So, how are Lace pickups...generally?

[Inflames626]

Hi all,
Really broad topic I know, but this is designed to draw some people out for comments.

I hear good things about the Sensor Golds generally (I like a warm, bright/clean 1950s Strat tone), but the rest of their lines not so much.

I know with their Gold line they have several patents that suppress noise while maintaining vintage tone.

Just thought I'd get some more feedback in case I feel like experimenting.

Edit: just to clarify also, I mean opinions on all their pickups, not just the Golds.

Thanks.

 

[idsnowdog]

I have the Red, Blue, Purple, Gold, and Silver pickups. They aren't humbucking because they have no second coil to cancel hum. Instead, they are shielded single coils. They sound really good clean but are less impressive with distortion. If you look at their specs you can see that they have greater inductance and resistance which yields a lower resonant peak than a real single coil or humbucker. An upside is that they do series/parallel really well when most single coils don't. You also don't get stratitus on high notes as bad as real single coils. The downside is they are noisy at high gain and when you combine two pickups in series the resonant peak is around 1khz which sounds honky and midrange heavy.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I thought they were alright when I tried them, but I'm not really a Strat single coil conossieur.

Most people seem to think they sound nothing like vintage 50's Strat pickups, if that's what you're after.

 

[Inflames626]

Their higher output traditionally made stuff seems kind of passed over. Their Alumitones/Deathbucker line seems like it's trying to be a flat sounding active pickup without having an active preamp.

For them to use less materials than traditional pickups, they seem expensive for what they are, and they are hard to find used relative to EMG/Duncan/DiMarzios.

 

[ICTGoober]

When Lace Sensors first came out, many of my clients preferred them for their clean power and clarity - with no 9 volt battery to worry about.
Clapton still uses them, and so do many players in the studio and onstage. I love 'em - no matter which model, single or humbucking, guitar or bass.

 

[Blille]

A lot of people think they are active because of the way they look like. I think they would be more popular if folks tried them and knew they aren’t.

 

[Mincer]

Only talking about the single coils here, but I like Clapton's Lace sound. It isn't super gain, and it is boosted (a lot) by that preamp in his guitar. Come to think of it, I never heard the Lace pickups straight into a modern distorted amp.

 

[Inflames626]

I don't seem to hear much about their high gain pickup sets--Drop n Gain, Hemi, etc. They seem popular with the stoner/doom SG crowd, though.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I love the Deathbucker in the bridge of my Jackson Dinky & Ibby SA

They sound brilliant in my Alder & Mahogany guitar's, not so much in Basswood.

Also love the Matt Pike Dirty Heshers, Fat/thick raw, open, round spongy tone. You can really "dig in" with them. Great harmonics.. Awesome earthy/organic sound

 

[freefrog]

Clever innovative designs. SC Sensors include rubber magnets, just like old cheap DeArmond pickups, but with a complicated "comb" structure shielding the coil and shaping the flux.

Their sound... not my cup of tea. But I've a limited experience with their products.

The Gold SC has a "realistic" inductance (2.4H if memory serves me: same than a Fender CS54). As already mentioned above, it avoids stratitis due to magnetic strings pull. But the soft magnetic field goes with relatively dull harmonics, IME.

In my data, old Sensors had a seriously high inner stray capacitance, in the 400pF range. But recent tests shared online by someone else mention values in the 200pF range so maybe something has changed in how Sensors are made (or the old ones tested were defective or different testing strategies give different results, I don't know). 200pF is still twice higher than with a good conventional Strat SC, for the record. It dulls a wee bit the sound, albeit most of the capacitance still comes from the cable from guitar to first host, of course.

 

[Demanic]

Love the Deathbucker.

 

[Chistopher]

I own a Deathbucker in the bridge and a D3 Hammer Claw in the neck of my Squier Mustang. I think they're phenomenal, they don't sound like anything I've heard before, but they can work in any context. Also bear in mind, when people say "Lace Sensors don't sound like traditional passive pickups" most people take that to mean either they sound like active pickups or theirs something wrong with them.

When I played mine for the first time I spent roughly a half an hour just tweaking the pickup height. Because of their design you can put them pretty darn close to the strings or almost flush with the pickguard and still get good sounds out of them, maybe not the ones you're looking for, but the option is there.

Everyone should try at least one of the lesser known sets just to test how much of their hearing is just in their head. I sometimes find myself guilty of letting online reviews color how I perceive something, and you can't really do that if a pickup doesn't have many online reviews.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I think Lace overall have the balls to try new ideas, and that's really cool by my book.

However, they seem to be very hit or miss with the general public. Some people seem to really like them. Some people seem to really hate them.

I think they're way more polarizing than Duncan or even DiMarzio, that's for sure.

 

[Artie]

The only thing I know about them is what I've read. (Mostly here.) But I can't help wonder if their (Gold's) are in the same sonic territory as Lipstick tubes. Bright, jangly, and not quite like "normal" Strat singles.

Anyone compared both?

 

[marcello252]

The only thing I know about them is what I've read. (Mostly here.) But I can't help wonder if their (Gold's) are in the same sonic territory as Lipstick tubes. Bright, jangly, and not quite like "normal" Strat singles.

Anyone compared both?

definitely not, lipstick tube pickups are very different beasts, I can think about the LS as a 'polished' single coil, for their purpose they work, no noise, workhorses but, maybe, not so 'inspiring' , but it's a matter of taste

 

[jeremy]

i had a custom set of hot golds given to me by donzo years ago, and they were really good. slightly overwound neck, vintage middle, and hot bridge. really nice set. i gifted that strat to a good friend who still has it with those pups and uses it as his main guitar.

that said, ive not heard any lace pup that sounds like a vintage strat pup. the first gold sensors, which sound good, dont sound like ones from a few years later. i dont know enough to tell you why, but ive heard enough sets to say that confidently. overall, i think they are fine pups, just not my taste.

clapton has been using fender noiseless pups in his strats for a long time now. he still has some old first and second year custom shop clapton models with lace pups, but those dont come out very often. as dave said, the preamp in those guitars does color things a bit, even when the mid boost is all the way off.

 

[freefrog]

The only thing I know about them is what I've read. (Mostly here.) But I can't help wonder if their (Gold's) are in the same sonic territory as Lipstick tubes. Bright, jangly, and not quite like "normal" Strat singles.

Anyone compared both?

Lipsticks have a lower inductance and more eddy currents, hence the hi-pitched but rounded resonant peak recently discussed . Lace Sensors have a lower pitched but pointier and narrower resonant peak, even if they exhibit Foucault currents to some extent too.

Manfred Zollner from the GITEC compares Lace Sensors to Jaguar pickups with their "teethed U-shaped claws" under the coil... On the same principle, I'd rather think to Tri-Sonic's, whose coil/magnet assembly is closer to what Lace does offer... This and the old DeArmond's mentioned in my previous posts are in my mind cheap primitive versions / indirect ancestors of what Lace did pack in a slimmer and plastic covered shape. YMMV.

 

[Inflames626]

i had a custom set of hot golds given to me by donzo years ago, and they were really good. slightly overwound neck, vintage middle, and hot bridge. really nice set. i gifted that strat to a good friend who still has it with those pups and uses it as his main guitar.

that said, ive not heard any lace pup that sounds like a vintage strat pup. the first gold sensors, which sound good, dont sound like ones from a few years later. i dont know enough to tell you why, but ive heard enough sets to say that confidently. overall, i think they are fine pups, just not my taste.

clapton has been using fender noiseless pups in his strats for a long time now. he still has some old first and second year custom shop clapton models with lace pups, but those dont come out very often. as dave said, the preamp in those guitars does color things a bit, even when the mid boost is all the way off.

jeremy , might this be the difference between a new Lace pickup and the Fender Lace Sensor branded ones that came out...what, in the 80s or 90s stock in some Strats?

 

[Artie]

Lipsticks have a lower inductance and more eddy currents, hence the hi-pitched but rounded resonant peak recently discussed . Lace Sensors have a lower pitched but pointier and narrower resonant peak, even if they exhibit Foucault currents to some extent too.

Thanks for that info. I'll bring the "Lipstick" subject up again later. Don't want to hijack the OP's thread.

 

[Chistopher]

I think a Dually Emerald/Purple neck, Gold middle, and Red/White bridge would be a neat combo for an HSH build