Split Steel Pole Strat
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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Jump to Sound Clips and Product Info:
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:
Split Steel Pole Strat 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
Tonal Graph for Split Steel Pole Strat:
The tone graph below for our Split Steel Pole Strat features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Stiff & Percussive
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.
Sizing
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
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.
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Prewired HSS Strat Split Blade Pickguard
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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.
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!
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.
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.
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