Kinman Magnum Opus '56 (Gen 3) Strat Set

The '56 Magnum Opus has more bite, cut on the plain strings and noticeably more power than the '59.

If you believe your boutique vintage scatter-wound Stratocaster* pickups are the finest vintage pickups money can buy.... think again!

Sonic characteristics: if you know genuine 50's Stratocaster* sound you'll immediately understand our Magnum Opus '59. Super fast attack response (snap) which is great for super fast picking (and yes, even shredders will love it), outstanding presence factor with crystalline pristine highs, low mid scoop and crisp, sharp twangy lows all the way down to the open E-6th. Outstanding clarity and transparency. 3D dynamics and highly touch sensitive. Exceptional note separation and beautifully balanced string levels. Absolutely authentic Knopfler-esque position 2 & 4 sounds, all of that with absolute Zero-Hum and none of the traditional nasties such as warbling notes, buzzy string crash and icepick and overpowering G-3rd string. In esssence, 50's Strat sound perfected, what more could you want from a vintage pickup? Hum you say, well, with our Synergy baseplate you can have that too.

These new pickups pass any blindfold test and interestingly, not one critic has disagreed that we have nailed perfection in '59 Strat* sound. This is quite an achievement for a Zero-Hum pickup and positions the Magnum Opus to be the pinnacle of 50's vintage Stratocaster sound for many years to come.

Kinman's advanced technology is the result of Clarke's second law and is indistinguishable from magic according to Clarke's third law. Clarke's second and third law

40% less magnetic string pull. The sound is remarkably clean of string crash and fret rattle and you can adjust the pickup higher to maximize touch sensitivity and dynamic range without the usual dire consequences. Also you'll have longer sustain and a lower action (string to fret gap).
The rogue G-3rd string, the source of Ice-Pick harshness and the one that usually dominates the sound has been tamed and is balanced with the other 5 strings.
The E-6th string has more snap with a tight twang and can be picked normally with both 'up' and 'down' strokes without causing severe TCS
Absolute Zero-Hum. 99.8% free of hum. The most silence you won't ever hear. Typically 5mv** (comparatively dimarzios Area '58 produces 68mv** of hum)
All 6 strings sound loud, clear and balanced on all 3 pickups regardless of bridge spacing (wide Vintage and narrow Modern). Super pristine Fender sound with clarity and presence that makes all other Strat pickups sound ordinary and harsh in actual side-by-side comparisons.
The best test is clean, undistorted sound where you can hear the piano mid-tones and the bite and the marvellous twang .... listen to the play list of Shadows Tunes and pristine 50's Strat* sound from bottom to top with no evidence of TCS on Dance On and Peace Pipe and others. Brands such as Mojotone Quiet Coils and regular models, Duncan Classic Stack, Zerhyr & their regular models, Dimarzio’s Area & their regular models, and even Fender claim their Gen-4 noiseless are great but try achieving a sound like these demos with any of them and you'll quickly hear they're not what they are claimed to be! Not one of them cuts it like the Kinman, and according to customer Stuart from England that's also true of Bare Knuckles Apache and 63 Veneer Board pickups and all other copies of the original 50's Fenders.


Synergy baseplate. All models in the Alchemy group have a Violet Synergy Gen-3 baseplate that allows hum-cancelling to be switched off as well as switching to Synergy mode for a noticeable extra magic, also it's phase reversible. Synergy is a non-noiseless mode that enhances the sound of the pickup in a general way, thus it has "extra magic". It is a very noticeable change, but so too is the hum level more noticeable than non-noiseless mode. Good only for clean room-volume playing. We feel that Violet implies the electric vibrancy of the Magnum Opus.
There are three Alchemy symbols printed on the basplate, these translate to "Equal to or greater than Gold". Magnum Opus is an Alchemists term for Masterpiece of beyond excellence, an event so rare it occurs only once or twice in a lifetime.