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Who Makes the Best Noiseless Strat Pickups?
The Fender Stratocaster has been a hit among musicians and fans ever since it releases in the early 1950’s. Not much has changed since then, including some of the negatives. To some 60 cycle hum is part of the sound, part the feel and energy. But to others it’s a nuisance and with each added amount of gain just gets more and more out of control. So to those of you that want the great quietness of humbuckers and the quack of single coils, what is the best option? Noiseless pickups first started being spotted on guitars as early as the 70’s and exploding onto the market throughout the 80’s up through today. So to ease into the search, lets look at my two favorite noiseless pickup options for your strat.
Lace Sensor Gold
One of the early noiseless options, the Lace sensors were the first noiseless pickups to be put on factory Fender Stratocasters. They can be seen on the 80’s and 90’s Strat Ultra and Strat Plus. Although Lace Sensor has a few different pickup variations (distinguished by color i.e. gold, blue, red, etc.), I find the gold to work best. Based on 50’s style Fender single coils, these pups run virtually dead silent while keeping all the chime and top end clarity you want. I personally use these on my Strat. They also really carry the mid range quite heavily so if you are one to really drive your mids like Clapton, these are a great fit. His original Fender signature guitar actually came fitted with Lace Sensor pickups. Since they fill the mid range, the Golds work very well when playing with just fingers. Some pickups can get muddy when using flesh, but these hold up quite nice. I actually prefer their tone with flesh as opposed to a pick.
Kinman Woodstock
Kinman Pickups are regarded as some of the best noiseless pups on the market, specifically the Woodstock variety. What I really love about these pickups, besides having great vintage 60s style tone, is the dynamic range they have. What I mean by this is they are super sensitive to the player’s dynamics just as a good quality tube amp would be. A lot of the issues with noiseless pickups are the same as with solid state amps, they sound good but they don’t feel as good. The Kinman offers the best of both worlds. I find the Kinman to be a bit more bass and treble heavy then the Lace Sensor Golds which lean more to midrange as I mentioned earlier. Unlike the Lace set, I find the Woodstocks to work better with a pick in hand. Since they have a more prevalent bass and high end, the pick can really get that aggressive bite many 60s strat style players are looking for.
Now at this point either option is going to sound great. I think the main tonal difference between the two is that the Lace Sensor Golds have a smoother attack, especially when overdrive, where as the Kinman Woodstocks have more bit and depth. If I had to split genre / amp setting wise for these pickups I would list them as followed: The Lace Sensor Gold works better with R&B, pop, high gain rock, modulated effects. The Kinman Woodstocks would follow more straight up blues, Hendrix-esque rhythm and lead, country, funk. Now obviously these are broad generalizations and either can be used for either genre. It comes to down more to the feel aspect. Unfortunately, pickups are as easy to test out as say amps or pedals, so you really have to buy and sell until you find what’s right for you.
With all being said, it is really tough to replicate that true vintage single coil sound in a noiseless option. To purists, something about the 60 cycle hum adds to tone. But for many of us gigging locally, or even recording at home, regular single coils don’t cut it. Its just a practicality unfortunately that we have to deal with as Strat players. So if you’re in the market for new pickups, definitely start your search with Lace and Kinman. Don’t forget that these brands offer many a different style of pickups and one different then what I mentioned may fit your style better. So don’t just take my word for it, and go find your new sound!