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I was planning to drop a pair of vintage-spec pickups into my 'stang build, but for what I'll be using it for I've decided that something a bit hotter and ballsy might be better for cutting through a live mix or sitting alongside overdubs done with my JM. Since it's a '65 RI the body rout wouldn't accomodate full-size humbuckers, so a pair of Sensors may be what I need.

What experience do you guys have with Sensors in your 'stangs? Is the Blue too muddy? The Silver too lacking in character? The Red too hot? When she's completed I'll be plugging her into RATs, Muffs and reverbs to compensate for my sloppy technique so while I'm not going into TEH KURDZ territory, I'll be ripping off old-school Pumpkins and shoegazey/noisy bits of the 90s. The stock spec units might be a bit too weak for all that...or are they?

I also live in the UK so although there are some really good Stateside makers, I'm sick of getting stung by Customs and Arselfarce's clearance fee procedures so I'd prefer brands that are made/widely available here.

Calling Honeyiscool to thrad. Calling Honeyiscool to thrad.

Heh, arselfarce.

I had a silver and gold in a Jag. Good at loud volumes but really dull and flat otherwise. None of the nuances of proper single coils but YMMMMMMMV. Excuse me....
You could fit any flat pole strat pickups in there though right? I'd get some GFS overwound singles. Even with customs (which you would avoid on some sets) the price is still worth it.

All I know is that Red Lace Sensors sound like a (mid)scoop of poop. I'd imagine that blue/silver/etc would be solid choices though.

Sparky wrote:All I know is that Red Lace Sensors sound like a (mid)scoop of poop. I'd imagine that blue/silver/etc would be solid choices though.

I have a red lace sensor in the bridge of my Comp-stang RI and it sounds great. Unfortunately, it still has the stock '69 neck pup, which is okay. I think I might upgrade to an Emerald sensor or higher to make it a full on Rock machine.

65ri pickups kick ass.

they have grey bottoms just like the vintage ones

69ri pups can suck it.

I put seymour duncan sjag3 quarter pounder jaguar pups in my compstang.

a term I would use to describe them would be gigantic balls

Dave wrote:Calling Honeyiscool to thrad. Calling Honeyiscool to thrad.

Haha.

I've tried the Hot Gold + Hot Gold combo in a Mustang before, and that sounded great. I currently use the RW Silver + Purple combination. I like how it sounds a lot, and I use a Series option so that I can get a huge bump in output when I need it and I switch mainly between Neck and Neck + Bridge series most of the time. For a good combination of power and jangle, I think two Hot Golds do the trick.

Also, an intriguing combo would be something like a Hot Gold in the neck and a RW Silver in the bridge. I do think the reverse wound Sensors are worth it. They're low noise, not noiseless, so the reduction in noise is quite in the combined positions is worth it, even in well shielded guitars like Mustangs.

This is what a RW Silver + Purple sound like through an AC15.

[youtube][/youtube]

Emerald is great, too, but I've never tried it with a SC bridge pickup, only with the stock JB on the KC Mustang.

I personally think the Red is only good for one thing only, and that's functioning as a bass pickup in a Bronco or Musicmaster Bass, where it sounds absolutely amazing and better than any pickup ever, so I'm glad it's amazing at that one thing, but I think it has no place in a guitar. That said, I've only tried it once, on a Telecaster, and my only amp at the time was a JC-120, and Radiohead gets awesome guitar sounds w/ a Red Dually, so take that with a grain of salt.

Blue and Gold are good pickups. However, I think they're a little generic for me. Blue is quite good in the neck if you want that smooth sound, but then it doesn't really match with any bridge pickup that isn't a Red, and I don't like Red. As for lowering the pickup height, Lace Sensors sound best close to the strings, so it's best to match outputs by picking the right colors. Gold can be rather nice. It is decent in all positions, but anything good about the Gold is better in a Hot gold.

Chrome Domes are OK, but the specs sheet makes them seem like shiny Hot Golds, and that, they're not. I much prefer just about any other noiseless pickup to the Chrome Domes, and I really wanted to like the Chrome Domes.

So yeah, that's me. If you're keeping count, I've tried: Silver, Blue, Gold, Hot Gold, Hot Gold Hot Bridge, Red, Emerald, Chrome Domes, and Purple. The fact that I keep going back to them probably means they work for me.

My personal rec is that you decide whether you want closer to the Pumpkins sound or you want a more shoegazey sound. Pumpkins sound is best done with a Red + Blue, but I'd suggest Blue + Silver instead for versatility's sake. I wouldn't suggest a Purple in the bridge because it's not quite ballsy enough to truly hit an amp hard, though if you use pedals...

If you want to emphasize the shoegaze, I'd say get the Hot Gold Hot Bridge + Hot Gold. Honestly, that set is so versatile it does everything well. You want to back off the neck pickup height a little to mellow it out just a little bit and bring that bridge pickup nice and close so you get maximum output. Or, you can use two standard Hot Golds if you want the absolute best chime in the in-phase both pickups position. The combination I use, Purple + Silver, is great for a driving lead sound but I have a rhythm guitar player who plays on a Vox so I don't really want too much treble, though I can get it, it's not the strong point. Your needs are probably not mine.

One last thing. Try 500k pots.

taylornutt wrote:I have a red lace sensor in the bridge of my Comp-stang RI and it sounds great. Unfortunately, it still has the stock '69 neck pup, which is okay. I think I might upgrade to an Emerald sensor or higher to make it a full on Rock machine.

Emerald Sensor is a great neck pickup for a Mustang. It's a lot more ballsy than the output level suggests and works great with high output bridge.

This guy's video might help. Red lace in the bridge, blue in the neck. Audio isn't exactly pristine, but it's not bad.

[youtube][/youtube]

I guess Red Laces can't be too bad, but they just sounded terrible to me unless I had my Big Muff engaged. I had a Red Lace dually that I could never get on with. First it was in my Jagmaster, then later in my Univox Hi Flyer, neither to my satisfaction.

taylornutt wrote:I have a red lace sensor in the bridge of my Comp-stang RI and it sounds great. Unfortunately, it still has the stock '69 neck pup, which is okay. I think I might upgrade to an Emerald sensor or higher to make it a full on Rock machine.

honeyiscool wrote:Emerald Sensor is a great neck pickup for a Mustang. It's a lot more ballsy than the output level suggests and works great with high output bridge.

I remember we discussed that once upon a time. Once I get an Emerald, I can do a demo. Then we can see how the Emerald and Red coexist. I have not demoed my Comp-stang RI, but I did demo my Mullet-stang with NOS pickups.

[youtube][/youtube]

If I could find a better profiled Mustang neck to go with the Comp-stang, that would make it even more killer.

Cheers y'all...that's really helpful. Much appreciated. I liked the idea of a Red in the bridge for high-gain fuzz, but not if that's all it's good for. I guess I'm pretty much 50/50 between clean and distortion so I'm prepared to compromise.

A Silver in the bridge and Blue in the neck might be a really versatile alternative (basically the 'Siamese Dream Strat' combination without the one trick pony Red) but I like the idea of Hot Golds even more if I can find a set. As I understand it, they're a low-noise alternative to medium output Strat pups? I kinda like the idea of that. All the jangly goodness, but with a bit more clout for bluesy or feedback-laden moments.

But yeah, any Strat-style pup that doesn't have staggered polepieces ought to work...the issue of the pots was the other thing I was going to ask about, so I'll make sure I install 500ks if I do go for Sensors. Thanks!

Blue is a lot hotter than a Silver. That would be really unbalanced, since neck pickups are usually louder.

I think Hot Golds, despite their name, should be thought of as very sparkly and toneful low-output pickups.

I had an Emerald bridge + Silver neck combo in my Jag-Stang for ages (the Emerald crapped out so i stuck the original neck pickup in there and never bothered to put the replacement Emerald in). Sounded great for my purposes (The Swirlies/Pavement/MBV/DinoJr etc) and the neck never overpowered the bridge.

+1 to adding series switching to a Mustang, as much as i love the OOP sound series is perfect for thick cleaner sounds (or if you can get phase switching in there too you cam make a pseudo humbucker sound by having both pickups on it series but out of phase).

If I'm keeping my 65RI neck pup what should I put in the bridge to be a bit louder? but still balanced

honeyiscool wrote:

Dave wrote:Calling Honeyiscool to thrad. Calling Honeyiscool to thrad.

Haha.

I've tried the Hot Gold + Hot Gold combo in a Mustang before, and that sounded great. I currently use the RW Silver + Purple combination. I like how it sounds a lot, and I use a Series option so that I can get a huge bump in output when I need it and I switch mainly between Neck and Neck + Bridge series most of the time. For a good combination of power and jangle, I think two Hot Golds do the trick.

Also, an intriguing combo would be something like a Hot Gold in the neck and a RW Silver in the bridge. I do think the reverse wound Sensors are worth it. They're low noise, not noiseless, so the reduction in noise is quite in the combined positions is worth it, even in well shielded guitars like Mustangs.

This is what a RW Silver + Purple sound like through an AC15.

[youtube][/youtube]

Emerald is great, too, but I've never tried it with a SC bridge pickup, only with the stock JB on the KC Mustang.

I personally think the Red is only good for one thing only, and that's functioning as a bass pickup in a Bronco or Musicmaster Bass, where it sounds absolutely amazing and better than any pickup ever, so I'm glad it's amazing at that one thing, but I think it has no place in a guitar. That said, I've only tried it once, on a Telecaster, and my only amp at the time was a JC-120, and Radiohead gets awesome guitar sounds w/ a Red Dually, so take that with a grain of salt.

Blue and Gold are good pickups. However, I think they're a little generic for me. Blue is quite good in the neck if you want that smooth sound, but then it doesn't really match with any bridge pickup that isn't a Red, and I don't like Red. As for lowering the pickup height, Lace Sensors sound best close to the strings, so it's best to match outputs by picking the right colors. Gold can be rather nice. It is decent in all positions, but anything good about the Gold is better in a Hot gold.

Chrome Domes are OK, but the specs sheet makes them seem like shiny Hot Golds, and that, they're not. I much prefer just about any other noiseless pickup to the Chrome Domes, and I really wanted to like the Chrome Domes.

So yeah, that's me. If you're keeping count, I've tried: Silver, Blue, Gold, Hot Gold, Hot Gold Hot Bridge, Red, Emerald, Chrome Domes, and Purple. The fact that I keep going back to them probably means they work for me.

My personal rec is that you decide whether you want closer to the Pumpkins sound or you want a more shoegazey sound. Pumpkins sound is best done with a Red + Blue, but I'd suggest Blue + Silver instead for versatility's sake. I wouldn't suggest a Purple in the bridge because it's not quite ballsy enough to truly hit an amp hard, though if you use pedals...

If you want to emphasize the shoegaze, I'd say get the Hot Gold Hot Bridge + Hot Gold. Honestly, that set is so versatile it does everything well. You want to back off the neck pickup height a little to mellow it out just a little bit and bring that bridge pickup nice and close so you get maximum output. Or, you can use two standard Hot Golds if you want the absolute best chime in the in-phase both pickups position. The combination I use, Purple + Silver, is great for a driving lead sound but I have a rhythm guitar player who plays on a Vox so I don't really want too much treble, though I can get it, it's not the strong point. Your needs are probably not mine.

One last thing. Try 500k pots.

taylornutt wrote:I have a red lace sensor in the bridge of my Comp-stang RI and it sounds great. Unfortunately, it still has the stock '69 neck pup, which is okay. I think I might upgrade to an Emerald sensor or higher to make it a full on Rock machine.

Emerald Sensor is a great neck pickup for a Mustang. It's a lot more ballsy than the output level suggests and works great with high output bridge.

Wow! Very inciteful reviews.

Are you familiar with the Bronco student model guitar? I ask because I have a 1967 Bronco that someone changed the original pickup for a knockoff strat pickup. I want to replace the strat pickup with one that will match the originals sound or maybe one that sounds better than the original. What would you suggest?

I found this on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... SS:US:1123

Thanks,

HIC, your willingness to type novels on message boards has always thrilled me. Great info, now I'm going to check some lace sensors out.

Although not a Mustang My Jaguar has a Lace Sensor pickup in the bridge position. It's either a red or a gold I'm not entirely sure.

Heres Doog playing it:
[youtube][/youtube]