Pickup Advice...

The Axeist Monk

The Axeist Monk

Inspired
Settle down!Not that kind.I've been married to the same sweet woman for 29 years.
I have a 2012 Am.Strat Olympic white & rosewood board,with fat 50's pu's.I like the tones I get with these.Great for some Tx blues,Cray, etc. Long time humbucker fan,and am not used to hearing so much hum.My computer is close to where I sit with my Axe2,which,I know, is the greatest contributor to this problem.Moving away from the desk isn't always possible.No longer play out.Do record and jam with friends.
I am ready to pull the trigger on a prewired area 58,58/67,61 from dimarzio.I've heard samples on YT,and read reviews,as well.
Have any of you used these and would you recommend them or do you have some other noiseless options?I had a 2004 Am dLX Strat with Fender noiseless pu's and S1 switch which I never got to like.Never sounded Straty enough.
Styles I play are jazz to classic rock.
Have had an axe since the Standard in 2008.Also use Js2400,Epi Elite LP custom,some nice Carvins,and my original '65 SG which I bought,back then,while in high school.
I want a prewired setup I can easily drop into the strat.I have a fear of screwing things up with a soldering iron.Haven't soldered in 10's of years.Won't be soldering ,now.
Thanks,in advance
Gus
 
Last edited:
I'm actually kind of in the same boat as you with my strat, in fact I have the exact same model.

I'm undecided on pickups but if you're looking for pre-wired options check out these: Serenity Wiring Products

If you did into the details on these wiring kits, the amount of options available are just amazing.
 
I bought Zexcoils. Love 'em, and got EXCELLENT support from Scott (the owner and inventor of their patented tech.)

Sound stratty as hell. I got a 'juicybucker' in the bridge and his mid, neck 'single coils' for the other two. They aren't single coils, though - they just sound like 'em (only quieter).

Check out the Steviesnacks website - he's just switched to Zexcoils, loves em, get his SRV tone with 'em too...
 
Just went through this, literally.

Checked 'em all out, wanted dead quiet but with all the quack & chime a Strat should have. Almost went with the Kinman's, but was able to check out the Areas. EXACTLY what I wanted, and then some. Quack, chime and with the 61 in the bridge a much better gain tone (when wanted) then I ever thought possible with a Strat PUP.

Bought the pre-loaded/solderless 'guard online, took three days to get here and literally three minutes to install. Three screws and you are done. No solder, no muss, no fuss.... AND NO NOISE!!!! I mean zero, zilch, nada. Fit like a charm, too. Holes lined up perfectly and plenty o'room in the cavities.

Best monetary part? Got it with a 15% coupon and the whole deal shipped to me was like $240.

The boutiques are nice, but people tend to forget DiMarzio and Duncan still make some damn fine products that do more than just compete, in this case for me they surpassed.
 
Hey svl, I installed Kinman's many years ago on the neck and center slots of my American Stat. Old SD in the back. Mine are ABSOLUTE quiet too. No effects from spurious AC influences. The chime and quack are awesome.
The only issue was the inter-spacing of the magnetic poles progressively get wider out from the center of the pickup. At the hi/lo E strings, the pole pieces are not under the strings at all! I didn't notice way back then if Greg Kinman had various sets to account for neck spacing. But I still get a fairly even enough signal across the strings by adjusting height.
The SD, lines up fine
 
Last edited:
I liked the Kinmans, stratos, but liked the Areas just as much and the price difference was a major bonus as well (the Kinman PUP set was $254 plus the harness is an additional $76 to $119, PLUS you still have to buy a pickguard so add in another $20 on average, plus having to install the harness on the guard).

Edit to add- just looked at my invoice, the entire Area 'guard was actually $230 shipped. :)
 
Thanks to all who have read and responded .All the choices looked great.
M.F. had the Area prewired set with a 15% disc.Total shipped was $237.Ordered black,which,will be available in early May.
Thanks,for all the help.
Gus
 
I wanted a great set of DiMarzios for my strat-
I got an Area set
58/67/61

They are the greatest sounding pickups I've ever heard- let alone greatest strat pickups

something about the tone of them is like nothing i've ever heard before.

I also had DiMarzio make me a prewired pickguard- thinking it would be easier/cheaper to install for my guitar guy...
he ended up cutting off the soilderless part of the end of the wiring and wired it normally.

But I think the prewired ones are super easy to do- there's a video from dimarzio and anyone can do it.

anyway- I love the area set. they sound incredible
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom