Got an email from them today with these - thought they might be a good cheap upgrade for the one's in my SX Gypsy Rose strat. Anyone have any experience with them? Thanks!
https://stratosphereparts.com/new-hot-t ... ups-black/
Statosphere Pickups for Strat
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toomanycats
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I didn't know until now that Stratosphere sold their own pups, so I can't vouch for those. But while I was at the link I did take the time to browse their page and I will say that these Squire Classic Vibe 50s pickups are winners at $49.99. They're supposedly made by Tonerider, but most importantly they sound awesome.Tiga wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 10:11 pm Got an email from them today with these - thought they might be a good cheap upgrade for the one's in my SX Gypsy Rose strat. Anyone have any experience with them? Thanks!
https://stratosphereparts.com/new-hot-t ... ups-black/
https://stratosphereparts.com/fender-sq ... er-alnico/
“There are only two means of refuge from the miseries of life: Music and Cats!” Albert Schweitzer
I thought you were talking about these $34 sets I got an email about:
https://stratosphereparts.com/search.ph ... 898044d196
https://stratosphereparts.com/search.ph ... 898044d196
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Partscaster
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Pretext: I gotta say the NEW Hot Texas Blues might not be the same as the Hot Texas Blues I got at Stratosphere a year ago, but they probably are.
The new description on The Strat. does not mention Henries inductance output, and the " NEW" might be new. So my below verbage, might not be the same pups, but might be. They now describe these as their take on Fender Texas Specials...which was not the same with the offerings a year ago. So, who knows. The new listed k-ohms readings do match my earlier sets at 6.4/6.4/7.2.
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I bought a set of those Hot Texas Blues, maybe a year ago, and immediately bought another set.
They have a great voice , not too hot. I always listen for the voicing...do I like it?...and then the amount of openness...is their good string separation in tone, do they all ring out and stay separate during a sustained chord? I feel that the most open pickups get more overtones and so, seem rounder vs flat non-dimensional options,. Below that comes degrees of "muddy", w/ poorer string separation.
Those 33$ pickups have a great voicing for vintage rock and blues (Kept reminding me of Castles Made Of Sand), and are "6 out of 10" for openness. But thats compared to 250$ "10 out of 10" scatter wind pickups. For the price, these Hot TB's are vey good. Probably an auto-wound artec A5 pickup packaged for The Stratosphere. Artec seems to put good design into their auto -wind pickups. They might program in some sort of scatter wind, I dont know. But they make good cheap pickups. I imagine these Hot-TB's are consistently made to an intended wind that Stratosphere picked.
I have had the cv 50's, and they are good, too. I like the hot Texas Blues voice better...personal preference. CV 50's are a bit more open if I remember right.
Another good and somewhat cheap set I tried was the GFS Slick 56 set. Pretty nice vintage 50's voice like the cv50's, IMO, and very open with piano like round notes coming off thicker strings, and for 55$. They were a step up from the other alnico GFS pups I tried ( ie, their Vintage 59 and 63 sets) which were also pretty okay sounding A5 winds especially for the price.
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Another thing,..those HotTB's had strong output, the inductance(?) measured in Henries was like 4.?? where typically strat single coils would be
2.?? or maybe low 3.?? , that I have seen. Often Henries dont get listed, but only kohms/resistence. It might have been the high Henries that gave this set a slightly compressed sound/feel. Perhaps the high henries contributed to the voicing that I loved, but it may have come at the sacrifice of some openness, which is why I think these were ultimately replaced with some 250$ Kleins (62 set). I loved the voice, but am too much of a cork snob to live with the slightly compressed nature I was getting through my rig. But I am a fool with my money. The TexasHB's voicing was excellent for my tastes.
Glad I still have one set in the drawer.
The new description on The Strat. does not mention Henries inductance output, and the " NEW" might be new. So my below verbage, might not be the same pups, but might be. They now describe these as their take on Fender Texas Specials...which was not the same with the offerings a year ago. So, who knows. The new listed k-ohms readings do match my earlier sets at 6.4/6.4/7.2.
--------------
I bought a set of those Hot Texas Blues, maybe a year ago, and immediately bought another set.
They have a great voice , not too hot. I always listen for the voicing...do I like it?...and then the amount of openness...is their good string separation in tone, do they all ring out and stay separate during a sustained chord? I feel that the most open pickups get more overtones and so, seem rounder vs flat non-dimensional options,. Below that comes degrees of "muddy", w/ poorer string separation.
Those 33$ pickups have a great voicing for vintage rock and blues (Kept reminding me of Castles Made Of Sand), and are "6 out of 10" for openness. But thats compared to 250$ "10 out of 10" scatter wind pickups. For the price, these Hot TB's are vey good. Probably an auto-wound artec A5 pickup packaged for The Stratosphere. Artec seems to put good design into their auto -wind pickups. They might program in some sort of scatter wind, I dont know. But they make good cheap pickups. I imagine these Hot-TB's are consistently made to an intended wind that Stratosphere picked.
I have had the cv 50's, and they are good, too. I like the hot Texas Blues voice better...personal preference. CV 50's are a bit more open if I remember right.
Another good and somewhat cheap set I tried was the GFS Slick 56 set. Pretty nice vintage 50's voice like the cv50's, IMO, and very open with piano like round notes coming off thicker strings, and for 55$. They were a step up from the other alnico GFS pups I tried ( ie, their Vintage 59 and 63 sets) which were also pretty okay sounding A5 winds especially for the price.
---------
Another thing,..those HotTB's had strong output, the inductance(?) measured in Henries was like 4.?? where typically strat single coils would be
2.?? or maybe low 3.?? , that I have seen. Often Henries dont get listed, but only kohms/resistence. It might have been the high Henries that gave this set a slightly compressed sound/feel. Perhaps the high henries contributed to the voicing that I loved, but it may have come at the sacrifice of some openness, which is why I think these were ultimately replaced with some 250$ Kleins (62 set). I loved the voice, but am too much of a cork snob to live with the slightly compressed nature I was getting through my rig. But I am a fool with my money. The TexasHB's voicing was excellent for my tastes.
Glad I still have one set in the drawer.
"The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted."
Great feedback - thank you. I might give them a try. I've also read some good things about the CV50's so that's tempting. Never heard about those GFS pickups prior - although $55 pickups in a $65 dollar guitar makes me chuckle for some reason. I shouldn't as I've been slowly tweeaking/upgrading that little multi-color strat it's actually quite playable.
I've been known to put a set of $300 pickups in an SX Strat that I paid $99 for and I was glad I did!Tiga wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:22 pm Great feedback - thank you. I might give them a try. I've also read some good things about the CV50's so that's tempting. Never heard about those GFS pickups prior - although $55 pickups in a $65 dollar guitar makes me chuckle for some reason. I shouldn't as I've been slowly tweeaking/upgrading that little multi-color strat it's actually quite playable.
But that is just me! Find a guitar I like & equip it like I like & don't look back!
Gandalf the Intonationer
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Partscaster
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I'm the same way. Usually makes a great but affordable guitar, even better. Keep the stock pups in a drawer incase you sell off the guitar.
Lots of affordable bodies and necks aren't sounding any less than stuff by Squier or Fender for 400-1000$. The Squier and cheaper fender bodies arent even alder or ash anymore.
"The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted."
I think the source of the CV series pickups might have changed when production moved to Indonesia from China, though I'm not 100% sure about that...toomanycats wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 6:58 am
I didn't know until now that Stratosphere sold their own pups, so I can't vouch for those. But while I was at the link I did take the time to browse their page and I will say that these Squire Classic Vibe 50s pickups are winners at $49.99. They're supposedly made by Tonerider, but most importantly they sound awesome.
https://stratosphereparts.com/fender-sq ... er-alnico/
Delightful mix of insolence, arrogance and narcissism
Proud RINO trapped in a heavy metal chassis
Growing up, only kid in the neighborhood with an Uncle Ahkbar
Proud RINO trapped in a heavy metal chassis
Growing up, only kid in the neighborhood with an Uncle Ahkbar