There are two major
differences between a great vintage Strat pickup and an average one:
treble response and dynamics. A great pickup is clear and bright, but
not thin-sounding. A great one makes the sound jump out of the amp when
you pick hard and drop way down when you play softly, and the tone
varies when the string is picked at different spots. The best pickup
we’ve ever heard like this was from 1958, and that’s what inspired the
Area 58™, with two major differences. Our pickup has way less magnet
pull, and virtually no hum.
The Area 58 has obvious similarities
to the Virtual Vintage 2.1 it replaces, but there are several
non-visible performance factors that have changed. Dynamic range and
string definition are greatly increased, leading to improvements in
both clean chord-playing and overdriven soloing. The Area 58 is very
sensitive to small height adjustment differences: close to the strings
produces a fatter, slightly compressed blues tone and further away
yields crystal clean sounds. The final improvement is in noise
reduction. All of the Virtual Vintage® pickups have better hum
cancellation than full-size humbuckers. Area 58 and Area 61 are even
quieter.
Recommended For: Neck and middle, can also be used in bridge.
Quick Connect: No
Wiring: 4 Conductor
Magnet: Alnico 2
Resistance: 6.15 Kohm
Year of Introduction: 2006
Color: Aged White
Pole Pieces: Nickel
