[the-tone]

After my great experience with the Stuart BG's I decided to change everything over to Stuart's. I did so because he really convinced my that measuring pickups in Ohm's and such is no real way to judge a pickup. There are to many factors that play an important part. Stuart proved it to me literally. I have also never ever, ever heard pickups with such a rich complexity and harmonic detail! And it obviously does not matter what pickups Fred winds. Tele or Strat, Gibson or Gretsch, I now know they all have it.

After a lot of research online I figured out that Fred makes quite a few different pickups and not just what's on Jason's website. And after having talked to Jason on several occasions(best customer service I've ever gotten) and explaining that while I'm truly ecstatic over Fred's regular 60' set, I'm looking for something a little different for my other strat. That's when I learned about Fred's "Stevie" set! HEY!!! that sounded good to my ears.

I ordered 2 sets. One for me and one for a great friend of mine. It was funny, cause right after I finished installing the pups in my own strat and hit the first note....... LOL!!!! I couldn't believe my ears. We both busted out laughing. No, that couldn't be real? it actually sounded like Stevie, for real! Same attack and frequency range where the note breaks. I was really amazed. I quickly installed the other set in my friends strat and got the exact same result. His strat sounds noticeably different than mine, but that same vibe was VERY present. I don't know what Fred knows or what he did but these pups are the first I've ever used that actually really captures that tone and feel. Big, but not bassy, Edgy, but not harsh, full and punchy in the mids while not feeling stiff.

These pickups are different from others I've used before with similar specs. While this set measures 6.16K-6.4K-6.6K (the other set was slightly hotter), they're still incredible sweet sounding, bouncy and very dynamic. The highs are very punchy and slightly compressed. That makes it feel like the note blooms and then bounces back at you. The bass is BIG, round and extremely present, and the mids are just prefect. Usually on set's similar to this, I find the mids to be to overpowering, leaving my guitar feeling stiff to play. That takes away from the dynamics and touch sensitivity of the pickup, and also kills the sweetness I feel every strat pickup has to contain. This set has it's mids focused in the magical frequency range. It defiantly has more mids and a punchier bass response than Fred's 60' set, making it a bit more aggressive. Yet, it still contains it's sweetness and character with a complex harmonic detail and note bloom. I do not have to re EQ my amp when switching form one strat to another. For some reason, it works.

The pickups hum in all 5 positions, it's all old-school and real. I was worried at first, cause through the years I've come to prefer lower wound pickups, but Fred cured me of that believe. It's not about the meter readings!!!

Conclusion:

The Stevie set has that BIG tone so many players look for. You get the slight scooped mids, a piano like bass and a beautiful chimey and punchy high-end response. Think, Live at El Mocambo. I really do believe that these pickups faithfully reproduces the Stevie vibe. I've never been this close, ever.

I'll try and post some video next week. Thanks for reading.

-Jacob