One of the very, very, very (...) few meaningful comparison videos to be found, you did everything right, repeatable riffs, complex chords, complicated licks, each short enough to keep the sound of the other PU in mind... thank you!
Both pickups sound great. There is just a small difference between the two. The Texas Specials are brighter and they have that typical twang that made the Stratocaster so appreciated. The Fralins are warmer and darker in tone. Both are very good pickups. It's a matter of taste which one to choose. I have the Texas Specials but i would also love to play with the Fralins.
Enjoyed both, can't afford either, stupid health issues make fun hard. Iron Gear has some affordable that I won't have to wait too long for, been happy with there affordable stuff, hard for most anyone to tell the difference. My way of saying screw you cancer I was supposed to be gone 6 months ago and I have a great son and we are learning to play these guitars so your not taking me today.
Nice job of a side by side comparison, both sound great, the Fralin's sound a little warmer and more balanced to me and the Tex Specials have more traditional "Stratish" high end sparkle. it's just a matter of taste.
If I were mixing tracks, I'd want the Texas Specials. More treble headroom to deal with or attenuate if needed. The Fralin are comparatively flat and more lifeless because of the lack of treble "crisp-ness", which is exactly the thing that makes the Texas Specials a little better - HOWEVER = The Fralin bridge is voiced with a little more low end and unless you were someone who were truly aiming for a Stevie Ray Vaughn type of sounds, the Fralin bridge would fit in more contemporary situations. Wonderful comparison.
Nice comparison, and good sound quality. Both sets are amazing in their own right. Still, I miss the days when Texas Specials were custom shop exotica that not everyone had.
Thank you for this video. I will be installing Texas Specials in my newest Strat build. I thought that the differences were so tiny that I could not pick a clear winner in this comparison.
nice demo! I'm definitely replacing my Texas specials. The Fralins sound so much better to me. Warm, natural. The Texas Specials have that recognizable "strat" sound, but at the same time I find them to be harsh and thin. I've been avoiding the bridge pickup on my 50s hot rod strat, and now I know why. thanks for the vid!
Thanks you for making this video, excellent work. Both sound great to me I'm honestly surprised how well the Texas Specials faired against a boutique- hand wound pick up! The Texas Specials have more High-End Sparkle, a more Stratty tone.
Both are good pickups. I prefer the Texas Specials for Finger style, with a pick they sound somewhat shrill (although the parallel positions sound nice) The Fralins sound GREAT with a pick and seem to have a lot of body. Very musical and layered. Lovely overtones shining through. I think the Fralins edge it slightly. I would choose those I think.
The Fralin Pickups have an overall warmer sound but might lack note seperation and definition. For a acoustically warm sounding guitar I'd prefer the Fender Pickups.
Texas Specials for the clean sound but I think over driven the Fralins match up very well. I probably would stay with the Texas Specials. The bridge pickup in particular has a really nice bite and Specials are more versatile with a more Stratty sound. As they should be.
The Blues Specials are a bit hotter in the bridge than the Texas Specials. Assuming all the settings are equal, that's why you can hear them pushing the pedal and amp a little harder and they have a little less top end sparkle and clarity.
I liked the Texas Specials more because they had a nice jangle.Lindy's pickups also sound great and are warmer and smoother.I do use Lindy's pickups but not the TS pickups.Great video and playing.
They are both similar sounding but I think the Fralins sound slightly better to my ear. Just a little more warmth, a little more balance. Both sound great though, and while I prefer the Fralins I would be happy with either really.
It's interesting - straight clean the texas' have some sparkle but once you start to put in OD the Fralins all the way. The texas' collapse a bit in the sound once the overdrive pedal is engaged. And the bridge pickup of the Fralin is way more usable. Using a brighter amp or guitar, I think the slightly darker pickups are now. In this case a Matchless is a perfect demo amp. The Fralins also sound MUCH more vintage correct.
Thanks for taking the time to do this. Sounds like the Lindy Fralin pickups have a bit more focused high end. The texas specials are more sparkly. Nice playing and consistent between comparisons.
I have Lindy's on my Warmoth/Callaham/Fralin build with the Ilich noise cancelling backplate. Quiet as a mouse and gorgeous tone. One-piece Swamp-ash body and '59 profile straight-grain maple neck.
To my ears, both sound very good. The Fralins sound slightly tighter and more in-control, but that extra bit of "loose hair" the Texas Specials have is just wonderful for bluesy stuff.
Texas specials ... that string bend at the end of the test, and how the note sustained and faded off so emotively.. thats something else. It's perfect for Strats. Pricey but I'll get some one day
Very close love the sparkle of the Texas Special but on the lead the Fralins just sound richer and fuller. Also on leads you can hear a lot of the string vabrato rubbing up against the frets on the Texas Specials. At least I do.
Really nice demo. I listened with my back turned and when I heard something I really liked I turned around and it was mix of the two. Sometimes the TX and sometimes the Fralin's. Nice tone in both though.
I've had a set of the Texas Specials pups in my Fender American Special Stratocaster with a maple neck and they sounded great although not the bridge of course. I just bought a set of Fralin Blues Specials and have them in my second Strat which is a 2012 Fender American Standard with a rosewood neck. I have to say the Fralin Pups have a ton of sparkle high end, in fact just the right amount. I'm thinking about dropping the Fralin set into other Strat with the maple neck. Either way you can't go wrong with either set but, my vote is for the Fralin's which sound fantastic!
I was surprised. I'm a big fan of LIndy's but I thought this went back and forth in terms of preference. Interesting. Very well executed. Thanks for taking the time. I'll look for other things you have (hopefully) done. Oh, I like the D'Allen Austin's as well.
Yea I gotta go with the Fralin's! I find the Texas Specials a little birttle for my taste especially in the bridge. I just setup a custom shop strat HSS with Fralin Blues Special (Neck/Middle) and a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucker --- SAWWWEEEEEET!
Winner is Fender Texas Specials. I have them on one of my Strats. Great harmonics, just the right grit, strong blues over tones. The Two sets sound similar but the Edge goes to Fender. Where Fralin excels is with the flat poled 42 and flat poled 43's. Those havre great versatility.
The Fralins have more definition and less muddiness. They are a tad brighter than the Fenders which no doubt accounts for this.Subtle is the correct word to describe the differences. Nice comparison!
Nice comparison, Bought Lindy Blues specials and am just fitting into 1999 mex vintage strat just ordered new pots etc and monstertone cap upgrade 0.02uF tonight. Have oldish roadhouse (awesome) with texas specials so will be interesting to do my own comparisons. Great job
I can definetly hear the difference, but Im just not sure if I like the Fralin's better. They seem thicker sounding whearas the Fender's sound thinner yet retain that glassy tone more perhaps due to the thinner tone. At this point it becomes a choice of what you prefer over which is better. I love that glassy brilliance that only a single coil can repoduce which is also what the noiseless pickups miss. If Fralin's were noisless then I would be all over them but if they are just as non-noisecanceling as the Fenders then I would choose the fenders in this test. Both are great pups though.
The Fralins definitely sound a bit warmer, but I think the Fenders have a bit more depth to them. All in all, they both sound great for that bluesy tone.
Just had Lindy Fralin Blues Special Pick Ups installed in a Custom Strat being built for me at Clinton Guitars in Clinton NJ by Roger Steinberg, it also as a Chambered Alder Body with a base plate and blender pot wiring. I loved these pick ups they were perfect for me especially as I almost never use any effect pedals just reverb or a Leslie.. Mine are Cream Covered with matching Cream knobs or Ivroid Black Body with a wine red pick guard and a maple Clapton Vintage Soft V Neck.. It's one of kind sort of looks great can't wait to get it.! When you're playing a Solid Body Guitar even mine being chambered the pick ups are your sound so why not spend that bit more for the best pick ups that are currently available.?
for this paticular model Lindy Fralins are great. But I think I'd pick Fender here sounds a bit more open. But still a wise person will always do their own comparisin and use RU-vid to figure the direction to go in their quest for tone. everything always sound different when it is going directly in your ear. THank YOu for sharing this video well presented and a fair comparisin.
Great video! Both great options. I love my specials, but these fralin pups can have their place too. Little darker and more round. Excellent video and both sets of pups.
Both pickups sound good. I think clean they are splitting hairs, but dirty I think the Texas Specials are slightly more aggressive while the Fralins are softer on the edges. Both sound great and I doubt the drunk guy at the bar is going to care.
Both pickups sound great. Down to personal taste. I prefer the bark and sparkle of the Texas Specials, myself. However, with the pick, I like them both about equally....and the Fralin a bit more on some settings....beautiful sounding pickups. Texas are brighter, more raw sounding, obviously. I would say the Texas are more like Stevie Ray, and the Fralins more like Robin Trower....??? Hats off to Lindy, though. I had one of his PAF humbuckers in a Les Paul and gigged it for years. Great guy and wonderful sounding pickups. Killer job on the video, thanks!! On third listen, with the pick....I almost like the Fralins more, LOL....
I preferred the Fralin pups on individual positions, but preferred the sound of the Fender 'in-between' sounds, middle-neck and bridge-middle. Confused? Yeh, me too!
Love the attempt to show the tone differences, but it's impossible without playing myself. This is tough. I don't even know if the Texas Specials/Blues Specials are what I want. Only thing I know for sure - my stock G&L Legacy pickups suck.
Great Demo, the Fralin's have more depth and more balance across the strings (almost like a light compression to keep all strings even sounding). I like the Fralin's best. I've also experienced with high quality pickups they seem to hold together better at gig volumes (I'm not saying screaming loud, but up in the 100-105 db range)
A great video that demonstrates how miniscule the difference between mass produced and boutique pickups is.So what is the difference in price between the two?The Fralins are louder and have more bass.Does that make them worth the massive price?You can turn the bass and volume knobs on your amp for free.When are people going to realise that boutique pickups are made with the same materials and techniques as any other pickuo?Do you still believe in Santa Claus,or do you think Fralin sprinkles some preserved Hendrix jizz on his bobbins before he winds them? You can upgrade your strat for a whole lot less than boutique pickups allow.Save your cash and invest in a great amp.That will make a bigger difference to your sound than ANY pickup ever will.
Very nice! On clean I like the Texas Specials on Neck and Mid slightly more but Fralin on Bridge. It was so close though but on the overdriven samples Fralin wins hands down.
I honestly cannot hear a significant difference between them. I can clearly tell which position is selected but between both models they sound nearly identical to me.
Agtronic Agreed, they sound very close, so there is no way Fralins are worth the extra money (double the price). I consider myself lucky, I have TS in my American Special Strat and love them.
Big surprise for me, I imagined the Fralins would win but I liked the Texas Specials much more. Brighter but not too bright, made the Fralins sound a little muddy.
Fralins have a flatter frequency response and should be more diverse and tailorable using EQ and Modulation/Effects. The Texas Specials have a higher frequency response resulting in a chimier sound and also sound grittier over driven.
I heard barely any audible difference on this video... Nothing that a little EQ change from your pedal(s) or amp couldn't do, or lower/raising pickup heights. I have the texas specials in my fender american special surf green strat. The cool thing about this guitar is it has the "grease bucket" circuit which can tame some of that highs without going muddy, and there's a tone knob on your bridge pickup too, but no tone knob for middle pickup. I love it.
The difference is very small. The Fralin pups sound a little warmer while the Fenders sound punchier and more powerful. They're both excellent pickups, but it's not worth spending the money to replace one for the other.
