Founded in 1995 in Tacoma, Washington, by Jason Lollar, Lollar Pickups is famous for its handmade, vintage-style pickups with the perfect combination of craftsmanship, cutting-edge technology, and creativity. Whether it's P-90s, Telecaster pickups, Stratocaster pickups, or humbuckers, Lollar has been making high-end, boutique replacement pickups that impress.
Lollar's Special S Stratocaster pickups are the ballsier, vintage-sounding brother to their Sixty-Four Strat pickups. They were engineered to provide a slightly darker, hotter, gainier sound without losing vintage flavor. The Special S takes the characteristics of an organic, lush, and robust single-coil pickup and increases the midrange and lower frequencies, while reducing the top end from the EQ spectrum. This recipe ensures a rounder, warmer treble response and a more open bass sound.
Installed in a Fender Mike McCready Signature Stratocaster, the Lollar Special S pickups offer a smooth, clean sound despite being hotter. Plugged into a Fender Deluxe Reverb amplifier dimed to super clean, the Special S pickup set provided a variety of intoxicating rhythm tones that easily crossed genres from funk, R&B, and country to jazz. The words "robust" and "rich" come to mind. While the set is not entirely transparent tone-wise, the pickups feature a charismatic personality with just the right amount of output to be an asset to any playing style without too much authority. The Special S leans into the clean with warm, jazzy neck sounds, crispy middle pickup tones, and a bridge pickup that balances bite, warmth, and a smooth attack. The 2 and 4 positions add lustrous quack — but not too much quack. These positions not only cancel light 60-cycle hum but also sound closer to their neighboring pickups rather than going full-blown out-of-phase cluck.
Placing a JHS Violet Distortion pedal between the guitar and the amp, this reviewer discovered what all the fuss was about. The Special S pickups have a wicked love affair with overdrive and distortion. The pedal and the pickups joined together in a symphony of sustain, punch, and searing lines falling between David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Johnson. The neck pickup is soulful and cozy, while the bridge position brings on the bite without a shrill overtone in earshot. It pushed the Deluxe into mellifluous loudness and creamy single-note expressions. Thankfully, it doesn't overdo the SRV midrange bump, but it pushed the front end of the Deluxe Reverb with a smidgeon of compression, substantive break-up, and malleable grit. It also yields that much sought-after oomph. All this while maintaining its '60s roots.
Priced at $105.00 per pickup, the Lollar Special S pickup set is a dream come true for the Strat player looking for a little more power from vintage single-coil pickups. With a fuller midrange and less glassiness, the Special S set carries an upscale richness and authenticity that will inspire sounds reminiscent of the best Strat players of old. For vintage tone freaks, it's hard to go wrong with Lollar. TQ—Oscar Jordan
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