Whitestrat
New member
Ok... I'm going to try to document here the various single coils/stacked humbuckers I've tried, and what they're like to me. Comments, questions and criticisms welcome.
Feel free to add to the list:
Kinmans
Traditional MKIIs
Hank Marvin CV-HMS
Blues Set
Woodstock Plus
The traditional mkIIs were my last and final Kinman set I had to try. There was nothing else he made for strats I've not tested. They were nice. Chimey, though not as big as the Hank Marvins. Plenty of quack, and highs, but not so strong in the bass bits. I'd say they had more high mids than low mids, and this made this set very focused. Not my fav, but a nice learning experience.
The Hank Marvins were BIG. If you wanted belltone, this is where you could find it, and LOTS of it. It also had lots of bass response. Not as much highs, but I thought that could be because the mids were bumped up. This set was gentle, and not so easy to get it to sound a bit wild. But when you could, they reacted very nicely. Needed a lot of work to get a good sound, but highly rewarding. (Oh yes, I used this set for metal occasionally.) The bridge pup had this nice "EH" tone to it, that gave your solos a nice vocal quality. Of all, this would be my fav Kinman set.
The Blues Set was my least fav set. Sounded like a slightly muted 57/62 set. Again, not so easy to push. Kinmans says this is SRV territory. But it's not to me. The Hank Marvins was more SRV to me than this was. Maybe my initial dislike of it because a crux in my judgement, and caused me to spend less time with this than any other set.
The woodstock plus set. Ahh... No THIS was scary. The bridge pup was the hottest single coil tone I've EVER tried which is completely noiseless. It's the HX85 pup, and he claims it's very close to a P90, but isn't as big. I believe him. Now Kinman has completed his HX90 pup, an I'm tempted to try it. But for now, this set was killer for anyone who wanted that 80s glam rock pinch harmonic screams. Very hot and wild. This set was so touch sensitive, you could even breathe on your strings. The tones were nice. Not humbuckerish, but big, fat and screamy. My 2nd fav Kinman set.
These were truely Noiseless. But having said that, Kinman sets left me wondering what I was missing in single coils that everyone who was a purist swore by. After I tried REAL singles, I've realised that no matter how you good you are to try to cut noise, you're also cutting some fundamental harmonics that are crucial to a single coil tone. So, this made the kinmans (and every noiseless single coil I've tried) a bit sterile compared to real singles.
Fender
Bill Lawrence's SCN
Vintage Noiseless
Hot Noiseless
Noiseless they say. Next to a Kinman, these were like kids at the playground. Yes, they are significantly quieter than most singles, but the Kinmans were quieter tham some full sized humbuckers! Okay, the tones on these were a bit more generic. They were less characteristic, and more common place sounding. But because these weren't as noise cutting as the Kinmans were, I think that made these closer to single tones than the kinmans were.
The SCNs were thin. and brittle. and sharp. yuck. Some people like it because these have lots of quack. I agree. That quack is nice. But where's that neck position thump? all these had were quack and twang. No body. No volume. Thin. Yuck. To me, these were lifeless.
The vintage noiseless were much nicer. They reminded me of a slightly more focused Hank Marvin set. Couple this set with that Clapton Mid boost preamp, woah! shioks!!!!
The Hot noiseless were bigger and hotter (duh!) than the vintage ones. But somehow, they sort of lost that very organic feel to the tones. These reminded me more like the Kinman Woodstocks than a hotter Vintage set.
My fav for the Fender sets would be the Vintage Noiseless.
DiMarzio
HS3
YJM
Cruisers
True Velvets
Ugh... Don't get me started on dimarzio single coils stacked or not... The only sets I'd recommend would be the HS3 and YJM sets. Nothing else. And even then, not my thing.
Fender
57/62s
CS 69s
CS 65s
CS Fat 50s
Big Dippers
Here was my first journey to real single coil-dom. This was where I would eventually find heaven. The 57/62s are lauded today as some of the best vintage single coil tones on the market. Sure. It sounds like a 58 set, (on a REAL 58, mind you, not reissue) but lacks that headroom. It doesn't have that sparkle that a real vintage set would have. But it's nice on is't own. belltone, quack, twang. it's got what most single coil guys look for, but just doesn't specialise in any thing. Sort of like a jack of all trades.
The Fat 50s, are MUCH MUCH nicer. big. aggressive. headroom. This set was about aggression and attack. Lots of quack though... Oddly, for a set that's hot and with so much mids, it's still got that sparkle that only a real single coil would have. And the center was RWRP!!!!!
The CS65s. My 2nd fav set from Fender. This was almost the most painful set I've ever experienced. Not painful because it's awful, but because it's the BESt set I've ever heard, and you can't buy it. I say almost, because there was a more painful one, but I'll explain later. These were found only on the 65 and 66 reissue strats by Fender Custom Shops. Cannot be bought, cannot be ordered. you had to buy the guitar. Damn. They represented everything I've ever wanted in a single coil. Thump, Quack, Headroom, Dynamics, Twang. Everything was there, and somehow, for this set, it had lower mids and more pronounced bass and trebles compared to the 57/62s. this was the set that had screwed my brains for the past 2 years. And I still can't get a set. Damn. I don't know the winding specs for these because no one I know has measured them. *sigh* But there was a very close alternative to this set which could be bought: CS69s.
The CS69s. Like the CS65s, they sounded scooped. Sounded right. Not hot at all, but that's fine. I have recordings of this set on turbo that puts some high output humbuckers to shame. the thing was, these were not as shimmery or as thumpy as the 65s. They were a notch down in the bass and treble bits, but the same level of mids. They still had the same tonal characteristics as the 65s, but a little more subdued. My 3rd fav set from Fender. 5.8k for all 3 positions. (strange huh? but this set demonstrates perfectly the tonal differences in pup positions on the body)
Fender Big Dippers
These. The John Mayer Ones. Wah Lan eh... THE most painful set I've tried. Why? because while they're like the 65s which cannot be bought, they do occasionally show up on eBay. But at very high prices. (think of the price of a mid ranged MIJ Fender Strat) These have been said to be a modification of the CS 69s, or Texas Specials or some alien concoction altogether.
I've recently acquired such a set, and have done some fact finding on this.
Here are the specs:
Black bottoms.
Vintage Staggered non bevelled pole pieces
Enamel Formvar wire (dark brown)
Readings: (from my set, though YMMV)
Neck - 5.8k
Mid - 6.5k
Bridge - 7.2k
All in all, this set (installed in my EBMM Silo Spec RW), is VERY punchy, has a bit of ice-pickyness, lotsa bass and highs, but lower mids (as they claim). Though I'm not sure if they lowered the mids only, or raised the other 2. But it does seem different from most of the other sets.
The closest tonal cousin I can think of would be the CS69s, or rather, a more beefy set of the Custom 65 pickups. Where I mentioned the 69s were a notch down from the 65s, these are like a notch UP.
(here's the personal opinion bit)
Yes, it seems Like there's a lot of hype, and being someone who's bought the hype and paid many a pretty penny for a set on eBay, I'm glad to say my purchase was justified. They are indeed nice. Nicer than what I've tried recently on other pups, Fender or otherwise. They drive easily. No loss of thump or highs under gain. What' really impressive are the in between tones. They're bright, snappy, and very prominent even under high distortion. They seem very "vintage" (to coin a term), yet are rather agressive if played hard. The inbetweens are sparkly, and the neck and middle are chimey. The bridge is a bit underwound for my taste, but the overall package seems to be rather tight and responsive. One key thing to observe is that while inder mild or intense gain, the tones are very tight, big and surprisingly airy. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but that's what it seems to sound like to me.
You want John Mayer's tone? Playing aside, it's in this set. Couple this with an AC30 type amp (who can afford a Two Rock?), with a mild overdrive, and you've got it.
I say: Screw the noise. This is tone.
P.S. I'll add in my thoughts on the 3 sets of Toneriders I've tried recently. Very good pups. But Iv'e found them suitable mainly for certain wood combos. Explain more later.
Feel free to add to the list:Kinmans
Traditional MKIIs
Hank Marvin CV-HMS
Blues Set
Woodstock Plus
The traditional mkIIs were my last and final Kinman set I had to try. There was nothing else he made for strats I've not tested. They were nice. Chimey, though not as big as the Hank Marvins. Plenty of quack, and highs, but not so strong in the bass bits. I'd say they had more high mids than low mids, and this made this set very focused. Not my fav, but a nice learning experience.
The Hank Marvins were BIG. If you wanted belltone, this is where you could find it, and LOTS of it. It also had lots of bass response. Not as much highs, but I thought that could be because the mids were bumped up. This set was gentle, and not so easy to get it to sound a bit wild. But when you could, they reacted very nicely. Needed a lot of work to get a good sound, but highly rewarding. (Oh yes, I used this set for metal occasionally.) The bridge pup had this nice "EH" tone to it, that gave your solos a nice vocal quality. Of all, this would be my fav Kinman set.
The Blues Set was my least fav set. Sounded like a slightly muted 57/62 set. Again, not so easy to push. Kinmans says this is SRV territory. But it's not to me. The Hank Marvins was more SRV to me than this was. Maybe my initial dislike of it because a crux in my judgement, and caused me to spend less time with this than any other set.
The woodstock plus set. Ahh... No THIS was scary. The bridge pup was the hottest single coil tone I've EVER tried which is completely noiseless. It's the HX85 pup, and he claims it's very close to a P90, but isn't as big. I believe him. Now Kinman has completed his HX90 pup, an I'm tempted to try it. But for now, this set was killer for anyone who wanted that 80s glam rock pinch harmonic screams. Very hot and wild. This set was so touch sensitive, you could even breathe on your strings. The tones were nice. Not humbuckerish, but big, fat and screamy. My 2nd fav Kinman set.
These were truely Noiseless. But having said that, Kinman sets left me wondering what I was missing in single coils that everyone who was a purist swore by. After I tried REAL singles, I've realised that no matter how you good you are to try to cut noise, you're also cutting some fundamental harmonics that are crucial to a single coil tone. So, this made the kinmans (and every noiseless single coil I've tried) a bit sterile compared to real singles.
Fender
Bill Lawrence's SCN
Vintage Noiseless
Hot Noiseless
Noiseless they say. Next to a Kinman, these were like kids at the playground. Yes, they are significantly quieter than most singles, but the Kinmans were quieter tham some full sized humbuckers! Okay, the tones on these were a bit more generic. They were less characteristic, and more common place sounding. But because these weren't as noise cutting as the Kinmans were, I think that made these closer to single tones than the kinmans were.
The SCNs were thin. and brittle. and sharp. yuck. Some people like it because these have lots of quack. I agree. That quack is nice. But where's that neck position thump? all these had were quack and twang. No body. No volume. Thin. Yuck. To me, these were lifeless.
The vintage noiseless were much nicer. They reminded me of a slightly more focused Hank Marvin set. Couple this set with that Clapton Mid boost preamp, woah! shioks!!!!
The Hot noiseless were bigger and hotter (duh!) than the vintage ones. But somehow, they sort of lost that very organic feel to the tones. These reminded me more like the Kinman Woodstocks than a hotter Vintage set.
My fav for the Fender sets would be the Vintage Noiseless.
DiMarzio
HS3
YJM
Cruisers
True Velvets
Ugh... Don't get me started on dimarzio single coils stacked or not... The only sets I'd recommend would be the HS3 and YJM sets. Nothing else. And even then, not my thing.
Fender
57/62s
CS 69s
CS 65s
CS Fat 50s
Big Dippers
Here was my first journey to real single coil-dom. This was where I would eventually find heaven. The 57/62s are lauded today as some of the best vintage single coil tones on the market. Sure. It sounds like a 58 set, (on a REAL 58, mind you, not reissue) but lacks that headroom. It doesn't have that sparkle that a real vintage set would have. But it's nice on is't own. belltone, quack, twang. it's got what most single coil guys look for, but just doesn't specialise in any thing. Sort of like a jack of all trades.
The Fat 50s, are MUCH MUCH nicer. big. aggressive. headroom. This set was about aggression and attack. Lots of quack though... Oddly, for a set that's hot and with so much mids, it's still got that sparkle that only a real single coil would have. And the center was RWRP!!!!!
The CS65s. My 2nd fav set from Fender. This was almost the most painful set I've ever experienced. Not painful because it's awful, but because it's the BESt set I've ever heard, and you can't buy it. I say almost, because there was a more painful one, but I'll explain later. These were found only on the 65 and 66 reissue strats by Fender Custom Shops. Cannot be bought, cannot be ordered. you had to buy the guitar. Damn. They represented everything I've ever wanted in a single coil. Thump, Quack, Headroom, Dynamics, Twang. Everything was there, and somehow, for this set, it had lower mids and more pronounced bass and trebles compared to the 57/62s. this was the set that had screwed my brains for the past 2 years. And I still can't get a set. Damn. I don't know the winding specs for these because no one I know has measured them. *sigh* But there was a very close alternative to this set which could be bought: CS69s.
The CS69s. Like the CS65s, they sounded scooped. Sounded right. Not hot at all, but that's fine. I have recordings of this set on turbo that puts some high output humbuckers to shame. the thing was, these were not as shimmery or as thumpy as the 65s. They were a notch down in the bass and treble bits, but the same level of mids. They still had the same tonal characteristics as the 65s, but a little more subdued. My 3rd fav set from Fender. 5.8k for all 3 positions. (strange huh? but this set demonstrates perfectly the tonal differences in pup positions on the body)
Fender Big Dippers
These. The John Mayer Ones. Wah Lan eh... THE most painful set I've tried. Why? because while they're like the 65s which cannot be bought, they do occasionally show up on eBay. But at very high prices. (think of the price of a mid ranged MIJ Fender Strat) These have been said to be a modification of the CS 69s, or Texas Specials or some alien concoction altogether.
I've recently acquired such a set, and have done some fact finding on this.
Here are the specs:
Black bottoms.
Vintage Staggered non bevelled pole pieces
Enamel Formvar wire (dark brown)
Readings: (from my set, though YMMV)
Neck - 5.8k
Mid - 6.5k
Bridge - 7.2k
All in all, this set (installed in my EBMM Silo Spec RW), is VERY punchy, has a bit of ice-pickyness, lotsa bass and highs, but lower mids (as they claim). Though I'm not sure if they lowered the mids only, or raised the other 2. But it does seem different from most of the other sets.
The closest tonal cousin I can think of would be the CS69s, or rather, a more beefy set of the Custom 65 pickups. Where I mentioned the 69s were a notch down from the 65s, these are like a notch UP.
(here's the personal opinion bit)
Yes, it seems Like there's a lot of hype, and being someone who's bought the hype and paid many a pretty penny for a set on eBay, I'm glad to say my purchase was justified. They are indeed nice. Nicer than what I've tried recently on other pups, Fender or otherwise. They drive easily. No loss of thump or highs under gain. What' really impressive are the in between tones. They're bright, snappy, and very prominent even under high distortion. They seem very "vintage" (to coin a term), yet are rather agressive if played hard. The inbetweens are sparkly, and the neck and middle are chimey. The bridge is a bit underwound for my taste, but the overall package seems to be rather tight and responsive. One key thing to observe is that while inder mild or intense gain, the tones are very tight, big and surprisingly airy. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but that's what it seems to sound like to me.
You want John Mayer's tone? Playing aside, it's in this set. Couple this with an AC30 type amp (who can afford a Two Rock?), with a mild overdrive, and you've got it.
I say: Screw the noise. This is tone.
P.S. I'll add in my thoughts on the 3 sets of Toneriders I've tried recently. Very good pups. But Iv'e found them suitable mainly for certain wood combos. Explain more later.
