Vintage Hot Strat
Real 60's Vintage Strat Tone
Make your Stratocaster sound like a Strat should with Lindy Fralin’s Vintage Hots. As our best-selling Stratocaster set, Vintage Hots offer the purest vintage Strat tone. Vintage Hots have a warm, balanced midrange with lots of sparkle and clarity on the top, guaranteeing you’ll stand out in the mix. If you’re looking for the purest Stratocaster tone, look no further than these pickups right here!
Quick Links
Jump to Sound Clips and more info
Fralin Vintage Hots: Real Vintage Strat Tone.
Want to learn more about our Vintage Hot Strat? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
Vintage Hot Pickups: our best-selling single coil set. If you’re looking for a sparkling, bright, and open sound, you will love these pickups’ tone. Vintage Hots give you a balanced 50’s Tone: a smooth balance between bright and fat. They fit in the middle sonically of our Real 54’s and Blues Specials.
These pickups are era-authentic: wound with USA-made 42-gauge Formvar-enameled wire and built with USA-made AlNiCo V magnets. These pickups sound smooth, balanced, and beautiful.
Features:
- Modified Vintage Fender specifications, with clean Strat pickups with modern output
- Bright, clean tone with balance across lows and highs – real vintage-sounding Strat pickups
- USA-made Alnico 5 Magnets for optimal tonal balance and output
- RW/RP Middle for Hum-Cancelling in Positions 2 & 4
- Two magnet staggers available for different fingerboard radiuses
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built fiberboard Bobbins for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
- 6K Neck & Middle, 6.6K Bridge
How It's Made:
Sound & Video
Vintage Hots feature a vintage Strat pickup sound – they sparkle and sound very open and clear without sounding “tinny” or glassy. These pickups sound big and full, with an even balance of Bass, Middle, and Treble, clean or dirty. The tone cuts through with distortion – while remaining very dynamic and thick.
Expect a precise low-end and an acute attack. Single notes cut through with ease, while chords have an excellent string-to-string definition.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Our Vintage Hots consist of locally-stamped fiberboard and USA-Made Alnico 5 Magnets.
We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. We wind each pickup using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. Our Sectioning Technique gives the pickup a sweet, bright tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Sound Samples for Vintage Hot Strat:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Vintage Hot Strat:
The tonal graph below for our Vintage Hot Strat features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Bright & Sharp
Videos for Vintage Hot Strat:
Appearance
Available Strat Cover Colors
These are the cover colors for our Strat Pickups.
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Vintage Hot Strat.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 6K 1 |
| Middle Ohm Reading: | 6K 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 6.6K 1 |
| Neck & Bridge Polarity: | Clockwise Coil Direction, South to Strings |
| Reverse Middle Polarity: | Counter-Clockwise Coil Direction, North to Strings |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 250K |
| Magnet: | USA-Made Alnico 5 |
| Wax Potted: | Yes |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
Additional Technical Info:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
Note: We depict all our coil directions from Ground (Black Wire, or Start Wire) to Hot (White Wire, or Finish Wire).
Installation Instructions
This install guide covers the installation of our Strat pickups in a standard Stratocaster with a 5-Way Blade Switch. For other installation diagrams, check out our Wiring Diagrams page for all of our Stratocaster wiring configurations, from SSS, HSS, and more.
Most installation jobs are simple enough to perform yourself, but if you are inexperienced or uncomfortable with wiring, take your guitar to an experienced luthier for a professional installation.
Wire Colors
Here's where each color wire goes for each Stratocaster set we sell:
- White = Hot (to switch)
- Black = Ground (solder to the casing of the volume pot)
The image below features different colors for visually tracing the wires, but here's how to wire it up to the switch:
Steps Required For Installation
- Remove the strings and pickguard from the guitar
- Unsolder each pickup lead from the switch and ground
- Once all wires are unsoldered, use a phillips head screwdriver to remove each pickup from the existing pickguard
- Once all pickups are uninstalled, install each new pickup carefully. Damage can occur from rough handling, or the pickup's mounting screws "scraping" the coil wire. Be extra careful on this step and take your time.
- Solder each new wire according to the instructions above, and trim any excess
- Replace the pickguard and test by plugging the guitar into an amp, and performing the "tap test" with a metal screwdriver to test each pickup's output
- Replace the strings and set the pickup height according to this article here.
Pickup Dimensions
Our Strat® replacements are standard Stratocaster sizing and spacing. All string spacings are 52mm.
Vintage Hot Strat FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
-
What Ohm Readings does your Vintage Hot Strat have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
-
Will this pickup fit my instrument?
Check our Sizing Tab for the size of the pickup. No Sizing tab? Check under the product image gallery for dimensions, or head to our Dimensions Page.
-
Is your Lead Time of accurate?
It depends on the shop capacity at the moment, and the size of your order. Feel free to give us a call for an accurate lead time. We always try to beat our estimated Lead Times.
-
What pickup height do you recommend setting your Vintage Hot Strats to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. To measure, hold the correct side down at its highest fret. Then, measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
-
Are your Vintage Hot Strats wax potted?
Yes, all of our pickups are potted in USA-Made Parrafin Wax carefully chosen for it's transparent effect on tone.
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Vintage Hot Strat. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask" in the Quick Links section above.
-
What's the tonal difference between this pickup and the Real '54s?
The Real ’54s use Alnico 3 magnets. These magnets create a softer, spongier sound. They also add a bit more glassiness compared to the Vintage Hots. The Vintage Hots feature a more modern attack and a bit more bottom-end.
Upgrade To Prewired
Get our Vintage Hot Strat prewired, so you can drop in, plug in, and play.
-
Prewired Split Blade Pickguard
Customizable, Prewired Noiseless Tone
Customize This product has more options. You can choose them on the product page. -
Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard
The Ultimate Pickguard for HSS Strat
Customize This product has more options. You can choose them on the product page. -
Prewired Strat Pickguard
The Ultimate Prewired Pickguard Choice
Customize This product has more options. You can choose them on the product page.
Pickup Pairing
Our Vintage Hot Strat pairs well with the following models:
Builders Love Our Vintage Hot Strat
These are just some of our talented builders that use our Vintage Hot Strat
Featured Artists
These artists trust their tone to our Vintage Hot Strat
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
163 Genuine Reviews for Vintage Hot Strat
-
I received, and just installed the full set of Vintage Hot Strat pickups, hybrid stagger, and base plate on the bridge pickup. Back story: I picked up a very lightly used 2015 MIM Classic 60s Player Stratocaster in SB. This guitar has a 12in radius RW fretboard. The pickups that were in it sounded pretty good! BUT, they that a standard 50s/rarly60s style stagger meant for 7.25 raduius. All is well until you hit the G string … BAM…TOO LOUD. Could not get around it. I searched your site and found the hybrid option on the Vintage Hots that I’ve been aware of for years. Well, they solved that hot G string for sure, but they also totally improved the sound of this guitar. Head and shoulders above the stock pickups. I was slack-jawed at how beautiful these pickups sound. Pure Stratocaster! Evenly balanced in all positions, snappy, bell like tone, and an indescribable “air” around the tone, or as some say a “3D” effect to the sound. Very detailed and refined. Simply MAGNIFICENT!! Thank you, thank, thank you!!
-
I am a very picky tone type of person and have a brand new Eric Clapton masterbuilt strat. It came with the noiseless pickups and the on board circuit with boost etc. I simply couldn’t get into the tone, though I knew the guitar was great!
The build quality and the way it shook, it wanted to unleash. I thought I want to take all of this stuff out and try some Fralin vintage hots. That decision was the “best” thing I have ever done with any pickup swap outs. It unleashed my guitar. It sounds like a killer 60s vintage strat and a good one. I have played many of them and this now has the 3D like sound and chime that the best hey day guitars produced.
I also did the blend knob and the base plate on the guitar after talking to Lindy and I am glad I did. In fact now this guitar is making my other prized strat look bad. Now I need a set of these pickups for that guitar. I will do the blend knob and base plate as well.
The other thing with Fralin is the pride in workmanship, and the kindness with every contact there. It reminds me of the good ole days when people did quality work and had the passion in their work. Even the packaging is top shelf and it shows pride. Thanks everyone at Fralin.
Shane B. Sarasota FL.
-
These pickups really gave my strat a new lease on life: much more refined tone and attitude, along with sharp punch. If you’re looking
to give your strat a more aggressive personality, install these great Fralins!
Add a review
Leave a review for our Vintage Hot Strat
