I am glad to see other fans of the Lace Sensors. I really like them. I have four of them on my Ultra.

The Red Dually when used together is really a dark powerful sound that remains absolutely clear and articulated. I don't use it much, but when I'm fooling around I know its there. I'd call it heavy metal on steroids. When I use the coil tap I get a Tele bite sound on the lower pickup; the upper pickup is just clean and less bitey, like a single coil normal strat. This upper bridge pickup is what I use a lot for clean leads. The bottom one is really twangy, like my Broadcaster pickup on the Baja Tele, but with no noise.

The noiseless quality is what makes these things great. I still have my 1970 Stratocaster, and while good, it is a noisy mess. I don't get much hum from those 70's pickups, but they are noticeably noisier in whatever passages you are playing. So I always reach for my Ultra, a lot.

The Blue in the neck position is very smooth jazzy. It won't sound like a jazzbox, but it comes close. The resistance is pretty high(12.8k) which gives it a slightly overdriven quality. I think low resistance pickups are more old school sounding and used in jazz a lot; actually my Baja Tele gives me a better jazz box sound in the 4th position w/ the pickups in series, like humbucker lite. But in smooth jazz this sound can't be beat.

I get normal Strat quack tones in the 2nd and 4th positions. I gotta have the coil-tap in the up single coil position though. I get an out of phase sound with the coil tap down.

In all I have 11 combinations of sounds on my Ultra. The middle position(3rd) is one that is great for rhythm work, but that position is like a Tele in that it combines the bridge and neck pickups with the coil tap in play. This is unique on the Ultra. The middle Gold I never have heard, alone. But its why the guitar has a solid Strat sound.

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2007 Classic Player Baja Telecaster
1991 Strat Ultra
1990 Gibson ES-347
1986 Yamaha SBG2100
1980 Gibson L6-S
1971 Stratocaster
Fender Stage Lead Combo
Marshall MOSFET 100 watt Amp

sorry for the duplicate

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2007 Classic Player Baja Telecaster
1991 Strat Ultra
1990 Gibson ES-347
1986 Yamaha SBG2100
1980 Gibson L6-S
1971 Stratocaster
Fender Stage Lead Combo
Marshall MOSFET 100 watt Amp

Do you've installed the Clapton Boost Kit on your guitar? I know that the Ultra came with the TBX for the bridge/middle pickups and a standard tone for the neck pickup like the JB model and the other Pluses.

The Clapton Boost was OEM on the Custom Shop 35th Anniversary Stratocaster, for which the Ultra is based. This guitar featured three Silver Lace Sensors and a 2-way toggle switch for further pickup combinations. Only 500 examples were produced between 1989 and 1991.

I thought that Fender purchased Lace. At any rate, it seems as though the Lace is either a love it or hate it sound. I happen to love the Lace sound and the strat plus that utilized it. I would describe the sound as very unique and that it feels like a "wants-to-get-under-your-skin-chimey" sound.

WOW what a nice guitar chromeface. I'll bet it sounds great.

Here's some screamin lace sensors for you, hot gold series

Mmmh, very tasty axe

The Warmoth birdseye maple neck has beautiful abalone dots and 22 jumbo frets. The headstock has a nice silver transitional decal.

The bridge pickup is the "hot" 13.2K variant, which is great for kickass lead solos. The neck/middle pickups are the more conventional 6.0K units with lots of quack, snap, snarl and bite into the mix.

Not sure 100% if all the pickups are 6.0K or 13.2K.

Lace offers a set of Hot Gold singles (6.0K) with a hot bridge pickup (13.2K). You can eventually order a whole 6.0K set for a traditional Strat vibe or a high output 13.2K set for a screaming fat lead sound.

BTW, this guitar feels like an early 1980s "Strat" with its gold-plated brass control knobs!

It's actually a MightyMite neck, which aren't always known as the highest quality but this one is killer, very nice quality and couldn't be happier. It's also a gold decal, not silver.

You did get it right on the bridge though, it does have the higher output on that one.

80's? I started collecting the pieces in 2004 and finished it in 2009!

Seems to me that xhefri is the guy to ask....

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"Another day in paradise!"

One of the top 3 strats I've ever played was a purple Jeff Beck model, one of the old ones with the lace sensors. With a Mesa amp, the sound was sheer bliss. I've always regretted not buying this Jeff Beck gitar since they stopped making 'em with the lace sensors. Ah well.

...you must have awesomely large hands to regret that neck....

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"Another day in paradise!"

I have a Fender Custom Shop Eric Clapton signature Strat which was from the year that they were first put into production. It is equipped with the original three Gold Lace Sensor pickups. I really prefer them over the Fender Noisless pickups that Fender replaced them with.

That's pretty much the way I heard it. Lace and Fender did have an agreement and Fender installed Lace Sensors in high end/custom models. But ultimately Fender did figure out how to make their own noiseless pups and yet retain the Fender sound.

However, I've also read (but can't verify) that Leo and Don were part of the equation. They became friends and Don Lace, who had no intention of creating some big company like Fender was able to supply all the custom pups Leo needed. But eventually Leo left, Don died and FMIC invented their own noiseless pickups -- so the company had no reason to renew their contracts with Lace. That in turn left Don Lace's kids the freedom to expand the company beyond just a small output directly to Fender.

For the record, I had a 2004 MIM Strat modified with Lace Golds and I'm very happy with the results. No noise but all the classic Fender chime I was hoping for.

Ditto to that (an "89) and...as well....at one time, in a '93 Tele-Plus with a Blue at the neck and Red Dually at the bridge. Just an awesome axe.

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"Another day in paradise!"

In which color? Black was not officially offered as a color option until 1990/91, though I've seen a batch of Blackies made prior to that date (circa late 1988/1989).

Not sure about the exact dates Drew Noll took the pictures shown below (maybe in the middle of 1990, perhaps? - not certain, IMO) but these BackstageGallery shots of 1989 clearly illustrate EC playing a signature "Blackie" onstage, although he didn't used black Strats until 1990!