The official Kinman pickups thread

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
Post Reply
User avatar
echoplex
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:12 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Kinman Thickmaster - experience?

Post by echoplex » Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:34 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:19 pm
I have Fatmasters in my JM. They sound extremely accurate to AV65 JM pickups but a teeny bit hotter.

Definitely worth the money and sounds like a JM still.
If you say "extremely accurate to AV65 JM pickups" .. they are like 150 bucks.
If they're so close in tone I wonder if they're worth the extra money

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Larry Mal » Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:40 pm

To me Kinman pickups sound as good or better than Fender pickups, and also in my opinion the noiseless quality of them makes the value happen.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Embenny » Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:47 pm

Exactly, you're not paying for magical tone. You're paying for good single coil tone to be generated noiselessly, which takes a lot more engineering.

No regular single coil's tone is objectively better or worse, just different. The Fender PV65 pickups are an excellent value. No boutique winder makes a "better" Jazzmaster pickup than that, just ones you might personally like better.

But they sure are noisy compared to Kinmans, and some people are much more bothered by that than others. Everyone here who bought Kinman pickups did it because they were OK with paying extra for noiselessness.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
JSett
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8802
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:33 pm
Location: Old Hampshire, Old England

Re: Kinman Thickmaster - experience?

Post by JSett » Sat Jan 28, 2023 2:19 pm

echoplex wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:34 pm
johnnysomersett wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:19 pm
I have Fatmasters in my JM. They sound extremely accurate to AV65 JM pickups but a teeny bit hotter.

Definitely worth the money and sounds like a JM still.
If you say "extremely accurate to AV65 JM pickups" .. they are like 150 bucks.
If they're so close in tone I wonder if they're worth the extra money
You're not paying for better tone, you're paying for better signal-to-noise ratio.

After installing my first set of Kinmans the silence spoke volumes. Yes, they're expensive, but it's a luxury commodity.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

User avatar
echoplex
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:12 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Kinman Thickmaster - experience?

Post by echoplex » Sat Jan 28, 2023 2:53 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 2:19 pm
You're not paying for better tone, you're paying for better signal-to-noise ratio.
Yeah, you're right. One pays for the noiselessness.
Last but not least: does anybody know what's the difference between Kinman Thickmaster and Thickmaster v2?
Just saw there was an updated v2 version of these.

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Embenny » Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:11 pm

Kinman regularly iterates on his models, some strat pickups are on "version 2" of "generation 3" and whatnot.

Whenever he updates the design, it's because he found a new tweak that he's pleased with, generally meaning it's either slightlt quieter, slightly higher output with the same tone, or a slightly more single-coil like tone with the same amount of noise.

I wouldn't expect to be able to pick subsequent versions out in a blind test. They'll be just about identical.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Larry Mal » Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:37 pm

Embenny wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:11 pm


Whenever he updates the design, it's because he found a new tweak that he's pleased with, generally meaning it's either slightlt quieter, slightly higher output with the same tone, or a slightly more single-coil like tone with the same amount of noise.
In some cases they are physically closer in size to the pickups they replace, when I looked into his P90s, some of his earlier soapbar models were deeper than actual P90s and in some cases with some guitars you had to route the guitars deeper.

Obviously that's an impediment to sales but it seems he was worked that out.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
tammyw
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 804
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:21 pm

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by tammyw » Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:39 am

I got my Twang-Buckers, they look like this inside.

Image
All pain and troubles melted away like lemon drops beyond the contrails across the sky.

User avatar
GreenKnee
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1212
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:05 am
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by GreenKnee » Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:50 am

tammyw wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:39 am
I got my Twang-Buckers, they look like this inside.

Image
Interesting, looks like a XII pickup. I imagine each half of the pickup is RWRP from other. The copper slugs look to be earthing the pole pieces and acting as a Tele base plate would.

Doesn't look like there's much magic going on here, but a well thought out and designed pickup. It may be down to the humbucker casing having more space to fit in a 'Z-coil' arrangement to create a noiseless single coil, whereas in a single coil casing it requires a bit more thought.

User avatar
JSett
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8802
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:33 pm
Location: Old Hampshire, Old England

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by JSett » Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:53 am

There's a lot to process in that picture
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Larry Mal » Sat Feb 04, 2023 12:13 pm

The Punk-Tang pickups are very good. They have all the hallmarks of Kinman pickups in with deep bass and these particular pickups have great, open, chiming high end. All around winners, uncompressed, very dynamic. It would be hard to imagine what would be better than these.

The bridge pickup does get a little harsh, but I find most bridge pickups do that, so I rarely use them on their own. I might be able to dial it in a little better with some pickup height adjustment, though.

Anyway, these are Kinman's very low wind Strat type single coils, and if you want some fantastic, noiseless all around good pickups that do the Fender sound, this is that.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Embenny » Sat Feb 04, 2023 1:15 pm

Damnit, I was hoping I'd get mine installed before you, since they arrived before you even ordered yours. Oh well. Glad you're pleased with them! How do they compared to the Wildes? Which models did you have in there again?

My Stewmac order finally arrived, so I have all the parts to get started on my installs. Going to start with the Mustang.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Larry Mal » Sat Feb 04, 2023 1:46 pm

Embenny wrote:
Sat Feb 04, 2023 1:15 pm
Which models did you have in there again?
I have the L280s pickups, but only the neck and bridge since I wasn't actually putting them in a Strat. Do you have any interest in them?

The Wilde pickups have a kind of metallic edge to them.

I didn't dislike the Wilde pickups or anything, so I'm glad I feel so good about the Punk-Tangs. I think you will love them. There's a warmth and higher output to the Kinmans, it feels like they aren't working as hard somehow. But it's not at the expense of any high end.

I think you are really going to love them.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by Embenny » Sat Feb 04, 2023 5:04 pm

I've actually got the 280s already, they're quite good if not a bit non-traditional sounding.

Kinman, of course, manages to be good and traditional sounding, and I'm looking forward to getting my Punk-Tangs installed. Even if they're completely different from yours, I have trouble imagining that they'll be anything other than good or great.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
JVG
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1401
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:54 pm
Location: Sydney, Straya

Re: The official Kinman pickups thread

Post by JVG » Sat Feb 04, 2023 6:08 pm

Punk-tang???

I know the Kinman pickup naming scheme has been derided before, but this one is extra tragic. I wish someone would get in Mr Kinman’s ear about this, to at least come up with slightly less cringeworthy names.

Yeah, i know it’s about the sound etc….but still, punk-tang???

Post Reply