Fender "Noisless" pickups? Are they shit or not?

pisces7378

pisces7378

New member
Ok, I am about to come into enough money to re-outfit my 1983-86 (???) Japaneese made Fender Stratocaster. I love the weight or the guitar. I LOVE the thin neck. I LOVE the thin fret wires. And I love the sound of the guitar. But... it sat up for way too long, (I moved to Europe for many years and left it in my parents house) and has rust all over the pickup magnets. The bridge/tremelo system is rusted to hell. All the screws around the pickguard are rusted. And the pickguard, knobs, and and pickup plastic has turned a dinggy shade of nicotine yellow. The neck is still as straight as my dick, but the input jack rattles, bumps, and flat out cutts out until I wiggle it. The selector switch can be a bit fickle... and so on and so on.

So basically... I plan to re-finish the guitar (as it has finishing problems ranging all the way up from, "I just plain HATE the color!" to, a few deep scratches and gauges into the finish and wood.) And I plan to order all the parts: i.e. New pickguard, new pickups, new knob pots, new knobs, new bridge/tremelo, new switch, new input jack and housing, and even new tuning keys to replace the rusted out shite on it now.

Now, I am a firm believer in..."If you want the Fender sound, then buy fucking Fender!" So I want to buy a new set of "Fender" made Pickups. The Noiseless pickups have my attention, because I have always hated the between song "snap, crackle, rattle, and hum" of single coil pickups. But if this new technology sacrafices any of the "Strat sound" that I am going for, then I want to part. I will just be wise with the volume knob on the guitar between songs.

What do you guys suggest to give me a really full sound??? I am not interested in playing dive-bomb Eddie Van Hallen solos. I don't want to scream over my band with highs and upper mid's. I want to lay down a more deep, "in your stomach" feeling of depth. But in a classic way. I am talking about Robbie Robertson. I am talking about rhythm guitar in the mississippi delta blues. I am talking about sweet, deep, send you to sleep, lows, but with full and thick, krank this party up leads.

Which FENDER Pickups should I buy?

Please only answer if you rally know what you are talking about and if you have had a few beers (as I have) and this thread has inspired you to think about the blues, electricity, and Fender guitars!

Thanks boys.
 
I spent some time in the same quandry of what Fender pickup-upgrade to make. If you love the blues, and it sounds like you do, avoid the noiseless pickups. To my ears they sound thin and whimpy, definetly not suitable to a vintage tone lover. As you probably realize, what often makes a set of pickups really great is the little nuances and differences you find between sets of the same kind i.e. as in hand wound pickups. The noisless line are basically clones and not particularily good ones either.

I went with the Texas Specials for the following reason. Fender took its design input from Stevie Ray Vaughn. They are essentially the same pickups he used, just 57's-63's (dont quote me on the time frame) that are overwound to get a little extra heat and warmth. These pickups are fantastic. Using the OD you prefer you can easily take them from screaming to warm and subdeud with any combination of volume and/or tone knob adjustment.

I could go on for a while but I'll stop there. Try everything as thouroghly as you can before you buy and give the Texas Specials extra attention (the SRV Fenders have them). You will not be disapointed if you chose them.

Play On
 
Forget the fender pups, unless they're pre-CBS ;) Buy yourself Lindy Fralin pickups or Wagner's SR Set. They're expensive but the absolute best money can buy!

I have a 1987 lefty-strung-righty Stratocaster '68 reissue made in Japan. Great guitar, but the stock pups sucked. I installed a set of Lindy Fralin Woodstock '69 pickups and couln't be happier! :cool:

Visit Indigo Revival for soundclips!
 
check out the Lace Sensors as well. My bandmate has a set of those in his strat and I have the noiseless type. In comparison his sound is much more Bell -like in tone. Very sweet sounding. Mine can be a litle harsh. Clapton was using the Lace sensors for quite a while, during his highwayman album, I think.
 
My Am Dlx Strat came with Vintage Noiseless pups - IMO too sterile, not the classic strat sound. Replaced em with a set of Fender 57/62's and really like the tone - a little 60 cycle hum is a good thing!
I've got a set of Fralin Blues Specials in my Tele and absolutely love them!

I think either one would be a good move and a good shielding job will cut down on the noise a lot.
 
If you want noiseless......

Theres a company doing this thing called a Suhr BackPlate silent single coil system, which i think is quite pricey, but apparently they do what they say on the tin and got quite a good review in Guitarist May 06.

Other than that DiMarzio do a set called the Area 58 set, which i dont know about but from my experience of DiMarzio be cautious. The DiMarzio HB's i had were dead. No life at all. Completely personality free.

Also Seymour duncan do a set called the STK-S4, which are all vintage matched for optimum performance.

Then there's the EMG route, or even some p/ups out of an Elite series strat, if you can find them.

Good luck!
 
Souldoubt said:
check out the Lace Sensors as well. My bandmate has a set of those in his strat and I have the noiseless type. In comparison his sound is much more Bell -like in tone. Very sweet sounding. Mine can be a litle harsh. Clapton was using the Lace sensors for quite a while, during his highwayman album, I think.
Click to expand...
Ditto on the Lace Sensors. My Strat Plus came factory-equipped with Gold Lace Sensors. They are very sweet sounding, and noise free.

There are six different types of Lace Sensors, check 'em out here:
http://www.lacemusic.com/electric_pickups/lace_sensor/lace_sensor_specs.php
 
one vote here for bill lawrence.

get a matched set, (2) L-280s and (1) L-298 in the bridge.

the L-200 series are more for the hard core 'it's gotta sound just like a fender pickup' crowd.

i've moved all my dimarzios, duncans, fender and gibsons out, and moved the BL's in.

add a 'Q' filter, and you're really floating with a lot of tone options.

http://www.billlawrence.com/

http://p082.ezboard.com/fguitarsbyfenderfrm8.showMessage?topicID=297.topic

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data2/Bill_Lawrence/

it's all there.

good luck!
 
my first post here...

Refinishing.... My honest opinion, no offense intended: There is no guitar so bad and so cheap that it cannot be made worse by refinishing... From the description of your guitar, it sounds like it is starting to grow a soul. And you are talking about scrubbing all that away. :rolleyes:

I haven't heard about the noiseless pickups. Are they those micro-humbuckers that fit into a strat pickup slot?

If I was replacing strat pickups, I'd go with these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Fat-50s-Strat-Pickup-Set?sku=301613

But that's just me... I think they sound a lot better than the newer designs.
 
The VNs are bright sounding pups and I thought they were best suited for recording, especially for ryhthm guitar parts.
 
trahx said:
My Am Dlx Strat came with Vintage Noiseless pups .
Click to expand...

I've got them in my AM Deluxe Tele. I like 'em there. My Standard series AM Strat has the regular stock pups. Sure, they're a little noisier than the Noiseless but I've always thought of it as the classic Strat sound. Don't mind it at all.
 
I've had a Bill Lawrence pickup in my 74' Strat since 77' and its still quiet as can be-its going on 30 years now. And as for between song noise, I use an Ernie Ball volume pedal, kick it up and no noise at all, kick it down for solos.
 
If you want noiseless pickups, get the Kinmans. They are kind of like the Fender Noiseless (same basic concept), except they don't suck. If you don't mind the hum, then get Fralins.

At least, those are the best choices for a vintage style sound. If you want something a little more hot rodded, Joe Barden is making pickups again.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I'm also going to recommend the kinman's. I have the avn series at the moment but am getting a set of woodstock's soon.... they are great pick ups IMO...
 
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