Vintage Hot Strat
Real 60's Vintage Strat Tone
$105 – $315
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!
Quick Links
Jump to Sound Clips and more Info:
Fralin Vintage Hots: Real Vintage Strat Tone.
Want to learn more about our Vintage Hot Strat? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
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.
Features:
- Modified Vintage Fender specifications, with clean Strat pickups with modern output
- Bright, clean tone with balance across lows and highs – real vintage-sounding Strat pickups
- 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
SOUND
Vintage Hots feature a vintage Strat pickup sound – they 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.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Our Vintage Hots consist of locally-stamped 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 Samples for Vintage Hot Strat:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Vintage Hot Strat:
The tonal graph below for our Vintage Hot Strat features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Bright & Sharp
Videos for Vintage Hot Strat:
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Vintage Hot Strat.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 6K 1 |
| Middle Ohm Reading: | 6K 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 6.6K 1 |
| 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 |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
Additional Technical Info:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
Note: We depict all our coil directions from Ground (Black Wire, or Start Wire) to Hot (White Wire, or Finish Wire).
Vintage Hot Strat Dimensions:
Our Strat® replacements are standard Stratocaster sizing and spacing. All string spacings are 52mm.
Vintage Hot Strat FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your Vintage Hot Strat have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
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Will this pickup fit my instrument?
Check our "Sizing" tab for the size of the pickup. No Sizing tab? Check under the product image gallery for dimensions.
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Is your Lead Time of 1 Week accurate?
It depends on the shop capacity at the moment, and the size of your order. Feel free to give us a call for an accurate lead time. We always try to beat our estimated Lead Times.
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What pickup height do you recommend setting your Vintage Hot Strats to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. To measure, hold the correct side down at its highest fret. Then, measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Vintage Hot Strat. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask" in the Quick Links section above.
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What's the tonal difference between this pickup and the Real '54s?
The Real ’54s use Alnico 3 magnets. These magnets create a softer, spongier sound. They also add a bit more glassiness compared to the Vintage Hots. The Vintage Hots feature a more modern attack and a bit more bottom-end.
Pickup Pairing
Our Vintage Hot Strat pairs well with the following models:
Vintage Hot Tele - Set
Starting At: $ 120
Pair a Middle with a Vintage Hot Tele Set for the ultimate in Nashville Tele Twang.
Get It Prewired
Get our Vintage Hot Strat prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
140 Genuine Reviews for Vintage Hot Strat
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Extremely Happy!
I really love these pickups…I have 2010 Strat that I loved to plink on (unplugged) when watching TV or just sitting around. I never used it live though because when I plugged it in I just couldn’t get it to sound the way I wanted. I Put a set of vintage hot pickups in it and now the guitar sound is totally transformed. It sounds excellent…notes are fuller, clearer, and just much more pleasant to the ears clean and dirty. I highly recommend these pick ups – beyond thrilled.
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Sounds incredible! The meaty retro sound that still has a nice dynamic range and playability. Big fan of these!
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Vintage Hot – really nice!
Exactly what I was hoping for. -
Excellent tone
Can’t say enough about the tone of Fralin pick-ups. Clear, crisp sound. -
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! -
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!
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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
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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!
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Customer added no additional comments
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Gorgeous! They sound just beautiful. Crafted with care to high quality. I have 2 sets.
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Vintage hot in the bridge sounds great!
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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!!!
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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 !!! -
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.
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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!
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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.
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Customer added no additional comments
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