Anybody have a issue with gold Lace Sensor p/u's sounding weak and lifeless over time

[gang twanger]

I have a '88 Fender Strat Plus w/ gold Lace Sensor p/u's, and lately it seems like the p/u's have started to sound lifeless and less "authentic". Anyone else encountering this problem? It's weird too, because when I bought the guitar like 5 years ago, I had A/B'd it with regular American Standard Strats with stock p/u's, and found that the Lace Sensors sounded much better to me. And now when I try regular American Strats, I find that the sound of the stock Fender p/u's seems a lot better (and much more "authentic-sounding"). Any ideas on this?


p.s. --I tried to fix the punctuation error (Anybody have <a> issue) on the heading up top, but it wouldn't let me edit it out. (I'm OCD, so this sort of thing drives me nuts)

[yakuza]

I find all Lace Senors pretty much lifeless and brittle.

[gang twanger]

bump.

[Kenny D]

I had Laces Sensors on a strat I owned a number of years ago.

They were noisy.

I got rid of them as soon as I could. Life is grand once again.

[BlueHeaven]

I personally like them (I have the Hot Golds but had regular golds in a previous Strat) but like anything else they have their place...NOTHING is one size fits all. Maybe your tastes are changing and you're yearning for a total vintage tone or maybe you're looking for something comepletely unique that's far removed from "Strat-like".
Greg

[Lucidology]

Luv 'em .. some of the best quack ever ...
Check out Wayne Krantz when he was playing with Leni Stern...
& Ray Obiedo in the RAD band... incredible guitar tones ...

Never heard about them losing quality over time though ...

[never-enough]

i have lace sensor humbuckers in a strat, gold/blue in the neck and silver/red in the bridge. i got them because they were the best coil tapping pickup i could find. that was..........about 12 years ago.
lately i've been wondering if the single coil mode is quieter than it used to be. i thought my mind was playing tricks on me , but now that you are asking i might have to listen a little closer.

[spentron]

I checked out several guitars with Laces about 10 years ago. My impression was the Golds were wonderful, and all the others shouldn't have even been put on the market because they distract from people seeing how good the gold ones are... and some would peal paint and shatter glass. However, what I liked about them was an ability to almost substitute for humbuckers, while having singlecoil openess, but I don't think they'll pass the SC cork-sniffing test.

[gang twanger]

Originally Posted by BlueHeaven

I personally like them (I have the Hot Golds but had regular golds in a previous Strat) but like anything else they have their place...NOTHING is one size fits all. Maybe your tastes are changing and you're yearning for a total vintage tone or maybe you're looking for something comepletely unique that's far removed from "Strat-like".
Greg

Quite the opposite. I want Strat-like. That's what I'm saying. I've read plenty of reviews where they say gold Lace Sensors are like a nice glassy set of mid-50's originals. And that's how I felt about them back then.
I actually forgot to mention something. A few years ago, I ordered a single red Lace that I put in the bridge, because at the time, it was the only guitar I had, and I needed to be able to get bridge HB tones. Who knows, maybe that's when the trouble started. I now have a Dean Evo SS that I like, so I have been planning on putting the single coil back in the Strat's bridge position. But I want to know whether I should bother, or just start saving for something else.
It seems like over time they have lost their flavor, so to speak, especially in the neck position, where it lacks warmth and just sounds flat when you dig into it up high on the neck (where you should really get those warm Stevie Ray "Lenny"-type tones. I'm seriously tempted to just go and pick up a set of the regular vintage series Fenders like they put in the '57/62 models, because when I play those now, they have that warm neck tone that I want, and right now I'm not asking for much. So at this point I really don't know what to do.

[gang twanger]

Bump.

[BlueHeaven]

Well, what I meant by "Strat-like" is something that you can tell is coming from a Strat (or Strat-styled) but has a little different thing goin on too. On the other hand, some people say "I want SRV's (insert any Strat hero) EXACT tone from THIS song on THAT album". You mentioned your satisfaction with the 57/62s so that again makes me think your tastes could be changing. But, I just got my Hot Golds so I'll let you know in 2028 if I'm noticing the same thing. Wait a minute...at my age if I'm able to even type a response in 2028 I'll be estatic!
Greg

[rongtr]

Gold sensors in an EC strat for 16 years- still love 'em.

[Waxhead]

Some people are never happy.

Since 1995 I've had about 100 standard Strat players drool over my Gold Lace Sensor PUP's and then I changed to Hot Golds about 6 months ago and the compliments keep coming. They're as silent as my Gibson humbuckers and sound just as Strat as any standard Strat - just better. :AOK There's nothin thin or brittle about em & they're very versatile for a wide range of music styles.

My other 3 guitars have Humbuckers and Filtertrons so I don't get sick of my Strat like some people obviously do. Lace Sensors are THE best Single Coil PUP's available IMHO.

[Pickin4Jesus]

You have to raise them up as high as possible.

[Vlad StTi]

I have a 89' Plus Delux Strat with Red\Silver\Blue. They have their own character, but they can't bring you those SRV or Hendrix tones, although this stuff sounds not bad on Laces, just different I think. It's great to have a few strats with diferent specs too.