Blues Special Strat
$99.00 – $297.00
Are you seeking a thicker Strat sound, that still sounds like a Strat? Look no further than our Blues Specials. One of our best-selling Stratocaster sets, Blues Specials provide more output and a thicker sound while retaining that Stratocaster tone we all know and love. Manufactured by hand in Richmond, VA with 100% USA-Made materials, instantly transform your Strat into a versatile powerhouse and discover what you’ve been missing with our Blues Specials.
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Blues Special Strat.
Blues Specials are made with 100% USA-Made parts.
Want sound clips and video? Read Below
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 6.3K |
| Middle Ohm Reading: | 6.3K |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 7.1K |
| 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 |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42-Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
All Strat Tone, Only Thicker.
Want to learn more about our Blues Special Strat? Here's all the information you'll need:
Blues Special Strat FEATURES:
- 5% more coil than our Vintage Hots: 5% more output and mids, 5% less highs
- Modified Fender specifications, with more output and thicker tone
- High output, but still has Fender sparkle
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- RW / RP Middle pickup for Hum Cancelling in positions 2 & 4
- USA-made Alnico 5 Magnets and wire for optimal tonal balance and output
- Two magnet staggers available for different fingerboard radiuses
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built, locally-sourced fiberboard Bobbins for unrivaled quality control
- Backed by our 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
- Risk-free 30-day exchange policy
Overview
Blues Specials are our second best-selling Stratocaster single coil set, and for a good reason: with a thicker, warmer tone, they are perfect for balancing out a bright guitar and pushing your amp hard, all while retaining “the” Strat tone! If you are looking for a thick, warm sound out of your Strat, you will love the sound of these pickups. With more turns per coil than our Vintage Hots, these slightly overwound pickups sound a bit thicker and hotter than vintage-voiced models.
Plugging in, you’ll immediately get inspired by the powerful, slightly compressed, and creamy Strat tone coming out of these pickups. You’ll notice the tight and warm midrange coupled with crystal-clear lows and round highs.
It starts here: Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control and tonal bliss. Blues Specials consist of locally-sourced fiberboard, USA-Made Alnico 5 Magnets, and USA-Made 42-Gauge Single Poly Nylon Wire.
We wind each pickup by hand using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique, one at a time in Richmond, VA. Winding this way is more labor-intensive, but it gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup in a neutral wax to prevent microphonics and preserve the pickup for years to come.
Sound
Whether playing clean or dirty, Blues Specials feature a thicker midrange and rounder highs than vintage-voiced Strat models like our Real 54’s or Vintage Hots. Although they are an overwound Strat pickup, they are not too aggressive and feature a very open and dynamic tone. Blues Specials sound more like a traditional Strat pickup, unlike our Steel Pol 42’s, which lean closer to the sound of a P90.
Expect a thicker high-end and a low-end growl, which will push your amp or pedals hard and provide a versatile and creamy breakup that is ideal for many music styles.
Are you looking for a Hum Cancelling Strat pickup that actually sounds like a Strat? Check out the Blues Output of our Split Blade Strat Pickups
Lastly, cut through in the mix when soloing with more a thicker, rounder single note and a powerful attack. Chords sound warm with a great string-to-string definition. Blues Specials sound powerful and bold – a great way to take your guitar’s tone to the next level. You’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch earlier.
Video
FAQ's
- What Magnet Stagger Do I Use? This all depends on your fingerboard radius. If you have a 7.25″ – 10″ Radius, we recommend going with Stock Stagger. If you have a flatter or compound radius, go with the Hybrid stagger.
- What’s the difference between Blues Specials and Vintage Hots? Blues Specials have more turns per pickup – they sound thicker and darker, with more output than Vintage Hots. Vintage Hots sound cleaner, clearer and a tad bit more balanced.
- How far away from the strings does the pickup need to be? Push your Low E String down at the highest fret. Measure from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string. The ideal starting location should be 1/8″ on the bass string, and 1/16″ on the treble string when the High E string is pushed down at the highest fret.
- Wiring Diagrams? Here!
Sizing & Wiring Diagrams
WIRING DIAGRAMS:
We do not offer installation help or guidance, but we do have easy-to-follow, beautiful Wiring Diagrams! Click below:
- 5% more coil than our Vintage Hots: 5% more output and mids, 5% less highs
- Modified Fender specifications, with more output and thicker tone
- High output, but still has Fender sparkle
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- RW / RP Middle pickup for Hum Cancelling in positions 2 & 4
- USA-made Alnico 5 Magnets and wire for optimal tonal balance and output
- Two magnet staggers available for different fingerboard radiuses
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built, locally-sourced fiberboard Bobbins for unrivaled quality control
- Backed by our 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
- Risk-free 30-day exchange policy
Blues Specials are our second best-selling Stratocaster single coil set, and for a good reason: with a thicker, warmer tone, they are perfect for balancing out a bright guitar and pushing your amp hard, all while retaining “the” Strat tone! If you are looking for a thick, warm sound out of your Strat, you will love the sound of these pickups. With more turns per coil than our Vintage Hots, these slightly overwound pickups sound a bit thicker and hotter than vintage-voiced models.
Plugging in, you’ll immediately get inspired by the powerful, slightly compressed, and creamy Strat tone coming out of these pickups. You’ll notice the tight and warm midrange coupled with crystal-clear lows and round highs.
It starts here: Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control and tonal bliss. Blues Specials consist of locally-sourced fiberboard, USA-Made Alnico 5 Magnets, and USA-Made 42-Gauge Single Poly Nylon Wire.
We wind each pickup by hand using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique, one at a time in Richmond, VA. Winding this way is more labor-intensive, but it gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup in a neutral wax to prevent microphonics and preserve the pickup for years to come.
Whether playing clean or dirty, Blues Specials feature a thicker midrange and rounder highs than vintage-voiced Strat models like our Real 54’s or Vintage Hots. Although they are an overwound Strat pickup, they are not too aggressive and feature a very open and dynamic tone. Blues Specials sound more like a traditional Strat pickup, unlike our Steel Pol 42’s, which lean closer to the sound of a P90.
Expect a thicker high-end and a low-end growl, which will push your amp or pedals hard and provide a versatile and creamy breakup that is ideal for many music styles.
Are you looking for a Hum Cancelling Strat pickup that actually sounds like a Strat? Check out the Blues Output of our Split Blade Strat Pickups
Lastly, cut through in the mix when soloing with more a thicker, rounder single note and a powerful attack. Chords sound warm with a great string-to-string definition. Blues Specials sound powerful and bold – a great way to take your guitar’s tone to the next level. You’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch earlier.
- What Magnet Stagger Do I Use? This all depends on your fingerboard radius. If you have a 7.25″ – 10″ Radius, we recommend going with Stock Stagger. If you have a flatter or compound radius, go with the Hybrid stagger.
- What’s the difference between Blues Specials and Vintage Hots? Blues Specials have more turns per pickup – they sound thicker and darker, with more output than Vintage Hots. Vintage Hots sound cleaner, clearer and a tad bit more balanced.
- How far away from the strings does the pickup need to be? Push your Low E String down at the highest fret. Measure from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string. The ideal starting location should be 1/8″ on the bass string, and 1/16″ on the treble string when the High E string is pushed down at the highest fret.
- Wiring Diagrams? Here!
WIRING DIAGRAMS:
We do not offer installation help or guidance, but we do have easy-to-follow, beautiful Wiring Diagrams! Click below:
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
69 reviews for Blues Special Strat
Trying to leave a review for our Blues Special Strat? Leave one here.
Robert Bret Hartley (verified owner) –
Strat Blues Specials
after only one live gig and a couple of sessions (due to the pandemic), I may never leave the neck pickup! but if I do all other positions sounded great. thanks, Paul for helping me choose the right set, and to Jeff Rice at Intown Guitar Repair in Atlanta for the recommendation.
John Kaigley (verified owner) –
RWRP for Nashville Tele. Works great with the Blues Special Tele set.
Chris Dunnum –
I’ve been playing these in my #1 for 24+ years and they still sound as awesome as the day I got them! just beautifully matched to the Strat feel and sound! I’ve played all kinds of Fender Pups through the years, but I always turn back to these masterpieces
John Ladas (verified owner) –
This pick up is just ridiculous ..the tone is incredible ..soon as I can afford to get another one I will. compliments to the chef for cooking this pup up.
Greg L (verified owner) –
Really nice pickups and like how they sound. Like how they are made in Richmond, VA USA.
They were wired in a Fender Strat with a bridge push push 250k pot. Thank you, to Fralin Pickups.
These kind of pickups could be used by the pros.
steven k white –
Installed on my Fender Player Strat (MIM). Love Them!
Mark DeRoin (verified owner) –
Thank you! Awesome blues special pickups!
I wanted to replace the bridge pickup in my strat with a Fralin. I ordered online but I did not realize my magnets were opposite polarity (use the helpful tips on the Fralin web page to save yourself from the same mistake). The team at. Fralin was on point and helped me correct the problem. Great pickups and great customer service! Very much appreciated! Love the tone!
Carlos Palazio (verified owner) –
Outstanding! Great sound!
Steven Brown (verified owner) –
The best! I installed them in a custom guitar I made, perfect tone, and super quiet and quality I expected A+++!
Carlos –
My guitar LOVES these pickups!!! I have an ’84 Fernandes and it has come to life with this set. The Blues Specials have a full and sweet tone. No effects needed here. Thank you!
Dennis Hook (verified owner) –
Blues special for strat
great pickups. nice and clean with a ton of output. Thanks, Lindy!
Greg Cooney (verified owner) –
A customer is very happy with his new pickups!
William Lang (verified owner) –
Fantastic!
I wrote an extensive review but the website would not accept it. To sum it up, your Blues Special picks have made my latest build the best sounding Strat I have ever heard. I have used the Gibson ’50s style wiring with a .052uf Black Beauty cap. Trem is Gotoh510 with machined steel trem block. These pickups are phenomenal. I play through only tweed circuit amps; a ’57 Deluxe from Fender and a ’58 Champ made by me and a twin speaker ’59 Vibrolux also made by me. I can’t put this guitar down!
Eric James (verified owner) –
It would be redundant to say these pickups are high-quality and great sounding – which they are. The part that helped most was all the info on the site. Let’s face it , its a guess for any given guitar, pickup, playing style combo until the pickup is installed and played but Lindy’s site helped me make a best guess and I think it’s pretty close to what I wanted. Plus a call from Lindy to ensure pickup polarity / wiring , etc. would be a drop-in for my single pickup order was great service. I had a particular problem with a new neck and it’s compound radius fretboard which was a poor match for the previous vintage stagger pickups (vol drop on B and E strings) and going with the recommended hybrid stagger definitely solved that problem. Plus I was able to dial-in a darker / less bright tone for the neck PU with the blues special. I am on to ordering a 2nd pickup for this guitar now… thanks Fralin pickups !!!
Steve Ayton –
Hi Lindy, I installed my blues specials in my 65 relic strat, they are fantastic, lots of body and character, and the bridge pickup is great, not offensive like a lot of bridge pickups.
Thank you.
Steven Eastburn –
Love these pickups, they are very pick-sensitive giving you great control over your tone.
Massimo Tonini –
I ordered a pre-wired Strat pickguard with Blues Specials. Service and assistance was great (thanks Jon, great job and great tips), assembly very meticulous and the actual sound was a real discovery. The pickups are all very clear but work well with saturation and / or pedals, the sound is distinctive and articulate, the Baseplate and Blender Pot upgrades maintained the promises. Great experience, warmly recommended.
Dane (verified owner) –
Creamy sweet mids with clear chime highs. Fantastic clean channel, but the overdrive from my PRS Sonzera 50 is everything I hope for from a tube amp. Nice and thick overdrive tone but not harsh at all. It drives two 12″ Celestion G12M 65 Creambacks. Being able to get them for Lefty’s and they drop straight in is a huge bonus that only lefty’s understand. Thank you Lindy and crew, I’ve been searching for this sound for a few years. The blender pot works great as well. It gives you a very interesting tone control that sounds very different than the stock bleed capacitor.
Michael Effre (verified owner) –
I had the new pickup installed by a local tech. Overall, the guitar sounds great but needs some minor tweaking. I had the tech wire it per the Fralin standard strat diagram (bottom tone on the bridge). I did have the tech install the .0015 cap in the bridge pickup tone pot but I don’t like it. I will need to go with something a bit bigger as the magic cap does not remove enough of the high shrill tones for my taste. I need a cap the removed a little more off the top. Perhaps you could make a recommendation?
Tyler @ Fralin Pickups (store manager) –
Hey Michael,
The Magic Cap is incredibly low capacitance – meaning, it will barely affect the tone of your guitar. It more or less brings out the midrange, instead of rolling off the high frequencies. I would suggest using a 0.02mfd Cap. They are a little more standard and act more like a normal Tone Cap.
Lonnie Stout (verified owner) –
Fralin Blues Special
I replaced custom shop 50’s pickups with the Blues Specials. When playing clean, Blues Specials sound thick and rich, especially in the lows and mids. Additionally, Blues Specials sound very open and clear without sounding too compressed. With distortion, the tone cuts through and while being slightly compressed and thick with a low-end growl and a medium attack. Single notes sound thick and round, while chords have a full tone with an early breakup. Perfect pickups for Blues or vintage Rock tone. Love the bridge pick up.
Scot Dewitt (verified owner) –
Electric Fire. Man, I love this thing. Finally got the power to tackle some of the songs I’ve always dreamed of learning like Lonnie’s Wham!
I couldn’t be happier. Thanks, Lindy!
Gavin van der Linden –
Have one of these with a baseplate in the bridge of my 2018 MIM players strat, in my custom fralin pickgaurd, and its a beast to say the least. Does a crazy hot rodded tele sound with the tone rolled back a touch, and on full blast it’s like no other strat I’ve played, crunchy and smooth, fat and glassy, pure rock and roll.
Harry Frank (verified owner) –
Amazing Tone!
We ordered in a set for a customer of ours, got them installed and were blown away by the quality of the tone, punchy and juicy. Our favourite brand of aftermarket pickups, thanks, Lindy!
Scot DeLue (verified owner) –
Best sound I’ve ever had.
It’s been a couple rough weeks… but at my lowest I called Fralin HQ to talk about the sound I wanted. Lindy himself picked up the phone!! After consulting with Lindy, I ordered a blues special strat bridge pickup with a custom +2 wind on it. A couple days later it arrived and I just put it into my Eric Johnson strat and this thing absolutely RIPS. It’s fire in your hands – a hotrod of a Stratocaster. (If you’ve got an EJ strat, get the hybrid stagger).
No pedals or fx, I just plugged into a NOS blues junior amp and cranked. Man oh man, now I’ve got lightening in a jar. The baseplate gives me an extra punch, kinda like having a solo pedal hot wired to always on. If you’re on the fence about buying a Fralin pick up, just do it already.
This pick up restored something in me. Might have saved my life. Thanks Lindy.
William Black (verified owner) –
No title added
I replaced the fender lace pickups on my 91 strat with the Lindy Fralin blues specials. I finally feel like I’m playing a more vintage strat with much richer fatter tones, less tinny, more output that is more of fit for expressive blues tones and more bite for rock & roll, r&b, funk, and soul. These beautifully made pickups are worth every penny !!! Wish I had done this sooner !!
Sho Saito (verified owner) –
Best One: I wanted this sound & response. I appreciate it, thank you 🙂
Ron Kirn (verified owner) –
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing…
You’re walking down Beale Street… ya hear an amazing sound flooding out of an open door…. sticking your head in, you see, he’s sitting there with just a Fender Deluxe and a worn-out Strat…. You’re wondering how in heck can he get such sound from such a minimalist rig….
That’s the sound that strikes me every time I use the Blues Specials… and I’ve used a lot.
Ron Kirn – Ron Kirn Guitars
Zachary Murphy (verified owner) –
The way a Strat should sound!
I put a Blues Special neck and a Blues Special bridge with the metal baseplate in my Mexican Roadhouse Special strat. The neck pickup has all the dynamics and warmth I love with plenty of spank when you hit it. The bridge pickup really amazed me. I finally have a strat with a bridge single coil that I can actually use. All the spikey harsh highs are tamed. It’s big and articulate. Both pickups clean up incredibly well with a little roll off of the volume knob. Now I just need to order one for the middle position!
Michael Stampler (verified owner) –
HSS Tele
I outfitted a Telecaster with a full set of Fralin pickups and it just turned out amazing. With two single coils and a humbucker, this guitar has a complete range of sounds. Thanks to Lindy for helping me out.
Duncan Parker (verified owner) –
First Class Sounds
I am absolutely over the moon ?!!! After installing the Lindy Fralin pickups, my Paisley Strat has now become my “Go To” guitar. These pickups give me such a variety of real class sounds to choose from. The installation guide on the website was real handy… Thanks!!!!!!
Kimo Leong (verified owner) –
Lindy, I really like the BS Strat set. I have been playing your pickups for decades so I was not surprised when they sounded so good. I sold the 58 Strat that you fixed middle pickup on about 25 years ago but I still have a few old Strats and I keep looking for pickups that I can install in Custom Shop guitars so I can get close to the vintage tone and not worry about taking an old guitar to gigs. The BS did not disappoint. Thanks, Kimo.
Chad Leatherwood (verified owner) –
Hot Sauce for the Strat
I’ve had the Blue Specials in for a couple of months and love them. They really added bite/growl I was looking for, while keeping that signature strat sound.
Bryan Heaney (verified owner) –
New world!
Got a 78 hard tail strat, had the blues specials installed and couldn’t believe the new tone that I have! Such a great investment!
Chris Kline (verified owner) –
Simply Awesome.
I have an Eric Johnson model with a 12″ radius board and the vintage stagger made the high e and B weaker on my example no matter how the pickups/setup was. So I got a hybrid staggered set with a wind that is in between the Blues Specials and the Vintage Hots because I couldn’t choose and that was what Lindy suggested. The are, as the title says Awesome! I have played around with a few different pickups and these have very balanced output string to string, great tone, (GREAT!!) and the difference and variety of tones avaible is almost overwhelming. I opted for a blender pot and a no load tone pot with a russian paper in oil cap and there are so many tones avaible that I haven’t been able to explore them all yet! Thanks so much for making fantastic pickups Lindy! If you want to buy only one set of upgraded pickups for your guitar, and not just hope that they will be good, Buy Fralin’s. That’s why you never see them on the used market.
Wyatt Knox (verified owner) –
Done searching.
These are incredible, the best I’ve found to my ears at least. I run Blues Specials in all 3 positions, a reverse angle (Hendrix pickguard) bridge pickup with the baseplate, Fralin blender pot wiring with the magic cap… I would happily put this strat against anything in the world for blues and rock.
Tony –
They brought my strat to life. I hated the Mod Vs that came with my strat. They were thin and the high end was brittle and I just couldn’t get a good bluesy tone. I went with the Blues Special with the SP42 in the bridge and the difference is remarkable. They seem to be just hot enough to bring a low-gain overdrive to that sweet spot without any fizz. They are articulate and the tone smokes anything I’ve had in the past. This is my first set of Fralin’s, but I’m sure it won’t be the last.
Blake Kane (verified owner) –
I’m amazed by these Blues Specials. I bought a Blues Special Strat bridge pick up recently and I’m loving every bit of it! The clarity is awesome as well as the presence. I will be replacing my other pickups with more Blues Specials soon. Insanely fast delivery time as well which I was very impressed with.
Austin Nichols (verified owner) –
I love these pickups so much! They have a lot of clarity and they react so well with my guitar and gear. This really made my strat ten times better than when I had the stock pickups. Love them, Great job Lindy and the team! Great quality!
Michael Thomas (verified owner) –
Bridge, 1st purchase
I was thinking about purchasing a vintage hot bridge extra wind but after talking with Lindy and others I decided to give this a try. Nothing better than having a little more gain and thickness in the bridge it goes very well with the vintage hots in the neck and middle position. I couldn’t be happier. Thanks!
Paul Carter (verified owner) –
Love Em! I no longer deal with the ice picking of the stock pickups, very warm, smooth and responsive. Handles OD and other pedals great. Thanks Lindy, I’ll be back!
damien –
Just put a set in my pre cbs 61 strat ,because the pickups were a bit mellow after 50 years ,i,ve left my original pre cbs bridge pickup in ,and its a perfect match with lindy middle & neck pickup
Matt LaValley (verified owner) –
Fantastic. These pickups are awesome. The definition and clarity are great. Killer blues tone!
Paolo Angulo (verified owner) –
Extremely satisfied!
I’ve always wanted to own a Fralin pickup on one of my guitars and when I was about to order a message popped up telling me to read some info before purchasing which taught me a lot about what’s the right pickup for my configuration since I have a vintage style strat so I would highly recommend going with a Fralin pickup, you won’t be disappointed!
Todd Hyler –
They sound great! The tone is perfect for me. The bridge pickup really can rock when you push it, all-in-all the tone sounds right for blues and rock.
Tim Baldwin (verified owner) –
LF Blues Specials replace Texas Specials
1. These have the perfect brightness. No need to back off the tone pot.
2. Very low hum and noise.
3. Good balance across the strings. They fixed the deadness up the neck playing B string.
4. Nice balance between beef and chime. I have base plates on bridge and middle PUs.
These pickups were worth the price, and workmanship is top notch!
Andre Calaminus (verified owner) –
These are sweet
A bit meatier than your stock Strat pickups, but with all that classic sound. If you’re looking for a quality, big sound, you won’t be disappointed.
Gauny Guillaume (verified owner) –
Unbelievable! I ordered these pickups for a production for Popa Chubby and I must say that these are among the best single pickups that I could test! Well done!
Stephen Bell (verified owner) –
Frankly, beyond my expectations. I’ve been a pretty committed Texas Special guy until now. 1) Completely even string response. Punchy and articulate across all the strings. No more weak and dying treble sustain. I spend most of my time on the neck pickup now. 2) Blends perfectly in volume with the Split Steel Poled Tele I have in the bridge. I can change pickups mid solo with no volume drop. 3) Staff was warm and helpful. Lindy even got on the phone to make some suggestions. Very pleased.
Neil Fourie (verified owner) –
Amazing tones
These pickups completely transformed my CIJ stratocaster. Absolutely fantastic bluesy tones! I now prefer this guitar to my custom shop MIA stratocaster.. I guess I need to get a second pair 🙂
Tom Clines (verified owner) –
Great Sound.
Have a set of Blues Specials in my 1956 NOS custom shop Strat. Liked them so much that I put a set in my 1973 Strat. (I’ve owned this guitar since 1974).
John O’Connor (verified owner) –
I just finished a build and used these pick ups. The sound is awesome. I’m still experimenting with them but I love the way they sound. Just what I was looking for. Thanks Lindy
Mike Galvan (verified owner) –
These pickups are the real deal! I ordered the Blues Special Strat pickups (mid and neck) to work along with a Seymore Duncan JB Jr bridge. Tyler and Lindy were great about leading me in the wiring and blender setup/install. I highly recommend doing business with Lindy Fralin. You won’t be disappointed!
Mike from KY
Bradley –
Have these pups in a 2004 Standard Strat I bought from a local musician. My goodness. Clear and fat and with some OD it’s just killer. Getting tons of compliments on my Strat’s tone. Would highly recommend to anyone.
Pietro –
My strat ( squier maple body plus reverse all-parts neck, all maple too) has never sounded more perfect! The blues special set gives you a tremendously balanced array of sound: every position is very usable and efficent! The tone is what is has to be: airy, with the right amount of darkness and meat. Chord sound Huge and absolutely clear trough the amp. And the blues of course, every note gives you that chimey bell-like attack when you pick! I would suggest this set, even if not Hum cancelling, for all your neo-classical stuff too!
I am stunned cause it looks, weights and handles like a totally regular single coil set. Where is your secret guys?
Pieter Kniest –
Replaced the Fender SCN pickups in my Custom Shop Pro model. Guitar is fitted with a maple neck. Actually bought the pre-wired pickguard with magic tone cap installed :-). These pickups make a big big difference, good balanced mellowed tone. Just a perfect match for this guitar! Highly reccomended for use with maple neck guitars. For me this is the best set I have ever played ( 25 years), love it!
My other stratocaster btw (rosewood neck) is fitted with a Fralin vintage hot set, also great pickups that work realy well with that guitar. Sound and perception are for a big part in the person itself , but I personally would not go without a Fralin equiped guitar! Really makes a difference.
David Sumners –
Love my Lindy Fralins. This is number nine for me, Blues Specials in Strats have the best tone ever, bell chime wet highs, fat warm resonate mids and lows, Fralins are hands down my favorite pickups for guitar, what a Strat is supposed to sound like 🙂
Lou Gimenez (verified owner) –
I love my Blues Special Strat pickup I got for my 1981 “The Strat”. I also love my set of Vintage Hot’s I have on another Strat. And the Blues Special pickups I have on my G Custom Tele. And the Fralin P90’s I have on an Agile Valkryie and the Blues Specials and Humbucker I have on on of my 86 Ibanez PL2550 and The Humbuckers I have on my 90’s Epiphone Sheraton. I think Lindy makes the best pickups currently made on the planet.
Joseph Franks –
So far, i’m pretty impressed with these pickups. I chose two specials for the neck and middle and a high output for the bridge with a blender pot and treble bleed. I gotta say, it made me fall back in love with my strat. The tone is definitely thicker but still retains that strat sparkle, but not too twangy, which i like. I love the tone options too with the blender. These pickups cut through perfectly and sound great with gain. Good rock tone and thick blues tone. The cleans chime. I’m a Fralin fan. I talked to Lindy on the phone momentarily when i was considering them and he was helpful but not pushy and answered my questions. My Strat is like a super strat now, i love it.
Justin –
I’m extremely happy with these Blues Specials! I bought a neck & bridge pickup for a regular ole American Strat. And these were the first replacement pickups I’ve put in any guitar. After many years of playing stock Strats I decided to try these. I must admit at first I wasn’t sure if I liked them.. It actually took some time adjusting because I had grown so accustomed to using the lousy, thin pickups that came with my guitars I didn’t know what I had at first. The number one question many people have about new pickups (myself included) is whether or not they will sound different from what they’ve already got. I can say absolutely yes! That same change/improvement also requires some adjustments to the eq on my equipment; I no longer needed to fear harsh highs, cut treble and compensate for lack of bass response. This was a good thing and translated to a better balance.
What I also realized is it may actually be possible to utilize the bridge position. I had intended originally to get a mini humbucking, single coil sized pickup with high output (i.e. SD “hot rails”, “JB Jr.”). But because I loved these so much and because I now knew that it was possible for a single coil to sound full and warm.. I bought a Fralin SP42 for the bridge position and I’ve never been more impressed! Never thought I’d be so happy to play a Strat in the bridge position through a blackface Super and be floored by how good it sounds! Wow..
Mike Bjorgo –
I recently got the okey-dokey from the little woman for a new axe, but limited budget. Checked out my favorite shop’s website and found a sharp looking 2011 MIM FSR Strat in Copperburst. After a bit more research, I went for it at $350 with gig bag. When I got the Strat, I started immediately noticing upgrades…the nut was bone, the saddles were Graphtech, and the sustain block was FU. Best of all, the pickups are Fralin Blues Specials! This thing sounds so amazing that I’ve been offered ttiple what I paid and passed on it! These are the best Strat pups I’ve ever heard! They have all voice you expect without being ice-picky, and are very expressive. Every position is VERY usable, and 100% musical.
Jeff Cornell –
I have been a stratocaster lover for years, but have had consistent issues with sound and tone. Then I tried Fralin Blues Specials. I can not overstate the satisfaction I felt when I started playing my stratocasters with these pickups in them. I have a new ’12 one and ’75 vintage and they have moved to front of my arsenal since switching to these pickups.
Beautiful warm tones, nice crispy clean sounds, incredibly cool decay (when using overdrive) and just such an awesome classic gutsy sound. I feel like I finally graduated to a pro set-up with these pickups and have to wonder why I never tried them sooner.
However many stars a review can have, add one!
Patrick –
I’ve owned a lot of Stratocaster’s over the years but never cared for the stock pickups or the custom shops I alway’s found them to be thin and tinny sounding until I tried a set of blue’s specials now that’s all I use in my Stratocaster’s much to my surprise I tried them in an early 90’s Plus they sounded more amazing with the swimming pool route.
Kent Havener (verified owner) –
I’d like to thank you guys for your helpful support and hard work. The Strat “Blues Special” are everything I was looking for.
Barney Perrine –
The luthier working on my guitar after I asked what pickups to get for the rebuild , gave me 2 or 3 sites that make them. What I didn’t know was that the choices would be endless. It was your site that sold me on your pickups. I was able to by a set for my Tele instead of trying to pick a neck and bridge pickup from dozens of pick ups and I was able to hear them compared to baseline or stock pickups because you supplied a video all in one place on your site. I played the guitar live for the first time last night and couldn’t be happier. They went into this beautiful Tele that my eldest son told me he would build for me if I beat cancer. This is the first time in the 30 years I’ve been a musician that I have felt like I’ve finally found the sound I’ve been looking for.
Nate Rudy –
I sent an old Strat pickup to Lindy to be rewound in 2009 at the suggestion of my guitar tech, David Petillo, from Petillo Guitars.
This pickup came from my ’65 Strat. It was dead when I got the guitar in 1990 when I immediately replaced it with a Seymour Duncan.
Lindy stayed true to my requests regarding the cosmetics of the pickup and he rewound it to spec. The pickup is still running solid.
I never miss a chance to recommend Fralin pickups to anyone that needs replacements or a rewind.
Eric (verified owner) –
Fantastic pickups. Replaced a set of texas specials in an alder body strat. More bite, way more character. Love em. Great customer service as well. Much appreciated.
John R (verified owner) –
I have a MIM Strat, not a terribly expensive guitar, but nice. I had replaced the stock pickups with a set from another company – not what I would call “top-shelf” but decent, and it was definitely an improvement over the originals.
I wanted to further improve the sound, and someone recommended that I try a set of Lindy Fralin’s. I wondered if the increased cost could be justified since these pickups cost almost as much as the guitar! And would I hear much of an difference compared the pups they replaced, which were not bad.
To my amazement, the answer to both questions is yes! There is a musical quality to these pickups that is hard to explain. As soon as I plugged into my amp, it was obvious. My Strat sounded like many recordings we’ve all heard, as opposed to a cheap guitar off the rack at GC (no offense).
I think these pickups are worth every penny, it was money well spent, and I have no regrets.
Scott Dale –
I put these in my Am Std 2005 Strat and absolutely love them. They are super clear and full with no imbalance of frequencies anywhere. I would not call them super fat, just full with plenty of sparkle without being ice picky. They obviously play clean tones perfectly but the way they overdrive my Deluxe Reverb is super smooth and creamy. I got the base plate for the bridge pickup which does exactly what Lindy says it is supposed to do. That may be why my strat does not get too overly bright on that pickup like it did with the Fender pickups that came on it. I also have some Fender CS Fat 50’s on a similar axe and they are definitely fatter and a little louder but less articulate that these Blues Specials. You can really tell the quality difference in a boutique hand-wound Fralin and a mass produced Fender pickup, and the price difference is negligible. I highly recommend these pickups and the customer service you get when you call Lindy is second to none. Good luck calling up Leo Fender and chatting about your pickups :)). I also got the blender wiring kit and that is very useful as well and I ended up putting one in both my strats.
Bob –
Just amazing and articulate. Crunchy when necessary.
I have a custom shop 57 relic w hand wound Josefina pickups that was just harsh. Put these in and really made the guitar sing. Only mellowed a bit, still surprisingly quacky and the treble is still there when I need it.
You can’t go wrong.