REVIEWED Seymour Duncan STK-S10-Y
JM Fury Pickups
SEYMOUR DUNCAN STK-S10-YJM Fury Pickups
Swedish shred legend Yngwie Malmsteen and world renowned pickup manufacturer Seymour Duncan collaborate on a new range of hum-free single coil Stratocaster pickups.
Words: Joey Setano
Yngwie Mamlsteen’s 1984 album Rising Force is regarded as one of rock’s iconic milestones that saw many guitar players slowing down their Portastudios in a futile attempt to analyse his insanely fast technique. Almost overnight the 21 year old Swede established a style now referred to as neo-classical, and he has since become one of rock’s premier virtuoso guitarists. Malmsteen is rare among HM guitarists in that he uses a more-or- less bog standard Fender Stratocaster (a blonde 1971 model nicknamed ‘The Duck’ is a particular favourite) and his formidable technique depends heavily on volume and overdrive, a tricky combination if you want to avoid background noise from single coil pickups played through heavily overdriven 100 watt Marshall amps! Consequently Yngwie was one of the earliest Strat users to adopt
DUNCAN STK-S10-YJM Fury
SEYMOUR Single Set of three
All prices include VAT CONT
ACT
Aria UK Ltd T:
W: 32 3pickup
01483 238720
www.ariauk.com
£87.95 £261.95
hum-cancelling stacked pickups but his new signature pickups claim to restore more natural sounding single coil tones alongside the hum cancelling properties demanded by the Swedish maestro.
Set & Match The Malmsteen signature hum- cancelling single-coil Fury models are available individually or as a complete set that includes a pair of STK- S10N/M designed for the neck and middle positions and a dedicated STK-S10B bridge pickup that Yngwie requested delivers fractionally extra power and projection. We tested the STK-S10-YJM Furys in a Mexican 62 reissue Fender Strat and set them with a gap of an 1/8th of an inch between the bridge unit with the bass string pressed down on the highest fret. With this as a benchmark, we then balanced the middle and neck units accordingly. Installation was easy thanks to the included circuit diagrams. For our test we plugged into an Orange Rocker 30 and a solid state Hiwatt Maxwatt Series 50 watt combo.
Rising Force The Furys employ staggered Alnico V rod magnets and whilst their DC resistance measures pretty high, the overall output is in fact fairly moderate. They are designed to preserve the clearest signal path possible between the guitar and amp, and whilst still certainly not being shy in delivering plenty of ‘hot- Strat’ output they aren’t supposed to emulate the performance of a typical high-output humbucking pickup,
either. The key factor is the tone; the SD Fury set adds huge depth, plenty of punch and a slightly hotter output compared to standard vintage style Fender single coils. Whilst the neck and middle units are of the same specification, their natural sonic characteristics feel enhanced; warm, clear and fluid, just as Malmsteen requested to balance out his left hand technique with his pick attack. Interestingly we increased the
treble on our test amps a tad to bring out the Strat’s natural glassy highs, although to be fair, this may not be the case with a maple fingerboard as opposed to our darker sounding rosewood Strat. Either way, positions 4 and 2 on the five way switch reward us with the classic Fender ‘quack’. The bridge model has all the bite of an unfed angry piranha. We find tremendous balance steeped with classic Strat tonal qualities that suggests an ideal upgrade for the player looking for a standard single coil tone with slightly more output and a lot less noise. These pickups impressive noise- cancelling qualities were evident, we had both amps running well into pain threshold level but background noise was almost undetectable, even with both amps individually set to full gain and beefed up further with a Boss Super Overdrive SD-1 in the signal chain. If, however, you are in pursuit of Malmsteen’s tone you really are aiming for a much clearer sound, either way the Furys perform superbly for crunch, mild gain and full-on overdrive, with fast solo runs from the neck and middle units rolling off beautifully, while lead
lines from the bridge model soar with abundance, a sonic presence and a good response to picking
dynamics.The STK-S10-YJM Fury Series single coils seem to be ideal for blues, rock and other traditional Strat tones. They clean up beautifully when rolling off the guitar’s volume, leaving enough room for biting solo runs when back at full tilt. Whilst available separately, we found the Furys as a set of three, offers an ideal working pickup configuration, utilising the neck and middle pickups for rhythm - clean or overdriven - with the bridge model delivering the perfect boost for blistering Yngwie-style solos. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE?
As a world renowned manufacturer of high quality pickups, Seymour Duncan have once again succeeded in producing a set of replacement Stratocaster pickups that deliver exceptionally high quality, both in terms of build-quality and sound. As a signature set, all three STK- S10-YJM Fury land very close indeed to their source, although like any signature product, be it guitar or amp, it’s down to the player. We can confirm that, as an upgrade for single coil loaded electric guitars the Fury’s excel in all departments.
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