Kinman vs ...

[FrontPU]

Is there anyone could tell about Kinman tele PUs?

I have tried lots of PUs on my teles, including Fender's stocks from 50s to present, Harmonic Design's, Fralin's, Lollar's, Duncan's, Dimazio's, etc, but never tried their PUs.

I'd appreciate much if you could tell me your impression on Kinman's in comparison w/ any brand I named above. (My favorite tele PU set is Harmonic Design Chrometone/'54 Special.)

Thank you in advance.

[HarleyDavid]

At the advice and urging of a friend(and excellent guitarist), I purchased some Kinman's for my '52 re-issue about 10 years ago. I immediately noticed there was pretty much no difference..I don't know if they sell them in the US now, but I dealt directly with them in Australia..They were a bit pricey and shipping was stupid.(and they sent me the wrong neck PU, so shipping was 2x stupid)..
FYI-dave

[Zillinois]

I've tried them in a strat a while back, and wasn't impressed at all. They seemed to clip both the treble/high end and the bass/low end at certain frequencies, which was not "chimy" or "bell like" at all IMO.

[tpaul]

I had a set of their strat pickups for a long time. They were fantastic sounding with no noise. But when I tried a set of their Tele pickups, I was not impressed. This was years ago and they may have improved since then.

P.S. if you want noiseless tele pickups I can recommend DiMarzio Area Tele pickups, and they also make nice single coil size double blade pickups.

[Teledelphia]

Another vote for the DiMarzio Area T's. They are quiet and most importantly, sound like a real Tele pu should.

[Jake D]

I have a friend that swears by Kinmans and based upon his recommendation, I've had another friend try Kinmans was was nonplussed. To me noiseless tele pickups lack something.

[variantboy]

well.. i hate to pile on here.. but i had a set of the noiseless tele pickups and they were all high mid 'crunch' sound - that very "magnet-y" sound, with not a lot of broadness in frequency spectrum. I was not a fan, and sold them not long after trying them for a couple of weeks. This was about 8 or 9 years ago - so perhaps they have changed. I think this was a personal taste thing, as i could see someone going for that sound - just not me:)

[Telenator]

I have a few sets of Kinman Strat pickups that I totally dig. They sound terrific. I also have a set of his P90's which I haven't tried yet but will as soon as I finish the guitar they're going in!

[theblustrat]

I started using Kinman Mk-IIIs in my strats about 15 years ago and have been thrilled with them. They breathe! So when I got my tele thinline 10 years ago I immediately installed a set of Kinman '63 tele pups and have been really happy with them as well.

The tele neck pup is a unique design that follows the fingerboard radius (including the pup cover!) and is very warm and usable. The bridge pup has plenty of tele twang but sounds great overdriven as well. My favorite sound is the two pups together; again these sound really good both clean and overdriven.

Of course since all these pups are "noiseless" they record really well too. No having to find that "sweet spot" where your pups aren't putting out as much hum.

Hope that's helpful.

[Tele-phone man]

I tried a Kinman Broadcaster lead pup about ten years ago. I HATED it. It was SO harsh and piercing that I felt it went way beyond a traditional Tele pup. I immediately removed it and put back the Wilde L280TL that it had replaced. That pickup is still in that guitar and is going nowhere.

I noticed your list didn't include any Wilde pickup. You are considering the Kinman pups, but have never tried the DiMarzio Area pups or the Wilde pups, yet the Kinman's cost two to three times as much as either of those options. Any particular reason why you are attracted to the Kinman's as opposed to these other less expensive options?

[FrontPU]

Originally Posted by HarleyDavid

At the advice and urging of a friend(and excellent guitarist), I purchased some Kinman's for my '52 re-issue about 10 years ago. I immediately noticed there was pretty much no difference..I don't know if they sell them in the US now, but I dealt directly with them in Australia..They were a bit pricey and shipping was stupid.(and they sent me the wrong neck PU, so shipping was 2x stupid)..
FYI-dave

Thanks for your story w/ Kinman. They still seem sold here in the USA, too.

[FrontPU]

Originally Posted by Zillinois

I've tried them in a strat a while back, and wasn't impressed at all. They seemed to clip both the treble/high end and the bass/low end at certain frequencies, which was not "chimy" or "bell like" at all IMO.

Some years ago, Bruce Arnold let me try his '57 RI Strat w/ Kinman PUs, and I got very similar impression on it to yours.
You know, however, many makers tend to let their tele PUs have different taste, that's why the question...
But thanks for the post, I'm glad to know there is someone to share similar sense.

[FrontPU]

Originally Posted by tpaul

I had a set of their strat pickups for a long time. They were fantastic sounding with no noise. But when I tried a set of their Tele pickups, I was not impressed. This was years ago and they may have improved since then.

P.S. if you want noiseless tele pickups I can recommend DiMarzio Area Tele pickups, and they also make nice single coil size double blade pickups.

Thank you very much for the info, it's important that you have tried their tele PUs.
Area T's are very good PUs, I used to have them on my tele.
Sold them to my friend and he's a very happy owner.

[FrontPU]

Originally Posted by Jake D

I have a friend that swears by Kinmans and based upon his recommendation, I've had another friend try Kinmans was was nonplussed. To me noiseless tele pickups lack something.

Thanks for the post, as far as I experienced on their "Strat" PUs some a few years ago, I felt theirs were very clear but so middy yet SO thin (with less dynamics of treble & bass).
But again, their Strat PUs were fantastically clear.

[FrontPU]

Originally Posted by Telenator

I have a few sets of Kinman Strat pickups that I totally dig. They sound terrific. I also have a set of his P90's which I haven't tried yet but will as soon as I finish the guitar they're going in!

Thanks, some friends of mine love their Strat PUs in the use for large pedal board or computer, maybe for its clarity.

[FrontPU]

Originally Posted by theblustrat

I started using Kinman Mk-IIIs in my strats about 15 years ago and have been thrilled with them. They breathe! So when I got my tele thinline 10 years ago I immediately installed a set of Kinman '63 tele pups and have been really happy with them as well.

The tele neck pup is a unique design that follows the fingerboard radius (including the pup cover!) and is very warm and usable. The bridge pup has plenty of tele twang but sounds great overdriven as well. My favorite sound is the two pups together; again these sound really good both clean and overdriven.

Of course since all these pups are "noiseless" they record really well too. No having to find that "sweet spot" where your pups aren't putting out as much hum.

Hope that's helpful.

Thank you very much for the info.
Could you let me know whether your Kinman tele set is "Broadcaster" or "'60s"?
And I'd appreciate much if you could let me know your tele PU history comparable to the Kinman tele sets.

[FrontPU]

Originally Posted by Tele-phone man

I tried a Kinman Broadcaster lead pup about ten years ago. I HATED it. It was SO harsh and piercing that I felt it went way beyond a traditional Tele pup. I immediately removed it and put back the Wilde L280TL that it had replaced. That pickup is still in that guitar and is going nowhere.

I noticed your list didn't include any Wilde pickup. You are considering the Kinman pups, but have never tried the DiMarzio Area pups or the Wilde pups, yet the Kinman's cost two to three times as much as either of those options. Any particular reason why you are attracted to the Kinman's as opposed to these other less expensive options?

Thank you for the info.

The short list of mine above with "etc." is not the whole list of mine.
I'm not able to type all the list of my tele PU experience here, it would be TOO long making you hate to see.

I have played/owned countless teles (but Kinman's) for more than 30 years for tele, being a guitar dealer for several years in the past.

No, I'm not considering Kinman tele PUs at this point, but just would like you here to give me your experiences with theirs.

I like your favorite sets of tele PUs and actually had them on my teles in the past.

[david henman]

...my kinmans traditional mk IIs sounded great to my ears, right up until the day a friend of mine got me to a/b my kinman-equipped strat up against his stock strat pickups.

[Wayne Alexander]

We don't all have the same ears, or preferences. The Kinman Broadcaster pickups in my Nocaster RI sound spectacular, and give up absolutely nothing compared to good singlecoil Tele type pickups. Now I play through Vox and Matchless and 65 Amps, which are very juicy and harmonic-laden sounding amps, that makes a big difference in what a guitar sounds like compared to playing through "flatter" more neutral sounding amps (such as the blackface and silverface Fenders that are so popular around here).

[Derek Kiernan]

Another Wilde recommendation here. The L200s are a very sweet Alnico pickup with as much clarity as possible, and with better highs than the vast majority of conventional singles on the market.