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: Cream
Pole Pieces: Nickel
