Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup Chrome

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

At first I was a bit worried about the quality of the pickup, but once I installed it I was blown away! This pickup works fantastically when you are working with a simple clean tone. The only drawback to this pickup comes when you are playing while heavily distorted. I guarantee your pickups will whine as you raise your volume and gain.

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

I was working on a custom Strat so I bought one of these to try in the bridge position. I was pretty excited to hear how it sounded but was still a bit worried since the reviews on these things seem so extreme... people either love them or hate them. I wouldn't say I "hate" them, but I would say that I was severely disappointed with the sound. I put in the Alumitone, plugged in my guitar, strummed a couple chords, and I could immediately tell that it wasn't for me. To me it just sounded very "tingy" and lifeless. I think, for me, it was a bad choice since I tend to prefer the more classic "PAF" sound. I decided to go with a railhammer hyper vintage instead and couldn't be happier; my strat now has an amazing high-quality "Modern PAF" sound.
Do a LOT of research before you buy this. You might love this pickup but a 3 out of 10 is my personal opinion. I did a lot of research personally and decided to take a chance; unfortunately this thing just isn't for me.... at all. haha

I'll still be trying and using Lace products in future. Even if I don't love the Alumitone, the Sensors are still amazing!
The only real "feature" for a pickup is the quailty of the tone that you can get from it. I personally didn't like the way this thing sounded at all so that's why I'm giving it a low feature rating. It's hard to describe a sound in words sometimes... but this thing just didn't really seem to have any kind of "body" to me. It just seemed very thin sounding.

I suppose one physical feature to be explored on a humbucker is "can it be coil-tapped?" Lace says "yes" but I didn't get around to trying it so I can't really comment on the way it would sound.
I didn't see anything BAD about the quality, althought it was only installed in my guitar for about a week. I've never had any issues with Lace quality in the past.
For me it wasn't a great value... they seemed a bit expensive in the first place and then I got less than half of the original cost when I sold it on eBay. Live and learn I guess!

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

They just don't give me the tone I want I play mainly blues and classic rock and while they are just fine for chord work I'm less happy with them everyday. As my soloing has improved I can hear the sounds I want coming from this pup but it doesn't pull them to the fore front of the mix they are too sensitive and to well balanced to get your tone to cut through.
These things do not buzz period. Very easy to install.
The quality of mine are fantastic from a workmanship standpoint.
I have bought multiple sets over the past few years and the price has dropped quite a bit.

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

I have owned a set of these. The Alumitones are hi-fi with a flat/even response which is good if that is the tone you want. But this can translate to a lack of character and sweetness in the midrange. That is exactly what I found: big tone yet cold and uninspiring. I was missing something in the frequencies from 800Hz-4kHz. The bass was engulfing the mix pushing a tube amp in a tubby way. The upper highs from 6KHz-16kHz were a bit hard, cutting. Might be perfect for nu metal--producing the mid-scoop sound. I purchased these pickups especially to play fingerstyle. The frequency response made it difficult to pull out the melody. I realize now that I like a vintage sound. They were just not the best thing for my style.

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

Alumitone pickups are different than any other pickup I have used. My favorite pickup is the Seymour Duncan 59 PAF, because it sounds like a professional guitar or a recording of one. The Lace pickup sounds similar but it takes time to get used to it. Any note that you play comes through loud and clear. Even the ones that you are trying to dub out with your thumb and get a harmonic ring instead. On the other hand, I walked right up to my space heater that makes other pickups buzz alot and OMG nothing. No buzz! That makes this pickup worth the $. The instructions stink, but the Lace website has a diagram you need to look at that will help. I plugged my guitar with this pickup through a Korg acoustic pandora and it really sounds acoustic. Then I kicked in the MXR distortion 111 and it sounds smooth overdriven. If you want something different looking and sounding that does not buzz and will make you either a better player or embarrased by how you play since it will pickup any thing you play, this might be it. It weighs about as much as a hand full of potato chips!

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

I've been thinkin' about these pups since they came out, I threw em' into this crazy Vietnamese firbird looking thing. Kinda of a long story but the guitar is very solid, neck thru the body, I got for it's looks and the price. The electronics were total crap so it hung on the wall until I sprung for these bad boyz. I've got a pile of guitars, with damn near every kinda pup stuffed into something. My main guitars are G&L I've got an 82 F-100 and a newer Legacy w/seymore's. They destroyed my other guitars until I overhauled the import. Now there is a new sheriff in town. These pups scream, they cut like a razor, crisp and full and they look awesome. My bass player wants them to make some for him. Everyone that has heard that guitar has been impressed.

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

Bought the black pups recently and threw em into an epi dot. Not only do the make your guitar look at least 5 times cooler, the sound is unparalelled.I was suprised when I got my first eyefull of these things. I mean, only an 1/8th inch of metal. No widing. No poles. And two magnets. I was speechless. The only thing I could squeeze out was holy frick. Look at that! I hope they work.Lo and behold, they worked perfectly and amazingly. Clarity, depth and tone, something missing from most(all)stock pickups. I could hear my low notes, my high notes and everything in between. Such clarity without compromising that good feeling of a passive pickup with some soul. Everything you want to come through comes through, harmincs, pinch harmonics, squeals, thrills and shrills. It is the perfect pickup. The best sound.But beware the cd sucks. All it tells you is what wires are what. Not where they go or anything. And I'm not a guitar tech either but I do have some basic experience. So with a little common sense I got em fixed up the first time, so it's not like you need an electricians degree. Again, the clarity is so outstanding, you can hear every mistake you make. Definately inspires you to play better.

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

Lace Alumitones are the most versatile pickups I've ever heard in 35 years of playing. Not only that, but they have a complex, fat but clear sound is so pure, so warm but has so much clarity, that I never thought one pickup could possess.Whether you play rock,fingerstyle, country, jazz, gritty blues, searing slide, or R&B, these pickups will not only cover the necessary tones, but excel at them.They're incredible loud, but don't drive your amp like a distortion pickup. They're clear and you can hear each and every note in a chord, but they're also full and fat.These are great for classic rock, and have an incredible amount of sustain. Moreover, they have such a full frequency range that by running them into a PA or acoustic amp, you can actually get a sound not far from a good electric-acoustic!With an A/B box, you can get hybrid guitar sounds, without that ugly piezo crackle, without 2 pickup systems and batteries!It's a truly revolutionary pickup, and simply sounds better than anything I've tried before, (Gibson vintage and new, Lollar, Fralin, Timbuckers, WCR, etc...)For the price, they're a bargain: the sound quality is worth twice as much.After hearing these, several producers I work with ordered sets for their "in-house" guitars.They make a perfect studio guitar because they can emulate just about any classic tone, or you can unleash their full potential for a unique, full-range sound unlike anything else.A terrific pickup, and a must-have for the serious guitarist.

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

Bought these a couple of months ago to replace the stock pickups in my Les Paul standard. I really didnt know what to expect (There aren't many audio samples of them). But I'm really glad I bought them. The difference was like night and day. Understand these DO NOT sound like vintage PAF or modern EMG pickups. If I had to describe the sound the only words that come to mind are blank slate. Because the sound is not colored by the pickups. Rather you add the color with you amp & effects. These pickups sound like I've placed my ears directly onto the body of my guitar. Because of this they are extremely versatile. Blues, funk, metal, even jazz they sound great with no hum! My only complaint is lace doesn't seem to believe in customer service.

Comments about Lace Alumitone Humbucker Electric Guitar Pickup:

The pickups are nice looking. But, the wires were way too short. One of the pickups was a splittable humbucker. No wiring diagrams for it on their site. No mini-CD included with wiring diagrams. Had to call to ask how to wire it up. First way they told me didn't work. It was very bright and buzzed badly. Called again. Second way had very very low output. Really wish I hadn't thrown out the boxes these came in. Otherwise I would have returned them. Guess they are going in the trash can. Don't want to buy another one hoping I get the right kind. One works okay. Sounds kind of sterile to me. Just ordered some burstbucker pro's instead.