New Pickup Day

[Sollipsist]

Foxbats came REALLY quick. Now if they sound half as good as they look...

 

[NateFalcon]

Let us know how it goes...I’ve been thinking about a ceramic Foxbat set for my Ironbird build

Cool bobbin choice! BTW

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Jealous. My Red Stone set just got finished and will be here soon. I can't wait!
If they are tasty, then my other guitars are getting some sets/rewinds.

Be sure to let us know your observations!

 

[LeviathanKiller]

My Red Stones were in the mail when I just checked! Gonna install them today or tomorrow once I figure out how to wire them up to this Mojotone pot

 

[Sollipsist]

My Red Stones were in the mail when I just checked! Gonna install them today or tomorrow once I figure out how to wire them up to this Mojotone pot

Maybe this will help?
https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/03/29/push-pull-pots-mods/

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Maybe this will help?
https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/03/29/push-pull-pots-mods/

Nope. I'm used to THOSE with the 2 columns of 3 lugs. THESE however are holes in a board with a solder pin configuration at the bottom. Really weird lol
I would've gotten the generic ones had I noticed that.

This is what mine looks like

 

[Sollipsist]

Nope. I'm used to THOSE with the 2 columns of 3 lugs. THESE however are holes in a board with a solder pin configuration at the bottom. Really weird lol
I would've gotten the generic ones had I noticed that.

This is what mine looks like

There's a little bit about those pots at the very bottom of the page, that's what made me think about it.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

There's a little bit about those pots at the very bottom of the page, that's what made me think about it.

Yeah and I'm still confused
It's been a long time since I worked on guitar electronics

 

[Sollipsist]

Finally got them installed, and played the crap out of them for a few hours. First thoughts:

• Loud and clear. They handle gain really well but they don't really need a lot.
• Tune down. Standard E tuning sounded good but a little harsh and ringy in the highs (alder bodied Strat, with brand new strings - go figure). Dropping a whole step and raising the pickup height made a huge difference - took some of the sting from the highs, low strings are crisp and powerful. I'll bet the 7 string version will be someone's favorite pickup ever. Nickel strings might warm mine up a little, and get some benefit from the definition.
• They're not kidding about the note separation. This pickup is ideal if you play complex chords with heavy gain. Palm muting attack is very well defined - if anything, possibly lacking some heavy "woof." They'd probably help with clarity on a 24.75" scale guitar.
• I usually don't like ceramic bridge pickups for soloing, but the Foxbat sings. You could get plenty of mileage out of it in a one-pickup guitar... but the neck is really sweet sounding too - some of that open PAF character, but with more balls. And since the neck pickup is so clear and well-defined, I found myself playing things that I'd normally only do with a bridge pickup.
• Split, they're really versatile. They're obviously marketing these for a modern, high-gain player, but the Foxbats have plenty of range. You can get the dirty Hendrix/SRV thing going on the neck, and super clean Nile Rodgers funk rhythms too. The middle position is heavenly clean, very bell-like with good quack. It's even got a very usable single coil bridge sound, which is more than I can say about most Strats.

I didn't spend much time setting the pickup height - there may be a sweet spot that gives even better results. I also haven't tweaked the pole pieces, so the radius of the Strat neck and relative string volume is all probably not ideal.

Even so, this is a remarkably good sounding set... one that probably deserves a better guitar. I've never had pickups impress me this much right out of the box (except maybe Wilde Bill's Keystones, a very different beast). Zero buyer's remorse. 9/10 only because those highs needed a little taming, and even that could be the fault of my particular setup.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Finally got them installed, and played the crap out of them for a few hours. First thoughts:

• Loud and clear. They handle gain really well but they don't really need a lot.
• Tune down. Standard E tuning sounded good but a little harsh and ringy in the highs (alder bodied Strat, with brand new strings - go figure). Dropping a whole step and raising the pickup height made a huge difference - took some of the sting from the highs, low strings are crisp and powerful. I'll bet the 7 string version will be someone's favorite pickup ever. Nickel strings might warm mine up a little, and get some benefit from the definition.
• They're not kidding about the note separation. This pickup is ideal if you play complex chords with heavy gain. Palm muting attack is very well defined - if anything, possibly lacking some heavy "woof." They'd probably help with clarity on a 24.75" scale guitar.
• I usually don't like ceramic bridge pickups for soloing, but the Foxbat sings. You could get plenty of mileage out of it in a one-pickup guitar... but the neck is really sweet sounding too - some of that open PAF character, but with more balls. And since the neck pickup is so clear and well-defined, I found myself playing things that I'd normally only do with a bridge pickup.
• Split, they're really versatile. They're obviously marketing these for a modern, high-gain player, but the Foxbats have plenty of range. You can get the dirty Hendrix/SRV thing going on the neck, and super clean Nile Rodgers funk rhythms too. The middle position is heavenly clean, very bell-like with good quack. It's even got a very usable single coil bridge sound, which is more than I can say about most Strats.

I didn't spend much time setting the pickup height - there may be a sweet spot that gives even better results. I also haven't tweaked the pole pieces, so the radius of the Strat neck and relative string volume is all probably not ideal.

Even so, this is a remarkably good sounding set... one that probably deserves a better guitar. I've never had pickups impress me this much right out of the box (except maybe Wilde Bill's Keystones, a very different beast). Zero buyer's remorse. 9/10 only because those highs needed a little taming, and even that could be the fault of my particular setup.

That's awesome dude!
I ordered the ceramic set AND the alnico 5 set. Really excited to get them and install them into some guitars!