Sollipsist
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2018
- Messages
- 119
- Reaction score
- 94
Foxbats came REALLY quick. Now if they sound half as good as they look...
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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
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 lolMaybe this will help?
https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/03/29/push-pull-pots-mods/
There's a little bit about those pots at the very bottom of the page, that's what made me think about it.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.
Finally got them installed, and played the crap out of them for a few hours. First thoughts:
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.
- 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.
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.