FuseG4
Our Neighbor Totoro
Got my package from Chris Klein today. His turnaround time was great, I only ordered the pickup last friday.
So I chose the S-7 not because of Eric Johnson, although this is rumored to be reverse-engineered from some of his pickups. It's actually because I like Fender's 57/62 set that has a nice balance of full-sounding bass and mids, but with some strat "cluck" as opposed to nasally "quack". I figured something with a thick (but still vintage) character would balance out the mid-dip of my ash-bodied strat.
Klein says, "This set is full, warm, and faithfully creates the vintage stratocaster pickups tone found in the 50's/60's."
This is a neck pickup from that set. Scatter wound with 42 gauge heavy Formvar, it uses staggered, unbeveled Alnico 3 magnets. 5.85K. Mine came with a aged white cover, screws, springs, and some picks. The base price was $75.
OK lets talk about how it sounds.
My first impression was "warmth" but my second impression was "chime". It's not a dark pickup but it's not a bright pickup in the "thin/overly glassy" sense. I think the magnet choice here is excellent for creating a balance. Overall it does remind me of what I liked from the 57/62 set, but no "nasally" quality, and a much wider sound.
This is my first scatter-wound strat pickup and I have to say, the sweetness is AMAZING. The treble is SO clear, but sort of round, and there's no spikey frequencies. Something about the whole sound feels very broad and kind of hollow at the same time.
The string to string balance is phenomenal for a vintage staggered pickup going into a strat with a 9.5".
VS an SSL-1: An SSL-1 is light on the bass, heavy on the treble, and also has what I hear as a "high-mid" focus that probably comes from being overwound while using aged magnets. If fender's offerings come across to me as nasally but glassy, then the SSL-1 sounds "strong" to me. Notes above the 12th fret can sometimes sound weak with the SSL-1
The Klein S-7 neck pickup has more bass, more and mids, and a little sizzle, but it has the same plucky attack, not like the softer attack of an APS-1. Notes above the 12th fret seem more balanced.
I have not compared this to an antiquity pickup but I'd like to. I realize an antiquity pickup would be a better comparison, but must people here know what an SSL-1 sounds like, so I thought I'd give people a reference.
So it's only been a few hours with the pickup and it's of course to early to tell if I'm honeymooning, but I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering the rest of the set.
So I chose the S-7 not because of Eric Johnson, although this is rumored to be reverse-engineered from some of his pickups. It's actually because I like Fender's 57/62 set that has a nice balance of full-sounding bass and mids, but with some strat "cluck" as opposed to nasally "quack". I figured something with a thick (but still vintage) character would balance out the mid-dip of my ash-bodied strat.
Klein says, "This set is full, warm, and faithfully creates the vintage stratocaster pickups tone found in the 50's/60's."
This is a neck pickup from that set. Scatter wound with 42 gauge heavy Formvar, it uses staggered, unbeveled Alnico 3 magnets. 5.85K. Mine came with a aged white cover, screws, springs, and some picks. The base price was $75.
OK lets talk about how it sounds.
My first impression was "warmth" but my second impression was "chime". It's not a dark pickup but it's not a bright pickup in the "thin/overly glassy" sense. I think the magnet choice here is excellent for creating a balance. Overall it does remind me of what I liked from the 57/62 set, but no "nasally" quality, and a much wider sound.
This is my first scatter-wound strat pickup and I have to say, the sweetness is AMAZING. The treble is SO clear, but sort of round, and there's no spikey frequencies. Something about the whole sound feels very broad and kind of hollow at the same time.
The string to string balance is phenomenal for a vintage staggered pickup going into a strat with a 9.5".
VS an SSL-1: An SSL-1 is light on the bass, heavy on the treble, and also has what I hear as a "high-mid" focus that probably comes from being overwound while using aged magnets. If fender's offerings come across to me as nasally but glassy, then the SSL-1 sounds "strong" to me. Notes above the 12th fret can sometimes sound weak with the SSL-1
The Klein S-7 neck pickup has more bass, more and mids, and a little sizzle, but it has the same plucky attack, not like the softer attack of an APS-1. Notes above the 12th fret seem more balanced.
I have not compared this to an antiquity pickup but I'd like to. I realize an antiquity pickup would be a better comparison, but must people here know what an SSL-1 sounds like, so I thought I'd give people a reference.
So it's only been a few hours with the pickup and it's of course to early to tell if I'm honeymooning, but I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering the rest of the set.
