Lace Music

specs: * Position: neck * Resistance: 13.5k * Peak Frequency: 2260 * Inductance: 6.5 henries * Position: bridge * Resistance: 24k * Peak Frequency: 2260 * Inductance: 6.5 henries These are lace's response to passive EMG equivalents, which they are not. In fact, I'd go as far out to say that they are their own thing, in a good or bad way is subjective. They definitely did not do as well on the market as EMGs did. But those that have tried them mainly have said good things to say. I had a set of these pickups in a mahogany explorer and they sounded great together. The neck pickup is very clear, yet deep and yes articulate. Articulate is what these pickups really are and also very dynamic. Though they're high gain pickups I wouldn't say that they are as high gain as EMGs. I don't know what it is, maybe it's just the mis-matched coils but it doesn't sound like the same type of 'high gain' that EMGs would thus these pickups being something else entirely. The clean is also decent, plenty of headroom even with the pickup height quite high. Though it's definitely not glassy or twangy or shimmery or anything like that. The bridge pickup is quite nice too, VERY articulate, strong mids and a good amount of presence and bass. It sounds a little scooped but not completely, still very usable.The distortion is very clear, and the tone I cannot say is modern or vintage but sort of neutral, which is why I can't rate it so well. I don't know what to think of it, it's not so special but it's not completely lifeless either. The overall tone of these pickups is good, articulate and clear and dare I say transparent. These are definitely not similar in sound to EMGs whatsoever, though they are very good and unique. If you’re looking for clear, high gain and articulate pickups these are a good bet. But I can see why these didn't take off, the complete neutral-tone of them has people guessing.

Lace Sensors first came onto the market in the mid 80s and were used in many high end Fender Guitars for many years. They were exclusively found on Fenders for almost a decade. Guitar players like Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy have used Lace Sensors in their guitars in the studio and on stage. The Lace Sensor is a unique pickup because it has a special system that reduces the typical single coil noise. Lace calls it their radiant field barrier system. Lace states that their pickups generate 36 seperate magnetic sensing fields in which it can detect the string vibration. These fields are then heavily sheilded to reduce the noise that you typically associate with single coil pickups. Due to their unique design the Lace Sensors can pickup a greater physical area on the string. All while detecting less outside unwanted noise. Because the pickups are so efficient in picking up the string and not the noise the pickups can use less powerful magnets. Because the magnets are less powerful this reduces the string drag and string pull effect the pickups have on the strings. String drag is when the magnetic field of the pickup effects the string and causes the sustain of the string to decrease. String pull is when this magnetic field changes the pitch of the string. The Lace Sensor Purple is a new model from the company. They state its tone is between the warm Lace Sensor Blue and the hot and fat Lace Sensor Burgundy. I would recommend using the Purple in the bridge position as it may be too hot for the neck position. The recorded output of the pickup is 10.5k which to me is getting to the point of being almost too hot for a single coil. With its decently high output it is good for any type of music where output is needed. The pickup will easily give your strat a very Richie Blackmore tone. If you are looking for a hot but usable single coil pickup for your strat this may be the way to go.

The Lace Sensor red is one of the hottest Lace Sensor pickups they produce. Because it is so hot it kinda limits its usefulness. Lace Sensor Pickups were introduced in the mid 80s and used exclusively in Fender Guitars till the mid 90s. They use a special magnet setup that allows them to use less powerful magnets to pick up the string and only the string. These magnets will only pick up the vibration of the string and not any background noise. The Lace Sensor Red has a reported output of 14.5k which is already a lot. Lace Sensor will tell you that the output of their pickups is deceptive because they use such low power magnets. It may be reported at 14.5k but the real output is much higher. In a standard Stratocaster guitar setup with 3 pickups normally the red would be in the bridge position with possibly a Silver in the middle and Gold in the neck. The output for the Gold pickup is only 5.8k and the Silver is 7.1k. This means that the Red in the bridge is almost twice the reported output of the next hottest pickup in the guitar. This will cause an annoyingly large jump in volume when switching between the pickups. If I dial in a clean tone I will have to remember that the bridge pickup is so hot that it will probably push my clean tone if I switch to the bridge pickup. The strat setup is made for versatility and this hurts that. The Red is good for certain things. If you were playing punk rock for example the Red might be perfect for you. Its hot aggressive single coil sound may be what you are looking for in your guitar if you want to play some angry punk rock.

The Lace Sensor was one of the first noiseless single coils out on the market. They first came out in the mid 80s and Fender was the only company allowed to use them until the mid 90s. Fender guitars from the top of the line all the way to the bottom used Lace Sensors and many Fender players from the ear swear by them up and down. Many famous players still use them nowadays. The Edge from U2 and Eric Clapton are some of the bigger ones. The Lace Senor is a truly modern single coil design. I love when guitar companies are willing to advance the design of their products to help improve them instead of pandering to traditionalists. The Lace Senor design was pretty ground breaking at the time when it came to single coils. The Lace Sensor is a unique pickup because it has a special system that reduces the typical single coil noise. Lace calls it their radiant field barrier system. Lace states that their pickups generate 36 seperate magnetic sensing fields in which it can detect the string vibration. These fields are then heavily sheilded to reduce the noise that you typically associate with single coil pickups. Due to their unique design the Lace Sensors can pickup a greater physical area on the string. All while detecting less outside unwanted noise. Because the pickups are so efficient in picking up the string and not the noise the pickups can use less powerful magnets. Because the magnets are less powerful this reduces the string drag and string pull effect the pickups have on the strings. String drag is when the magnetic field of the pickup effects the string and causes the sustain of the string to decrease. String pull is when this magnetic field changes the pitch of the string. With the plastic covers on these pickups there is not any noise with the strings hitting the pole pieces either. These are truly modern single coil pickups. These Gold models have a typical single coil output of 5K. There are some super hot Lace Sensors that I would not recommend since they are so hot they have a very harsh sound. These Gold Lace Sensors are perfect. They really capture the single coil sound but do not give you the noise that you have probably gotten use to over the last 50 years. If you are looking for a set of Single coils that have the traditional single coils sound and output without the traditional noise these pickups have been the standard for noiseless single coils for 30 years.