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I think Gibson did this for Brian Ray a few years ago. I guess series instruments were only about 50 years ahead of their time.
Naw, Fender had a hidden dummy coil on their early 1980's Stratocaster Elite (active circuit, too) and it worked great, but no one bought it. Nothing new for them.
The advantage is in manufacturing: Just like for years people have installed a battery mount for EMG's and the like under the pickguard out of sight, this allows them to use all of their standard pickups, instead of having to re-do them as stacks, side x side humbuckers, etc. That's the advantage for them.
But I PROMISE you there will be hard-heads that will HEAR a difference and pooh-pooh this. Fender, like Harley Davidson, makes a steady living off tech from the 50's.
Quote from: gtrguy on September 23, 2026, 05:50:07 PMNaw, Fender had a hidden dummy coil on their early 1980's Stratocaster Elite (active circuit, too) and it worked great, but no one bought it. Nothing new for them.
No one bought it because it sounded like crap; cheap & cheesy.
Couldn't set up the one we had in the store to be playable no matter how much time I put into it.
That, at $1500, was hanging beside MIJ Squier Strats that, right out of the box, played like a wet dream and sounded sweeter than a girl saying "Yes" - for $175.
What a shock the Elite was a sales flop.
Peter
They had the Elite in the '80s and the Powerhouse Strat in the '90s.
Now they have the USA Am Pro Series with the Silent Sistem and the MIJ Active Modern Series with the SILENCOIL system (same function, different engineering) and active electronics
OMG, THEY'RE PUTTING THEM IN TELECASTERS TOO!!! 😯
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I read the entire article at Guitar Player. I see a street price of ~$1600 for the new Strat which I personally don't think is ridiculous for a US Fender. We don't sell new Fender goods at the store, just because of a gentleman's agreement between the owners of the two stores in town not to compete for that market, but the secondhand stuff traded-in is fair game. So I'll see one eventually.
I don't think it's a bad idea. Maybe this Phil Weller cat doesn't remember, or chose not to point out the past flops of Fender's attempts at humcancelling? I thought it was a decent write-up of a product, except the 'product' is all secret-squirrel... just a black box under the pickguard. That said, if it doesn't significantly increase the cost of the guitar, and it makes them appeal to the market then why not do it? It's not like there is suddenly some shortage of single-coil noisy Strats in the world for that customer what just has to have some 60-cycle hum. I'm sure there will be. Got one myself, don't plan to change it.
Finally, no reason Ron or anyone at Alembic should care. This isn't anywhere in a near orbit of anything they build... they are a toy by comparison to a Series guitar, or even the Darling I had. That this is some 'new breakthrough' is most likely some laughably bad AI-generated ad copy some editor at Guitar World wasn't old enough to remember different and cut. That's my guess. I don't even know what Fender says about it. They might not remember the past goose-eggs either.
$1600 for the Start now? Well that's a bit more reasonable than $1500 for one in '83.
But my big question is, does it - unlike the the Elite - sound like a Strat? If I were to buy a Strat, there's a reason for that; if I wanted something that sounds different, I'd buy something different.
I have long thought that all basses should have Alembic guts, or at least Barts, but (while hanging with Bill has made me greatly appreciate Alembic guitars, as well) I still love the classic sounds of the old Fenders & Gibsons.
Peter
Trogly's review of the new Silent System on a Strat, including a complete tear-down and play through.