Hi there.
I was watching Neal Schon playing "lights" and I really liked the sound of the neck pickup (regardless of all the effects).

if you want to take a look, the link is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v6ecBv-woM

What I found on the web is that the guitar is a strat plus using lace sensors
(I suspect gold).

So I read about the lace sensors, particularly the gold one, and as you already know, it is said that it has the vintage strat bell like sound but with less hum and more sustain.
From what i understand, the increased sustain is due to less magnetic pull.

Hum is somethnig I can deal with so, what I am asking is, in your experience, is the sustain improvement significant - noticeable compared to CS pickups?

If yes, I might consider replacing the CS fat 50s neck pu in one of my 2 strats. (The other will have TS from tomorrow )

I know i should go to a store and play a guitar with lace sensors rather than bothering you but where I live there is hardly any chance to find such a strat.

So please, post your opinions.

All the best,

lace sensors are really great pickups, i dont think people give them enough credit a lot of the time. if you decide you want to go with lace then figure out what level of output you want and go from there with your decision

Have not tried the CS pups, but I got a pre-wired Lace pick guard from MF with the golds in it and I don't really like them at all, they don't sound like a Strat to me, plus, they are in a Korina Strat body from Warmoth, so that's not going to sound like a Strat anyway. I did get a set of Emerald, Silver and Purple in my #1 that just screams all day!,and don't forget that there are Golds and Hot Golds and they have a few different prewired pick guard sets now, if you feel like going that way.

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I like the Golds. I had a the Red/Silver/Blue set and hated them. Bought some VN's and gave those sensors to my nephew. I haven't played the CS fat 50's, but I would definitely try to find a guitar with Lace sensors in it before changing that pickup set. JMO.

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they are laces alrite- very typical lace sound His strat is interesting- Its not a strat plus, its actually a modded Floyd Rose Strat with three laces. The colour is really throwing me though- its arctic white like an MIM yet MIA came in Vintage white, a 22fret neck with locking nut... perhaps a Partscaster too

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I replaced the three gold Lace sensor in my strat. with three Dimarzio Area pick-ups (Area 67 neck, 61 middle, 58 bridge). What a difference.

I wanted noiseless pick-ups like the Lace sensor's. Some people love the Lace sensor's and some people don't. For me, it was OK. But switching to the Dimarzio's made a great difference. A totally different guitar. All three pick-ups have their own personnality. The guitar seemed to get alive.

Very good! you can tell it is a FR strat cause of the decal, no "Custom Contour" decal, and headstock truss rod access. those are actually quite rare. considered buying one several times.

I loved laces, as a big Plus collector. now that I am Plus-less, don't really care for them. but then again I've been spoiled by the masterbuilt Fat '50s in my '64 Relic

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They are a rare find for sure. I am a great fan of your '64 C. Tangerine Chanman

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there are various Lace sensor colors, but quite honestly, i think a set of all Gold is the best in that its the most neutral "strat" setup. low output, flat frequency response. i dont want my pickups doing much tone coloring, but thats just me maybe.

however, this may be slightly hypocritical, but i really like the Hot Golds, which are essentially regular gold with a slight bump in output. they have a better upper midrange response, which actually is a good thing. they sound a bit livlier and have depth. i have a hot gold in the neck, and regular gold in the bridge and middle. weird story, i didnt do that on purpose, but its not a bad setup. the middle is already midsy as is, and the bridge doesn't need any more presence, so the regular gold does fine there. i think the neck is probably the only spot that really benefits from the Hot Gold, but i cant say that for sure, just my prediction.

sensors get a bad rap because they are not "true traditonal single coils". people call them humbuckers, which they are not. the confusion arises from the way the magnetic fields differ from true single coils. (you can see in the diagram on the website). however, humbuckers are dual coil, and have 2 mag. fields. the Lace sensor still has one field, except it is is "split" so-to-speak. instead of using a pole as an axis, the north and south sides are on either side of the magnet, which appears as 2 separate fields.
they also have a smaller magnetic field, which may provide a small bit of compression, but these Golds are still very "Stratty" and i have no problems getting good quack in the notch positions. they are still very dynamic, percussive, and touch sensitive.

i dont totally buy into the increased sustain thing. i dont sense much difference with that, i think it was more of a marketing ploy. the main advantage with the sensors is that they dampen some of the 60 cycle without sounding bland like the Cobalt's or the Vintage Noiseless.
with that note, you might be interested in Lace Holy Grail's. even those get mixed reviews though.

overall i'm satisfied with the sensors, namely gold and hot gold. was not a bad buy.

Go to www.xhefriguitars.com and contact him through his website. He is our Strat Plus guru and if anyone can give you the info you seek, he can.
Also, be sitting down. He's got a knockdown collection.

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"