Fender Hot Noiseless Stratocaster Pickups

Stratoblues · **Posted:** Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:22 am

Hi everyone, I'm considering buying these Jeff Beck designed ceramic pickups for my strat. So I was wondering, if anyone has used or heard them, could they please give me some feedback on their tone and pros/cons. Thanks a lot!

Toppscore · **Joined:** Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:16 am **Posts:** 2337

Stratoblues wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm considering buying these Jeff Beck designed ceramic pickups for my strat. So I was wondering, if anyone has used or heard them, could they please give me some feedback on their tone and pros/cons. Thanks a lot!

Not yet, but I am eager to hear about them.
Are the one's you are looking a Fender product?
Can you share the specs?
Are all three the same or is it a Jeff Beck set designed
for different pickup placements for neck middle bridge settings?

Toppscore

chromeface · **Posted:** Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:02 am

Yep, those Hot Noiseless pickups were designed with Jeff Beck in mind.

The bridge pickup was used on the American Deluxe SSS to deliver extra punch and sustain while the neck and middle pickups on the American Deluxe HSS to compensate the lack of output from the Atomic humbucking bridge pickup.

Toppscore · **Joined:** Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:16 am **Posts:** 2337

What a memory
How do you remember and know "why" a pickup was chosen
"Extra Punch" "lack of output"
Were you in on the board design meetings? You are amazing.
Are you a Fender designer

Thanks for the info. Toppscore

Andybighair · **Joined:** Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:22 am **Posts:** 2175

Stratoblues wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm considering buying these Jeff Beck designed ceramic pickups for my strat. So I was wondering, if anyone has used or heard them, could they please give me some feedback on their tone and pros/cons. Thanks a lot!

Howdy!

I currently have a set of Fenders Hot Noiseless pickups in my Big Hairy Strat...

...And like them alot!

Your best bet is to go to your Fender Dealer of choice and try out a Jeff Beck Strat, ideally though the same amp you use.

There are a few things I feel you should consider before making a purchase.

The FHN have two coils stacked one on top of the other to help cancel noise, in a similar fashion to a humbucker. The DC resistance should read around 10.4k for the Neck and Middle with the Bridge pickup measuring a tad more. Despite the high resistance they are very much a single coil voiced pickup. Which just goes to show that the DC resistance is not always a reliable indication of a pickups output. Yes, they are hotter than standard pickups but not too much so to my ears.

Although they're not the most "noiseless" pickup on the market, they are noticeably quieter than the C69 pickups in my CP60's Strat but, not a quiet as Lace Sensors (which in my house are pretty much silent)

By design they lack certain dynamic qualities single coil pups have and can sound a wee bit flat at times compared to traditional Strat pups. I also found the ceramic magnets really pull on the strings (bit of a sustain killer) and have set mine much lower than Fenders recommended hight to resolve this issue.

I've read a few less than favourable reports regarding the build quality of both the Vintage & Hot Noiseless pickups. Most common issues were poor hot and ground lead connections or dead pickups probably due to a broken wire in one of the coils. Mine work a treat, but were absolutely covered in excess wax from the potting process.

Possibly the most important point to mention here is the size of the FHN pickups....

...At 1" deep, they're feck'in huge!

So much so that they didn't fit the 3/4" cavity in my CP60's Strat...

..No room to lower the pickups once installed...

Which is why they're in the Big Hairy Strat. Its the only Strat I own with cavities big enough! Best to check your cavity depth before buying. :wink:

Once again I really like the Hot noiseless. They are my current pup of choice.

Hope this helps.

Andy

BTW: Jeff Beck is not using the Hot Noiseless in his own Strat. There's a thread in the "Ask Mike Eldred" Forum regarding this, but the forum's search function hates me and I can find it right now :lol:

... But its in there somewhere if you fancy looking it up.

chromeface · **Posted:** Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:05 pm

Jeff Beck uses custom-wound stacked humbuckers designed by John Suhr on his personal guitar, though both the regular and Custom Artist specs are different. Also, Jeff's axe is fitted with the old Wilkinson roller nut instead of the LSR.

If you really want an exact representation of El Becko's personal guitar, you'll probably need to fill your pockets with enough bucks to purchase an extremely expensive CS Masterbuilt JB Strat.

chromeface · **Posted:** Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:09 pm

Toppscore wrote:

What a memory
How do you remember and know "why" a pickup was chosen
"Extra Punch" "lack of output"
Were you in on the board design meetings? You are amazing.
Are you a Fender designer

Thanks for the info. Toppscore

Are you nuts? I do not have any relationship with Fender... :lol:

FYI here are two quotes from Fender's website:

Quote:

The American Deluxe Stratocaster is the ultimate in high-performance. Classically contoured solid "tone-wood" bodies and new distinctive neck shapes fit like a glove. Other features include three Fender Vintage-Noiseless pickups with hot bridge for extra punch and sustain, polished chrome locking machine heads, American Deluxe tremolo with polished steel saddles, highly detailed fret and nut work, abalone dot inlays, and aged plastic parts.

Quote:

The two Vintage Noiseless pickups in the neck and bridge positions are wound extra hot for proper balance with the humbucker.

Have fun!

Toppscore · **Joined:** Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:16 am **Posts:** 2337

Good to know 1" is too tall.
Raise the saddles, reset the neck, and away you go

Stratoblues · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:15 pm

thanks a lot everyone. What does the neck sound like clean?

Toppscore · **Joined:** Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:16 am **Posts:** 2337

Stratoblues wrote:

thanks a lot everyone. What does the neck sound like clean?

You let us know.

Andybighair · **Joined:** Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:22 am **Posts:** 2175

Howdy!

Just catching up on a few threads...

Stratoblues wrote:

thanks a lot everyone. What does the neck sound like clean?

Too my ears (which aren't the best..) they have more mid range than your standard strat pups. Again, try a Jeff Beck sigy strat to hear for your self.

Toppscore wrote:

Raise the saddles, reset the neck, and away you go

That's not going to work if your pickup cavities are not deep enough.

Andy

straycat113 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 02, 2012 11:10 pm

Well they are my favorite out of all the noiseless pups that Fender has produced and I have owned them all. As already stated the name Hot Noiseless is a bit misleading as they are not that hot when you think of stacked humbuckers. When my bridge pup died in my Clapton Strat they accidentally sent a Beck Hot Noiseless instead of a Vintage and instead of exchanging I just made my tech drop it in. It really kicked that ax up a notch and gave it more bite in the bridge which complemented the other two Vintage pups nicely. My Beck Strat has been my #1 for over a decade now and I couldn't be happier with the tone. I have the opposite effect with noise as my basement has fluorescent lights in the ceiling and if I am using my Strat Ultra which has Lace Sensors (and are not a stacked humbuckers like the Noiseless pups)it can get quite noisy, if I use my Beck, Clapton, or US Deluxe I dont hear a peep.

DetroitBlues · **Joined:** Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:58 am **Posts:** 2187

No Fender Noiseless pickup sounds close to a set of vintage spec single coils... They all sound a little flat. Closest I've found is the Dimarzio Area set....

chromeface · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:36 am

straycat113 wrote:

When my bridge pup died in my Clapton Strat they accidentally sent a Beck Hot Noiseless instead of a Vintage and instead of exchanging I just made my tech drop it in. It really kicked that ax up a notch and gave it more bite in the bridge which complemented the other two Vintage pups nicely.

The boost gives more kick when combined with hotter pickups.

Andorra	EN	ES	FR
Belgium	EN	DE	FR
Croatia	EN
Czech Republic	EN
Estonia	EN
France	EN	FR
Germany	EN	DE
Italy	EN	IT
Latvia	EN
Lithuania	EN
Malta	EN
Netherlands	EN
Poland	EN
Romania	EN
Slovakia	EN
Sweden	EN
United Kingdom	EN

Austria	EN	DE
Bulgaria	EN
Cyprus	EN
Denmark	EN
Finland	EN
Greece	EN
Hungary	EN
Ireland	EN
Liechtenstein	EN	DE
Luxembourg	EN	DE	FR
Monaco	EN	FR
Norway	EN
Portugal	EN
Slovenia	EN
Spain	EN	ES
Switzerland	EN	DE	FR	IT

	Page 1 of 1	[ 14 posts ]

Mod Shop

Custom Shop

Fender Hot Noiseless Stratocaster Pickups

Who is online