Split Steel Pole Strat
Clean, Noiseless P90 Strat Tones
$125
Instantly transform your Strat into a P90 powerhouse with Lindy Fralin’s Split Steel Pole Strat Bridge. Featuring a high-output coil design and an aggressive magnet structure, this is as close to the famous P90 tone as we can get on a Strat, with no hum! Don’t be afraid to get dirty – experience the expertly-crafted blend of P90 and Strat pickups, and discover what you’ve been missing. Available in a Bridge Position only.
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Noiseless P90 Tone For A Strat Bridge.
Want to learn more about our Split Steel Pole Strat? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features:
Transform your wimpy Strat Bridge pickup into something that will inspire you for years to come with Lindy Fralin’s Split Steel Pole Strat Bridge. This noiseless Strat Bridge replacement features steel pole pieces, like our Steel Pole 42 and 43, but its unique design eliminates hum entirely.
Our Split Steel Pole Strat Bridge pickup features an aggressive and snarly midrange and attack, making it a brighter pickup with a little more “grit.” Whether you play clean or dirty, we guarantee the unique tone of this pickup will inspire you.
Features:
- Unique two-coil design for 100% noiseless operation
- Adjustable USA-Made Steel Pole Pieces for a blend of P90 tone, and fine-tuning string balance
- Fender Size, Original Lindy Fralin Design
- Strong and bold – lots of midrange and snarl
- USA-made Ceramic Magnets for aggressive tone and output
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- Backed by our 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. This Split Steel Pole Pickup consists of a precision injection mold that is carefully inspected and cleaned before winding. We use USA-Made Steel Screws and aggressive USA-Made magnets to make this model scream.
Furthermore, we wind each pickup by hand, one at a time, using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to prevent microphonics and preserve the pickup for years to come.
Sound
How does it sound? Powerful! The emphasized midrange on our Split Steel Pole Strat Bridge makes this pickup a perfect companion in your bridge position. You can expect a full and rich midrange, with plenty of clarity and brightness, sounding perfect on 250K pots. You can also expect a more potent attack and a stiffer treble tone than traditional Strat pickups.
It does not have traditional Fender “Sparkle”; instead, it is more in-line with a P-90. Being a lower-output pickup, it’s cleaner and more articulate than our Hum-Cancelling P-90s, but this pickup will still push your amp hard and break up easily! Whether you have an overly bright guitar, need more output, hate the hum, or are just looking for something different, the Split Steel Pole Strat Bridge will inspire you.
Sound Samples for Split Steel Pole Strat:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Split Steel Pole Strat:
The tonal graph below for our Split Steel Pole Strat features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Stiff & Percussive
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Split Steel Pole Strat.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Stock Ohm Reading: | 9.5K* 1 |
| -5% Ohm Reading: | 9K* 1 |
| Wire: | USA-Made 43-Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
| Magnets: | USA-Made Ceramic |
| Pole Pieces: | USA-Made Steel Screws |
| Design: | Hum Cancelling |
| Polarity: | Hum Cancelling, Use 3 Wires for Phase Matching |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 250K** |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
More Information:
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.
* Due to the unique design of this pickup, Ohm readings are not useful when comparing to different models | **Experiment with different pot values for a different tone
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
If you're buying a set from us, all pickups will work together seamlessly. If you're buying a single pickup, all you need to worry about is Coil Direction.
To ensure your pickup will work, make sure you select multiple leads (2-conductor with shield), or the 3-Wire modification so you can reverse the coil direction, if need be.
Split Steel Pole Strat Dimensions:
Split Steel Pole Strat FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your Split Steel Pole Strat have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
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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.
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Is your Lead Time of 3-4 Weeks accurate?
It really 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 underpromise and overdeliver.
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What pickup height do you recommend setting your Split Steel Pole Strats to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. Measure by holding the corresponding side down at its highest fret and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Get It Prewired
Get our Split Steel Pole Strat prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:
Customer Reviews
25 Genuine Reviews for Split Steel Pole Strat
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The Strat split steel pole pickup are great replacements for my early model Fender lap steel. I understand a telecaster split steel pole could work even better but I did not want to route out my Fender lap steel and the Strat split steel poles do the job very well.
Original lap steel pickups were under powered and too bright . Now with pickup height and tone control adjustments can go from single coil fender tones to more full body p90 tones easily.
Thanks for helping me with my questions before buying. My goals achieved.The advice is just as good
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Awesome pickup. Lots of growl and no hum. I’m going to get one for my Tele as well.
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Powerful bass, pronounced mids and just the right amount of high frequencies. I used to play my Strat with a mini humbucker at the bridge, but the sound was too different from my single coils in the neck and middle, too muffled. The Split Steel Pole Strat works very well with other pickups, just remember to use your Strat’s tone pots wisely! One more to say: It’s super quiet!!!
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I own a 1995 MIM Strat. I like playing on the bridge pickup, but the Strat stock bridge pickup always sounded shrill and anemic, especially when playing with medium to high gain. I recently added the Split Steel Pole Strat to my guitar and couldn’t be happier. It’s what I’ve always wanted my guitar to sound like. The tone I get is thicker, more pronounced, and handles medium to high overdrive well. I also routed one of the tone knobs to the bridge for more tone sculpting capability. I keep the tone high for more traditional Strat sounds, and turn it down for a sound that’s closer to a p90. And not having 60 cycle hum is a cherry on top. My only regret is not buying this pickup years ago.
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I purchased this pickup (Strat Split Steel Pole) as a replacement in my Lap Steel. It sounds absolutely amazing with both Clean tones and through a Tube Screamer. I highly recommend this pickup for your Lap Steel project! Jon.
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I installed the SSP strat pickup today and I have to say it is very much the sound I was hoping for in the bridge position. I haven’t played it much yet, but the Fralin pickups I’ve installed all seem to grow on me more the more I hear and play them. Thanks for the good products you make. I now have Fralins in four guitars. SAM D.
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Installed in the bridge position of a shorter scale “strat” style (Warmoth 7/8S) and to me the sound definitely approaches P90 for the bridge position. It’s what I was looking for and I can’t think of anything different I would prefer, so 5 stars it is. The output sounds full and hot without the sharpness of typical Strat bridge pickups. I set the height to about 1/16″ on the first string and about 1/8″ on the 6th string. The balance seems good, but I may back it down a turn or two once I’ve had time to get used to it. I really don’t like giving 5 star reviews, but my experiences dealing with Fralin Pickups (nine pickups and counting) have been nothing but stellar.
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Wow! This thing is really cool. For years I had grown frustrated with my Strat pickups. My strat is a Fender American Standard 1986 Stratocaster. I’ve had this thing forever and I love it, but over time I realized that it didn’t really cut through compared to my telecaster or my bandmates’ other guitars (Jazzmasters, Firebirds, etc.) I had tried different pickups in the bridge, noiseless and traditional, all voiced more or less like a Strat pickup, and never found what I was looking for. I also am not a fan of traditional PAF-style humbuckers, nor the super high output aggressive monsters that hard rockers seem to like so much. So I tried this instead. When I first played it, I almost couldn’t believe the difference, it made me think that it wasn’t even the same guitar! This is way more of a ripping, rocking pickup than any typical strat pickup. I felt like I was playing an old Les Paul with P-90s (think early Neil Young circa 1970). Thick and meaty without being dull or overly dark, it has that extra life in the high end that P-90s have. This is definitely not your normal Strat tone, but if you find strat pickups to be too thin and want to experiment and try something new this is totally worth it.
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Received a Split Pole Tele and one Split Pole Strat bridge pickup from Lindy. Bridge pickups in a Strat can be a real nightmare. While I own two nice pre CBS Strats that sound awesome in the bridge position with their original pickups, my newer Fenders, Suhr or Xotics left me unimpressed with the bridge pickup sounds. Tried lots of different brands plus full size humbuckers only to find out that, while sounding fuller and warmer, they did really not match well with the mid and neck pickups. Tried mini humbuckers from ZEXCoil and Seymour Duncan as well but they didn’t do it for me either. Too compressed and alien to a Strat. The Fralin Steele Pole 43 was nice, but the cycle hum was annoying and it lacked a tad of treble response. The Split Pole however is a perfect pickup for the bridge position. Sounds very P90ish with just enough treble and matches perfectly with my low wound mid and neck single coils. No noise!!! In between position of mid and bridge is also great and not compromised IMO. Can’t praise Lindy enough. These pickups are the holy grail for Strats and maybe Teles in the bridge position. You can get kind of humbucker/P90 thickness and drive if needed. With the mid and neck position you still maintain your Strat sound.
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Installed mine in the bridge position/ replaced the vintage split blade….Adds just enough body for me to use as a stand-alone pickup for more aggresive lead tones….Balances and blends well in the 2 position to retain a good fender surf sound and the blender does not overpower the neck pickup….Very happy with this set up
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P90 for strat
Such a great sounding, humbucking p90 sound for my Strat. I highly recommend !! -
Best choice for a strat bridge position
Let’s be honest: a stock bridge pickup in a strat is very often weak and shrill sounding – enter the Split Seel Pole! In my opinion, this pickup should be standard in strats, and it sure will be in our next ‘Stratocats’! Bold and twangy, great with overdrives, too!Thank you!
Andy from Magneton Guitars -
WOW!
I wanted my latest Strat to have a loud rock tone The Split Steele Pole doesn’t sound exactly like a P-90, but it sure has the snarl and mid-heavy girth of one! Combined with the Fralin Strat neck, this guitar is a real rock powerhouse. -
Highly recommended! Great pickup, a lot thicker sounding than a stock strat pickup and no hum.
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I’ve been a traditional SSS strat player for many years and have tried many pickups, but recently started looking around to see what else was out there. Having had some recent experiences with string and pole piece misalignments as well as actually hearing volume drop-offs when bending strings for the first time ever on a particular guitar, I was determined to TRY some blade type pickups. I decided on the Fralin Split Blade strat pickup set, but then this Split Steel Pole bridge caught my eye. Having always wanted a HSS strat but really loving the look of traditions SSS strats, I decided to call Lindy and talk to him about this combo and he gave it the green light. Wow, it’s AMAZING. All 3 pickups sound amazing. This bridge pickup is the perfect solution if you want a strat to still sound and LOOK like a strat but give near humbucker sounds. And the split blades pair beautifully with it. Now I’m looking at all sorts of non-traditional designs for my other Fender projects. Why deal with hum when you can sound this amazing without it? I have several high end strats including one I built with Fender 69’s and an EJ strat, but by son’s MIM with these pickups is my favorite strat in the house. That guitar is just magic. Thanks Lindy!
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Put a P-92 in my HSS Strat. Talked to Lindy about what Fralin’s to put in next. He said he could make SSPs sound right in the neck AND middle as long as I noted the P-92 output with my order. The Lindy Blender Bucker, Baby! Love it. Thanks, Fralin Pickups.
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I put a split steel pole Strat bridge pickup into the neck position of my plain vanilla American Standard Strat, which I use exclusively for slide guitar: “telephone wire” 13-54 flat polished strings and just a slightly higher action (I fret behind the slide). The results? Greater separate string clarity, improved ability to adjust tone through my effects, including better sustain under various compression schemes, ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL OVERTONES IN THE SUSTAIN/DECAY ON UPPER REGISTER NOTES. Yeah baby! That is SO bad ass.
My luthier had some trouble with the first pickup I got, so I sent it back to Lindy, who CALLED me, worked with me over the phone, and sent me a NEW pickup even though there wasn’t proof positive that the pickup was actually the problem. That is stand up customer service.
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Strat bridge girth, and single-coil heaven
Adding the Split Steel Pole in the bridge of my Strat gave it some girth and P-90 growl (which allows it cover a lot more rock territory) while still retaining single-coil clarity and classic Strat aesthetics. Along with Blues Specials in the neck and middle and a blender wiring harness, this is the most versatile single-coil guitar I’ve ever had. It’s just all there. -
Best bridge coil I ever had.
It makes its own rich full sound, without trying to copy humbuckersound, like the minihumbuckers or stacked pu’s are trying to acheive. I adjusted the poles down flat to the mic’s surface, and got rid of some unwanted middle frequencies. -
This bridge pickup is fantastic – perfect for what I wanted. Had a set of Vintage Hots with the plate on the bridge pickup – all of which were great, albeit with the normal limitations of it being a Strat. But switching the V-Hot bridge for the split steel pole makes my Nash 57 Strat cover a LOT more ground (who needs an HSS Strat with one of these!), while retaining the clarity and tonal advantages of having high-end pickups like Fralins. I was concerned the split steel pole strat bridge might overpower the V-Hots in the neck and middle, but they balance perfectly. Lots more mid-range, but in exactly the way I wanted – sounds thick and natural, not over-compressed. Great clarity, articulation, and thickness – exactly what I needed. I can now get the Jimi-ish rhythm sounds out of the neck and middle pickups, and bluesier SRV and Ruffner sounds, plus the prettier in-between sounds – all the way through to screaming thick lead tones (who needs a humbucker!) and about as close to Malcolm and Angus rhythm sounds as I’ve ever heard out of a Strat. It sounds like a P90 without any of the downsides crossed with a great Strat bridge without the downsides of that – lots more mid-range
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