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I spent most of the day tinkering with my favorite Strat. I routed it for a humbucker 15 years ago and it has had every p-up you can basically name put in it. I had a 1963 Gibson PAF in it for most of its life, but a few years ago I poped in a Voodoo '59...which I really love, but I wanted something hotter.
I was using a 1983 Marshall 2204 with a few gain mods (slight gain mods and a PPIV master volume), Seimans EL 34's and Mullard pre-amp tubes. I went into a 1973 Marshall straight 4X12 loaded with G12H30 blackbacks with 55 hz and a 1972 Marshall straight 4x12 loaded with G12M25 greenbacks (vintage).
First off let me say that this Strat is VERY dark sounding. Not the typical strat twang like most of them are like.
Here is todays list:
Gibson Hot Alnico 5 (the pole piece spacing is wider than standard, but not as wide as F spacing)....with both a ceramic magnet and alnico 5. This p-up sounds awesome with the ceramic magnet. If you have a guitar that is on the bright side this thing will make it sound killer. It is so thick yet clear. It just was a little dark. I tried it with a 300k, 400k, 500k and 750k pots. None of them helped the darkness. (Believe it or not this is actually the second best p-up of the day).
80's SD '59( resistance of 8.53) This p-up sounds really good. It is not bright and sterile like the new ones that are made today. It has that smooth tone...but still isnt hot enough for the music I am playing. I tried it with a 300k and 500k pot.
80's SD JB. This p-up really sounds great. Again it is not bright like todays models. It actually sounded dark in this strat. The bottom end is huge. In fact too huge. I tried setting the height, pole piece height etc and it was still bottom heavy. If I were playing dropped tuning this would be a killer p-up. Again I tried it with a 300k, 400k, 500k (sounded the best) and 750k pots). EDIT...maybe I should try putting in a ceramic magnet?
80's SD Distortion. What can I say...it sounds distorted and nice. It sounded dark as well. It sounds close to the new ones, but stills sounds better...less treble and not as sterile. I tried it with a 500K and 750k pots.
2004 SD Custom 5. This is a good stand by p-up. It always sounds good, but never great. I tried it with a ceramic magnet and that when it really started to come alive. The mid range of the p-up is really nice and will cut like a hot knife through butter. I was too lazy to try it with an alnico 3 magnet I have laying around. It was close, but still didnt have the "bite" I was looking for.
80's Dimarzio Distortion. This thing is ALL mids. I really mean ALL mids. Sounds good for some VH stuff, but it was just a reminder as to why it was in the p-up drawer.
Gibson 500T. This p-up is known to be bright and to me, sounds killer in LP's. I have a 500T/496R ceramic set in my 2003 R8 Les Paul and it flat out rips. It does Metal to a "T" (pun)...too bad I have a hard time playing a Les Paul. I bought my first LP a year and a half ago and I am still not use to playing them (and I have been playing for 19 years). So I guess that makes me a Strat man. Back to the review. Like the Hot Alnico the pole piece spacing is wider than standard, but not as wide as F spacing. I poped it in and the sound was awesome. It was heavy, distorted, but with clarity and mid range tone. I started out with a 500k pot, but ended up switching to a 400k to tame a little bit of the highs. It is very tight and focused. I was very happy with it and decided to call it a night.
So it looks like the 500T has a new home.....for now
End of Rant.
I was using a 1983 Marshall 2204 with a few gain mods (slight gain mods and a PPIV master volume), Seimans EL 34's and Mullard pre-amp tubes. I went into a 1973 Marshall straight 4X12 loaded with G12H30 blackbacks with 55 hz and a 1972 Marshall straight 4x12 loaded with G12M25 greenbacks (vintage).
First off let me say that this Strat is VERY dark sounding. Not the typical strat twang like most of them are like.
Here is todays list:
Gibson Hot Alnico 5 (the pole piece spacing is wider than standard, but not as wide as F spacing)....with both a ceramic magnet and alnico 5. This p-up sounds awesome with the ceramic magnet. If you have a guitar that is on the bright side this thing will make it sound killer. It is so thick yet clear. It just was a little dark. I tried it with a 300k, 400k, 500k and 750k pots. None of them helped the darkness. (Believe it or not this is actually the second best p-up of the day).
80's SD '59( resistance of 8.53) This p-up sounds really good. It is not bright and sterile like the new ones that are made today. It has that smooth tone...but still isnt hot enough for the music I am playing. I tried it with a 300k and 500k pot.
80's SD JB. This p-up really sounds great. Again it is not bright like todays models. It actually sounded dark in this strat. The bottom end is huge. In fact too huge. I tried setting the height, pole piece height etc and it was still bottom heavy. If I were playing dropped tuning this would be a killer p-up. Again I tried it with a 300k, 400k, 500k (sounded the best) and 750k pots). EDIT...maybe I should try putting in a ceramic magnet?
80's SD Distortion. What can I say...it sounds distorted and nice. It sounded dark as well. It sounds close to the new ones, but stills sounds better...less treble and not as sterile. I tried it with a 500K and 750k pots.
2004 SD Custom 5. This is a good stand by p-up. It always sounds good, but never great. I tried it with a ceramic magnet and that when it really started to come alive. The mid range of the p-up is really nice and will cut like a hot knife through butter. I was too lazy to try it with an alnico 3 magnet I have laying around. It was close, but still didnt have the "bite" I was looking for.
80's Dimarzio Distortion. This thing is ALL mids. I really mean ALL mids. Sounds good for some VH stuff, but it was just a reminder as to why it was in the p-up drawer.
Gibson 500T. This p-up is known to be bright and to me, sounds killer in LP's. I have a 500T/496R ceramic set in my 2003 R8 Les Paul and it flat out rips. It does Metal to a "T" (pun)...too bad I have a hard time playing a Les Paul. I bought my first LP a year and a half ago and I am still not use to playing them (and I have been playing for 19 years). So I guess that makes me a Strat man. Back to the review. Like the Hot Alnico the pole piece spacing is wider than standard, but not as wide as F spacing. I poped it in and the sound was awesome. It was heavy, distorted, but with clarity and mid range tone. I started out with a 500k pot, but ended up switching to a 400k to tame a little bit of the highs. It is very tight and focused. I was very happy with it and decided to call it a night.
So it looks like the 500T has a new home.....for now
End of Rant.
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