Help Picking Pickups

Increase your budget.

Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s or Fender Custom Shop '69s are the ticket.

Hum cancelling in the 2 and 4 position on a Strat, like normal. ;)

And get a giant Marshall stack.

I think the Fender '69's, as Mitch mentioned, are the ticket for you. If you want complete hum cancelling, check out the Bill Lawrence L-200's. Bill designed the Fender SCN pickups, which I believe are just stacked humbuckers. These sound AWESOME and will run you less than $160 and will be made for you by Bill. http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickup_Window/280.htm

I, too, have heard bad reviews on the hum-cancelling Noiseless pups. I have SCNs in my beer guitar and they are "ok" but lack the real bell-like clarity you'd expect from Fender pups. But, they don't hum.

I'm by no means a pickup expert, but I love the Fender Hot Noiseless pups that came w/ my Jeff Beck Strat. (Contrary to some reviews I've read, these are NOT the same as the Vintage Noiseless pups!) They may not be what you're looking for, but they're worth checking out, I think. And they're in your price range. Just a thought...

Fender Hot Noiseless

Good luck! :)

To really blow your budget, there's also the Kinman "Woodstock" set... similar to the Fender '69s but with no hum.

I am "collecting" a set of texas special custom pickups for my MIM strat -- a little bit hotter, I believe than the 69s. I have the neck and the bridge now from ebay, still waiting for a mid pickup to complete the set.

I am looking for a good set for more bluesy tone, though. Not so much the Hendrix crushing lead ..

the dali lama
i don't know if it's just me, and i'm being illiterate, but I'm...unable..to understand Bill Lawrence's site, specifically the page with his pickups. I can't get a clear picture of what pickups he's selling, how much they are for each, what position they go in, or anything at all. i can't figure any of that out when looking at his site. it seems like a mess

slejhamer
i already checked these pickups out, and i've already drooled over them.

i really like the fender custom shop 69s, but they aren't hum canceling at all. i know they were going for the true vintage tone, but...come on, fender.i could've traded that small bit of vintage tone for some hum canceling in 2 and 4 at least.

if i shield my mex strat well, would it reduce a lot of the hum that would otherwise affect the fender 69s?

I've shielded my MIM strat, and it helps with hum. But it still has some hum except in positions 2 and 4. So, I would say it depends :-) Actually, guitarnuts site article says that even though your hum might go down, you might then be tempted to add more gain until you start noticing the hum, and I think there's some logic to that :-)

vink
since the fender '69 pickups have no hum canceling in 2 and 4, on average, about how much of a difference did shielding REALLY make in removing hum. i was considering getting the '69 pickups anyway and just shielding my MiM strat, but there's no point if the hum isn't even reduced by that much.

so, describe it as best as you can, haha, how much was the hum reduced?

I think there IS some real reduction in hum. I can't really give a percentage. It certainly does not become quiet like a humbucker. I don't know, maybe 30-40% reduction. I did not attempt to shield the coils, only the cavity and the back of the pickguard.

You could try this guy - Leosounds. His prices are good, for handwound pickups, and, from the clips, pretty good sounding too.

Hey :D

I have a 71 Strat that has what would be equiv. to the Custom 69 pups in it.
I have to say that they are incredible!
They NEED to be played LOUD!
They WANT to be played LOUD!

They aren't so good at lower levels.... A bit Harsh and abrasive.

It has the standard vintage 3 way selector.... I wouldn't have it any other way.
The mid pup is my fave.

On the other hand (Mitch, help me out here),
You could buy 69's for the neck and bridge, and get a reverse wound mid w/5 pos switch to get the less hummy 2/4 positions.

And I think Mitch was right.... The other part of the equation is the Marshall Wall :twisted:

Good luck,

Ken

thanks everyone so much for the replies!
citizennoir,
that sounds like a very good idea. the problem is, actually finding where i can buy individual fender '69 pickups. ebay's only giving me two choices, either the complete set of 3 or a fully loaded pickguard. would you know, by any chance, where i can find them individually?
as for your idea, i suppose i can replace the middle pickup with a hum-cancelling, seymour duncan (or something else) that has a tone close to the fenders in the neck and bridge to try to keep everything on the same level.
the trouble is finding two '69 pickups. any ideas?

Hi :D

I would suggest checking into the actual Lindy Fralin pick up site.
They make 69 Woodstock Hendrix pups.
You can buy them individually, or as sets.... And get one, or all three, reverse wound if you wish.

They seem pretty cool.

Their pups are known for a nice woody tone :twisted: (which I love).

I believe they also make Strat pups with Alnico III magnets instead of Alnico V's.... Which I have always wanted to look into
for a mid pup. 8)

Ken

i'm still looking at the fralin site...but for the 69 woodstocks..are you sure you don't mean kinman?