These guys are Zecoil pickups.
[puts nerd hat on]
I've been tinkering with guitars almost since I started playing (get that from my dad who is an EE). I'm always chasing the sound in my head, which is a full sound with good clarity and NO NOISE. I can't stand buzzing, it just completely kills me.
This guitar came with Tex Mex pickups which were both harsh AND noisy, so the guitar got little playing time until I started tinkering.
First pass was trying some Rose Mariposa pickups, which are standard single coils but wound to vintage specs and dirt cheap (they were $30 at the time but demand has them over $60 now). Beautiful sounding in all positions, but you still have that noise.
Second attempt was a number of Dimarzio Area series pickups. I tried the 58, 61, and 67 models. To be honest they are all kind of dull sounding (design flaw). They are "stacked humbuckers" which means they have long magnet rods going through two coils, one wound normally and the other wound in the reverse direction. They cancel noise better than standard humbuckers, but you lose clarity as the high end frequencies cancel out. This is especially bad in the 2 & 4 pickup positions as the "quack" sounds are muffled. The 67 for most people would be acceptable as it is the brightest model.
I also tried a couple other Dimarzio noiseless. One was an older Virtual Solo which is an awesome bridge pickup. Think a really fat single coil like a P90 but with good clarity and no noise. Another was a Pro Track I believe, which is supposed to be modeled after a PAF sound. It was really flat and dull sounding so I returned it.
Third try was from Wilde pickups, which were designed by the late Bill Lawrence who was a pioneer in pickup design. I tried two different sets. The first was a set of L45 single coil sized humbuckers in the neck and middle and an L90 humbucker in the bridge. These pickups are very, very bright. The L90 was a cool cross between a humbucker and single coil but it was several times louder than the other two, which were a little shrill. I could have probably played around with the wiring and electronics to make it work but I don't think I would have got to the sound in my head.
Next up was a set of more traditional L200's in the neck and middle and L298 in the bridge. These are stacked single coils but supposed to be an improvement in manufacturing and design. They have a bit more clarity but the sound is a little weak and it's still a little dull in the 2 & 4 positions. Bridge is good but not really a fat sound. Lots of compromises.
Last set to go in are Zexcoil. These are a completely unique design. Each pole piece is wound like a little pickup with the top three strings wound in one direction and the other three wound in the opposite. This means you have no noise but there are no dummy coils to cancel high frequencies. Lindy Fralin has a similar split blade design, but that's got two large pieces rather than six, so it's a different sound. The Zexcoils should sound more natural.
The models I have are the vintage 5's, which are vintage wound specs. They sound like a vintage spec Strat pickup, maybe not exactly, but really close, and with strong low end. The bridge model is higher wound which makes it sound a bit shrill to my ears, but I spoke with Scott (the owner/designer) and got a recommendation for another model to try and will do so when money and time permits. There are a lot of options and they are pretty expensive, but I think it's the best thing on the market right now for noiseless pickups.
[/nerd hat off]
Maybe you can answer a question- do you know what equipment was used on the lead guitar in Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools? I have always loved that sound- to me it sounds kind of raunchy.
