Fender Lace Pickups... Self Installation, Sound differnece, and price/benifit ratio??

  • Thread starter Thread starter pisces7378
  • Start date Start date
pisces7378

pisces7378

New member
I have a 1984-1985 Fender Stratocaster. It has a wonderful Japaneese neck (really small fret wires). It has the original Fender Strat pickups installed.

I have been seen these Fender Lace Pickups for years. I am thinking about just bitting the bullet and buying them to re-gut my strat. I don't hate the sound of the Strat as it is, but it is far from special. I LOVE the idea of being able to choose a smoother "less hot" pickup for the neck position and then choose a middle "hot" pickup for the middle, and then a "super hot" high out put pickup for the tremelo lead position. Or maybe two smooth up front and one hot, or two hot and one smooth. Anyway I like the though of being able to have Lace pickups.

Does anyone have any horror stories about them, hate them, think they are shit, or any other reason why I should just save my money?

They cost about $45 a pop, and I just was wanting to get anyone's take on whether or not it is worth it.

Thanks guys!
 
Ugh.. I had Them in my American Deluxe Special and they get a big thumbs down from me. I switched to Duncans and I like them so much more. Here's why:
The Lace Sensors sounded "dull". You know the way active pickups are described as dull? That's how these were, except they had none of the benefits of actives.
If you like the three options of the Sensors, try the Rail series by Duncan. Hot Rails is a great lead/hard rock PU, the Cool Rails does the lower output humbucker thing, then the vintage is just that. Mind you, they don't sound like vintage single coils, but you can get some very respectible and usable tones out of your strat.

(BTW - I have Alnico Pro II's installed, I've just played others' Strats with Rails...)
 
I think the Lace pickups were meant to be noiseless. That would explain Darksides point of view a bit further.

I like Texas Specials. Just a little bit hotter than the standard pickup. You can still get smooth sounds out of them. Thats what the volume pot on the guitar is for...
 
Anyone who's considering Lace pickups for their Strat or Tele oughta check out Bill Lawrence pickups ( www.billlawrence.com ). I agree with PFD...the Laces sound flat, one-dimensional, muddy, however you want to describe it. For one thing, there's no sustain. Buddy Guy's sound died when he started using them, and Clapton lost some edge. The lawrence pickups are noiseless, but have great sound and are an excellent deal for a hand-wound set. They'll talk to you on the phone, find out waht you want, and make a set just for you. Only drawback...it might take a month or two.
 
I'm not real crazy about the Lace sensors either, I'd have to agree with the previous posts, they sound generic to me - compressed maybe, they just don't have the spank of the conventional strat pickups. One thing to consider is if the guitar doesn't sound special, it might be the guitar itself or your amp/signal processing at fault more than the pickups.
What kind of amp and/or effects are you playing through?
One other thing you might try is an outboard EQ like a Boss or Danelectro 7-band EQ pedal, or maybe a parametric to fatten up your sound...
There are so many aftermarket pickups available to choose from. Watch out for all the terms coined by the Marketing dept like "warm highs", "smooth bottom", or one of my favorites "buttery mids" what the %@#!! does that mean?? Good luck.
 
I like my Lace sensors

I have a Strat Plus

They work great with my amp and give me the sound I am looking for. I have the Lace Blue in the neck position--it is very dark and rich. A gold resides in the center and lead.

Sustain has not been a problem, the blue gives a rich, thick rythm.
 
PFDarkside said:
Ugh.. I had Them in my American Deluxe Special and they get a big thumbs down from me. I switched to Duncans and I like them so much more. Here's why:
The Lace Sensors sounded "dull". You know the way active pickups are described as dull? That's how these were, except they had none of the benefits of actives.
If you like the three options of the Sensors, try the Rail series by Duncan. Hot Rails is a great lead/hard rock PU, the Cool Rails does the lower output humbucker thing, then the vintage is just that. Mind you, they don't sound like vintage single coils, but you can get some very respectible and usable tones out of your strat.

(BTW - I have Alnico Pro II's installed, I've just played others' Strats with Rails...)
Click to expand...


I had one of the first lace sensors in my Strat. It sounded good. However, for the fun of it, years ago I swapped it for a Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge. I didn't notice a huge difference between the two. However, I now love the Hot Rails and can't remember how similar they were. Point being, I personally like my Duncan Hot Rails.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top