Neo Fender said:
I have them in my Strat Plus that I bought new in ’98 (three golds). They are sterile in the sense that they do not catch the vibe that even a so-so single coil has. Not much sparkle, clarity or “glass” - whatever you want to call it. They are dead quiet. If you don’t mind not nailing the stereotypical Strat tone and you run a lot of effects or processing and need a quiet pickup – they may be for you.
I knew a guy who's first Strat - after many years being a Gibson only player -was a Strat Plus. He bought specifically because of the Lace Sensors (he hated the 60 cycle hum in single coil pickups). He also bought that because they had 3 Golds, just like the Clapton model (he was a fan of Clapton's but couldn't afford the signature model). This was 1990 - 1991 or so.
In a band rehearsal they didn't sound like your average Strat pickups, which is I suppose the way he wanted the guitar to sound.
IMHO, the Lace Sensors sounded 'processed' even if you run straight to amp. They seems to be more of an emulator of the tone rather than a transparent sensing of the string vibration. And yes, they seem to be 'sterile' in the sound they gave too.
And it wasn't just Malcolm's playing - he was a very good player at the time, and I have heard similar results from Strats installed with Lace Sensor Golds since.
Personally, I would never put one in a Strat I would own. I'd look at their dual humbucker ones for the tone they give, but alongside the other humbuckers on the market, not as a typical Strat pickup.
I can understand that folks using a chain of processors in between guitar and amp might find their noiseless abilities a bonus, but I can think of other pickups that would represent a Strat tone better, and be capable of being used in a rack full of effects (EMGs, Kinmans) without much - if any - noise from the pickup itself.