I'm aware of some of the options but have no direct experience with them; I'm hoping to hear from people who can both caution and recommend. I'm considering noiseless PUs for a future custom-built "strat" if it seems there is a lot of agreement among posters about which are the most desirable and what other sonic traits characterize them.
What kind of tone are you looking for? Ive used (gold) lace for years, i like them for certain things. heard good things about the new hot golds but have yet to try them myself. Bill lawrence comes highly recommended as well, but they lose a bit of point since they dont quack in positions 2 and 4. I remembered reading here that a few other guys are coming out with noiseless pu's, but sounds like they're still working on it (cant remember who it was).
I think I also read (in another Gear Page posting) something about a noisless circuit available from Suhr.
One of my strats has kinmans and a barden in the bridge. Sounds great. My other two strats have Andersons that are single coil splittable stacked humbuckers. The single coil sounds better (louder, more chimey) but the dual still sounds great. jon
I have a set of Lawrence 280's in my Clapton Strat. They work very well in that guitar. They are dead quiet. The 280's have their own sound. They don't seem to be an attempt to be a direct knock off of a stock Strat pickup. They have a fuller and more even frequency response. That's the main reason I like them. They sound somewhat different than stock Strat pickups and I can get some interesting sounds with them. Lawrence has recently come out with a new model the L 200 which is supposed to sound more authentic. I have two Suhr noiseless single coils in my Suhr classic. They are made by DiMarzio. They are a variation of the DiMarzios Virtual Vintage pickups. They are brighter than the Lawrences and lower output. Tone and output are very much like a stock Strat single coil pickup. However they do seem somewhat less lively compared to a true single coils. I think you do give up some of the true character of true single coils when you go noiseless. The pickups I mentioned are the two I have the most experience with. I'm happy with both of them. They are both are useable products that perfom well.
"Lawrence has recently come out with a new model the L 200 which is supposed to sound more authentic." Thanks for the tip. How did you find out about the L200's? I couldn't find any information about them at the Bill Lawrence website. I also saw a testimonial referring to a "Jimi Hendrix" mod but didn't see any other information about that either.
My Roland G-505 has a Duncan Classic Strat Stack in the neck, DiMarzio HS-3 in the middle, and a Duncan Hot Strat Stack in the bridge. I get plenty of quack in 2 and 4, and no noise. These aren't "perfect" single-coil sounds pups, but the neck and middle are very "stratty", they're not designed to be hot humbuckers. Most of the "noiseless" singles I've heard sacrifice some tone. I guess the stacks do too, but at least you get even less noise and I'm pretty happy with the tone. There are a ton out there I haven't tried too. That's the tough thing about pups, until you get them into your particular axe, you just don't know, and while not difficult, it is generally time-consuming to swap out pups to check other tones. --Tom
You can read more here: http://p082.ezboard.com/fguitarsbyfenderfrm8 I have 5, soon to be 6 guitars with Bill Lawrence pups in them and each and every one sounds great. I highly recommend giving Becky a call and talk to her about what you are looking for.
I've got Kinman Hank Marvin's in my Warmoth strat and I love 'em. The other guitarist in my band has a set of blues in his strat and he loves them as well. I like the Kinmans far better than the Lace Sensors and Dimarzio VVs. Never heard any of the other noisless ones.
Suhr is coming out with a new proprietary noiseless design. I think he's just prototyped it and its not far from production. Maybe he'll chime in soon. CF
Yeah this is the thing I'm most interested in. As I said earlier, all noise canceling are a comprise. They can get pretty close, but there's just a bit less life or whatever you want to call it in them. I would love to be able to use real single coils without the noise. Will you be able to retrofit this system in older Suhr guitars?
"Will you be able to retrofit this system in older Suhr guitars?" Exactly the question that's on my mind - inquiring Suhr owners/enthusiasts want to know.
I'm watching developments at Suhr, but in the meantime I'm sooo diggin' my Wagner SRs. They're not noiseless, but are the quietest singles I've ever tried (and I've tried everything). I thought the Suhr V60s and 60LPs were the shizz until the Wagners, but if John's new circuit works as well as he says there's a Suhr in my future. Humbucking Strat pickups sound like humbuckers (how profound...).-Eric
My Lollar pus in my Tele are very quiet as well, not noiseless design I imagine his Strat pick ups to be the same.
