The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI (Actodyne General International) since 1985. This world-famous line of electric guitar pickups has been used exclusively by Fender from 1987 to 1996. Lace Sensors are true single-coil pickups; however, internally they are different from classic single coils. The chief difference is that the coil is surrounded by metal barriers which blocks electro-magnetic interference such as power line hum. These barriers also help concentrate the magnetic field, allowing weaker magnets to be used, which results in less string pull. Less string pull, in turn, means truer pitch and intonation, and superior sustain.
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Ratings
Four types of Lace Sensor pickups for Stratocaster were originally manufactured, followed by three newer models, each with a different output rating and tone. Lace Sensors are also available for Telecaster, Precision Bass, Jazz Bass and Jazz Bass V.
- Gold - (5.8k) - Classic '50s bell-like Stratocaster tone. Favored by guitar legends Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy, Gold Lace Sensors offer a classic '50s style single-coil sound with glassy bell-like sparkle and chime.
- Hot Gold (6.0k) - Similar to the Gold Sensors, with a slightly stronger output. Additionally, the Hot Golds are also available as a hot bridge unit with 13.2 kΩ impedance giving a higher power and cut.
- Silver - (7.1k) - Fat '70s single-coil Strat sound. Silver Lace Sensors deliver the tone of an overwound Strat pickup with raised output, increased midrange harmonics and bass, expecting more power and less noise with added sustain.
- Light Blue (8k) - Warm P-90 soap-bar sound with slightly higher output. In the neck position, Light Blue Lace Sensors produce jazz and blues tones. The bridge-position pickup is warm and punchy with raised sustain and scooped mids.
- Burgundy (8.9k) - Slightly fatter '60s Strat single-coil tone. Burgundy Lace Sensors are normally used in the bridge position.
- Blue - (12.8k) - Slightly increased output with the warmer 1950s humbucking sound in a single-coil configuration. Suitable to use in the neck position, Blue Lace Sensors provide warmth and loudness.
- Red - (14.5k) - Extreme output with a hot humbucker sound. The hottest output of the Sensor Series, Red is the scorcher with high output, lots of midrange harmonics and crunch like a hot humbucking pickup. Red Lace Sensors are perfect for the bridge position when fat, punchy humbucking output is required.
Also available but now discontinued were the "Don Lace" AGI S-100 and S-150 Stratocaster Lace Sensors that were similar to the Lace Sensor Gold set. They had a "Don Lace" logo positioned on the bottom right hand corner of the pickup cover and an AGI logo positioned on the left side of the pickup cover. The "Don Lace" AGI T-100, TN-100 (5.9K) and T-150 (12.8K) Lace Sensors are the Telecaster versions. These pickups deliver the vintage Tele twang and transform any single-cutaway solid-body guitar into a Fender Telecaster Plus. The D-100 and D-150 are identical to the humbucking Gold Sensor Dually. In the 1990s Lace released the "Chrome Dome" Lace Sensors, described as "Gold Lace Sensors on steroids" and the Transensor Series P/J pickup set for electric basses. The Lace Sensor Bass pickups were an original equipment material on the Fender Plus Series bass guitars. In the 2000s, Lace released the "Burgundy" and "Light Blue" Lace Sensors, with more jazzy tonal qualities, followed by new pickup designs such as the Alumitone, Power Sensor, Holy Grail, Arena and Drop & Gain series pickups. The Alumitones are also available as a hot bridge pickup and humbucking "Dually". A newest addition in the Alumitone range for 2007 was the Aluma 90, essentially a direct replacement Alumitone humbucker in a P-90 format for guitars equipped with P-90 soapbars.
Dually
A Lace Sensor "Dually" is effectively a double-coil unit combining two Lace Sensor single-coil pickups in a humbucker configuration. Both coils of the pickup are wired individually and left that way, so that the user may choose whether to wire them up as a humbucker, or one of several other ways. Whilst any combination can be ordered from the Lace Custom Shop, the standard models are
- Gold-Gold
- Blue-Gold
- Red-Silver
- Red-Blue
- Red-Red
Hot Gold and Chrome Dome Duallies are also sold. When wired as a humbucker, the "Red-Red" Dually has a DC rating of over 30 kΩ, making it one of the hottest output distortion-type pickups. The humbucking Lace Sensors were used as a standard equipment material on the original Jeff Beck Stratocaster, the Telecaster Plus/Deluxe Plus and the Stratocaster Ultra, manufactured by Fender in the early '90s, as well on some Custom Shop models such as the Set Neck and Contemporary Stratocaster guitars. Usually a humbucker needs to comprise at least two coils with equal output, in order to produce the noise-cancelling effect. Lace Sensors get away with using mismatched coils because as single-coil pickups they are so low in noise anyway. Duallies can still be wired using all the options normally available to regular humbuckers, such as "out of phase" and "coil tap", and also in a special arrangement so that the user can select either coil individually, or both as a humbucker. This latter arrangement would be superfluous with a standard humbucking pickup, since both coils would be identical. So for example, using an on-on-on switch, a Silver-Red Dually could be wired to select just the silver coil (for a fat '70s Stratocaster single-coil sound), just the red coil (for a hot humbucker sound), or both coils as a humbucker (for a mixed sound with extreme output).
Famous users
- Eric Clapton - The Eric Clapton Stratocaster with Gold Lace Sensors (Used by Pete Townshend at recent Who Concerts)
- George Harrison - The Eric Clapton Stratocaster with Gold Lace Sensors (Used on 1991 Tour of Japan for slide work on two songs: 'Cloud Nine' and 'Cheer Down.'
- Jonny Greenwood - A Fender Telecaster Plus with Red-Red dually in the bridge and single Blue in the neck.
- Ed O'Brien - The Eric Clapton Stratocaster with Gold Lace Sensors (In 2000 replaced the neck and bridge pickups with Fernandes FSK-401 sustainer kit. He Later swapped out the remaining middle Gold Lace Sensor with a Silver Lace Sensor pickup.)
- Billy Corgan - Corgan's Fender Stratocasters and other guitars used throughout for recording and touring the 1990's have a Red in the bridge, a Silver in the middle and Blue in the neck. He has since moved more towards Gibsons and Reverend guitars with P-90 pickups.
- James Burton - A 3-pickup Telecaster with Red in the bridge, Silver middle and Blue neck.
- Buddy Guy
- Jeff Beck
- The Edge used a few Lace Sensor-equipped Stratocasters on the Lovetown and Zoo TV Tour.
- Ritchie Blackmore - The Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster features two Gold Lace Sensors, one in the bridge and one in the neck position
- Daryl Stuermer - Tour guitarist most famously with Genesis (band) after the departure of Steve Hackett.
- Mike Rutherford is currently using a late 80's Eric Clapton Stratocaster equipped with Lace Sensor pickups for his 2007 tour with Genesis
