Anyone who has seen my postings know that I own and love my Candy Green Clapton Strat which I purchased and received just before the pickup change from Lace Sensors to the Noiseless ones used now.

My question is: Is there any real difference between the two pickups? The Lace Sensors sound great, but am I missing something in tone?

I know people have said that Lace Sensors don't sound like true Fender pickups, but I disagree. In fact I would say that they sound truer to vintage than the current pickups do.

Any thoughts on this? Let me know what the differences are and which do you prefer.

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1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

I think the Lace pick ups sound better

Lace sensors all the way...don't think the pickup change to the EC models would have happened had it not been for the agreement between Lace and Fender expiring.

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

I really like the sounds Clapton got with the Lace Sensors, probably a little better than the sounds he gets with Vintage Noiseless pickups nowadays. I don't own a Clapton Strat myself though.

Never cared for the look of the Lace Sensors but I thought they sounded really good. Check out Clapton's "Nothing But The Blues Tour" on youtube.

The Fender Custom Shop makes now a guitar with Gold Lace Sensor:
The Fender Custom Shop 1956 Stratocaster NOS Maple Neck Daphne Blue
Listen this guitar on this vid. the sound at 2:18 is great !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4daDh43BCP0

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"La plus grande révélation est le silence"
Lao-Tseu

I seen to recall reading in a book about how the guy at the CS Clapton worked with changed the pickups and Clapton liked it.

I know Buddy Buy kept the Lace Sensors for a bit.

What got me into them in the first place my '87 Strat Plus.

It could be my memory but I thought I read the reason they worked up the new pickups was because the Lace agreement was going to expire and Lace was not interested in extending or redoing the aggreement. The EC Model was a great seller so they needed to get something to make/keep EC happy, because they intended to continue the model.

Whatever the reason for the change over...I still prefer the tone of the Lace Sensors...Although who am I to argue with "God"

I like the tone of these pickups from day one, I remember them in the Strat Plus, but I never liked the two point tremolo or the roller nut and bigger frets...I guess I was waiting for the EC model to come out back then just didn't know it. Which is why I kept playing my 57 Vintage Reissue...now if they would only put out an EC Model in two tone Sunburst!

Going to have to go and look back and see if I can find which book or mag I read that in...If I find it I will post it.

FWIW

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Perhaps the fact that Mr. Lace was deceased had something to do with this decision......

http://www.lacemusic.com/company/company.php



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

So I googled it and low and behold, a Fender Forum response from Mike Eldred to the post on why the change from Lace Sensors to the noiseless...

"Eric wasn't happy with the Lace pickups, and asked if we could try something else. We sent several sets, and he really liked the Noiseless."

I stand corrected...can't beat that source!

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Thanks for the info. That's very cool that you found that. I think that I read the same thing. I'm really surprised by Clapton's unhappiness with the Lace Sensors, but I feel that Clapton's sound changed about this time to a darker "rubbery" tone. It's funny because when I become the lead guitarist for a church band in '08 I started turning the tone knobs down in the 2 and 4 positions on my HWY1 to get the same tone.

I saw the '04 catalog with the Buddy Buy Strat. I wonder how that guitar came about. It's basically an EC Strat in 2-color-sunburst. I kind of want one, but I don't see the point if I already have the EC Strat.

Fender used to make a 2-color-sunburst Strat that's pretty much a EC Strat.

I like the Noiseless ones better. Not taking anything away from the Laces, they are awesome as well.

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Yeah the Buddy Guy Strat is basically an EC model with Sunburst...but at that time I was very in love with my 57 Reissue (and still am) so wasn't really on my radar. I don't hate the tone of the new noiseless pickups, but prefer the tone of the Laces. As for how it came about, my guess would be they played together during this time and Buddy liked EC's sound and asked Fender to do it...those two have always liked eachothers playing, so not that big a stretch!
Maybe somewhere down the road I will get around to ordering a Strat with a two tone sunburs, a nice V neck, and the Clapton electronics with some Laces in it from the CS!

Then I could sell the rest of my strats! Yeah right...

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Yeah the Buddy Guy Strat is basically an EC model with Sunburst...but at that time I was very in love with my 57 Reissue (and still am) so wasn't really on my radar. I don't hate the tone of the new noiseless pickups, but prefer the tone of the Laces. As for how it came about, my guess would be they played together during this time and Buddy liked EC's sound and asked Fender to do it...those two have always liked eachothers playing, so not that big a stretch!
Maybe somewhere down the road I will get around to ordering a Strat with a two tone sunburs, a nice V neck, and the Clapton electronics with some Laces in it from the CS!

Then I could sell the rest of my strats! Yeah right...

T2[/quote]

I remember I heard Buddy play on the "Rush" sound track with Clapton. He was amazing.

The Buddy Guy model was also available in Honey Blond.



The sunburst BGs used an 11-hole, 4-ply aged white pearloid pickguard. Honey Blond models featured a 4-ply brown shell guard. Fender stopped making the USA BG signatures in 2010.

Actually the only Buddy Guy model available is the MIM Polka Dot Strat. Buddy's original Polka Dot guitar is different than the MIM Standard model, with Lace Sensor pickups and active mid-boost electronics.



There are rumours saying a new USA Buddy Guy Strat with different pickups (Noiseless I suppose) and new finishes is already in the works. The new model is supposedly an exact replication of Buddy's actual axe.



Currently, Fender has no official announcements for this new USA Artist Signature guitar yet.