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Kick-in-the-Arse (a new kind of 'H' in HSS)



There's a bigger Elephant in the room ...... our little powerhouse Gen-3 Strat replacement pickup
that sounds similar to one of these V

a Kinman P.A.F Plus 

Brett says >>>WOW. I think this is a contender for best HSS set ever.
Kick-in-the-Arse Heavy

and today he said " Man, this pickup is seriously great "...
Kick-in-the-Arse Standard

 

There's a bigger elephant in the room .... do you love a humbucker or P-90 sound in the bridge position but hate the idea of modifying your precious Stratocaster?

Well, here is your love/hate solution!!!  Our impressive Kick-in-the-Arse humbucker built into a Gen-3 Strat pickup.  No need to drastically modify anything ,,, just chuck it in and get screaming P-90 / Humbucker sounds from your Strat.  Yes, your guitar will deliver a real kick in the arse and you'll walk the line between heaven and hell.

Check out our new "The 55" Tele-in-Strat model.  Brings out the best of the Kick-in-the-Arse and provides optimum string-over-magnet alignment for the bridge pickup in Strats.

Sonic performance:

  • Standard version sounds more like a P-90 and is intended  for bridge position but also rips in the neck position:  All the natural dirty growl, searing fluid highs, loudness and tone you expect from a quality P-90 and then some.  Roll the volume down and it turns all sweet and pretty.  There are customers who prefer a 250k volume pot to tame it's wild side a little bit but we think it's best with a 500k volume pot that maximizes it's dynamic punch and searing highs.
  • The Kick Heavy is a variation bridge for smoother heavily distorted Heavy Metal.  In response to suggestions from customers to further distance it from single coil sound we've tamed the pick-click of the ferocious highs and softened the piano mid-tones of the low wound strings giving it a more conventional humbucker sound.  The Heavy has the same 2.8 Q factor as a regular bucker.  To go one step even further use a 250k volume pot instead of 500k that we recommend.
  • With maple necks naturally the standard variant sounds more like a P-90 crossed with a humbucker and that's what our PAF Plus sounds like anyway.  Customers say it's a very good thing.

Outstanding aspectsHumbuckers typically measure 4 Henrys of Inductance (the measure of magneto electrical efficiency) and Q Factor of around 2.8 (Q defines presence, dynamics and attack) this little powerhouse measures a whopping 5.6 Henrys and 8.1K Ohms with a Q factor of 3.4 and that means it's a kick arse highly dynamic pickup ,,, and like our full sized humbuckers it's got Zero-Hum ... whoopeeee!!! 

One customer reports they are a little bit louder then a Duncan 'Pearly Gates' humbucker but he prefers our Kick-in-the-Arse.

You'll transform your triple 'S' Stratocaster to a 'HSS' hero easily and won't onlookers be wide-eyed when all hell breaks loose and you're ripping with kick-arse growling n screaming humbucker sounds without using pedals ...  and without Hum .... from a Strat!!!  Yup, you're gonna get questions.

Is it good for clean sounds?  the Kick sounds very nice in clean mode.  But after all it has the power and sound of a Kinman PAF Plus humbucker and it's a gutsy pickup and consequently will push the amp into distortion far easier when adjusted close to the strings than, say any other Strat pickup will.  Like any humbucker, the amp volume must be kept low to maintain a clean sound.  Also adjusting the pickup away from the strings somewhat lowers the output and intensity of attack making it more conducive to clean sounds for soft n pretty passages in Jazz, Indie, balads and the like.  That is the heaven side of the line.

Feel the Kick, it's available now .... click the BUY button above and you'll receive your awesome little powerhouses within 2 weeks.

Now available in Standard 52.4 mm, Intermediate 51mm & Narrow 49.5mm magnet spreads.  Pot value recommendations are in the technical section below.

Signal chain requirementsAny old cable won't doAs with any pickup it's a good idea to use a low capacitance cable to get the maximum incredible performance of these pickups.


Technical & Application info:


 

Under the hood of the Kick-in-the-Arse
What you see is interesting but
what you can't see is far more mysterious.

 

Specification nomenclature.

US Patents 5,668,520   6,103,986   8,791,351 B2
 

The string sensor is taller than our other Strat models so the coil is not compressed.  This design paid off with a massive inductance of 5+ Henrys, more Inductance than most humbuckers or P-90's.  The Kick-in-the-Arse produces the sound of a P-90 with surprisingly stinging highs … so sweet at low volume it can be used in Jazz .  But best of all is the HUGE output level, it will hold it’s own in competition with regular Humbuckers … now that’s amazing for a Strat pickup with Alnico rod magnets, with the bonus of Zero-Hum.  One of the amazing new generation hum-cancelling pickups coming from Kinman.

Adjustment requirements

The Kick-in-the-Arse has an advanced magnetic circuit and needs to be adjusted close to the strings to get it's best performance.  You can adjust the neck pickup as close as 1.5mm gap between bottom of E-6th string and top of magnet with string pressed onto the 12th fret.  Adjusted that close it really cooks, is very loud and sounds similar to our P90-Bucker Heavy bridge.  

Install requirements

At 24.5mm tall the Kick-in-the-Arse is 2.5mm taller than our regular Strat pickups and will fit most modern guitars but might not fit Vintage and Reissue guitars so check the cavity depth before ordering.  The pickup cavity depth should be no less than 19mm (3/4 inch) deep.  However a shallower cavity might be suitable if you shorten the special long mounting screws by up to 3mm, but some adjustment latitude will be sacrificed in this case.

Covers - included on pickups

  • Standard Kinman cover with maximized height extender bushings. 
  • Available in White, Black, Aged White.
  • With and without Kinman logo.
  • White covers can be tinted with food stains such as Coffee and Tea.
  • Generic covers will not fit Kinman Strat pickups.  We sell replacement covers in three colors.

Connection means available

  • Bare wires for soldering.
  • Kinman connectors for plugging into any Kinman Goodbye-Soldering Harness.

Dimensions

Pot & Capacitor values

  • Best with 500k volume pot to bring out the dynamics and the sting in the plain strings.
  • Many Strat pickups sound best with a 250k volume pot.
    • Our Goodbye-Soldering Harness can incorporate our Auto-Change device which provide both 250k and 500k for either neck middle, bridge ... or any combination when mixing different requirements.
    • If you don't include a Harness, for additional $25 we will include the parts and instructions for our Auto-Change device with your order.
  • Stock pots can actually measure a low 175k.  Pots in our Goodbye-Soldering Harness are guaranteed to measure no less that 250k / 500k.
  • Tone pot is usually the same value as the volume but for a little more top end brightness can be 500k, 1meg or a No-Load.
  • Normal tone cap value of 0.022uF, 63 ~ 100 volt Polyester.  Smaller uF value lessen the severity of Treble cut, higher values increase it.
  • The voltage rating of Caps is not important but 63 ~ 100 volt have nice lead wires that result in a neater job.

Magnet spreads

  • Standard 52.5mm, Intermediate 51mm & Narrow 49.5mm

Pickup cavity depth:

  • install into stock Fender cavities that are 19mm deep.  Cavities in genuine Vintage models need to made deeper, preferably to 21mm.

Hook-up cable

  • 2 conductor shielded is standard.  Cut generously longer than necessary for the 3 stock Strat positions.
  • Middle pickups when supplied with a K9 or TK4 harness have 3 conductor shielded.
  • 3 conductor option when ordering.
  • Custom lengths by request with Order.

Output Polarity: 

  • in-phase with Gibson and Copy humbuckers
  • in-phase with all other Kinman pickups
  • opposite phase to Fender Strat

Mounting hardware included

  • 2 Pan head mounting screws.
  • 2 Silicon Rubber tube springs.

We highly recommend consulting the Install Guide in the Technical section even if you think you know it all.  Kinmans' require specialized knowledge and sometimes there is updated info.  There is also a handy wiring diagram available.

We also highly recommend consulting the Adjust & Set-up page in the Technical section so you get the best out of your Kinman pickups.

*Stratocaster and Strat are a Trade Marks of Fender Musical Instrument Corp.  Kinman is not connected to Fender.

** Alnico-K is a unique proprietary rod magnet developed by Kinman in 1985.  It has 40% less string pull than Alnico-5 so sustain is longer and there is much less clatter from string crash and no Strat-itis string warble.