Split Blade Strat
Split Blade Strat Pickups: a Lindy Fralin original! Designed as a fully noise-canceling replacement for Strat-style pickups with all the high-end clarity you expect from a traditional single coil. As always, Lindy Fralin Guitar Pickups will give you the most clarity, articulation, and string definition you can get – period.
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All Strat, No Hum.
Want to learn more about our Split Blade Strat? Here's all the information you'll need:
Split Blade Strat FEATURES:
Are you searching for an authentic Fender Strat sound, but hate hum? We have the solution for you: Split Blade Stratocaster Pickups – The revolutionary design in single-coil sound, without the annoying 60-cycle hum. We’ve built this pickup with a 2-coil design using steel blades for the pole piece. Unlike most humbucking pickups, Split Blades are designed with a left and right coil design, offering a more accurate and more balanced single-coil tone. You can expect a traditional single-coil tone from Split Blades, except with more fatness and warmth. Split Blades are perfect for those who love their guitar’s tone, but want to rid themselves of the noise.
- A Lindy Fralin Original Design!
- An interesting and unique look
- Clean and clear, lots of Fender sparkle and twang
- Traditional Fender tone, with no noise
- USA-made Magnets for optimal tonal balance and output
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- Three Blade heights available for different fingerboard radiuses
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Split Blades consist of a precision injection mold and USA-Made Steel Blades. We use a variety of USA-Made magnets to make this model loud and efficient. Each bobbin is carefully inspected and cleaned before winding.
We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Sound
Lindy Fralin Split Blade Pickups are unique: they offer a single-coil sound, with no hum, whatsoever. You can expect a fantastic warm, full-bodied tone with incredible string articulation and enhanced detail. Low strings sound clear and articulate, while the plain strings sound thicker than a single-coil, but still sparkle. Also, adjusting the pickup on the Bass and Treble ends allows the player to fine-tune the pickup to their needs.
Split Blade Pickups will not pull strings out of tune – even if they get close. When playing with distortion, Split Blade Pickups sound thick and dynamically creamy. Chords have excellent compression, and single notes have a much broader sonic footprint. Split Blades sound thicker than our Vintage Hots in our Vintage output option.
Pot Value:
Vintage and High Output Split Blades sound great on 250K Pots or 300K pots. We sell 300K Pots here if you need one!
Tech Specs
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Split Blade Strat.
Since we have a few different outputs for Split Blade, we've grouped them by their recommended Pot Value:
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Vintage Output Ohm Readings: | 4.7K Neck / 4.7K Middle / 5K Bridge* |
| Vintage Output Recommended Pot Value: | 250K or 300K |
| High Output Ohm Readings: | 5.3K Neck / 5.3K Middle / 6.7K Bridge* |
| High Output Recommended Pot Value: | 250K or 300K |
| Blues Output Ohm Readings: | 5K Neck / 5K Middle / 5.8K Bridge* |
| Blues Output Recommended Pot Value: | 500K |
| Super High Output Ohm Readings: | 7.2 Neck / 7.2K Middle / 9.5K Bridge* |
| Super High Output Recommended Pot Value: | 500K |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42 / 43 Gauge Single Poly Nylon, Depending On Model |
| Magnet: | Ceramic |
| Polarity: | Hum Cancelling, Request 3 Wire If Buying Single |
| Pole Pieces: | Steel |
| Recommended Cap Value**: | 0.02mfd |
**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 aren't very helpful. Our Vintage Output is close to the a Vintage Strat Pickup output.
Sizing
Split Blade Strat Questions And Answers:
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Have a question about our Split Blade Strat? Ask it here. Your Question will be publically visible. If you want to ask a Private Question, please contact us through our Contact Us Form.
If you have multiple questions, please call us at (804) 358-2699.
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I have a 1985 Gibson Explorer 425 HSS that is extremely dark sounding (mahogany/ebony). You've recommended to others the combination of High Output and 500k to get the brightest sound. I'm putting a Bare Knuckles VHII (Alnico V/8.9K/Vintage Hot) humbucker in the bridge position. I'm concerned that the output level of the neck Split Blade (5.3k) will not balance well with the 8.9K of the humbucker I've chosen. Should I consider putting a High Outp...
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Q I have a 1985 Gibson Explorer 425 HSS that is extremely dark sounding (mahogany/ebony). You've re...... Read moreA
Hey Edgar, the ohm readings don't really provide any useful information on Split Blades. They are a unique design and therefore the ohm readings are basically useless unless comparing to other Split Blades. That said, I believe the High Output on 500K would definitely give you what you're looking for. I'd recommend starting with the Neck first. It should match up nicely with the 8.9K Humbucker you have. Just note it will sound a bit "crispy" o...
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I have a mahogany body with a JB already in the bridge position and I will be ordering a Split-Blade for the neck. Would you recommend Blues or Super High Output to keep it somewhat balanced? Pedals tend to be delay and overdrive - rock spectrum, no metal. Thanks!
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Q I have a mahogany body with a JB already in the bridge position and I will be ordering a Split-Bl...... Read moreA
Hey Jon - if you have 500K pots, I recommend Blues if you're looking for a cleaner, more traditional Strat tone. If you want a thicker, warmer tone, go with the Super High Output. If it were my guitar, I would select the Blues Output.
Which output, vintage, blues, high, or super high is more closely associated the output of your pure paf's? I have those in an SG and I love the tone. i also have some TV jones filtertron pickups in a tele with a similar output as the pure pafs. i'd like my strat to match! thanks!
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Q Which output, vintage, blues, high, or super high is more closely associated the output of your p...... Read moreA
Hey Keith, our Super High Output will be the closest to the output of our Pure P.A.F.s
Can the output of the left and right coils be used and combined separately, allowing for example the lower strings coil at the bridge and the higher strings coil at the neck to be combined the same way the two coils are normally combined in a singe split blade pickup? And if so what modificatiosns would be needed?
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Q Can the output of the left and right coils be used and combined separately, allowing for example ...... Read moreA
Hey Si,
This is a good question for Lindy - please call the shop at your convenience at (804) 358-2699
I've got a tele routed for strat pickups, which I primarily use for a lot of soul/funk work. Is it possible to get just a neck + bridge matched set, and what would you recommend for a slightly darker neck and rather bright bridge sound?
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Q I've got a tele routed for strat pickups, which I primarily use for a lot of soul/funk work. Is i...... Read moreA
Hey Maxwell, that depends on if you're primarily a Neck or Bridge player. Personally, I'd go with a slightly darker neck and a brighter bridge for position 2 as it will provide more "spank" for funk. That said, if you like a cleaner neck tone and want to solo on the Bridge, having a higher-output Bridge is the way to go.
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Asking a question here will be public to all users of this siteHey!
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS
87 Genuine Reviews for Split Blade Strat
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Very very good set of pickups. Very silent indeed even with high gain.
I installed them on a Musicman Cutlass HSS on the neck and middle position along with a Modern Paf a previously had. It’s wired for me to have neck and bridge together with a push pull. The guitar is Very versatile. It took me a couple of months to get use to them. The neck can be warm thick and very jazzy but as well bright and spanky depending on the height you set them up. Also the EQ of your amp or EQ pedal it will change the sound of it. I play Jazz songs on the guitar as well as churchy clean songs and Blues songs. The neck is thick to my ear and sounds a bit like a humbucker with an overdrive, but again with right EQ it can be a strat neck sound.
I recommend them, they are worth it. Silent and versatile.
Got the middle position Split Blade Blues Output to pair with a Steel Pole 42 in the neck and Steel Pole 43 in the bridge. This was based on the recommendation I was given when I called in to ask what would work best with what I have and what I’m looking for and it matches great. Mostly wanted the Split Blade pickup to give me more of a Strat tone option and to be noiseless when I use distortion and other pedals. It does exactly that. I love Fralin pickups!
I installed the high output Split Blade Strat pickup in the bridge position, for my early Reverend Avenger GT which also had a Dimarzio in the neck as well as a Joe Barden in the middle. I really just needed a double coil pickup with some oomph. I wanted it a little darker for a harder dbl coil sound. I was surprised how much musical presence it has. I did a gig with immediately after installing it. I wired it white to the switch and black to ground. It turned out to be out of phase with the other pickups. It still sounded great in solo mode but also interesting for some tanky Jimmy Page sounds. I had a Gibson L6-S that gave me that with the 6 position switch.
I ended up swapping the white and black for normal strat sounds. It has the quack in the number 2 position as well as the sweet chime in number 4. It sounds beautiful in the bridge and neck position via a neck toggle switch. The mind blower is that while it has lots of double coil tone measuring 8.15 on my ohm meter, it isn’t way louder than the Barden(4.6) or Dimarzio (6). This made all the combo positions sound sweet but strong. It sings! I didn’t use the 3rd wire…..yet!
One more thing, it’s a beauty! It’s the white one in a white Reverend with a gold pick guard!
I used a vintage in the bridge of my Strat for several years even though the radius was not quite a match. I finally got around to ordering a Blues version with a flatter radius. It does exactly what I wanted, a little more depth and output. Although not a fan of the regular blues wind it works great on the split blade. After using every boutique Strat pickup I could find, Lindys Strat pickups are consistent and special. Lollars sound too clinical, but the late Peter Florences pickups are close in having this special quality. I am especially a fan of the 54 wind of the Fralins. The split blades do not sound to me quite like his other Strat pickups, they have their own sound which is very pleasing to the ear and I find the blues special in the bridge paired with a regular 54 in the middle and neck positions gives me the sounds that to me are usable and sweet. The split blade tempers the highs in the bridge position so that I actually use it more without reaching for the tone knob. Nice job Lindy! AAA. I’m a fan.
Several years ago, I ordered a set of split blades for strat from Lindy that consisted of vintage output neck and middle, and a super-high output bridge with yet another 5 percent wound on (the tech winding it at the time called it “ludicrous” output). More recently, I decided that I wanted my strat to sound more like a strat in all positions, so I orderd a vintage output split blade bridge to replace the Ludicrous bridge. In addition, I got the Fralin blender pot, the Fralin magic cap for the tone, and a 300k volume pot. These are the best decisions I have ever made about guitar mods. I’ve never been happier about my tone. My strat started as a 2007 American standard. I replaced the neck with an Allparts baseball bat with a rosewood board, and installed a bone nut. I currently run through a Fender 68 custom ProReverb. As advertised, all positions are clear, chimey, and stratty, with just a bit more thickness than a regular single coil. With the new vintage bridge, I roll the tone off a bit, blend in a touch of the neck using the blender pot, and it works perfectly with the amp settings in conjunction with the neck, middle, and 2 and 4 positions. In particular, I wanted to note that the middle position is the best middle pickup I have ever come across. Often overlooked, this position is given new power and life by the split blade design. It gets alot of milage these days. Lindy and his team do it right. Best pickups I’ve ever played.
I got a blues output for the middle position of a P92-Split Blade-P92 and it sounds great in this combo. I can get the quacky strat tones in this combo with the 92s. Great middle pickup. Everyone was super helpful at the shop, and I really appreciate getting this installed.
About a year ago i picked up a G&L 2003 S-500 made in Korea at a yard sale for a steal of a price.
The neck was a little warped but everthing else on the guitar was mint.I decided to make this a project guitar and ordered a custom neck from the US.
I also decided to install new pickups and electronics and HSS pickguard.
After some research i decided to try out the Fralin split blades and i got to say i am totally happy with my purchase the pickups are exactly the sound i was hoping for and i couldn’t be happier with this guitar. Thanks
Best noiseless strat pickups around. Vintage in neck and Mid with a High Output for the Bridge is a perfect combo. I’ve tried them all, Dimarzio Areas, Ultra Noiseless, Lace, but these are the ones for me.
thanks Lindy
My goal was to replace the low output “vintage” pickups in my Warmoth strat to something more muscular to better keep up with my other guitars loaded with mid to hot output humbuckers, yet still sound like a strat. I’ve been playing Lindy’s pickups (split blade blues output) and a blender pot now for the better part of last year. Switching between guitars on the fly used to mean also changing amp and pedal settings. Not any more. These blues output split blades, while still lower in output than those other humbucker guitars I own, closed the gap significantly enough to make quick guitar changes practical. Mission accomplished there.
The sound: Cleans are so VERY strat-y sounding you’d swear you were playing single coils. I was shocked, however, at how well they handled high gain situations. The first time I played loud with hard rock and metal sounds and stopped, I was in awe at the silence. Zero noise, like a noise gate kicked on! These are incredibly well made pickups.
The blender pot is awesome, too. I’m still learning the subtlety of using it, but I appreciate the additional tonal possibilities it provides. A small turn can thicken up the bridge, or add a touch of bite to the neck. Blending all the way to get the neck + bridge both full on sounds a lot like the middle position on a tele. It’s a super useful way to wire up your strat!
I put a split blade blues between two unbuckers on a soloist parts build and it was the perfect middle pickup to use. All the pickups sound fantastic, balanced, defined and full of musical inspiration. I also put in a blender pot for even more possibilities! I spoke to Lindy on the phone and he answered a couple of questions I had, so that was an amazing customer service experience. Thanks Lindy!