I have been searching for YEARS for a quality, noiseless, "Stratty" sounding, Stratocaster replacement pickup. My search has ended with these beauties!! By FAR...my absolute favorite Strat pickup!! AMAZING sounding!!! You don't believe me?!! Listen to me doing "RED HOUSE" with a Area 58 loaded Strat....and then talk to me!!

"Area 58" must be where they keep the tone locked away cause once you're there you can really tell. This pickup will defy your expectations. I have it in the neck of my MIM deluxe player's strat. And it works really well with my area 67 middle and 61 bridge. It's quieter than the stock "noiseless" pickups on the player's strat. It's truly mind blowing how good these sound even when you aren't taking into account that it's also noiseless. Dimarzio must be making a deal with the tone devil to accomplish both aspects so flawlessly.

I could use all the buzzwords you've heard before but if you're looking for the best noiseless and/or vintage sounding pickup, you've found it.

Just dropped these pups into my '04 Special Edition Factory Blackout MIM Strat and all I can say is that these pups are sweet! I tried some DiMarzio FastTrack 1's, but wasn't getting the tone I was looking for. So, I stumbled on some forums that talked about how these pups were a good choice if you're looking for that classic "underwound" sound and weren't willing to pony-up for Kinman's or Big Dippers (if and when those come up for sale). Oh man! I am not disappointed! Crispy, creamy, woody, chimey, scooped-sounding, bell tones...yummy. This what a Stratocaster is supposed to sound like, except no 60 cycle hum! Nice job DiMarzio!

I was looking long and hard for that sparkling, glassy bell like tone you hear in a great Strat, like the intro to Where the Streets Have No Name by U2. The Sarium pickups (SCN) in my guitar did not have it. I tried Seymour Duncan's Vintage Rails and Lace Sensor Golds, they did not have it. Then I discovered Lincoln Brewster (great strat player) uses Area 58's in the neck and middle of his guitar (Area 61 in the bridge). Correction to the previous reviewer - he does not wire the middle to a tone pot, he keeps that wide open but neck and bridge are wired to tone controls. (I heard him say that live at a guitar clinic.) I put in a pair of Area 58's in the neck & mid & a 61 in the bridge. I had the tech wire a capacitor and resistor to the master volume so that I don't lose treble when I roll down the volume as Brewster does on his strat. I used Dimarzio 250k pots for both volume and tone. Now I have awesome vintage strat sound!!! My search is over. These pickups sound just like Dimarzio claims, maybe better! Superb vintage tone, sound like they come with their own reverb! Pristine, glassy sparkling strat tone!!! My guitar has come alive! If you are looking for that classic Strat tone Area 58's will deliver! You will not be dissapointed with these. Dead quite since they are humcanceling, but 100% pure vintage single coil tone. Dimazio nailed the vintage strat sound without the noise. These pickups sounds so awesome they'll may make you want to sit down and write a thank you note to Dimarzio.

Lincoln Brewster uses area 58's in the neck and middle positions. Tone pot on the neck and the middle is wide open. He uses an area 61 in the bridge with a tone pot. If you're going for his sound exactly you can drop these in a '57 strat reissue, download his X3 Live tones into your Line-6 POD X3 Live and start jamming.