I just had a set of Lindy Fralin Split Blade pickups installed in my Strat.Vintage output with a 500k volume pot.They are the best noiseless pickups I've heard.
These Kinman “scooped” pickups, (I own them too), have such an extremely low output that to get them to sing, the players needs to put a little more energy into them, and then the amp needs to be set up to resonate with them too. These Kinman aren’t your average drop in pups. They do have some pickups like that, like the E56 that sound excellent. But out of the box, these will sound weak until some adjustments are made. That makes comparisons difficult. Check out the Kinman site to see for yourself.
Both sets of pickups sound "flat" to me. Perhaps it's the YT compression at work. I seriously considered putting Kinmans in my Strat, but I decided to sell the Strat and buy a G&L. I'm glad I did. I found both sets of pickups to be quite close in sound; I doubt most could identify them in a true blindfold test.
I have a set of Kinman's (AVN Blues) & while I gigged w/ them and they sounded good, I think the Fat 50's have more musicality going-on for them. Had set but for some odd reason I retuned them. Who knows why we do the things we do...? Exclnt Demo.:>)
My experience is, that when you compare noiseles pickups with normal pickups one by one, the noiseless sound a bit weaker. But it can be tweaked with the amp settings. And in a live or rehearsal room situation it prefer the noiseless pickups all the time.
I totally understand your sentiments Sleepy55. But Kinman's are not the ordinary noiseless, we have made great advances in our technology in recent years to the point that some of my Strat models meet and even exceed Fender pickups. One such example is the low output Impersonator E69, listen to it here www.kinman.com/soundfile/Brett%20Kingman%20-%20A%20couple%20of%20Kinmans%20visit%20the%20Kingmans..MP4
Very nice comparison, Scott. I have a set of Kinman noiseless with the K5 harness in my Strat, and I love the versatility and (of course) lack of interference. I will say, however, that I actually prefer the sound of the Fat 50s in your video; they sound more alive to my ears compared to the Kinmans.
Thanks Keith! I agree, they do sound more alive in the upper high frequencies; I actually like the bridge/middle switch position a bit more on the Fat 50s, and the middle pup is just raunchy in a really cool way. I like that the Kinmans tighten up the response all around, but it's not night/day for me. Overall I like the kinmans... especially the neck, which is what my ear looks for on most guitar. Which set do you have?
The set I have I believe he calls (called?) Vintage Noiseless. I got them back in '05. It seems now he has "named sets." David Gilmour inspired me to get the set I have, so I imagine his Gilmour Set is closest to the Vintage Noiseless. They're really quite nice. I don't think I've ever played through a set of Fat 50s, but your demo has me curious now. Still, it's really nice to have single coils that buck the 60-cycle hum. As an aside, I thought you'd like to know I was turned onto your YT channel after checking out the excellent cover you did of "Sunday Afternoon in the Park." Have you checked out Electro-Harmonix's iOS emulation of the Mini-Synthesizer? Pretty sick.
Keith Messier thanks, glad you dug it! I haven't seen the EH iOS synth, will check it out. Gilmour is a ridiculous player. I'll probably get kinmans if I build a parts strat, or a Nashville Tele, will check out his set. I should mention, my student is selling the Fat 50s - about put them up on Reverb!
Man! The Fat 50s destroyed the Kinman pickups in chime and just fullness,but I'm not surprised because most true single coils IMO sound more full range than noiseless pickups,I have Strats with both,but use Dimarzio noiseless in my mine,when you can't have the hum,you need at least one noiseless Strat! But I'm a single coil guy now for sure! Nice clip! Thx!
Kasper Rouser - the more I listen back, the more I like the fat 50s for clean stuff and the kinmans for overdriven (rhythm especially... 50s are still more nicely open to me in 2/4 positions for lead). Kinmans seem tighter and more compact sonically. I really want to try building a strat with Kinman Woodstocks. Cheers!
They both Sound Great. I am " Searching Endlessly " for a Noiseless Strat Pickup, that Retains all the Chime, Breath, Quack, and Glassy-top-end ??? Does it even Exist ? I listened to: Kinman, Mojotone, DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, Fender Gen 4 Noiseless, Zexcoil - They Still haven't cracked-the-code !!! It has gotten Better . . . but Something is Missing. I Despise that 60 Cycle Hum. How does Shur do their pickups?
Excellent demo - nice and easy to compare the sounds, thanks. My view? Overall, it's too close to call, but do I agree with another comment here that the Kinmans sound better on OD than the Fenders. I came here because I'm thinking of getting some Kinmans. I have three Strats on which I've had Seymour Duncan 'Everything Axe' (mini-humbucker) sets fitted but I'm not totally happy with them now. For one thing, I like the way Kinmans do accurate pole spacing - some of the poles on the SD sets are way out of whack with the strings.
Scott, I'm the same way. I play two van zandt true vintage pickups at bridge and neck and a suhr landau in the middle and I absolutely love them. But.... The power where I play is so bad, it has left me unable to play it. So, I bought a set of DiMarzio area 58,67,61 pups so I can play my favorite guitar again more regularly. Also, if you do decide to get a strat, check out some of the made in Japan reissue strats. They are such great guitars.
Iam a dimarzio area fun myself cause i think with stacked humbuckers you gain even more versatility but if you are a true single coil fan why dont you try the dummy coil mod?Get a cheap single coil pickup without the magnets and install it in your pickguard(wedge it between the pickup selector and the pots) and that ll make your strat(almost)noiseless....you can even install a switch so you can have your regular sound and your "noiseless" sound.....i really dont know if there is some cutoff to the sound but the mod is really cheap and easy(see online instructions) and if you dont like it no harm no foul....
I had Fat 50s in a Strat and really liked them. I imagine that there are Kinmans that sound a little more like them, but that might not be what your student wants. I like them both, but I prefer the smoother, slightly louder Fat 50s sound.
I like the clean tones of the Kinmans best, just a little smoother and warmer. However, if you prefer the stringy brightness, the fat 50s are more traditional sounding. Good test, cool, thanks. The Kinmans are more wide ranging, but I could see where a country player might stay with the Fat 50s twang.
In this video de fat 50's sound more enjoyable to me. I have a set called Kinman Warm Classic I bought in 2001. It has Avn-62 Mk-1 neck and middle and an Avn-59 in the bridge. I would say my pickups ride pretty close to the strings, at least closer than what you usually see single coils setup up to.
Should've done Kinman fat 50s against the Fender fat 50s. They're both hotte than the Mayer set, which is made with a mix of Kinman's lowest output singles
Dig the 50s for the clean tones and the Kinman slightly better for the cruch and OD. Kinmans seem to have slightly less output. When it comes down to it, not enough difference for me to swap them out.
sickb2200 yeah, if noise doesn't make you nuts I don't see much reason to swap them out! I wish I would've tried the fat 50s with the Kinman harness...
6:31 I think is mis-labeled. I can hear some buzzing, but it's labeled as Kinman bridge. The very next sound has no buzz, which I'm assuming is the actual Kinman.
Dude why you change the attack when you play the kinmans? You are constantly raking instead of snaping at the strings and some people think because of that that the fat 50s are chimmy(er).
If I was playing them differently, it was certainly unintentional, and it’s quite subtle. Watching with the sound off, I do perhaps seem to dig into the fat 50s more. I did feel at the time the Kinmans had more harsh mid, maybe I was subconsciously compromising by softening the attack. Cheers to being human!
Not that much difference. But the fat 50s sounded nice in some positions and the Kimans in others. This is the reason I have about 6 strats. Need to taste all the flavours !
If you're playing live, then the audience wouldn't hear the very slight difference, really the Kinmans are just as good but for playing live they are better as they cut that hum out....depends on your tolerance of that noise I guess...
It’s not whats better, it’s taken out of context when applied like that... Is it because the Kinmans are Australian and the flag wavers want to show that the Fat 50s are US in a US Strat ..? The sound is a personal preference as amps, strings and fingers aren’t the same and react different when plucked or picked. The Fat 50s are very nice, they have a grittier sound due to midrange have been almost reduced by half, emphases towards the treble end which loses it overall control and composure when driven, but no doubt by just tweaking the tone pot a little will reign in the scratchy high end thus smoothing it out. It definitely has the Twang on all pups, and I cannot say that to many more expensive pups out there who state that but leave you a little disappointed. The Kinmans are subtle in a cleaner way, a more full range as it’s “EQ’d” for versatility, the driven sounds get tight and very controlled the treble tones itself down without the need to adjust the tone on the guitar, this helps when winding up the volume pot alone... Both sets of Pups twang, undoubtedly one a little more than the other, but then again we’re not all playing country which it’s only relevant to the purchaser as that’s a excellent reason to go for the sharper twang of the Fat50s. The classic Bell isn’t as prominent on either but they do have the chime when dialed in when picking, many said that the Fat50s are louder..? No necessarily the case, maybe the pups are lower in the scratch plate of the Kinmans, but like anything we adjust it to preference... In a comparison, imagine the Fat 50s doing everything at a 9.0, the Kinmans do it better at a 8.5, which in playability terms as a guitar you can play various genres of music without swapping guitars, the Kinman’s are the obvious choice here, but neither are losers or winners, it’s just what made us say “Damn, those are sounding good, be needing them in my life....” NB: Kinman do have varied pups in the Strat types, so unfortunately once again you’re not getting an unbiased test due to that reason.. If you want an more equal test, then look at the Kinman Hank Marvins... extremely Original in tone due to his original first Strat which is true Fender sound.
Yup I agree the Fat 50's sound better, but it's because The Scoop is designed to sound like low output mid 70's pickups, not Fat 50's. Our Impersonator E69 sound's more like the Fat 50 than the Mayer set, listen to them here >>> www.kinman.com/soundfile/Brett%20Kingman%20-%20A%20couple%20of%20Kinmans%20visit%20the%20Kingmans..MP4
Fat 50's have more top end and articulation IMHO...maybe toooooo bright in the bridge position but that can be said for 85% of ALL pups I think...most tone can be tamed with proper EQ...don't think it was worth the time and $$ for this "upgrade"...
Alan Rubi good idea, Ive been wanting to do that. I will say that if I listen on my phone, I don’t hear much difference. Studio monitors and different car stereos reveal a more noticeable difference in the dynamics/attack and the mids/highs. This isn’t like comparing snake oil cables and “normal” cables though. The size and type of the magnet, coil turns, pot value/taper, capacitor values (though not the material) make a notable change in character, and theoretically should make more of a difference than many mods that are mostly placebo. I think the mistake many musicians make is to think that one is better than the other. This is all subjective for the most part.
@@odiumpugnator472 I totally understand your sentiments and to extent I agree with you. But Kinman's are no longer ordinary noiseless, we have made great advances in our technology in recent years to the point that some of my Strat models meet and even exceed Fender pickups. One such example is the game-changer new Texas Jalapeno and the low output Impersonator E69, listen to the E69 here and I'm sure it'll change your thinking www.kinman.com/soundfile/Brett%20Kingman%20-%20A%20couple%20of%20Kinmans%20visit%20the%20Kingmans..MP4
![เปิดใจ "อาจารย์เบียร์ คนตื่นธรรม" อดีตเคยสุดทุกทาง ถ้าใช้หนี้หมดไปบวชแน่ l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IxeE0xVhy08/mqdefault.jpg)
I just had a set of Lindy Fralin Split Blade pickups installed in my Strat.Vintage output with a 500k volume pot.They are the best noiseless pickups I've heard.
I can’t believe how similar these pickups are I would be sad if swapped the fat 50s out
If they sound similar, that’s more reason to change out if you want noiseless!
These Kinman “scooped” pickups, (I own them too), have such an extremely low output that to get them to sing, the players needs to put a little more energy into them, and then the amp needs to be set up to resonate with them too. These Kinman aren’t your average drop in pups. They do have some pickups like that, like the E56 that sound excellent. But out of the box, these will sound weak until some adjustments are made. That makes comparisons difficult. Check out the Kinman site to see for yourself.
The 50's by a distance. Took my Kinmans off, while back and never regreted it. This video convinced me did right thing
Yeah, I’ve just never understood noiseless pickups. They suck the life and soul out of a Strat.
Or just tweak their height and EQ accordingly....
Both sets of pickups sound "flat" to me. Perhaps it's the YT compression at work. I seriously considered putting Kinmans in my Strat, but I decided to sell the Strat and buy a G&L. I'm glad I did. I found both sets of pickups to be quite close in sound; I doubt most could identify them in a true blindfold test.
I have a set of Kinman's (AVN Blues) & while I gigged w/ them and they sounded good, I think the Fat 50's have more musicality going-on for them. Had set but for some odd reason I retuned them. Who knows why we do the things we do...? Exclnt Demo.:>)
My experience is, that when you compare noiseles pickups with normal pickups one by one, the noiseless sound a bit weaker. But it can be tweaked with the amp settings. And in a live or rehearsal room situation it prefer the noiseless pickups all the time.
I totally understand your sentiments Sleepy55. But Kinman's are not the ordinary noiseless, we have made great advances in our technology in recent years to the point that some of my Strat models meet and even exceed Fender pickups. One such example is the low output Impersonator E69, listen to it here www.kinman.com/soundfile/Brett%20Kingman%20-%20A%20couple%20of%20Kinmans%20visit%20the%20Kingmans..MP4
@@chriskinman5372 They sound good and versatile.
Very nice comparison, Scott. I have a set of Kinman noiseless with the K5 harness in my Strat, and I love the versatility and (of course) lack of interference. I will say, however, that I actually prefer the sound of the Fat 50s in your video; they sound more alive to my ears compared to the Kinmans.
Thanks Keith! I agree, they do sound more alive in the upper high frequencies; I actually like the bridge/middle switch position a bit more on the Fat 50s, and the middle pup is just raunchy in a really cool way. I like that the Kinmans tighten up the response all around, but it's not night/day for me. Overall I like the kinmans... especially the neck, which is what my ear looks for on most guitar. Which set do you have?
The set I have I believe he calls (called?) Vintage Noiseless. I got them back in '05. It seems now he has "named sets." David Gilmour inspired me to get the set I have, so I imagine his Gilmour Set is closest to the Vintage Noiseless. They're really quite nice. I don't think I've ever played through a set of Fat 50s, but your demo has me curious now. Still, it's really nice to have single coils that buck the 60-cycle hum.
As an aside, I thought you'd like to know I was turned onto your YT channel after checking out the excellent cover you did of "Sunday Afternoon in the Park." Have you checked out Electro-Harmonix's iOS emulation of the Mini-Synthesizer? Pretty sick.
Keith Messier thanks, glad you dug it! I haven't seen the EH iOS synth, will check it out. Gilmour is a ridiculous player. I'll probably get kinmans if I build a parts strat, or a Nashville Tele, will check out his set. I should mention, my student is selling the Fat 50s - about put them up on Reverb!
The kinman pickups are great, but you have to equalize differently
Man! The Fat 50s destroyed the Kinman pickups in chime and just fullness,but I'm not surprised because most true single coils IMO sound more full range than noiseless pickups,I have Strats with both,but use Dimarzio noiseless in my mine,when you can't have the hum,you need at least one noiseless Strat! But I'm a single coil guy now for sure! Nice clip! Thx!
Kasper Rouser - the more I listen back, the more I like the fat 50s for clean stuff and the kinmans for overdriven (rhythm especially... 50s are still more nicely open to me in 2/4 positions for lead). Kinmans seem tighter and more compact sonically. I really want to try building a strat with Kinman Woodstocks. Cheers!
Agreed
They both Sound Great. I am " Searching Endlessly " for a Noiseless Strat Pickup, that Retains all the Chime, Breath, Quack, and Glassy-top-end ??? Does it even Exist ? I listened to: Kinman, Mojotone, DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, Fender Gen 4 Noiseless, Zexcoil - They Still haven't cracked-the-code !!! It has gotten Better . . . but Something is Missing. I Despise that 60 Cycle Hum. How does Shur do their pickups?
The original Fat 50s win
Excellent demo - nice and easy to compare the sounds, thanks. My view? Overall, it's too close to call, but do I agree with another comment here that the Kinmans sound better on OD than the Fenders. I came here because I'm thinking of getting some Kinmans. I have three Strats on which I've had Seymour Duncan 'Everything Axe' (mini-humbucker) sets fitted but I'm not totally happy with them now. For one thing, I like the way Kinmans do accurate pole spacing - some of the poles on the SD sets are way out of whack with the strings.
Scott, I'm the same way. I play two van zandt true vintage pickups at bridge and neck and a suhr landau in the middle and I absolutely love them. But.... The power where I play is so bad, it has left me unable to play it. So, I bought a set of DiMarzio area 58,67,61 pups so I can play my favorite guitar again more regularly. Also, if you do decide to get a strat, check out some of the made in Japan reissue strats. They are such great guitars.
Iam a dimarzio area fun myself cause i think with stacked humbuckers you gain even more versatility but if you are a true single coil fan why dont you try the dummy coil mod?Get a cheap single coil pickup without the magnets and install it in your pickguard(wedge it between the pickup selector and the pots) and that ll make your strat(almost)noiseless....you can even install a switch so you can have your regular sound and your "noiseless" sound.....i really dont know if there is some cutoff to the sound but the mod is really cheap and easy(see online instructions) and if you dont like it no harm no foul....
I had Fat 50s in a Strat and really liked them. I imagine that there are Kinmans that sound a little more like them, but that might not be what your student wants. I like them both, but I prefer the smoother, slightly louder Fat 50s sound.
I like the clean tones of the Kinmans best, just a little smoother and warmer. However, if you prefer the stringy brightness, the fat 50s are more traditional sounding. Good test, cool, thanks. The Kinmans are more wide ranging, but I could see where a country player might stay with the Fat 50s twang.
In this video de fat 50's sound more enjoyable to me. I have a set called Kinman Warm Classic I bought in 2001. It has Avn-62 Mk-1 neck and middle and an Avn-59 in the bridge. I would say my pickups ride pretty close to the strings, at least closer than what you usually see single coils setup up to.
Pretty much a matter of preference. Very different pickups.
fat 50s..damn,they sound great!
Now that is how to do a comparison video.
Should've done Kinman fat 50s against the Fender fat 50s. They're both hotte than the Mayer set, which is made with a mix of Kinman's lowest output singles
Dig the 50s for the clean tones and the Kinman slightly better for the cruch and OD. Kinmans seem to have slightly less output. When it comes down to it, not enough difference for me to swap them out.
sickb2200 yeah, if noise doesn't make you nuts I don't see much reason to swap them out! I wish I would've tried the fat 50s with the Kinman harness...
Better tell mark knoffler and Clapton then their picks are crap because they use kinman
Excellent demo! Thank you. Subscribed.
6:31 I think is mis-labeled. I can hear some buzzing, but it's labeled as Kinman bridge. The very next sound has no buzz, which I'm assuming is the actual Kinman.
Mike Taffet good catch, thanks!
If you like Fat 50's, I would say get the Kinman. This way you get the Fat 50's sound without the noise. In this demo, I preferred the Kinman.
Dude why you change the attack when you play the kinmans? You are constantly raking instead of snaping at the strings and some people think because of that that the fat 50s are chimmy(er).
If I was playing them differently, it was certainly unintentional, and it’s quite subtle. Watching with the sound off, I do perhaps seem to dig into the fat 50s more. I did feel at the time the Kinmans had more harsh mid, maybe I was subconsciously compromising by softening the attack. Cheers to being human!
I may be alone in this but I thought the Fat 50's sounded better to me. Overall just richer in every frequency.
Have you tried Fender pure vintage 59 pickups ? It has snappy true vintage tone I really dig it maybe you would too
David Allen will check them out when I finally build a strat! I just put a Lollar Royal T in my Tele though - love it! Def in the strat spectrum.
Both sets sound very similar to me. The average punter couldn't tell the difference.
You gained yourself a sub!
Thanks Drew! Cheers!
Not that much difference. But the fat 50s sounded nice in some positions and the Kimans in others. This is the reason I have about 6 strats. Need to taste all the flavours !
The Kinman sound "flat"
Fender tried to buy up Kinman but he said no.
Fat 50s all the way
fat 50's by far
Hands down Custom Shop Fat '50s!!! Its Alive!!!! No kidding
Agreed... I keep thinking it'd be fun to compare some kinmans to a comparable fender set... kinda a mismatch between these and the 50s.
Kinman is slightly more polite, Fat 50 have a little more bite
Kinman wins every way .
Kinman sounds better when overdriven. Fat 50' sound better clean.
If you're playing live, then the audience wouldn't hear the very slight difference, really the Kinmans are just as good but for playing live they are better as they cut that hum out....depends on your tolerance of that noise I guess...
faaaat 50ssssssss
Fat 50s sounded muddier, especially with chords.
That is a deluxe not a standard.
Lary Parker Deluxes had N3s and locking tuners I believe. Definitely wasn’t a compound neck on this Guitar, which is also a deluxe thing.
It’s not whats better, it’s taken out of context when applied like that...
Is it because the Kinmans are Australian and the flag wavers want to show that the Fat 50s are US in a US Strat ..?
The sound is a personal preference as amps, strings and fingers aren’t the same and react different when plucked or picked.
The Fat 50s are very nice, they have a grittier sound due to midrange have been almost reduced by half, emphases towards the treble end which loses it overall control and composure when driven, but no doubt by just tweaking the tone pot a little will reign in the scratchy high end thus smoothing it out.
It definitely has the Twang on all pups, and I cannot say that to many more expensive pups out there who state that but leave you a little disappointed.
The Kinmans are subtle in a cleaner way, a more full range as it’s “EQ’d” for versatility, the driven sounds get tight and very controlled the treble tones itself down without the need to adjust the tone on the guitar, this helps when winding up the volume pot alone...
Both sets of Pups twang, undoubtedly one a little more than the other, but then again we’re not all playing country which it’s only relevant to the purchaser as that’s a excellent reason to go for the sharper twang of the Fat50s.
The classic Bell isn’t as prominent on either but they do have the chime when dialed in when picking, many said that the Fat50s are louder..? No necessarily the case, maybe the pups are lower in the scratch plate of the Kinmans, but like anything we adjust it to preference...
In a comparison, imagine the Fat 50s doing everything at a 9.0, the Kinmans do it better at a 8.5, which in playability terms as a guitar you can play various genres of music without swapping guitars, the Kinman’s are the obvious choice here, but neither are losers or winners, it’s just what made us say “Damn, those are sounding good, be needing them in my life....”
NB:
Kinman do have varied pups in the Strat types, so unfortunately once again you’re not getting an unbiased test due to that reason..
If you want an more equal test, then look at the Kinman Hank Marvins... extremely Original in tone due to his original first Strat which is true Fender sound.
HAHAHAHAHA THE FAT 50'S SOUND BETTER
The areas by dimazio sound better
Fat 50's sounded better to me
Yup I agree the Fat 50's sound better, but it's because The Scoop is designed to sound like low output mid 70's pickups, not Fat 50's. Our Impersonator E69 sound's more like the Fat 50 than the Mayer set, listen to them here >>> www.kinman.com/soundfile/Brett%20Kingman%20-%20A%20couple%20of%20Kinmans%20visit%20the%20Kingmans..MP4
Fat 50's have more top end and articulation IMHO...maybe toooooo bright in the bridge position but that can be said for 85% of ALL pups I think...most tone can be tamed with proper EQ...don't think it was worth the time and $$ for this "upgrade"...
Fat 50 win
they sound the freaking same! stop it nerds....
Alan Rubi similar, but not the same... subtleties make a difference.
go ahead, do a blind test, prove my point!
Alan Rubi good idea, Ive been wanting to do that. I will say that if I listen on my phone, I don’t hear much difference. Studio monitors and different car stereos reveal a more noticeable difference in the dynamics/attack and the mids/highs. This isn’t like comparing snake oil cables and “normal” cables though. The size and type of the magnet, coil turns, pot value/taper, capacitor values (though not the material) make a notable change in character, and theoretically should make more of a difference than many mods that are mostly placebo. I think the mistake many musicians make is to think that one is better than the other. This is all subjective for the most part.
@@odiumpugnator472 I totally understand your sentiments and to extent I agree with you. But Kinman's are no longer ordinary noiseless, we have made great advances in our technology in recent years to the point that some of my Strat models meet and even exceed Fender pickups. One such example is the game-changer new Texas Jalapeno and the low output Impersonator E69, listen to the E69 here and I'm sure it'll change your thinking www.kinman.com/soundfile/Brett%20Kingman%20-%20A%20couple%20of%20Kinmans%20visit%20the%20Kingmans..MP4
Fat fifties are definitely better