimmer on the clean tones. This is part of the reason that I chose a combination pickup set (Best of both worlds).
I wouldn't call these the biggest bargain because they are not cheap. But they are certainly worth the money. If you want something close at a cheaper price, try the Fender Fat 50's which are somewhat similar to these at $90 cheaper. Or, the Fender 69 (= close to Woodstock) but be careful of them (NO Reverse Wound Middle Pickup!) as they have no hum cancell (Those silly people at Fender ;-)
Last, if you play Heavy Metal or Punk, you probably need a set of humbuckers. But, if that is the case, what the heck are you doing with a Strat anyway?

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play a variety of music from Blues, to Rock, and Hard Rock

Comments: I am getting quite attached to these combination Fralin pickups (Vintage Hots + SP43). I would probably buy these again if stolen as this is the combination sound I was looking for in a very versatile Strat. Very pretty Clean Tone & a bridge pickup that kills any Traditional Strat (Killer Fuzz!!)
But, since I like a variety of sound, my next pickup purchase will likely be something different for one of my other guitars. Variety is the spice of life.
I have been playing for 20 years. I own a variety of guitars including a Gibson MIII, USA Strat, Danelectro Hollow Body, Epiphone Strat, Ovation Acoustic, Takamine Acoustic, and the Dillion Strat with the Fralin pickups. I play through a USA Fender Blues Deville using a variety of effects.
What I LOVE about the Fralin Vintage Hot is that Shimmering Clean Tone! Again, the Fralin Vintage Hots are a bit darker through Fuzz (distortion) than for example the Woodstocks, or SP43.
I compared these to the Fender Fat 50's which are somewhat similar to these at $90 cheaper. And, the Fender 69 & Fralin Woodstock.
I am giving these a 9 because, I hope there is always room for improvement. 10's are given out too easily here. For me, 9 is a very high mark.
You may want to check out AcmeGuitarWorks.com because they have MP3 sample clips of several different pickups. If you have a computer that you can hook into a good stereo it may help you decide on the right choice for your tone.