Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot Strat

Stratocaster Pickups
Passive set
Around 6k

Newly built Warmoth Sratocaster
Replacing all 3
These were a Bareknuckles Trilogy set
I think maybe the Duncans are used by a few, but I am not sure who.
I found the Trilogies muddy and not all that gutsy, slightly compressed, I just felt they were lacking somehow, they just did not appeal to me at all.

I'll keep this short and sweet,
I love the Texas Hots, I use them with minimal effects, they have such a nice warm yet bright bluesy tone, just what I wanted!!
I also love the Surfers, I am not a keen Seymour Duncan fan generally, because a lot of his mainstream pups just don't light my fire.
But having said that, I have to say the Antiquity 1 Texas Hots are bloody great.
I wired the guitar myself with CTS pots cloth wire etc, and it sounds amazing, really incredible.
These pickups are sooo much better than the Trilogies or the Irish Tours that its incredible, the Trilogies in particular were a non event!! dull and stodgy!
I read some of the reviews that are posted on the Trilogies (all 10's)and I had to wonder, jeez where do these reviews come from? who is writing them?
Anyway the Texas Hots have that nice sparkle but organic warmth underneath, and through my Matchless they sound just awesome.
By contrast the Trilogies I removed sounded like a kind of a big nothing!
So even though Seymour Duncan only makes a few hand wound pups, they are quality all the way. I would recommend these to anyone.
I have played on the Surfers as well, and I will be getting some of those, these are the nearest thing I have heard to the original
Srat pups, bell like ring and upper middle notch, a sort of hollow clear twang, but they dirty up nicely too.
Seymour Duncan probably does not need this review, but he has it anyway, I wrote it because I love these pups.
I have had them for a little while now and I like them even more than when I first installed them.

Yes I would buy them again, and thats saying something.
I am critical and have used a lot of Stratocasters and there is hardly any pickups I would buy again.
But I would buy these.

Pickup features: (Passive Single Coil)
Impedence or other specs: Low to Mid 6K D.C. Resistance range

Model of guitar or bass: Custom Built Lefty Fender Copy of a Mary Kaye Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan SSL-1 and APS-1 pup's
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: A lot of unmentioned well known artists
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, Jazz
Reason for pickup change: I am finally getting around to writing this review in order to clarify some probable misconceptions about this pickup. Somewhere around the late 70's to early 80's, I switched from DiMarzio pickups with some reservations, to Seymour Duncan pup's (then still a fairly new startup company) at the recommendation of Ron Lira of Honest Ron's Guitars of Okc. Since that time I have owned at least 10 different model sets of pups by Seymour. There have only been 2 instances where I have been disappointed, one was with a set of Seymour Hot Stack for Strat STK-T2B. These pups were muddy, indistinct, lacked definition, dull, lifeless, and boring. The second instance was when I purchased a set of Antiquity Texas Hot Strat (Passive Set) of pups. These were a calibrated left-hand staggered set(I'm a lefty)with a RW/RP in the middle position & the Antiquity Texas Hot Bridge, and I knew that something just wasn't right with the tone when I received them. I guess I just passively accepted this disappointment, and didn't press the issue until I attended one of the Texas Guitar Shows in Dallas soon thereafter. I had spoken to Seymour Duncan before and knew that he was very a very approachable person, especially when it concerns his product line. I expressed my extreme disappointment with these pups, and how the 3 pups were sealed seperately in one common plastic bag w/o the complementary box's. Seymour confided to me that he had an employee that was given the critical task of custom winding these pups for him (Seymour)when he could not be there. Seymour said that he was getting a lot of feedback to this effect, and was very questionable of this particular person, and said "send them to me and I'll take care of you" and gave me his personal business card. Shortly thereafter, I got a call from his personal assistant (I believe it was Maria) and was informed this was the case, and that Seymour was going to personally wind and autograph said pups with no charge whatsoever. Now, I ask how many CEO's will go to this extent these days to fulfill a customers request? Once I installed these pups, they were phenomenal. I have had these pups since approximately the time that they first appeared, and have not replaced them to this day. These pups cover every kind of Blues tone and Rock tone imagineable. They are warm, sweet, compress nicely, have perfect mids, have perfect clarity, have great balance of tone, have greatsustain, are punchy, and are NOT brittle, bitey, or glassy whatsoever. Now I believe at least in part from some of the Antiquity reviews here, that some players may have incurred a similar situation to mine. Especially if those players incurred problems with their Antiquity sets purchased anywhere around the early to mid 90's.

Perceived output level: Vintage output level (low to mid 6K D.C. Ohm range)
Tone: See - Reason for pickup (pup) change:
Sonic evaluation: Since the late 70's I have collected and own quite a few tube amps. Mostly Marshall, Fender, Hiwatt, Vox, Peavey, Carvin. I maintain all my amps, and fix amps of friends as well as other musicians. My ear is very discerning, and I absolutely cannot bide solid state guitar amps or modeling amps, because I truly hear the difference between quality and non-quality. The same goes for guitar pups. I get to test pups with some great amp/overdrive combinations, so I don't hype products especially where it is not warranted. You'll hear my true honest ratings after much wear and tear on the product in question.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: As stated by other players, these wouldn't be suitable for heavy metal.

Comments: I have truly learned a lot about pups over the last 29 years. Through trial and error, pouring over pup documentation, absorbing info from the pup guys themselves, and some very close listening, my ear has really matured. I lost the desire for "hot" wound pups years ago, and only "vintage" output does it for me now. When players desire a hot output pup, just overdrive the you know what out of a "vintage" set. At least the tone can be cleaned up whenever needed. Another pup set that I really like to tout is the Seymour Antiquity II Strat pups. The Antiquity II's have a greenish/grey bobbin just like the Fender Custom Shop 69's and are modeled after the late 60's - early 70's big headstock strats (the surfer tone). These pups have a certain "ping" like quality to them, or a (piano like clarity) to the notes. The tone is clean, clear, and balanced with a noticeable lack/loss of midrange normally found in other strat pickups. Also, the output is moderately low for a vintage output strat pup . If a person wants to hear what their strat guitar's true representative tone is w/o all the frills, then this is it. It's also interesting to note that this was Jimi Hendrix's personal fave and pup of choice (the Fender 69' or in this case the Antiquity II)and what the pup was lacking in (output and midrange) the Marshalls more than make up for. Aspen Pittman C.E.O. of Groove Tubes states that Marshall's have a design that is inherently in the upper high mid range realm, that some Marshall users refer to as a "notched" mid range response. Give a set a try and hear the magic.

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Lefty Custom Made Mary Kaye Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Seymour SSl-1's, APS II ,and Fender 69's
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Seymour wound these for a lot of players back in his Fender, England days.
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, Jazz
Reason for pickup change: I have had these for at least 15 years. And have felt strongly inclined to comment on these pickups to clarify some irregularities or uninformed views about this pickup. Around the late 70's to early 80's I switched from DiMarzio to Seymour Duncan pickups rather hesitantly. In all those years I had only two times wherein I was disappointed in Seymour Duncan Pickups. I've tried at least 10 different pickup sets that I can recall right now (Humbucker,Tele,Stratocaster). I never cared for the Hot Strat Stack pickups because they were boring, dead, lifeless, and muddy sounding to me. The second instance was when I received my set of Seymour Duncan Strat Texas Hots. When I received the set, I installed them immediately in my strat. I was unimpressed that something wasn't right about the sound but didn't press the issue. Meanwhile the guitar sat awhile w/o being played and I just chalked it up to the way they were e.q.'d and halfheartedly accepted it. Very soon thereafter I saw Seymour Duncan at the Texas Guitar Show and knew that he was an approachable fellow, especially with regards to his products. I told him that my set of (3) had come in shrink wrapped plastic w/o their complementary boxes, and I was relatively unimpressed with the sound that I was getting. I knew something had to be wrong. He informed me that he had a guy that he relied on working for him in his custom shop, hand winding these and other Antiquities. It had come to his attention through the feedback of other customers that this guy was not exactly doing the quality work that Seymour expected of him. Anyway, Seymour gives me his personal business card and says "send them to me and I'll take care of you". The long and short of it is that they had been wound by this other guy, Seymour ended up hand winding mine personally and signing each one with the D.C. resistance measurements. This particular winding was done for some famous English guitar greats back when Seymour was working in England at Fender's Custom Shop. You can bet that Jeff Beck had a set of these early on. To dispell any problems that other players might have had with these pickups, could very well be caused by the problem that I just explained. I have never, nor will I ever replace these pickups. They are warm, sweet, balanced, punchy, have the perfect amount of midrange, and the perfect amount of clarity and edge. They are the end all strat pickup.

Perceived output level: Output would be considered vintage range
Tone: See: Reason for pickup change
Sonic evaluation: I own and have owned numerous tube amps over the years mostly Fender, Marshall, Hiwatt, and Vox. I work on my own tube amps and many others as well. I wouldn't have a solid state piece of s--- stuck up my you know what. I can definitely hear the difference. I don't care what anybody says about solid state amps or modeling amps, there is a sonic difference between the two that just can't be achieved w/o tubes. I've been playing and listening for over 29 years now and I know. These pickups through a good tube amp will give you the Texas Blues and English Blues vibe for fact. They have enough of a midrange w/o being overbearing, and enough output that you don't have to make up for headroom level by using overdrive, distortion or compression. My set of (3) are left-handed staggered, the middle pup being RW/RP w/o the Antiquity Custom Bridge (don't need more output here).

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: As stated by previous reviewers this is not exactly a heavy metal pup or sound.

Comments: This pup is a definite 10, by using the Antiquity Texas Hots, and other Seymour pickups like the APS-1(Alnico II) and SSL-1(Alnico V)as well as the Fender Custom Shop 69's which are the same as Seymour Duncan's Antiquity II Surfer pup's, I have really learned a wealth of info about tonal qualities and what pups will achieve and what to direct players to. The Fender Custom Shop 69's f.e. have a "ping" like quality on the bass notes, almost a piano like quality. But these pups have a distinct lack of mids, they however make up for it in clean, clear balanced lows and highs, while at the same time not being brittle or glassy, they do have a noticeable reduction in output comparative to other vintage strat single coils, but this makes for a truer strat sound where you are actually "hearing" your guitar's "true tonality". If you see a strat pup with greyish/green bobbins, and smaller diameter alnico rod magnets then we're generally talking about this pup. Hendrix used these pup's in his late 60's - early 70's big headstock strats, but Marshalls having an inherent high upper mid range response more than make up for this lack of mid range response in these pups. For the most part I also prefer a reverse staggered magnet pattern (In my case being a lefty -a right hand staggered magnet pattern), with a softer string pull like Alnico II's. I like the Vintage Staggered SSL-1's(Alnico V's), but brand new they are a little too brittle and glassy for me, so I get them slightly de-magnetized to simulate 20 or more years of play. This makes them really sweet, plus you have similar qualities to the 69's but with more mid range response and a little more output.

Pickup features: strat single coil
Impedence or other specs: 6.2

Model of guitar or bass: fender strat 1971
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: fender strat 1978, they came with the "71 guitar and those pickups only make you smile if you go for that "chique-le-freak" stratiness..
Other pickups on guitar: VanZandt
Artists using this pickup: no idea
You musical style(s): blues, rock'roll
Reason for pickup change: achieving better sound

Perceived output level: this pickup has pretty much or a tad less output than a eighties amarican strat pickup but a bit more than a mid or late senventies pickup
Tone: It's smooth, no bass and no brittle highs, a bit tame but pretty complex and even sounding. Chords stay transparant but it's hard to get exited about it..
Sonic evaluation: This thing is hyped by Seymour and Guitar Player. Why? It's a good sound but no real magic here. Is this really the best you could do Seymour.. it's sounds more to me your cashing in.. compared to the VanZandts blues (in the middle and bridge positions) they lack output, bass and belllike quality. Noisy too. This is the third strat I took it in (dont say i didn't try to make it work) but this pickup only works with a rosewood board and a resonant alder body. No bluesy SRV, poppy Buddy H. or thick J.Vaughan here but a good pickup for that H.B. Marvin wailin' (read: strong steely mid's)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: It's just to expensive to throw it away so I will use it in a middle position... I wont use that anywy..

Comments: Guitars I used this pickup in: strat "71, strat early eighties and a early eighties Tokai from the springy serie. Amps are a silver Vibrolux reberb, mid seventies Bassman, Fender Junior and a Dynacord Twen. Compared to the strat "78 pickups, it sounds much better (wich is not that hard) but it is not in the same ball game as the Vanzandt blues. Compared to pickups of my eighties strat they sound a bit more complex but also thinner. But the box the come into is very nice.

Pickup features: Single coil
Impedence or other specs: 6.2,6.7,10.03k

Model of guitar or bass: Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues, funk
Reason for pickup change: TONE!

Perceived output level: Output is a little above normal for a vintage strat pickup
Tone: warm and sweet!
Sonic evaluation: These sound the CLOSEST to the best old strat pickups out there....
I know, because I own a few nice old strats and I've played dozens.
I've tried them all...fralin, rio grande, newer fenders, other duncans, etc. Trust me...this IS the shit!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Any style where clean, clear, warm tone is what you want.

Comments: I'm on my second set...these pickups are going into all my newer strats.

Pickup features: passive single coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: '79 Fender Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Duncan JB jr.
Other pickups on guitar: stock
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock
Reason for pickup change: I was tired of a humbucker sound, just wanted something different

Perceived output level: about average, maybe a little less than the mid and neck stock pickups
Tone: extremely bright, not a lot of bass, a nice underlying quacky midrange
Sonic evaluation: I'm running the strat into a 1970 Hiwatt Custom DR103 and a straightfront 1970 purple Marshall 4x12 with original greenbacks. Also using a 2nd gen blackface UL Fender Twin Reverb. Effects are a 1972 triangle knob E-H Big Muff, Boss DS-1, E-H reissue small clone, Boss stomp tuner, E-H reissue Microsynth, older Vox 846 (or whatever number it is) wahwah.. all but the Boss pedals are true bypassed. The Antiquity's name, Texas Hot, is misleading.. it's not hot at all but a vintage sound. It rips in the Hiwatt and is mean in the Twin. It's extremely bright-sounding but not in an ice-pick kind of way. Of the couple Antiquities I've played, they're pretty low output and a little thin-sounding.. but I'm really happy with this pickup. You can keep it close to the strings with no wolfiness. With the Big Muff, it distorts really well which surprised me.. it's thick and not brittle in the least, which seems to happen with a lot of single coils. The DS-1 can dirty it up nicely when all is cranked.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I'm a rock guy, and this does the trick. It's all in your fingers anyhow, so maybe some of you might hate it for rock

Comments: I'm having a lot of fun with the pickup and hope to for a long time. It's a nice change from my other Fender which has an old Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucker cut into the bridge. I don't know if I'd say it's a magical pickup, but it sure is nice.

Pickup features: Passive single coils
Impedence or other specs: approx. 6.5 kOhm

Model of guitar or bass: G&L Legacy
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Original g&L pickups
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, blues, country
Reason for pickup change: The original G&L pickups sounded thin and exceedingly bright

Perceived output level: typical vintage
Tone: Warm vintage strat tone with smooth treble and emphasis on the mids
Sonic evaluation: G&L Legacy into Trace Elliot Velocette (15W class A with 2xEL84); or 1969 Fender Dual Showman amp either direct or through Vox Valve-Tone overdrive pedal.
These pickups sound beautiful when played clean, and also distort very smoothly and without a hint of the harshness that often plagues strat pickups when using stomp boxes.
It is important to place the pickups rather close to the strings to fatten the sound, otherwise there is too little bottom-end, for my tastes at least. This can be done without incurring "stratitis" because of the soft Alnico II magnets in these pickups.
I initially bought a set with the hotter Custom Bridge pickup but decided to get a 3rd Texas Hot for the bridge position also. The Custom Bridge is a very good pickup but much hotter than vintage; I was unwilling to compromize on vintage tone, espicially the combined bridge-middle sound which is truly great with two Texas Hots.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great for '60 & '70 rock and roll, fantastic for blues, not suitable for metal

Comments: I have finally, after years of trying, found my vintage strat sound--very musical, warm, punchy and singing. I would buy'em again, as often as needed. I've been playing guitar for 35 years and electric for 10 years.

Pickup features: Single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender 1957 Reissue Stratocaster
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Lindy Fralin
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock, blues, folk
Reason for pickup change: I was trying to get the classic Strat sound, the Fralins seems to hard, I didn't get the bell-like classic strat sound.

Perceived output level: Less than the Fralin Vintage Hot that I was replacing.About the same as the original Fender pickups I replaced.
Tone: middy, very little in the way of beautiful bell-like highs that one thinks of a Strat-like character. Even in the bridge pickup--which was a Duncan Custom Bridge Antiquity model
Sonic evaluation: For practice I use an original '64 Vibro-Champ and sometimes an old Gibson Skylark, sometimes running through Fender '63 Reissue Reverb. The sound of the pickups through the Strat was god-awful.Now I've tried other Duncan Strat pickups--Vintage Strat, Alnico IIs, and Nashville Strat--and these were god-awful, especially when compared with Duncan's other Strat pickups. Was whoever winding these things having a bad day? As I said, no highs, all this midrange sound. I tried adjusting pickups closer to strings, away from strings, and they just sounded like shit. They were the opposite of the Fralins it seems. They were several steps below the original Fender 57/62 pickups that came with the guitar, which were not bad at all. I just wanted a little bit of a sweeter sound, less of that slightly harsh upper end that the '57/'62 pickups had. But what I got with the Duncans was this dull, noisy, and very unstrat like sound. Maybe if I were going through a bright Marshall amp it would have been fine, but through the Fender, it sounded like shit. I didn't even get to use it through my '67 Fender Deluxe Reverb. I pulled them out in disgust, and put the original '57/'62 pickups, just to see if I was crazy. No the Duncans were godawful

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups might be usable if you have a very bright guitar and very bright amp, otherwise, that useless crap.

Comments: I've been playing 16 years, and these pickups suck. I have a set of Duncan Antiquities in my Les Paul, and they are great pickups. this is not a diatribe against Seymour Duncan, he makes some great pickups, but I think these Texas Hots suck.Compared to Lindy Fralins, Van Zandt or Voodoo Pickups for Strats, the Duncan Texas Hots are godawful. I own four strats--one with Fralins, one with Van Zandts, one with Duncan Nashville Studio, and this 57 reissue. I am going to put Voodoo Pickups in this Strat, since I have tried them out, and they are probably the closest thing to the "Strat" sound I've heard. Really incredible hand-wound pickups, at the same price, which puts the Duncan Texas Hots to shame.

Pickup features: Passive Singel Coil
Impedence or other specs: Huh???

Model of guitar or bass: Fender 60's Reissue
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock Fender 60's Reissue
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Yo Mama!
You musical style(s): Rock/Blues/Jazz
Reason for pickup change: I wanted more Ummph but with a vintage vibe.

Perceived output level: Clean. Too clean. Way too clean. Clean clean.
Tone: No bottom. More highs with some mids thrown in. No warm fatness what so ever in the neck pickup. The bridge screamed and squealed liked a sodomized roast suckling pig at a Luau.
Sonic evaluation: Last night I used my new 60's Fender reissue with my brand spankin' new Marshall Super Triple Lead Combo.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I'm playing mostly Blues but we can rock out ala Jeff Beck and then mellow out with a bit of Wes Montgomery.

Comments: Ok this is the thing. I wanted a Strat but I'm not the biggest of Strat fans. One of my other guitars is a Strat with a Duncan '59 in the neck and a Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge. I have a Texas Special in the middle. But I wanted another paint brush and there are times when I like that single coil Hendrix/SRV tone. The guitar is aged and has that old ass vintage 60's look and feel with it's C neck.
The Antiquities say hot on the box but I didn't find no hot no wheres. These pickups were ultra ultra clean. Almost transparent! But they did sound better than the stock pickups tone wise. The Antiquities were a lot noisier though than the stock ones. I'd read the other reviews first before I bought it and just spaced on the part about everybody saying how noisey it was. I figured that if I got the tone I wouldn't care about the hum. The band would cover that up!
Sorry Seymour. You know you are my man and I'm your biggest fan, but the sound wasn't me. Just a bit too vintage, clean, time machine back to the 60's, not enough technology, livin' in the past, Screeeeeeeech! The body on my guitar is basswood so it's brite already. I had to kick my bass and mids on my amp all the way up to 10. My audience actually liked me playing something "Real" for a change. That being an unadulterated Strat. But we're going to have to meet half way. I'm not talkin' DiMarzio Virtual Vintage either.
I'm going to switch to Texas Specials. I'm sick of trying out pickups! Enough is enough! I have a life dammit! I've used Texas Specials before and they are clean. But not too clean. I need more bass, mids, and that Straty funk poppy tone vibe. Also that thickness for brain cleaving lead work. I feel like a wus for not going all the way with the vintage thing but I am what I am and that's what I am.

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: 6k Neck-6.7k Bridge

Model of guitar or bass: Recent Fender Am. Std. Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock P/Us
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Modern Rock, Blues
Reason for pickup change: I played a lot of strats, got a nice one that sounded good, and figured it deserved good pickups--Got a good deal too.

Perceived output level: Mine are just a little louder than the stock p/u's I replaced. I'm sure Seymour winds 'em as hot as you want, though.
Tone: Very balanced with a slight tilt toward midrange
Sonic evaluation: I play through a Matchless Hotbox into a Blackface Super Reverb. I use Ibanez analog chorus, Vox wah and Phase 90 sparingly. I liked the sound of my guitar with the stock p/u's, but these have really raised the quality of my guitar. The most noticeable difference has been in the bridge position. The tone from that pickup is smooth and buttery, without any harshness or brittleness. I can do my tele tricks and get into the 50's sound real good now without having to roll off the guitar volume to attenuate the highs, and I'm going through blackface circuitry into 10" speakers! In general, I'm especially happy with the sound of strummed chords--the sound is well-balanced and I can hear the different notes of chords come out nicely. I don't know why this is, but I'm not as knocked out by the bass out of phase sound as I am with the other positions--I know that my action is low, so I'm getting a lot of attack in the tone, so maybe setup has something to do with that.
These pickups are definitely noisier than stock. Seymour was going for the genuine vintage vibe, and I guess that to get that sound, noise is part of the equation. What price tone? Along those lines, the pickup covers are "aged" which means that they're discolored cream and scungy, as if they've been sitting in a bea-up strat for years. There's even what looks like rust on the pole-pieces. I was putting these things in a pretty, new guitar, so I had the tech keep the shiny white stock covers when he swapped the p/u's out.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I get what I need out of these p/u's, which are classic, recognizeable guitar sounds. These p/u's will get you closer to the classic vintage strat sound, and made my strat "strattier."

Comments: I've been playing 6 years. I also play through an old Magnatone, and where before I only liked my tele through that amp, now I enjoy the strat too. I mostly took the advice of a player I highly respect when buying these pickups--I wasn't disappointed. I think I have the best sound I can get from the guitar I have. I'm completely satisfied. Just be prepared for noise--you wouldn't complain if your '57 strat hummed, now would you? I really recommend them for anyone looking for a vintage strat sound. I've heard that Lindy Fralin winds a killer strat pickup, and Joe Bardens are supposed to be cool too. I'm sure anything coming out of Tom Anderson's shop is top notch. Right now there are a lot of great pickups out there. I haven't played any of these others, but I do love mine.