I bought a loaded pickguard from Lace with Golds for a 2016 Duo-Sonic HS (mexi, but rosewood board that year on the Daphne blue) and it gave it that 80’s Clapton “Forever Man” sound. Imma go for that Lifeson sound next. Thanks bro. I love em. ❤
Anyone that takes them off that guitar has lost their everloving mind. Sometimes perfecting the sound it is able to create is far better than trying to craft a more perfect sound. Hope that makes sense.😊
Leon, one thing you can do with the Fender Lace Sensors is that you can put them as close to the strings as you want. Not many people know know this but the closer to the strings lace sensors are, the better the sound. I have a set of golds that came stock in my Strat Plus and they sound great.
Great video showcasing the sounds of Lace Sensors! I have a 1994 Strat Plus Deluxe with red-silver-blue I bought new back then. That blue neck lace sensor has always been my favorite for my lead lines, clean or with dirt. Thanks for making this video!
I have a 93 deluxe plus r s b L Sensors. Truly most ignore the fact you can get so much sounds especially using tone controls (TBX). Blue is great but I end up between silver and blue/silver mostly. Have my 93 since 96 and only change to being factory stock is I bought a Hipshot Tremsetter on the way home day I picked up guitar. Installed and cranked bridge to whammy up and down. 26 yrs ago. Been great since. Could use a fret job now.
Some of those 90s Strats were a pinnacle- roller nuts, locking tuners, two point trems, lace sensor pickups. But traditionalists hated it and some ppl think of lace sensors along the same lines as EMG pickups
That's YOUR half-baked opinion and no one else that doesn't like them doesn't have to agree! And it also doesn't mean that they need new ears but you definitely need a new attitude. 🤨
@@boofert.washington2499 You need to take your own advice! You're putting your two cents worth into a conversation that doesn't concern you. Those comments have been deleted. So you're preaching to the choir.
Sure, they don't HAVE to agree but that still doesn't mean that that they haven't already gone partially DEAF (if they don't agree) since those that have significant hearing damage, as Leo Fender even did, often can't hear the higher frequencies much anymore. That's why Leo's colleagues often begged him to back off of the excessive treble on his amp designs after Leo got his hearing damaged in one ear from standing way too close to a dimed amp once during testing, see? So,yes, some poor unlucky guitarists with bad enough hearing loss might actually need "new ears" to hear Lace Sensors just like others would. @@solarismoon3046
Lace Sensor pickups are awesome. Period. I think most people miss the point, that these pups don't have to be your only choice for your one and only guitar. You can have, say, two or more strats with various puckups. In this scenario one would definitely appreciate the sheer beauty and exquisite versatility of Lace pickups. I've got a Rainbow set on one of my strats, and a Hemi set on one of my LPs. Love them! Excellent pickups.
Nice one Leon! Horses for courses - your chosen application of the Lace Sensors really lets them shine. I'm the touring guitarist for an 80's legacy act and the Golds with a little processing get that polished sound needed to sit in the right place between the synths and the horns. And for those of us who love Clapton's 24 Nights tone, downright essential. Now if only someone could just give me a SLO, a TSC and a 2290....
Originally they were branded "Fender Lace Sensor" and they came standard in Strat Plus models in the late 80s to 90s . The gold set in my 30 yr old Strat Plus still sound great. You make them sing and you play really good!
I own a 1996 Strat Plus which came stock with a roller nut and 3 gold Lace Sensor pickups. I absolutely adore this guitar and consider it the best strat I owned (I had quite a few including a 62 AVRI, Deluxe, Elite etc.). I truly dig these pickups and think they have their own unique vibe as opposed to other "traditional" pickups.
Very cool busting out the classic late 80's early 90's Rush riffs !!! I like Lace pickups. Looking at getting a guitar that has a set already installed.
I have a Gold set rescued from an old Strat deluxe put in my 1999 american standard. They're excellent. People think I'm wierd for liking them, but to me, they sound great and low noise. Great pickups not given a chance.
The guitar in this video sounds great. It has a huge rage of killer strat tones. My lace sensor ‘89 Strat is by far the best guitar I have ever owned. Rock solid, reliable, consistently amazing sound and feel. “Some people like dots” Tommy Tedesco
Hi Leon. I bought an American Standard strat decades ago that came with lace sensors. For me, those pickups were essential. I had been using a strat with stock traditional single coils, but the noise drove me insane. I resorted to using a noise gate when using that guitar which was a terrible solution, so the lace sensors strat was a very welcome solution. Having said that, my blues guitarist friends thought that they adversely impacted the tone. Incidentally, I later put hot rails on my oldest strat which solved it’s noise problem, but of course it no longer sounded like a traditional strat.
I'm gonna be real. That is one of the better sounding strats that I've heard honestly. I might need some lace's now. Maybe to combat the super bright bridge pickup someone could go with the Lace Red in the bridge instead.
If you want your strat to have no quack, look sterile and play vanilla sure. If you do 80's high gain stuff it is good for that but I sold mine and got a MIM strat that is light years more stratty than the lace loaded deluxe.
I used to have an American Strat Plus Deluxe, with Lace Sensors (red bridge, silver middle, blue neck), with the weird Fender-Floyd double locking trem, roller nut, and locking tuners. The guitar felt and sounded absolutely amazing. Granted, the red bridge didn't have the typical Strat "spank" you'd expect from the bridge pick up. It was warm & thick, almost (not quite) the sound of a humbucker. That's the guitar I regret parting with the most!
Loved the Alex Lifeson playing. That Distant Early Warning (pretty sure that tune) tone was absolutely chilling. And holy crap Bedroom Eyes from Yngwie!
I use the Blue Fire set (light blue, silver, burgundy) in my strat. I love the sound, especially the late 50s jazz sound of the light blue. I find them versatile for many different styles. The overwound sound adds some crunch compared to the gold. I love how each colour is a different sound used for different styles of music.
I have the Red/Silver/Blue trio on my MIJ 57 reissue Strat and they're perfection. Obviously the inspiration was Billy Corgan. The Red bridge is super hot and perfect for driving the front end of an amp, the Blue neck is a great rounded rock neck pickup that isn't too boomy and the Silver middle is perfect for the in-between positions as it has the classic Strat quack that everyone loves. And, best of all, no hum. Utter bliss.
I bought a 1993 Fender Standard Strat used in 1996, and promptly installed Gold Lace Sensors in the neck and middle, a Red one in the bridge. I love them, and that is still my number one guitar today.
I have the strat plus with those exact same pickups. Yes, the bridge pickup is super trebly and in your face BUT what I have done is I made one of the tone controls affect the bridge pickup. Once you roll it down a bit the pickup sounds great! Overall, those pickups sound great, they are clean and articulate (they down fuzz or sound too boomy with distortion). The positions 2 and 4 are by far my favourites.
I used to drool over the natural finish Strat Plus Deluxe in my local shop in the 90’s. I made do with my squire standard, but man! I loved the sound of all the guys who supposedly used them.
I always associate Lace Sensors with either Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins or Bob Mould from Husker Du/Sugar, although he only started using his Strat Pluses in Sugar. Both of those guys aren't too shabby tone-wise!
I was going to say the same thing. Copper Blue is in my top ten all time favourite albums. Last time I saw Sugar, Bob was using two JC 120 heads with cabs, I had never seen any before, and a bunch of Fender combos and cabinets. I think it was possibly the loudest gig I have ever been to.
I’ve been playing my lace loaded strat plus dlx since I bought it new in 87. I swapped the bridge for a red dually (and pick guard) it has silver middle and blue neck. I love the dual red as it sounds so full with singing sustain and no ice pick tone that disappears in the mix. It’s great for chunky chords and easy to get pinch harmonics. Split coil with the middle is great clean. The blue neck doesn’t sound pure strat, but still great. I did put a gold lace in the neck which was pure strat but didn’t match well with the other pick ups as quieter. I also have an 87 Strat plus with 3 golds and that’s like a vintage Strat without the noise. I recently bought a Strat with a Shawbucker in the bridge and 2 vintage singles in the middle and neck. The Shawbucker is too thin sounding and harsh for me so I’m going to swap for a lace dually. I play lots of styles, I like my cleans to be just on the edge of break up so my picking/strumming controls the break up not my guitar volume pot. I like my crunch tight and leads full and smooth with sustain. The dual red covers all this for me, I don’t use super high gain but I’m sure the reds would cover this. In short lol I love lace sensors and in a band situation they just work for me.
A couple of my favorite Strats have Lace Sensors in them, Golds in the neck and middle and a Blue in the bridge. They cut out a lot of noise. I like they don't cause Strat-itis. The don't have the chime and glassiness like a real single coil, and are a bit more compressed, but they do sound good to me. I have no urge to take them out.
I put a set of Golds in a 1984 '62 USA Vintage right after I bought it new and they're still in there. Sounds so good, virtually noise free. I have the original fender pickups that were installed tucked away, just in case, but never wanted to switch back, or try anything else. You can run them as close to the strings as you want and there is no magnetic pull to make the strings ring wonky. But I have them all backed off quite a bit, which sounds better to my ear. Recently used it at a venue with dirty stage power and a lot of electrical noise ... absolutely silent and sounded GREAT through a '60's DR.
I’ve got a mid-90’s strat plus deluxe and my only complaint is that they cut out sometimes. I’m not sure if they have a battery that I’m supposed to replace but seems ridiculous to have to unscrew about 20 screws to replace it if indeed it’s under the pick guard. I can’t find any info on that.
I don’t believe the Strat Plus Deluxe is an active circuit (ie battery powered). Maybe you’re thinking of the Clapton with the active circuit? Check for bad solder joints/ loose wires. Cheers.
I put the red/silver/blue set into my mexican strat for that billy corgan thing. Really great for alternative rock / grunge sounds. Also for modern pop punk / emo sounds, which I play a lot of. They sound not at all like regular strat pickups, but if you want a fatter, more modern sound, they're pretty great, and my strat went from barely being played to becoming my #1 guitar again.
Lace Sensors also exist in different colours (Outputs and tone) I have a couple of Strats™ with Lace sensors. One with all Gold and the other with Red in the bridge, and silver in the middle and neck, which sound fantastic!.
I've just been donated a set (2× silver, 1x gold). Excited for the install after the other parts arrive in a few days. I expect great things! Great video, by the way!
My first electric was a Fender Bullit...it was actually quite a rarity, though I didn't know it at the time, as it was an American made model. Came with Lace Sensor humbuckers, and it had a Strat-like body, and Tele headstock, with buttons as selectors. Got me started❤
@@LeonTodd just thinking about it now is making me smile. Of course, I was 18/19 and I save up and bought a Floyd Rose and had that put in. Learned the hard way what happens when you break a string mid-gig with a Floyd and you don't have a back up...good times indeed😂
Got Lace Sensors in two of mine. Outstanding pickups in every way! And the lack of noise means that even through aggressive signal processing, all you hear is what you play, not what you play mixed with stray bits of RF interference.
I have a Fender American Strat Plus Deluxe 1989 with Gold Lace Sensors and one thing I have notice at the neck position is much more bassie/high cut, kind of more wet sound with smoother attack and more compressed signal
@@joeltunnah No I mean they sound bland, I will take the buzz any day that goes with an actual classic strat sound. Why bother even getting a strat if you love lace sensors, just go with humbuckers ffs.
Ritchie Blackmore switched pickups very often until he found the Lace Sensor Golds in the early 90s and has been using them since, except for a short while on the Rainbow reunion when he used some bill lawrence singlecoil humbuckers i think. Eric Clapton also used them. I have the the Golds in one of my Strats and i really like them compared to the fat 50 stock pickups that i had earlier.
I have them in my 1991 Fender Strat Plus. When it was the only good guitar I had and I couldn’t afford a second guitar with humbuckers I swapped the bridge pickup with a Lace Sensor Red to get that thicker humbucker sound. Now that I have a couple great PRS guitars I’ve swapped the bridge back to an original Gold. I love my Strat for when I want THAT sound. I wouldn’t change the pickups again and they do a great job of removing that 60 cycle hum.
Lace Sensor fanboy here - have them loaded on two of my strats and some Holy Grails (made by Lace but not Sensors). I’ve played reds, blues, silvers and golds. My fave “do anything” strat has a red in the bridge and two golds in the other positions, with a VERY heavy alder body.
I had the red-silver-blue setup on a Strat Plus. I liked them because of the hum-free saturated sound, and also because at the time I wasn't too fond of the bright attack of single-coil pickups. Then I became a huge fan of the attack, definition and sound of single-coils (even in saturated/rock/metal/prog genres) and I quickly replaced the lace sensors with Noiseless, then Dimarzios (HS/injectors/...) and never looked back! Today I find Lace Sensors a bit dull and lifeless.
I know this vid is for the single coils, but I’d thought I add that the Lace D100 and D150 humbuckers are still one of my favourite combos ever. They are also part of the Lace sensor family. Think of a modern PAF pickup with a bit of additional clarity and oomph…
One of the finest truly sophisticated and high performance pickup designs ever devised and they're passive too. Big plus: "No freakin' batteries!" Even 'old timer' country boy "Dr. Groovy" Scott Grove really loves them. I really do believe that G&L's awesome MFD design was definitely based on the same Lace Sensor magnetic field control design principles; just compare them and you'll see it too.
Had never replaced a single-coil pickup before but had replaced humbuckers. Took a chance and bought a set of Golds for my Strat and was totally blown away by how superior they were to the cheap junk that was in there. Personally, I couldn't believe Fender would use such a dramatically different, (dare I say inferior), pickup in a guitar as the stock ones that came with mine, but then again, mine is a 2003 Mexican Strat and those particular models from those years are looked down on quite a bit and for good reason. A lot of the neck pockets were cut-and-drilled like trash. I have 2 Dunlop Tortex picks in my neck pocket just to shim the neck underneath and at the side so the strings will "align" properly down the fretboard. All that being said; the fact that I could throw those pickups in that guitar and make such a dramatic difference in it's tone and presence is just incredible! I'm especially pleased with the fact that I don't need to put batteries into my guitar as if it were a giant remote control. Active pickups are trash - period. Without a doubt, there's going to be someone or a group of someones that have a problem with that but whatever; if you like active pickups then there's nothing wrong with that. I just can't get around the idea of feeling like putting a battery in my guitar is on-par with washing a used paper plate. David Gilmour's EMG's certainly sound terrific but he also has a tremendous amount of money to afford his own personal guitar technician that follows him around everywhere and caters to everything Dave wants - so I have a feeling it wouldn't really matter what he played.
I love mine but I totally get how they aren't everyone's first choice! I use a finger burner in the bridge and their purple pickup in the neck of this second hand super modded Charvel, DEEP scalloped fretboard and killswitch. It scratches my hair metal itch every time I pick it up
I absolutely love mine and what I do with the bridge pickup is turn the tone down a little and they are perfect. They also take pedals really well and the best past part is they are noiseless so very little 60 cycle hum.
Sounded a bit to glassy on the Lifeson stuff but that could be the amp/sim type and settings . Life’s used a Gib humbucker in lead then L500 Lawrence . I think the other pups were standard stock not sure . Just rambling . lol 😆
Had a 93 Jeff Beck Strat with Lace Sensor Gold’s with what they called a “Dually” in the bridge. Loved them!! I thought they were some of the closest sounding noiseless single coil pups I have played. I never understood the issue people had with them. I never liked any of the actual Fender attempts at noiseless. I should add that I sold the guitar under financial duress and not because I didn’t love it. It’s one, if not the one guitar I regret ever selling. Oh and it was Surf Green.👍
Lace Sensors actually aren’t noiseless. They have considerably less noise than a traditional single coil, but they’re still single coils. Kinda like EMGs.
@@kalebaldwin5398 Yes you’re right it is not the standard methods of stacking or rails or RRW, RP. I just always think of them as noiseless because IME they were. After I wrote that I wanted to go and refresh my memory on the Lace design because I forget much of what I had known previously. Unfortunately I got busy and forgot. Edit: I did just go and got a refresher and it seems the Alumitone are even a departure from the original Lace pups. Possibly more inline with new tech.
@@kalebaldwin5398 And technically neither are traditional humbuckers or any pup that uses an electro-magnetic field to create a change in voltage. Or in the case of the Alumitone a change in current. I’m sort of intrigued by the LS Holy Grail design.
Lace Sensors - good enough for Francis Rossi's old Tele, then good enough for me. And way better than putting up with 60 cycle hum, IMO. Your playing is brilliant.
There's a reason nobody uses them now, they were good for the time and certainly not as noisy as regular single coils, but they weren't noiseless (I thought they were, but they ain't!) Better alternatives nowadays.
I have 2 Strat Plus Deluxes from 1994 with the red, silver, blue pickup combo. One is blue pearl burst (maple neck) and the other in antique burst (rosewood neck). The blue one has the regular bridge and the antique burst has a unique Floyd Rose (non-fine tuners) 2-point bridge. I bought both new back then as my main guitars and have always loved the tones I could get out of these guitars, so I've never changed the pickups.
4:49 my god man. I keep coming back every few months to listen to just this bit of the video. Can you please let me know the exact signal chain? Axe Fx? Real amp? amp sims? Thanks!
@@LeonTodd mannn wow .... if you make a video recreating this exact tone on Axe - Fx, ill make it worth your while!! Meaning i will alone myself watch it 50,000 times like i have this video ^^ Would love to see a video like that maybe! Cheers Leon
I have a strat with lace sensor golds and I love them. They sound really nice with overdrive, they aren't as thin as classic single coils and sound more "single coily" than hot rods with none of the noise that comes with single coils or p90s. These and the EMG S pickups are pretty much the best pickups for a strat at least IMO. All of these boutique handwound reproductions of 60s and 50s pickups IMO are much worse if you are a gigging/session musician simply because of their tonal characteristics and how noiseless they are in comparison. The bridge pickup isn't good for all applications (very pokey and bright, doesn't satisfy my needs for a metal tone) and I have changed it out to an air norton S which is a very underrated hot rail. I bought because it was cheap but now it I have found out how good it really is. These pickups have a great mid presence that works well live, it really does sit perfectly and isn't overly shrill like a lot of the typical single coil pickups.
I have an 87 Strat Plus , the first ones ,with Lace Sensors. I changed the pups but keep them in a drawer. I loved the pickups for their clean , noiselessness. But the overdrive was a bit weird.
They are great pick ups. They worked great for Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. They used a preamp set up...very effective. Definitely worthy. There's alot of great pickups out there. You made these lace sensors sound great man. Heard some Floyd tones coming through...😁....Enjoy!! ( Go for the gold...🎶🎶🎶😁)
Do you know why they used a mid-boost on those guitars? Because the way that Don Lace made them they had very little output in terms of being a powerful pickup tone. There's a lot of treble but very little midrange as the coil is arranged with "radiant field barriers" inside the pickup and there's no real magnetic pull as you have on a regular pickup but this leaves dead spots in the sound and a drop out in volume in an attempt to produce a quieter tone. There is a video somewhere on TH-cam explaining it. This is definitely NOT the "End all - Be all" pickup that they're being touted as.
It all depends on the guitar, the amp, etc. ive got a set of golds on one of my strats w a rosewood board and they sound incredible. My other strat has pro 1 pickups and they also sound epic. For that guitar, w the bright maple neck i would probably put something a little fatter/darker in the bridge and the middle. Just my 2 cents !
When I was a kid in the 90s I saw in the Frnder Frontline magazine that all Signature models had Laces in them. I ended up by accident getting an Eric Clapton model. Still got it, still my number one guitar from the bunch. Because it was my first single coil guitar I always thought that sound is the sound of the genuine single coil pickups.
I've been a Lace Sensor fan since trying them on a Clapton strat in an L.A. shop back in '86, when both were new on the market. When it comes to strats I like a darker, higher output pickup in the bridge.
Only thing about them is the way the Steel comb things in the core and outer shielding spread the field out makes them very sensitive to string distance which can make the note volume in the neck pos less consistent up the neck than a more traditional pole piece or blade design. The Steel in the core also gives them a slightly more rolled-off high-end per inductance value and some models are very high inductance. The Golds are the most like classic Fender Strat pickups.
I bought a VM Squier Mustang about 7 years ago for around $400 which was far from the guitar I ever imagined owning as I always wanted one for various reasons but since it was the perfect mesh of a Fender Mustang and other cheaper Squier models I went with it... Modern 9.5 radius, medium jumbo frets with a thicker neck profile I have come to absolutely love... This Mustang was the foundation I wanted to modify it the way I always envisioned in my head. Long story short, Johnny at Ground Floor Guitars in Omaha had told me about Lace Sensor pickups because I wanted something single coil versus modding the guitar for humbuckers or single coil sized humbuckers such as Seymour Duncan Little JB and 59 combo that so many people go with. One day I was talking to a coworker about it and the next day he brought me a set of Lace Sensor red, silver, and blue pickups never used and still in the pack for $50. I had Johnny put the red in the bridge and the blue in the neck position on my mustang. For a small extra fee I had him copper shield the cavities and rewire the electronics with vintage wax dipped cloth wrapped black and white wire.... I had a Mustang rewire kit with two CTS 250k pots (solid shaft) with a .04 orange drop capacitor. I converted the tailpiece to a hard tail and stabilized the bridge with .20 chipboard versus electrical tape like most people do. I also had a custom black/creme/black pickguard made. Oh and I replaced the Kluson style tuners with Gotoh 15:1 gear ratio locking tuners. With all of those mods and guitar work again made by Johnny Svatos at Ground Floor Guitars in Omaha I finally had a truly amazing Mustang I always wanted. Long story short the Lace Sensor pickups make this guitar the absolute treasure it is. I call it the 1979 guitar because it has that Smashing Pumpkins 1979 tone but it can do almost anything from that to rock, funk, super clean, rockabilly, and etc. It's a workhorse. There are tons of great pickups on the market today but Lace Sensor is vastly underrated probably because no one remembers them anymore. I mean hell I would have put them in my Mustang or even heard of them if someone didn't mention it to me to begin with. Now I have a dream guitar I couldn't buy for the money I put into the one I have.
Hello, i'm using Lace Alumitone Deathbucker and Dirty Fingers instead of Gibson 491 and SD Seth Lovers - love those killers for variety of tones and mighty powers
Im lucky enough to have scored an early jeff beck sig model. Its a superb guitar in every aspect... Including the gold laces. Such a high quality build. Far better than just about all off the shelf fenders ive played. Its closer to custom shop level. Ill never part with it.
Lace sensor red-silver-blue amazing on a strat or Nashville telecaster. The lace sensor humbuckers for clean tone (meh, a little sterile) but overdriven VERY NICE.
I like the brightness. I use some fairy dark overdrive and fuzz tones and the Lace Red in my strat is like stepping on an eq boost for leads. I dig it. I also have some of their Dirty Heshers humbuckers in a 335 and they were like taking a blanket off my speaker cab
Love them on my original 87 sunburst Strat Plus 3 Lace Gold are fine. They replaced traditional pickups just different and then once players adjusted to new lace sensors you simply had more choice between all the lace models in the mid to late 80's is what I remember most.
I do love all eras of RB. I guess the TBX is there to compensate for the already aggressive high end and really push the mids into creamier humbucker like tones.
I have exactly the same guitar with the mid boost circuit disabled. I am looking for new pickups. The Lace Sensor Gold pickups are too compressed and unnatural sounding to me. I want Buddy Guy Strat that sounds more like his 57/58 Strat. Any pickup suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Leon, big respect to you your review’s they have been great, on this one I have to agree with the crowd, I have a set of Lace Sensors installed in one of my strats and it is one of the best in my collection, has be something not right with your Dad installed set.
I have no experience with them. I was curious if someone who has could tell me how quiet they are in comparison to “vintage” single coils? I understand they use lots of tiny magnets on the edges of the pickup that are really weak and because the magnetic field is so low they reject RF and 50 or 60 cycle hum. As a passive single coil pickup that’s awesome, I just wondered in comparison to the “vintage” and maybe even EMGs how these compare in the white noise.
I have two strats with original Fender Lace Sensors, a Plus Deluxe with Blue/Silver/Red and a Clapton with 3x Gold's. Absolutely love the sensors in those guitars, especially the Blue neck.
Had a red/silver/blue (or whatever order the silver and blue were) on a Deluxe Strat Plus about 30 years ago. Sold the guitar about ten years ago. The one thing I do remember is those models didn’t really sound like single-coils LOL! The bridge pickup had a tone control that had a detent after 9 that would take the pot completely out of the circuit at 10. Can’t remember what Fender calls that (not the TBX). They didn’t sound awful, but the problem comes when they have inherently too much midrange and start to sound more humbucker-ish. I guess that’s what Clapton was going for with the gold Lace Sensors and the mid-boost, but I ultimately wanted a more traditional Strat sound.
Their TBX (Treble Bass Expander) pot had a detent in the middle (netural) then 1-5 cuts treble 5-10 cuts bass. The other would be a Zero load tone pot, 1-9 regular tone pot and at 10 it would remove it totally from the circuit. I agree with you "didn’t really sound like single-coils" I don't think anything but singles sound like singles... god knows I've searched for them.
@@_mysilentblue2227 Zero Load, that’s it! Thanks! I’ve tried so many noiseless “single-coils” that it’s exhausting LOL! Even Kinmans don’t really sound like single-coils. They don’t respond the same. Only single-coils sound and respond like single-coils, you’re right. The Suhr SSC is the closest thing I’ve ever tried to a noiseless solution that doesn’t alter tone or feel.
I think that they sound good when placed 1mm below the strings as required by manufacturer. So for most people like me who like the pickups 5mm below the strings (better playing comfort) they are unsuitable...
Lace Sensors - love them or leave them?
I bought a loaded pickguard from Lace with Golds for a 2016 Duo-Sonic HS (mexi, but rosewood board that year on the Daphne blue) and it gave it that 80’s Clapton “Forever Man” sound. Imma go for that Lifeson sound next. Thanks bro.
I love em. ❤
Anyone that takes them off that guitar has lost their everloving mind.
Sometimes perfecting the sound it is able to create is far better than trying to craft a more perfect sound.
Hope that makes sense.😊
Damn, that jam at the end was really killer
Leon, one thing you can do with the Fender Lace Sensors is that you can put them as close to the strings as you want. Not many people know know this but the closer to the strings lace sensors are, the better the sound. I have a set of golds that came stock in my Strat Plus and they sound great.
Lace Sensor Red is the best!
Great video showcasing the sounds of Lace Sensors! I have a 1994 Strat Plus Deluxe with red-silver-blue I bought new back then. That blue neck lace sensor has always been my favorite for my lead lines, clean or with dirt. Thanks for making this video!
I have a 93 deluxe plus r s b L Sensors. Truly most ignore the fact you can get so much sounds especially using tone controls (TBX). Blue is great but I end up between silver and blue/silver mostly. Have my 93 since 96 and only change to being factory stock is I bought a Hipshot Tremsetter on the way home day I picked up guitar. Installed and cranked bridge to whammy up and down. 26 yrs ago. Been great since. Could use a fret job now.
That’s one that I always regret not buying.
I agree , my favorite Era.
Some of those 90s Strats were a pinnacle- roller nuts, locking tuners, two point trems, lace sensor pickups.
But traditionalists hated it and some ppl think of lace sensors along the same lines as EMG pickups
I mean, EMG active single coils are great too
That's okay, more for the rest of us
I hated mine because it didnt sound like a strat. No quack, vanilla sounding and also on a superficial level sterile looking.
the swimming pool routed bodies sucked didnt they , didnt they , they really suck dont they
Purists always theory and myth themselves out of being creative and progressive: They are never the guys pushing the envelope or being remembered.
i have an early 90s strat with lace sensors, it's probably the best sounding thing i own. anyone that doesn't like them definitely needs new ears
That's YOUR half-baked opinion and no one else that doesn't like them doesn't have to agree! And it also doesn't mean that they need new ears but you definitely need a new attitude. 🤨
@@boofert.washington2499 You need to take your own advice! You're putting your two cents worth into a conversation that doesn't concern you. Those comments have been deleted. So you're preaching to the choir.
Sure, they don't HAVE to agree but that still doesn't mean that that they haven't already gone partially DEAF (if they don't agree) since those that have significant hearing damage, as Leo Fender even did, often can't hear the higher frequencies much anymore. That's why Leo's colleagues often begged him to back off of the excessive treble on his amp designs after Leo got his hearing damaged in one ear from standing way too close to a dimed amp once during testing, see? So,yes, some poor unlucky guitarists with bad enough hearing loss might actually need "new ears" to hear Lace Sensors just like others would. @@solarismoon3046
@@solarismoon3046no he’s right. You need new ears
@@thezeek2745 That's YOUR half-baked opinion and you're sticking to it!! 🙄 I know what sounds good and this isn't it.
Lace Sensor pickups are awesome. Period. I think most people miss the point, that these pups don't have to be your only choice for your one and only guitar. You can have, say, two or more strats with various puckups. In this scenario one would definitely appreciate the sheer beauty and exquisite versatility of Lace pickups. I've got a Rainbow set on one of my strats, and a Hemi set on one of my LPs. Love them! Excellent pickups.
Nice one Leon! Horses for courses - your chosen application of the Lace Sensors really lets them shine. I'm the touring guitarist for an 80's legacy act and the Golds with a little processing get that polished sound needed to sit in the right place between the synths and the horns. And for those of us who love Clapton's 24 Nights tone, downright essential. Now if only someone could just give me a SLO, a TSC and a 2290....
Last night I realized I couldn't find 24 Nights on Apple Music. Seems like they removed it, which is a bummer!
😍
Originally they were branded "Fender Lace Sensor" and they came standard in Strat Plus models in the late 80s to 90s . The gold set in my 30 yr old Strat Plus still sound great. You make them sing and you play really good!
I had a tele bridge lace sensor pickup and it was glassy and bitey. Loved it!!!🤘🎸
I own a 1996 Strat Plus which came stock with a roller nut and 3 gold Lace Sensor pickups. I absolutely adore this guitar and consider it the best strat I owned (I had quite a few including a 62 AVRI, Deluxe, Elite etc.). I truly dig these pickups and think they have their own unique vibe as opposed to other "traditional" pickups.
Very cool busting out the classic late 80's early 90's Rush riffs !!! I like Lace pickups. Looking at getting a guitar that has a set already installed.
I have a Gold set rescued from an old Strat deluxe put in my 1999 american standard. They're excellent. People think I'm wierd for liking them, but to me, they sound great and low noise. Great pickups not given a chance.
The guitar in this video sounds great. It has a huge rage of killer strat tones. My lace sensor ‘89 Strat is by far the best guitar I have ever owned. Rock solid, reliable, consistently amazing sound and feel.
“Some people like dots”
Tommy Tedesco
Hi Leon. I bought an American Standard strat decades ago that came with lace sensors. For me, those pickups were essential. I had been using a strat with stock traditional single coils, but the noise drove me insane. I resorted to using a noise gate when using that guitar which was a terrible solution, so the lace sensors strat was a very welcome solution. Having said that, my blues guitarist friends thought that they adversely impacted the tone. Incidentally, I later put hot rails on my oldest strat which solved it’s noise problem, but of course it no longer sounded like a traditional strat.
Very nice “Sorrow” solo! Those sound so beautiful 😍
Fantastic tones here, great stuff Leon!
My 1992 Jeff Beck with Fender Lace Golds sound great. The dually with split switch in the bridge gives some added versatility.
How could anyone not love these sounds?
Other pickups sound better.
I'm gonna be real. That is one of the better sounding strats that I've heard honestly. I might need some lace's now. Maybe to combat the super bright bridge pickup someone could go with the Lace Red in the bridge instead.
If you want your strat to have no quack, look sterile and play vanilla sure. If you do 80's high gain stuff it is good for that but I sold mine and got a MIM strat that is light years more stratty than the lace loaded deluxe.
@jhrdrake7205 just keep pasting the same comment over and over again. Maybe someone will eventually take you seriously?
@@joeltunnah You did, enough to respond. lol so mission accomplished!
@@jhrdrake7205 shhh, the grownups are talking.
I used to have an American Strat Plus Deluxe, with Lace Sensors (red bridge, silver middle, blue neck), with the weird Fender-Floyd double locking trem, roller nut, and locking tuners. The guitar felt and sounded absolutely amazing. Granted, the red bridge didn't have the typical Strat "spank" you'd expect from the bridge pick up. It was warm & thick, almost (not quite) the sound of a humbucker. That's the guitar I regret parting with the most!
Loved the Alex Lifeson playing. That Distant Early Warning (pretty sure that tune) tone was absolutely chilling. And holy crap Bedroom Eyes from Yngwie!
You got all the references!
I use the Blue Fire set (light blue, silver, burgundy) in my strat. I love the sound, especially the late 50s jazz sound of the light blue. I find them versatile for many different styles. The overwound sound adds some crunch compared to the gold. I love how each colour is a different sound used for different styles of music.
I have Light blue, Hot gold, Burgundy
I’m about to order the blue fire set!
I have the Red/Silver/Blue trio on my MIJ 57 reissue Strat and they're perfection. Obviously the inspiration was Billy Corgan.
The Red bridge is super hot and perfect for driving the front end of an amp, the Blue neck is a great rounded rock neck pickup that isn't too boomy and the Silver middle is perfect for the in-between positions as it has the classic Strat quack that everyone loves.
And, best of all, no hum. Utter bliss.
I had a 90s Caribbean mist strat with lace sensors. I loved them
Love them. Definitely have their own sound.
I bought a 1993 Fender Standard Strat used in 1996, and promptly installed Gold Lace Sensors in the neck and middle, a Red one in the bridge. I love them, and that is still my number one guitar today.
I have the strat plus with those exact same pickups.
Yes, the bridge pickup is super trebly and in your face BUT what I have done is I made one of the tone controls affect the bridge pickup. Once you roll it down a bit the pickup sounds great!
Overall, those pickups sound great, they are clean and articulate (they down fuzz or sound too boomy with distortion).
The positions 2 and 4 are by far my favourites.
I used to drool over the natural finish Strat Plus Deluxe in my local shop in the 90’s. I made do with my squire standard, but man! I loved the sound of all the guys who supposedly used them.
I actually preferred them to your other comparison Strats. Sounded great
I always associate Lace Sensors with either Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins or Bob Mould from Husker Du/Sugar, although he only started using his Strat Pluses in Sugar. Both of those guys aren't too shabby tone-wise!
I was going to say the same thing. Copper Blue is in my top ten all time favourite albums. Last time I saw Sugar, Bob was using two JC 120 heads with cabs, I had never seen any before, and a bunch of Fender combos and cabinets. I think it was possibly the loudest gig I have ever been to.
He still plays strats but I don't think it's with Lace sensors anymore. His amps are Blackstars now.
@@michaela.c.2097 Yep, I have seen him a number of times since the Hüsker Dü and Sugar days and noticed he was now sponsored by, or using, Blackstars.
Jonny Greenwood has used it exclusively with Radiohead for 25 plus years
Pretty sure Bob Mould is still using Lace Sensors.
I’ve been playing my lace loaded strat plus dlx since I bought it new in 87. I swapped the bridge for a red dually (and pick guard) it has silver middle and blue neck. I love the dual red as it sounds so full with singing sustain and no ice pick tone that disappears in the mix. It’s great for chunky chords and easy to get pinch harmonics. Split coil with the middle is great clean. The blue neck doesn’t sound pure strat, but still great. I did put a gold lace in the neck which was pure strat but didn’t match well with the other pick ups as quieter. I also have an 87 Strat plus with 3 golds and that’s like a vintage Strat without the noise. I recently bought a Strat with a Shawbucker in the bridge and 2 vintage singles in the middle and neck. The Shawbucker is too thin sounding and harsh for me so I’m going to swap for a lace dually. I play lots of styles, I like my cleans to be just on the edge of break up so my picking/strumming controls the break up not my guitar volume pot. I like my crunch tight and leads full and smooth with sustain. The dual red covers all this for me, I don’t use super high gain but I’m sure the reds would cover this. In short lol I love lace sensors and in a band situation they just work for me.
A couple of my favorite Strats have Lace Sensors in them, Golds in the neck and middle and a Blue in the bridge. They cut out a lot of noise. I like they don't cause Strat-itis. The don't have the chime and glassiness like a real single coil, and are a bit more compressed, but they do sound good to me. I have no urge to take them out.
I've owned two Strat Pluses from the early-mid 90s and loved them. I'm now on the hunt for a set of used lace sensors for my Japanese Squier.
I have a lace sensor strat bought back in 89’ it needs a fret job so hasn’t seen the light of day in awhile. Time to get it back up and running!
I put a set of Golds in a 1984 '62 USA Vintage right after I bought it new and they're still in there. Sounds so good, virtually noise free. I have the original fender pickups that were installed tucked away, just in case, but never wanted to switch back, or try anything else. You can run them as close to the strings as you want and there is no magnetic pull to make the strings ring wonky. But I have them all backed off quite a bit, which sounds better to my ear. Recently used it at a venue with dirty stage power and a lot of electrical noise ... absolutely silent and sounded GREAT through a '60's DR.
I’ve got a mid-90’s strat plus deluxe and my only complaint is that they cut out sometimes. I’m not sure if they have a battery that I’m supposed to replace but seems ridiculous to have to unscrew about 20 screws to replace it if indeed it’s under the pick guard. I can’t find any info on that.
I don’t believe the Strat Plus Deluxe is an active circuit (ie battery powered). Maybe you’re thinking of the Clapton with the active circuit? Check for bad solder joints/ loose wires. Cheers.
@@fredsampson thanks much! I think was a pedal issue, I’m plugging straight in with no problems now.
I put the red/silver/blue set into my mexican strat for that billy corgan thing. Really great for alternative rock / grunge sounds. Also for modern pop punk / emo sounds, which I play a lot of.
They sound not at all like regular strat pickups, but if you want a fatter, more modern sound, they're pretty great, and my strat went from barely being played to becoming my #1 guitar again.
I've got that setup in another strat with a scalloped neck that is a shred machine! Great for high gain
Lace Sensors also exist in different colours (Outputs and tone) I have a couple of Strats™ with Lace sensors. One with all Gold and the other with Red in the bridge, and silver in the middle and neck, which sound fantastic!.
Thank you Leon ... I've got red, silver and blue Lace Sensor PU on one of my strat !
I've just been donated a set (2× silver, 1x gold). Excited for the install after the other parts arrive in a few days. I expect great things! Great video, by the way!
Damn you're getting some freaking killer tones playing around with different pickups dynamic playing
Much appreciated mate!
I've got a partscaster with one in the neck and middle pos. Love them
My first electric was a Fender Bullit...it was actually quite a rarity, though I didn't know it at the time, as it was an American made model. Came with Lace Sensor humbuckers, and it had a Strat-like body, and Tele headstock, with buttons as selectors. Got me started❤
That sounds WILD
@@LeonTodd just thinking about it now is making me smile. Of course, I was 18/19 and I save up and bought a Floyd Rose and had that put in. Learned the hard way what happens when you break a string mid-gig with a Floyd and you don't have a back up...good times indeed😂
Got Lace Sensors in two of mine. Outstanding pickups in every way! And the lack of noise means that even through aggressive signal processing, all you hear is what you play, not what you play mixed with stray bits of RF interference.
Great playing. Laces sounding awesome.
I have a Fender American Strat Plus Deluxe 1989 with Gold Lace Sensors and one thing I have notice at the neck position is much more bassie/high cut, kind of more wet sound with smoother attack and more compressed signal
I think the lace sensor golds sound incredible both clean and high gain.
Sterile looking and sterile sounding. Good for 80's high gain but no strat quack or classic stratty chimey goodness.
@@jhrdrake7205 by "sterile" do you mean they aren't noisy and buzzing all the time like traditional Strat pickups? Yeah, I agree.
@@joeltunnah No I mean they sound bland, I will take the buzz any day that goes with an actual classic strat sound. Why bother even getting a strat if you love lace sensors, just go with humbuckers ffs.
@@joeltunnah btw If buzzing is your only qualifier for great pickups man, no one is gonna take you seriously lol.
@jhrdrake7205 why are you so angry? Lol, who cares what pickups other people like? You like traditional single coils, we get it...
Ritchie Blackmore switched pickups very often until he found the Lace Sensor Golds in the early 90s and has been using them since, except for a short while on the Rainbow reunion when he used some bill lawrence singlecoil humbuckers i think. Eric Clapton also used them. I have the the Golds in one of my Strats and i really like them compared to the fat 50 stock pickups that i had earlier.
Thank you Leon for this great video! That answers all my questions about these pickups.
Your tone and your game is exactly my taste! top class!
I have them in my 1991 Fender Strat Plus. When it was the only good guitar I had and I couldn’t afford a second guitar with humbuckers I swapped the bridge pickup with a Lace Sensor Red to get that thicker humbucker sound.
Now that I have a couple great PRS guitars I’ve swapped the bridge back to an original Gold.
I love my Strat for when I want THAT sound. I wouldn’t change the pickups again and they do a great job of removing that 60 cycle hum.
Lace Sensor fanboy here - have them loaded on two of my strats and some Holy Grails (made by Lace but not Sensors). I’ve played reds, blues, silvers and golds. My fave “do anything” strat has a red in the bridge and two golds in the other positions, with a VERY heavy alder body.
I had the red-silver-blue setup on a Strat Plus. I liked them because of the hum-free saturated sound, and also because at the time I wasn't too fond of the bright attack of single-coil pickups. Then I became a huge fan of the attack, definition and sound of single-coils (even in saturated/rock/metal/prog genres) and I quickly replaced the lace sensors with Noiseless, then Dimarzios (HS/injectors/...) and never looked back! Today I find Lace Sensors a bit dull and lifeless.
Another BadAss Video Mr. Todd! I kinda dig these lace sensors pretty cool "Dogmania"!!
I know this vid is for the single coils, but I’d thought I add that the Lace D100 and D150 humbuckers are still one of my favourite combos ever. They are also part of the Lace sensor family. Think of a modern PAF pickup with a bit of additional clarity and oomph…
One of the finest truly sophisticated and high performance pickup designs ever devised and they're passive too. Big plus: "No freakin' batteries!" Even 'old timer' country boy "Dr. Groovy" Scott Grove really loves them. I really do believe that G&L's awesome MFD design was definitely based on the same Lace Sensor magnetic field control design principles; just compare them and you'll see it too.
Had never replaced a single-coil pickup before but had replaced humbuckers. Took a chance and bought a set of Golds for my Strat and was totally blown away by how superior they were to the cheap junk that was in there. Personally, I couldn't believe Fender would use such a dramatically different, (dare I say inferior), pickup in a guitar as the stock ones that came with mine, but then again, mine is a 2003 Mexican Strat and those particular models from those years are looked down on quite a bit and for good reason. A lot of the neck pockets were cut-and-drilled like trash. I have 2 Dunlop Tortex picks in my neck pocket just to shim the neck underneath and at the side so the strings will "align" properly down the fretboard.
All that being said; the fact that I could throw those pickups in that guitar and make such a dramatic difference in it's tone and presence is just incredible!
I'm especially pleased with the fact that I don't need to put batteries into my guitar as if it were a giant remote control. Active pickups are trash - period.
Without a doubt, there's going to be someone or a group of someones that have a problem with that but whatever; if you like active pickups then there's nothing wrong with that. I just can't get around the idea of feeling like putting a battery in my guitar is on-par with washing a used paper plate.
David Gilmour's EMG's certainly sound terrific but he also has a tremendous amount of money to afford his own personal guitar technician that follows him around everywhere and caters to everything Dave wants - so I have a feeling it wouldn't really matter what he played.
I love mine but I totally get how they aren't everyone's first choice! I use a finger burner in the bridge and their purple pickup in the neck of this second hand super modded Charvel, DEEP scalloped fretboard and killswitch. It scratches my hair metal itch every time I pick it up
Just picked up a 1989 Strat Plus with the Gold Lace Sensors--quite like it. Plays great.
I absolutely love mine and what I do with the bridge pickup is turn the tone down a little and they are perfect. They also take pedals really well and the best past part is they are noiseless so very little 60 cycle hum.
Holy hell that riff @7:36 is badass man
Kings X Dogman!
Well, I think that not everyone that plays a Strat is after Stevie Ray tones, and those PU's sound pretty damn good doing Lifeson and Tabor.
Right?!
Sounded a bit to glassy on the Lifeson stuff but that could be the amp/sim type and settings . Life’s used a Gib humbucker in lead then L500 Lawrence . I think the other pups were standard stock not sure . Just rambling . lol 😆
Sounds fantastic to me!!! Love that Strat too!!!
I had one nice bell like tones in the middle....wish it had a lil more output
Had a 93 Jeff Beck Strat with Lace Sensor Gold’s with what they called a “Dually” in the bridge. Loved them!! I thought they were some of the closest sounding noiseless single coil pups I have played. I never understood the issue people had with them. I never liked any of the actual Fender attempts at noiseless.
I should add that I sold the guitar under financial duress and not because I didn’t love it. It’s one, if not the one guitar I regret ever selling. Oh and it was Surf Green.👍
Lace Sensors actually aren’t noiseless. They have considerably less noise than a traditional single coil, but they’re still single coils. Kinda like EMGs.
@@kalebaldwin5398
Yes you’re right it is not the standard methods of stacking or rails or RRW, RP. I just always think of them as noiseless because IME they were. After I wrote that I wanted to go and refresh my memory on the Lace design because I forget much of what I had known previously. Unfortunately I got busy and forgot.
Edit:
I did just go and got a refresher and it seems the Alumitone are even a departure from the original Lace pups. Possibly more inline with new tech.
@@kalebaldwin5398
And technically neither are traditional humbuckers or any pup that uses an electro-magnetic field to create a change in voltage. Or in the case of the Alumitone a change in current. I’m sort of intrigued by the LS Holy Grail design.
I just put Lace golds in my American Pro II Tele, and it transformed the guitar. Woody, articulate, beautiful tone. I love them. And no noise!
Very cool!
I really liked them, very articulate. Only drawback is that sometimes its at the cost of that typical strat sound.
Lace Sensors - good enough for Francis Rossi's old Tele, then good enough for me. And way better than putting up with 60 cycle hum, IMO. Your playing is brilliant.
QUO!!!
There's a reason nobody uses them now, they were good for the time and certainly not as noisy as regular single coils, but they weren't noiseless (I thought they were, but they ain't!) Better alternatives nowadays.
I have 2 Strat Plus Deluxes from 1994 with the red, silver, blue pickup combo. One is blue pearl burst (maple neck) and the other in antique burst (rosewood neck). The blue one has the regular bridge and the antique burst has a unique Floyd Rose (non-fine tuners) 2-point bridge. I bought both new back then as my main guitars and have always loved the tones I could get out of these guitars, so I've never changed the pickups.
I've always liked Lace Sensors! Glad to see them getting some love in the comments!!! ✌🏻
Same here!
4:49 my god man. I keep coming back every few months to listen to just this bit of the video.
Can you please let me know the exact signal chain? Axe Fx? Real amp? amp sims?
Thanks!
All Axe-Fx 😁
@@LeonTodd mannn wow .... if you make a video recreating this exact tone on Axe - Fx, ill make it worth your while!! Meaning i will alone myself watch it 50,000 times like i have this video ^^
Would love to see a video like that maybe! Cheers Leon
I have a strat with lace sensor golds and I love them. They sound really nice with overdrive, they aren't as thin as classic single coils and sound more "single coily" than hot rods with none of the noise that comes with single coils or p90s. These and the EMG S pickups are pretty much the best pickups for a strat at least IMO. All of these boutique handwound reproductions of 60s and 50s pickups IMO are much worse if you are a gigging/session musician simply because of their tonal characteristics and how noiseless they are in comparison. The bridge pickup isn't good for all applications (very pokey and bright, doesn't satisfy my needs for a metal tone) and I have changed it out to an air norton S which is a very underrated hot rail. I bought because it was cheap but now it I have found out how good it really is. These pickups have a great mid presence that works well live, it really does sit perfectly and isn't overly shrill like a lot of the typical single coil pickups.
Reminds of Dann Huff, 90’s Strat sound
Excellent playing and guitar faces 😅
I have an 87 Strat Plus , the first ones ,with Lace Sensors. I changed the pups but keep them in a drawer. I loved the pickups for their clean , noiselessness. But the overdrive was a bit weird.
They are great pick ups. They worked great for Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. They used a preamp set up...very effective. Definitely worthy. There's alot of great pickups out there. You made these lace sensors sound great man. Heard some Floyd tones coming through...😁....Enjoy!! ( Go for the gold...🎶🎶🎶😁)
Do you know why they used a mid-boost on those guitars? Because the way that Don Lace made them they had very little output in terms of being a powerful pickup tone. There's a lot of treble but very little midrange as the coil is arranged with "radiant field barriers" inside the pickup and there's no real magnetic pull as you have on a regular pickup but this leaves dead spots in the sound and a drop out in volume in an attempt to produce a quieter tone. There is a video somewhere on TH-cam explaining it. This is definitely NOT the "End all - Be all" pickup that they're being touted as.
It all depends on the guitar, the amp, etc. ive got a set of golds on one of my strats w a rosewood board and they sound incredible. My other strat has pro 1 pickups and they also sound epic. For that guitar, w the bright maple neck i would probably put something a little fatter/darker in the bridge and the middle. Just my 2 cents !
When I was a kid in the 90s I saw in the Frnder Frontline magazine that all Signature models had Laces in them. I ended up by accident getting an Eric Clapton model. Still got it, still my number one guitar from the bunch. Because it was my first single coil guitar I always thought that sound is the sound of the genuine single coil pickups.
I've been a Lace Sensor fan since trying them on a Clapton strat in an L.A. shop back in '86, when both were new on the market. When it comes to strats I like a darker, higher output pickup in the bridge.
Only thing about them is the way the Steel comb things in the core and outer shielding spread the field out makes them very sensitive to string distance which can make the note volume in the neck pos less consistent up the neck than a more traditional pole piece or blade design. The Steel in the core also gives them a slightly more rolled-off high-end per inductance value and some models are very high inductance. The Golds are the most like classic Fender Strat pickups.
I use a Strat Plus and always prefer it for recording!! super quiet compared to other guitars!! that annoying hum being taken out! is so nice
Great video. Would love to know how that tone was achieved for the final jam
Which is more classic bell like glass clean strat sound dg 20 emg or lace sensor, if lace which one gold or somethng else?
I bought a VM Squier Mustang about 7 years ago for around $400 which was far from the guitar I ever imagined owning as I always wanted one for various reasons but since it was the perfect mesh of a Fender Mustang and other cheaper Squier models I went with it... Modern 9.5 radius, medium jumbo frets with a thicker neck profile I have come to absolutely love... This Mustang was the foundation I wanted to modify it the way I always envisioned in my head. Long story short, Johnny at Ground Floor Guitars in Omaha had told me about Lace Sensor pickups because I wanted something single coil versus modding the guitar for humbuckers or single coil sized humbuckers such as Seymour Duncan Little JB and 59 combo that so many people go with. One day I was talking to a coworker about it and the next day he brought me a set of Lace Sensor red, silver, and blue pickups never used and still in the pack for $50. I had Johnny put the red in the bridge and the blue in the neck position on my mustang. For a small extra fee I had him copper shield the cavities and rewire the electronics with vintage wax dipped cloth wrapped black and white wire.... I had a Mustang rewire kit with two CTS 250k pots (solid shaft) with a .04 orange drop capacitor. I converted the tailpiece to a hard tail and stabilized the bridge with .20 chipboard versus electrical tape like most people do. I also had a custom black/creme/black pickguard made. Oh and I replaced the Kluson style tuners with Gotoh 15:1 gear ratio locking tuners. With all of those mods and guitar work again made by Johnny Svatos at Ground Floor Guitars in Omaha I finally had a truly amazing Mustang I always wanted. Long story short the Lace Sensor pickups make this guitar the absolute treasure it is. I call it the 1979 guitar because it has that Smashing Pumpkins 1979 tone but it can do almost anything from that to rock, funk, super clean, rockabilly, and etc. It's a workhorse. There are tons of great pickups on the market today but Lace Sensor is vastly underrated probably because no one remembers them anymore. I mean hell I would have put them in my Mustang or even heard of them if someone didn't mention it to me to begin with. Now I have a dream guitar I couldn't buy for the money I put into the one I have.
Wouldn't
*
Hello, i'm using Lace Alumitone Deathbucker and Dirty Fingers instead of Gibson 491 and SD Seth Lovers - love those killers for variety of tones and mighty powers
Im lucky enough to have scored an early jeff beck sig model. Its a superb guitar in every aspect... Including the gold laces. Such a high quality build. Far better than just about all off the shelf fenders ive played. Its closer to custom shop level. Ill never part with it.
I have a 1989 Clapton strat with Lace sensors and love it! The guy I bought it from wants it back. No way!
wonder if all the strings were the same? I do have 3 rigs with hss 93 and 96 Ultra and a self made Ultra .
Lace sensor red-silver-blue amazing on a strat or Nashville telecaster. The lace sensor humbuckers for clean tone (meh, a little sterile) but overdriven VERY NICE.
I like the brightness. I use some fairy dark overdrive and fuzz tones and the Lace Red in my strat is like stepping on an eq boost for leads. I dig it. I also have some of their Dirty Heshers humbuckers in a 335 and they were like taking a blanket off my speaker cab
Love them on my original 87 sunburst Strat Plus 3 Lace Gold are fine. They replaced traditional pickups just different and then once players adjusted to new lace sensors you simply had more choice between all the lace models in the mid to late 80's is what I remember most.
So without tbx boost so it more similar to Ritchie blackmore 1995 rainbow tone
I do love all eras of RB. I guess the TBX is there to compensate for the already aggressive high end and really push the mids into creamier humbucker like tones.
Tbh the Strat Plus' Ive been hearing with the lace sensors sound more chimey to me than classic strats at times. They make me want to get one.
Recently I got a used Mustang that came with Lace purples in it. In all my years playing I never tried them before, I dig them
I have exactly the same guitar with the mid boost circuit disabled. I am looking for new pickups. The Lace Sensor Gold pickups are too compressed and unnatural sounding to me. I want Buddy Guy Strat that sounds more like his 57/58 Strat. Any pickup suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Leon, big respect to you your review’s they have been great, on this one I have to agree with the crowd, I have a set of Lace Sensors installed in one of my strats and it is one of the best in my collection, has be something not right with your Dad installed set.
I have no experience with them. I was curious if someone who has could tell me how quiet they are in comparison to “vintage” single coils? I understand they use lots of tiny magnets on the edges of the pickup that are really weak and because the magnetic field is so low they reject RF and 50 or 60 cycle hum. As a passive single coil pickup that’s awesome, I just wondered in comparison to the “vintage” and maybe even EMGs how these compare in the white noise.
I have two strats with original Fender Lace Sensors, a Plus Deluxe with Blue/Silver/Red and a Clapton with 3x Gold's. Absolutely love the sensors in those guitars, especially the Blue neck.
Had a red/silver/blue (or whatever order the silver and blue were) on a Deluxe Strat Plus about 30 years ago. Sold the guitar about ten years ago. The one thing I do remember is those models didn’t really sound like single-coils LOL! The bridge pickup had a tone control that had a detent after 9 that would take the pot completely out of the circuit at 10. Can’t remember what Fender calls that (not the TBX).
They didn’t sound awful, but the problem comes when they have inherently too much midrange and start to sound more humbucker-ish. I guess that’s what Clapton was going for with the gold Lace Sensors and the mid-boost, but I ultimately wanted a more traditional Strat sound.
Their TBX (Treble Bass Expander) pot had a detent in the middle (netural) then 1-5 cuts treble 5-10 cuts bass. The other would be a Zero load tone pot, 1-9 regular tone pot and at 10 it would remove it totally from the circuit. I agree with you "didn’t really sound like single-coils" I don't think anything but singles sound like singles... god knows I've searched for them.
@@_mysilentblue2227
Zero Load, that’s it! Thanks! I’ve tried so many noiseless “single-coils” that it’s exhausting LOL! Even Kinmans don’t really sound like single-coils. They don’t respond the same. Only single-coils sound and respond like single-coils, you’re right. The Suhr SSC is the closest thing I’ve ever tried to a noiseless solution that doesn’t alter tone or feel.
I had them on my black strat in the 90’s.. I really liked them, no complaints..
I just ordered a set of golds, and I hope I like them. Is that a radical statement that people will feel they need to attack?
I think that they sound good when placed 1mm below the strings as required by manufacturer. So for most people like me who like the pickups 5mm below the strings (better playing comfort) they are unsuitable...