kinman pickups?

[royd]

does anyone have experience with these pickups? What are your thoughts?
roy

 

[Dave Paetow]

I like them a lot. A bit more compressed sounding than regular single coils, but the hum cancelling is well worth it.

 

[Chiba]

I have Kinman Woodstock+ sets in 2 of my guitars, 1 of which I played at band practice last night.

All the other guys in the band commented on how good my guitar (Strat) sounded, even the *drummer*

Great pickups, they sound like Strat pickups should - only without the incessant buzzing!

--chiba

 

[Guinness Lad]

I have a set of AVN 62's for strat and a set of AVN 48's for a telecaster. I love the sound of both, but I do have a slight hum with the lead pickup on the tele set. The strat set is dead quiet even at the highest gain setting. I would highly recommend these pickups to anyone interested in quiet pickups that sound like single coils, and to my ears sound better then single coils with higher gain. The string response is more even then single coils, I like everything about them. I will admit however I tried the same exact pickups with the guard attached in another guitar and didn't like the sound. I guess this what matching pickups to guitars is all about. Chris Kinman does have a lot to choose from so I'm sure you'll be happy.

 

[hemlock]

I have the Hank Marvin's in my Warmoth Strat and my other guitar player has Blues in his. Both sound great. They are the best noiseless Fender style single coils I have played. Haven't played all of them, though.

 

[908SSP]

I put a neck and middle in my Nitefly and an AirZone in the bridge. they balance very well with the humbucker and don't hum. They sound better then I expected so I am done looking.

 

[mattmccloskey]

they sound very good, but the blues set I had still did not have the tone of my suhr v60lp's or high output fralins, both which have more life and depth to the sound. I wish they sounded exactly like great single coils but so far the ones I have played didn't quite do it. They are the best of that type of pickup though.

 

[bspears]

Originally posted by hemlock
I have the Hank Marvin's in my Warmoth Strat and my other guitar player has Blues in his. Both sound great. They are the best noiseless Fender style single coils I have played. Haven't played all of them, though.

Ditto on the Hank Marvins

noiseless with GREAT TONE

 

[Unburst]

They are the best noiseless pups I've heard, they're are better pups that are true SC's but you have the noise issue to deal with.

 

[paddywhack]

...i have the VN56/58 setup in my 57 reissue Strat....i love em...they sound like Strat pups should.....chime, quack, crunch and growl....not real high output...they drive pedals real well and are super quiet...i am especially impressed at the usability of all 5 positions.....a very fine product by a fellow that is obsessed with tone....

 

[OldSchool]

I replaced the Texas specials in my SRV with Kinmans. Best move I ever made. I've owned that Strat now 13 yrs..........longest I've ever owned a guitar and I believe the Kinmans are a big reason why.

 

[Jon Silberman]

Originally posted by Chiba
All the other guys in the band commented on how good my guitar (Strat) sounded, even the *drummer*

--chiba

Well, that's one strike against them.

 

[mountain blues]

Originally posted by burningyen
The AVn Blues set is great if you're after a darker tone. They are the quietest pickups I own.

Agreed, and as always when discussing Kinman pickups, one must remember that Chris designed certain sets to have AGED TONE — rolled off highs, 'darker' tone, and overall lacking the crystalline tone of brand new Strat pickups. A lot of guys miss this fact, and then wonder why their pickups sound "off". The Woodstocks were the first 'non-aged' Strat pickups to emerge a few years ago, and then a lot has evolved since.

I love Kinman pickups. I currently have the superb Broadcaster and 60's Tele sets, and have owned many of the Strat sets. Chris is a really smart guy who has really come into his own.

 

[Dion]

I replaced the Texas specials in my SRV with Kinmans. Best move I ever made. I've owned that Strat now 13 yrs..........longest I've ever owned a guitar and I believe the Kinmans are a big reason why.

I'd have to agree, replaced my Texas specials with the Traditional Mk-II set! Awesome sounding pickups!! I had Chris do mine with the K-9 switching option so I can get all three pups in parallel. That setting makes my Pinkmour sing like crazy! As if it didn't sing already!!:AOK

 

[david henman]

...i agree that they don't compare with genuine single coils. i'm not sure that noiseless pickups will ever come close to the real thing, although i have heard good things about the lace holy grails and the dimarzio area series.

that said, i have a set of traditional mk IIS in my strat plus. for now, they're not going anywhere. as noiseless pickups continue to improve, kinman will always be among the top contenders.

-dh

 

[urlkonig]

I have a "standard" set of Mark IIs in my strat, and soon will be putting a set of the 48 Broadcasters in a tele I'm building. To my ear, the Kinmans are the best of the "noiseless" SC -styled pickups. Plenty of quack in the in-betweens, lots of bounce individually.

That said, I have a set of Fralin Blues in my main tele that aren't going anywhere...they're just wonderful pickups. Amazingly quiet single coils as well -- when not standing in front of TV or CRT screen, or playing a room crammed with rheostats, that is...

 

[darrelherbert]

I've got a woodstock in the bridge of my strat and have been liking it alot. Can handle high gain sounds - and not too mid-rangey when clean. However, it is not as alive or dynamic as a true single coil and there is a somewhat compressed sound (feel?) to it. Best noiseless strat pup i've tried so far.

 

[BobB]

:AOK Had them for over 6 years. Noiseless and great tone. Ditto on the comments regarding the darker tone of the "aged" Kinmans. I will say though that after playing the Lyndy Fralins in my soon to be gone Grosh, that I like that additional sparkle. I may upgrade to the Woodstock unaged versions.

Bob

 

[GaryMcT]

v60lp + suhr backplate is unbeatable (to my ears) if you like true single tone. The 60-cycle hum is virtually gone, but I still get some higher frequency noise that you might not get with noiseless pickups even with a heavily shielded guitar. You get exactly single-coil tone though.

 

[Roe]

kinmans are the second best. suhr must be better.
the kinman strat blues pups don't sound like real strat pups to me - to aged, compressed, soft, middy and fat. std mk11 must be better than teh blues.
the 48b is a good pup. I'm quite satisfied with it.