Tell me about Kinman Woodstocks

[ubermetaldood]

I ordered a set of Woodstocks today. I was going to buy a set of Lollar Specials for a new strat I'm building, but opted to go with noiseless. I also wanted to depart from the usual Dimarzio & Duncan flavors so I looked around quite a bit. Though there are some great noiseless single size pickups out there, most of them have ceramic magnets and aren't really what I'm looking for. In fact, I doubt there is a single size ceramic humbucker that I'll would like more than the Dimarzio Chopper.

From what I can tell on the videos, they sound great. Reviews also seem very favorable. I'd like to hear your experiences with them. Does anyone still use some? Also, I was kind of torn between the MKIII, Blues, and Woodstocks. I liked the tone I heard from the Lollar Specials I've been playing so I'm wondering if I made a mistake not going with the MKIII or Blues set.

 

[se7en]

I guess they are more hi-fi sounding than other noiseless pickups.

 

[ubermetaldood]

Insightful. Why hi-fi though? Why can't noiseless pickups not be hi-fi? Is that supposed to mean that true single coils are low-fi? Please explain.

 

[se7en]

Kinman's specifically. This isn't necessarily true of other noiseless singles.

 

[Anonymous]

Kinman hi fi ??????

Do you actually own any ??

They're the closest to regular singles you'll find.
Fantastic product.

 

[Anonymous]

I hated the MKIII so you haven't lost out there.

My faves are the 69's in the mid and neck.
I love those pickups.

 

[gbsmusic]

Ive had a couple sets of Woodstocks they are great pups. The height is important to find the sweet spot and you volume knob REALLY does a lot as far as tone goes. I went with the HX in the bridge because it has a little more balls and not as bright.

 

[robertkoa]

I am also very curious about Kinmans.

I emailed him when I heard he was doing Humbuckers and asked if he could do a PAF with a little more juice that split into one of his noiseless Singles !

I fact I asked about having Humbuckers at different outputs that split into different noiseless Singles, he said
they are working on something, that was 2 years ago.

OK I don't get the height thing bring So supersensitive.

I like my Single Coils and some Humbuckers almost decked so I can pick softly and its really smooth with no pick noise and I can still pick hard and get attack- can this be done with Woodstocks and especially the Blues Models.

The Areas are kind of bright to me, and seems like the Blues, Marvins, are fatter than Area 61 right ? And the

Woodstocks are way fatter, and bright also ?

Not the OP ,but curious also...

 

[se7en]

Kinman hi fi ??????

Do you actually own any ??

They're the closest to regular singles you'll find.
Fantastic product.

No, but there are countless threads that I've come across that mention this. I didn't say it was a bad thing I hope you realize...I'm actually considering them for my EJ strat along with the Zexcoil noiseless pickups. The Joe Barden's seem to be a love or hate thing.

 

[Anonymous]

Kinman hi fi ??????

Do you actually own any ??

They're the closest to regular singles you'll find.
Fantastic product.

No, but there are countless threads that I've come across that mention this. I didn't say it was a bad thing I hope you realize...I'm actually considering them for my EJ strat along with the Zexcoil noiseless pickups. The Joe Barden's seem to be a love or hate thing.

Like you those countless threads are written by people who make statements, don't declare its not factual or based on experience and then put off potential buyers.

I've been a Kinman player for years, have lots of experience and no affiliation.
His first humbuckers weren't wax potted enough and squealed uncontrollably.
Based on my feedback the issue was addressed.

Great company and products.

 

[jeff242]

I've had a set of Woodstocks in my maple necked bitsa Strat for years and really like them. They are on the warm side of Strat pickups with a pretty good output and match very well with a bridge humbucker. Compared with the DiMarzio Virtual Vintages I have in a MiJ 60s reissue Fender Strat I find the Woodstocks to be more true to a single coil tone. That doesn't mean the DiMArzios are any worse, just different.
I also quite like Kinman's P90Hxs and the AVn 48 Tele neck pickup I have is brilliant. Not too fussed on the Mark 3 traditionals I have in another bitsa Strat which I find to be a touch hard but that may very well be the guitar.

Hope this helps,

Jeff

 

[yankeebulldog]

I've had the Kinmans and the Dimarzio 67, 61, 58, etc. The most single coil ish of the Dimarzios was the 67, I think because of the lower output and brightness which offsets high end that the dummy coil tends to cut. The Kinmans sounded a little better to me. Right now I'm really digging the iilitch backplate with Klien and Fralin sets I have. I can't really hear any high end loss at all with these and it's noise free.

 

[Strat+Marshall]

The woodstock + set might be my favorite set of strat pickups. They are hot and bold but still nice and stratty in the neck and mid. The HX85 is a little bit of a departure but probably more usable than a traditional strat bridge pickup for most players. Kinmans also seem to handle gain better than most traditional singles as well. They seem to have a slight compression to them that might be a little strange at first but it has become a plus for me.

 

[ubermetaldood]

The woodstock + set might be my favorite set of strat pickups. They are hot and bold but still nice and stratty in the neck and mid. The HX85 is a little bit of a departure but probably more usable than a traditional strat bridge pickup for most players. Kinmans also seem to handle gain better than most traditional singles as well. They seem to have a slight compression to them that might be a little strange at first but it has become a plus for me.

When you say compression, would you say that it's like the EJ pickups that come in his Fender signature guitars?

 

[Strat+Marshall]

When you say compression, would you say that it's like the EJ pickups that come in his Fender signature guitars?

I haven't compared them closely enough to say.

 

[se7en]

Kinman hi fi ??????

Do you actually own any ??

They're the closest to regular singles you'll find.
Fantastic product.

No, but there are countless threads that I've come across that mention this. I didn't say it was a bad thing I hope you realize...I'm actually considering them for my EJ strat along with the Zexcoil noiseless pickups. The Joe Barden's seem to be a love or hate thing.

Like you those countless threads are written by people who make statements, don't declare its not factual or based on experience and then put off potential buyers.

I've been a Kinman player for years, have lots of experience and no affiliation.
His first humbuckers weren't wax potted enough and squealed uncontrollably.
Based on my feedback the issue was addressed.

Great company and products.

Actually that's just how they reviewed them...it was based on their experience. Obviously you have to form your own opinions for yourself...One man's hi-fi is another man's sterile. One man's extended frequency range is another man's lack of warmth. They aren't cheap, so reviews are helpful before taking the plunge.

 

[70strathead]

Probably my favorite noiseless single set I've tried. I have the Kinman Blues and are a great as well but a little darker and hotter. I wanted to find a close comparison to Abigail Ybarra wound Late 60's Fender single coils. They still don't match quite up to the real deal, but it was good enough for me to eliminate the 60 cycle hum for heavier drive stuff. Unlike Dimarzio's, which I've owned about just about every model, they don't compress as much and have a more "open" sound. The neck pickup is amazing. nice balance too

 

[ubermetaldood]

Probably my favorite noiseless single set I've tried. I have the Kinman Blues and are a great as well but a little darker and hotter. I wanted to find a close comparison to Abigail Ybarra wound Late 60's Fender single coils. They still don't match quite up to the real deal, but it was good enough for me to eliminate the 60 cycle hum for heavier drive stuff. Unlike Dimarzio's, which I've owned about just about every model, they don't compress as much and have a more "open" sound. The neck pickup is amazing. nice balance too

It sounds like I made the right call then. I'm a huge fan of Dimarzio pickups. No one else has the same selection of single size humbucker or does it quite well as they do. Seymour Duncan did do a great job with the YJM Fury and I quite like their STK-S9, but they don't beat Dimarzios by any stretch. I'm pretty sure the HS3 had a lot to do with the shaping of the YJM Fury tone. Yngwie used HS3 for what like 27 years. Certainly after all of that time his frame of reference has solidified in his mind, and there are some similarities in sound. The YJM Fury is hotter and different but still shares some similarities to the HS3. At times the YJM Fury does strike me with the same "dullness" some people describe.