Stan Hinesley Zen

High gain passive Alnico II Humbucker
13.8k ohm DC resistance (approx.)
Nickel cover, 4 wire conductor

Went into the bridge of a St. Blues Bluescaster (best guitar for the buck I ever bought!), replacing the stock. Is part of a HSS set with two Stan Hinesley single coil La Grange pickups in the middle and neck position (see separate review on those)
The Saint blues pickups were not bad at all!! This is a real Blues machine! As I said, best guitar I ever bought for that kind of cash!
But I wanted a hotter tone, specially in the bridge and a manual split option, so I bought those and a custom made Tele harness from Stan.
All his work oozes love for perfection and is top crafted!

The output is hotter than the stock, but still very detailed.
I play mainly Blues and rock and it's just great for that.
The Guitar was great before and now it just went a step up! Very detailed and full of life tone, reacts great on the way you play, you can just form your tone perfectly as it has a huge dynamic range and a very sensitive response...
Fat and creamy tone in distortion, but also very nice cleans and astounding in split mode, still plenty of power and goes extremely well with the middle La Grange pup in both modes...
It is nicely balanced from bass to treble for the kind of music I play, I would not use it for metal stuff though, but it's not built for that anyway...
This guitar will stay as is now! A real pleasure to play with!
I also own several Bare Knuckle Pickups and a pair of Lollar Imperials in other guitars and Stans pickups can keep it up in every way in my opinion, for far less money!

I would buy other Hinesley pickups without hesitation! The guy is very friendly and helpful, answers mail in time and keeps you informed about the process...
Well crafted stuff for a VERY reasonable price, good instructions, well packaged and delivered professionally, what could you ask more?
As I said I could compare these to Lollars and Bare Knuckles and they are in the same league.
I play for 30 years now and own several guitars, from cheapos to custom made, but I do not gig, just home and friends.

Passive Humbucker

Charvel - Bridge position - $$$$ - ???? -

Like what I read about the description on Hassound web site

50 watt Head / 4x12 with Green Backs
Wah- BB Pre amp - Digital Delay

The Zen is absolutely one powerful creation, that can only advance the evolution of tone. There is no one way street for the Zen, this
Humbucker has no boundaries in any form of music. Evaluating is difficult, due to the fact that the Zen ( in my opinion )is open to
any style desired.

The Zen offers the warmth,attack, clarity and sustain in a way that it seperates itself from all the other type of Humbuckers wound in the same or slightly the same manor. I can actually hear my own tone better than I ever did with other reputable Humbuckers.

I understand this is not a sonic evaluation, breaking down the pro's and the con's. This is more of a lifting experience in how the Zen has effected my tone and myself.

Neck position humbucker with 4-conductor wiring

I use it on my USACG Strat in the neck position. With e viper on the bridge.

I run it through a PS-5>RMC2>Looper>Modded JnH, Screwdriver, Sahasrara OD, Tonefactor11>CH-1>Modded Phase90>DMM>GE-7>amp.

The tone is excellent. It cuts through the mix really well. It does not have overwhelming mids like some other neck pickups do. ya can get really nice bluesy tones out of this thing.

I play mostly classic to modern rock and blues. Excellent match of pickups to this genre.

I'd definitely get it replaced if it fails, which i doubt it will since the craftsmanship is excellent.

Been playing for about 6 years and this is one of the top rated pickups to me.

Zen Humbucker,bridge,Alnico II,13.8K output.

Epi Les Paul Custom
Bridge
Diamrzio virtual vinatge paf
Stan Hinesley Fusion in neck position
?
Wanted a hotter pickup that closely resembled the Gibson 490T with 496T output.

Hot output, pushes preamp nicely when cranked. Very creamy leads.
Randall RM100M1/Fender HRD 4 x 10 combo. Stereo set up used with Boss GT8 (4 cable method ) EH FX, Radial Hot Brit,Option 5 overdrive,Moogerfooger 12 stage phaser w/expression pedal.
The tone of the classic + gibson pu with the heat and overdrive of the 496T ceramic and the smooth balanced output of the 490T. In essence what the stock gibson bridge should sound like. I couldn't be happier with the Zen. When combined with the Fusion neck it's a tone junkie's wet dream. Articulate,refined,massive low end with zero mud.Harmonics bloom with subtlety. Love this pickup set.

I wanted to try a hand crafted pickup.It's an amazing value when compared to Gibson (made in USA) offerings. I don't plan on changing these for something else. I have found what I wanted with Stan's Fusion/Zen set.

I installed a series/coil cut/parallel + phase for the bridge pu. The Fusion comes with a SPST coil cut mini switch. An interesting installation feature of the Fusion is the adjustable pole pieces are oriented towards the bridge rather than the neck. Makes for a more useful and toneful neck pickup imho. Anyone looking for a high quality bridge/neck combo should definately check out Stan's offerings. They are built to perfection imo.The tone speaks for itself. Takes equally well to clean or distortion settings. Excellent crunch,outstanding lead tone with either pickup in any combination.