$125.00
Hx-85 v2
This is the bridge pickup in the Woodstock Plus set. AVn-69 are the middle and neck pickups.
October-2019: The Hx-85 has been upgraded to v2, that is some of our Gen-2 technology has been incorporated to significantly increase loudness and improve the snap of attack. The sound is also more open and detailed.
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Description
Hx-85 v2 New version is louder, spankier and clearer
This is the bridge pickup in the Woodstock Plus set. AVn-69 are the middle and neck pickups.
October-2019: The Hx-85 has been upgraded to v2, that is some of our Gen-2 technology has been incorporated to significantly increase loudness and improve the snap of attack. The sound is also more open and detailed.
News flash Apr-2021: Now with our new Synergy baseplate that allows switching off Hum Cancelling as well as switching to ‘Synergy’ mode.
You will get Zero-Hum, longer sustain, minimized fret buzz and a loud n thicker sound that is great for the bridge position.
This pickup was designed especially for the bridge position of the Woodstock Plus set for those who like a hotter bridge pickup for easy overloading/distortion. It has a fatter, thicker sound on the wound strings and has the third hottest output of all Kinman Strat* replacement pickups. Only the Big-Nine-0 and Kick-in-the-Arse are louder. It delivers smooth and creamy distortion, either natural overdrive or through FX without loosing it’s edge.
The Hx-85 works well in the neck and middle positions too where it produces a nice thwack attack at clean volume.
Signal chain requirements: Any old cable won’t do. It is desirable to use a low capacitance cable to get the incredible performance of this pickup.
Works well in any Kinman Goodbye-Soldering Harness.
Some people will call these noiseless Stratocaster pickups but Kinman prefers to describe them correctly as Zero-Hum Stratocaster pickups. That’s because there are 2 types of noise, Hum which is cancelled in the pickup and Buzz which can only be minimized by shielding the wiring cavities (refer to >Technical >Perfect Guitar >Shielding for newer guitars
*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.
Technical Stuff
Under the hood of the AVn-69
AVn-69 specification nomenclature.
US Patents 5,668, 520 6 ,103, 986
Covers – included
- Special Kinman cover with intermediate height extender bushings.
- Available in White, Black, Aged White.
- With and without Kinman logo.
- Can be tinted with food stains such as Coffee and Tea.
- Generic covers are not suitable for 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
- click for dimensions page
Pot & Capacitor values
- Best with 250k Ohm (measured minimum) volume pot. Less punch and more bright with 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.
- Stock pots can actually measure as low as 175k. Pots in our Goodbye-Soldering Harness are guaranteed to measure no less that 250k.
- 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 thicker lead wires that result in a neater job.
Magnet spreads we normally ship (ensures magnets align with the strings in each position)
- Narrow 49.5mm – Neck
- Intermediate 51mm – Middle
- Standard 52.5mm – Bridge
- Option to specify your magnet spreads of sets and singles in our ‘After-Payment’ Additional Questions‘ email we send you.
Magnet Staggers
- Normal improved Stagger to suit 7″ ~ 14 inch uniform radius fretboards including USA Custom Guitar Compound 7-1/4″ ~ 9-1/2
- Flat Stagger 14″ ~ 20″ for specific compound radius fretboards (Warmoth 10 ~ 16 inch and Post 2010 Fender Deluxe 9 ~ 14″)
- Option to choose your magnet stagger for sets and singles in our ‘After-Payment Additional Questions‘ email we send you.
Hook-up cable
- 2 conductor shielded is standard.
- Middle pickups when supplied with a K9 or neck pickup with a TK4 harness have 3 conductor shielded.
- 3 conductor by request with Order.
- 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 (match phase with 3 Conductor hook-up cable)
Mounting hardware included
- 2 x Pan head mounting screws.
- 2 x 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.
Reviews
UNITED STATES | 19-Jul-2022
Having been a player and connoisseur of Kinman strat style pickups since 2009, I tell you no other brand comes close for both tone and zer-hum. I’ve had the recent pleasure to upgrade from the already amazing HX-85 V1 (bridge) pup to the new HX-85 V2 (bridge) model and wow!!! Just when I thought that it couldn’t get any better, the HX-85 V2 is everything and more of the V1.
More strat twang, thwack and chime – than that of actual strat pups – that cuts through in both the the studio and band setting – it’s simply inspiring.
During breaks at my gigs, I get countless compliments from strat players all of whom cannot believe the tone that I get with these pups. This is nothing new as it all began once I started out with the original HX-85 V1 over a decade ago. Most of those cats have since taken the leap of faith and are now firm believers in the gospel according to Kinman. Even my students are switching to Kinman pups. In all my years, I’ve tried everything and Chris and his amazing crew keep on delivering the goods in their own cutting edge, zero-hum fashion. It’s good to be home with my Kinman pickups.
Best in tone,
Craig Small
Ed: thanks for your Report Card Craig, we here at Kinman were thrilled to read it. One never really knows how any new model will be received and when we release one it is done with a degree of trepidation, so it is very gratifying to hear about your experience with the Hx-85 v2. We were all quite taken, actually we were very surprised, when we first heard it ourselves and so much so we decided to release it immediately and so it, and it’s companion AVn-69 v2, were added to the website within hours. Boss Chris hit a home run with those two, actually it was a hole in one since he felt no need to mess with the first choice of coil specifications which, some might say, is always a wild guess. That’s what comes with his vast experience. Thanks again for writing, Joe.
