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Vintage Hot
$95.00 – $285.00
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!
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Vintage Hot.
Want sound clips and video? Read Below
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 6K |
| Middle Ohm Reading: | 6K |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 6.6K |
| 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 |
Vintage Hot Info:
Want to learn more about our Vintage Hot? Here's all the information you'll need:
Vintage Hot FEATURES:
- Modified Vintage Fender specifications, with modern output
- Bright, clean tone with balance across lows and highs
- 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
OVERVIEW
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.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Our Vintage Hots consist of local 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
Vintage Hots 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. For a similar tone with no hum, consider using our Split Blade Strat Pickups.
VIDEO
F.A.Q's
- What Magnet Stagger Do I Use? It all depends on your fingerboard radius. If you have a 7.25″ – 9.5″ radius, we recommend going with Stock Stagger. If you have a 10″ radius or flatter, including compound radius, go with a 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 pushing the High E string down at the highest fret.
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:
- Modified Vintage Fender specifications, with modern output
- Bright, clean tone with balance across lows and highs
- 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
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.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Our Vintage Hots consist of local 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.
Vintage Hots 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. For a similar tone with no hum, consider using our Split Blade Strat Pickups.
- What Magnet Stagger Do I Use? It all depends on your fingerboard radius. If you have a 7.25″ – 9.5″ radius, we recommend going with Stock Stagger. If you have a 10″ radius or flatter, including compound radius, go with a 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 pushing the High E string down at the highest fret.
WIRING DIAGRAMS:
We do not offer installation help or guidance, but we do have easy-to-follow, beautiful Wiring Diagrams! Click below:
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
77 reviews for Vintage Hot
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Markus Rosgen (verified owner) –
Excellent tone
Can’t say enough about the tone of Fralin pick-ups. Clear, crisp sound.
Andrew Pratt (verified owner) –
Fralin Vintage Hot
I’m loving my new vintage hots! My second set of pickups from Lindy and my guitars sound great with the retrofit. I really like the baseplate option as I do love a hotter bridge pickup. You can’t go wrong with Fralin pickups!
Nevin Zelich (verified owner) –
Love it
Can’t begin to describe how much these guys worked with me to get exactly what I needed, thank you for having an amazing business!
Hans Twite –
Well, these new pickups solidified why I will ONLY buy Fralin.
The care in the creation of these pickups really shows. The sound of my Fender Japan Baritone Custom has always been pretty solid but lacked clarity and depth. with these installed, I now have an amazing sounding instrument. Not only was I able to install these properly with the help from the resources available on the website, but the guitar is also DEAD silent from noise. Between my vintage hots in my strat, and these, my guitars have never sounded so good. 10/10
Ramin Bahai (verified owner) –
The ideal Strat pickup
I have 5 strats with 5 different sets of high-end boutique pickups. They all have their unique qualities and strengths. But the Fralins feel like THE tone. Brilliant sparkly cleans, smooth overdriven with clarity and bite – but not too ear-piercingly trebly. I really like the effect of the baseplate on the bridge. If I could only have one strat – it would be the one with the Vintage Hots!
Paul Bernard (verified owner) –
Customer added no additional comments
Colin Drake (verified owner) –
Gorgeous! They sound just beautiful. Crafted with care to high quality. I have 2 sets.
Joshua Griebel (verified owner) –
Vintage hot in the bridge sounds great!
Benjamin Caputo (verified owner) –
Best decision I’ve ever made!
The framing vintage hots literally brought my 2020 American special Strat to life. It’s a whole different beast now. Love the baseplate on the bridge. Just simply Wow! Thank you Lindy what a pleasure doing business!
Carl Brown (verified owner) –
The Best of the Best
I’m a tone hound. I try tons of new equipment looking for the perfect sound and usually sell it within a week on Reverb. As close to that sound I had been was a set of Fat 50s. I tried brand after brand. Some cheaper than Fralin and a couple more expensive. Never again! I’m a Fralin man now. Period. Point blank. These pickups are outstanding. The perfect sound that I’ve been looking for.
Douglas McClure (verified owner) –
Vintage Hot Strat bridge pup
Great addition, gives me a little more “oomph” but not too dominant. And I like the string balance, especially with the lower G pole. Thanks!
Dennis Hull (verified owner) –
Issues
So this is the 3rd guitar that I have installed Fralins. A set of unbuckers in a PRS. Blues specials for middle / neck and steel pole 42 in the bridge on an American Elite Strat. Now these Vintage Hots +2% with baseplate on the bridge in a MIM 60’s reissue Strat. Here’s the issue…Fralin pickups are addictive! They are all amazing. The tone difference is incredible. The best way I can explain them is that the tone is more 3 dimensional than the stock pickups in all three cases. So the other issue is when looking to buy guitars now I always have to figure in the cost of a set of Fralins. They are that good!! Excellent customer service on top of the high-quality pickups!!!
Alon Weiss –
Before placing my next order I am calling not only to ask for certain details but express first my great impression by the Strat “Vintage Hot” set purchased earlier.
Among many “boutique” brands pickups I have tried in my Fender CS fine guitars this is the BEST SET way above all others.
Replacing pickups in a guitar always accompanied with high expectations built by the pickup maker to improve the sound and overall playing experience that lead to disappointment in many cases, however, this is the FIRST time for me in 20+ years that experience is BETTER than (high..) expectations !!! and by ALL meanings! sound, feel, balance across the strings, dynamic, clean, distorted, you name it …
Kindly share my thanks and appreciation with the team !!!
Howard Hedger (verified owner) –
Brought my guitar to life
I had a 1999 custom shop US Fender Stratocaster with noiseless singlecoil pickups. Added these and wow. Blown away. Install was a breeze and best of all, the tone. My favorite position is now bridge, which was previously the one I used least because of the thin tone. Now is punchy and tight. Fantastic pickups.
Andrew –
Put them in my main strat a while ago after trying to search for the perfect pickups and have never thought to upgrade them ever since, they are phenomenal! Take the highest end guitar with the most expensive pickups, and the Vintage Hots in a strat will probably sound better!
Nico van Gijn –
I picked up a set Fralin vintage hot -5% underwound from Haar Guitars (Netherlands). On every p.u. label is handwritten -5%. Baseplate on the bridge. Sound is less powerfull but very sweet.
Boo Reiners (verified owner) –
Customer added no additional comments