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Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

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  • #1

    Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

    Hi folks. Hope all is doing well with this covid outbreak.

    Anyway, I recently bought a custom shop strat 63. It came with custom shop fat 50's pickups and I love the sound of the neck. Middle is ok. But the bridge sound really thin for my taste. I know there are a lot of options out there for a bridge pickup that sounds fatter, but I am not sure which one will match my CS Fat 50's well. Not overpower it.

    According to Fender, here is the info for CS Fat 50's
    DC Resistance: Neck: 6.0K. Middle: 6.3K. Bridge: 6.2K
    Inductance: Neck: 2.4 Henries, Middle: 2.75 Henries, Bridge: 2.8 Henries.
    Magnet: Alnico 5

    I already tried to do my research and some folks says Antiquity Texas Hot Strat and Twangbanger are good choices. But I am open to other pickup brands as well. I love playing rock (90s in particular), and just want a bridge pickup that is not thin and too bright sounding. I don't use the bridge for clean. I only use it for overdriven sound, rhythm and solos. Can someone help me out please? Thank you very much!
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  • #2
    Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

    Welcome to the forum!

    You might try an SSL-5 or SSL-6. They do the 'fat bridge pickup' thing really really well. They still sound like Strat pickups, too.
    Administrator of the SDUGF

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    • #3
      Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

      Originally posted by Mincer View Post
      Welcome to the forum!

      You might try an SSL-5 or SSL-6. They do the 'fat bridge pickup' thing really really well. They still sound like Strat pickups, too.
      Hello Mincer and thank you. I see that the DC resistance of SSL-5 is 13k. Would this be an issue with my CS fat 50s DC resistance? What will happen if I put them together? Output volume differences will be noticeable?

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      • #4
        Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

        the ssl5 is wound with thinner wire so the difference isnt as drastic as you think, but youll notice the difference between what you have for sure. david gilmour used this pup in the black strat and when fender did their black strat run, it had a fat 50s neck and ssl5 bridge

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        • #5
          Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

          I didn't like SSL-5 or fat bridge antiquity.

          It'd rather use a small humbucker, ideally a little Pearly Gates.

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          • #6
            Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

            Keep in mind that most SD pickups and Fender pickups are out of phase, so you have to reverse the hot and ground on the SD. The SSL-5 and -6 (and Quarter Pounds) sound like thicker single coils. Going to something like a Little 59 will take the 'single coil-ness' out, and sound like a thicker humbucker.
            Administrator of the SDUGF

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            • #7
              Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

              If you don't mind noiseless, a STK-S7 is really a nice single-coil bridge pickup. Sounds like a regular single-coil with a little more meat for the bridge position, handles gain very well, good cleans, 11.9K but there's a dummy coil adding resistance, far from a hot single-coil. I have one paired with a STK-S4 in the neck and really like the balance in volume and tone.
              If you want to stay real single-coil, I also have a set of Rose pickups in a MIM Fender Strat that I like A LOT. Robusta neck and middle, Buff Beauty bridge. Again the Buff Beauty is a bridge pickup with just a little more meat. Really balances in volume and tone with neck and middle. Alnico 5 and 7.81K, $30.

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              • #8
                Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                I'd go with Cool Rails instead of hotter single coils. Rockin' pickup that has no output balance issue with single coils.

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                • #9
                  Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                  the vintage hot stack plus is a very nice bridge pup if you want to go noiseless, not as hot as the ssl5 but more output and a fatter tone than what you have now. hard to say which you would like more. cool rails is fun to but doesnt sound like a single coil if thats what you are going for

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                  • #10
                    Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                    I have another couple of data points for you:

                    I have a Strat with a Cool Rails in the bridge position. It goes well with the Texas Special in the neck (no middle pickup). I echo the guys above who suggest the Cool Rails; no one would mistake it for a single coil, but it goes well next to one and has good matching output. (And it sounds great.)

                    That being said, I also have a Pacifica (which is pretty Stratty) with a (full-sized, not mini) Pearly Gates in the bridge position, and it sounds phenomenal. I think it's my favorite pickup in any of my guitars. It's definitely even farther from Single Coil Land than the Cool Rails, but it's a tasty, tasty crunch machine, and I've never once thought, "man, I wish this bridge pickup sounded more like a single-coil". If you were considering one already, I'd say go for it. (If it lends any weight to my recommendation, my musical taste was heavily influenced by the fact that I graduated from high school in 1995.)

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                    • #11
                      Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                      Originally posted by jeremy View Post
                      the vintage hot stack plus is a very nice bridge pup if you want to go noiseless, not as hot as the ssl5 but more output hard to say which you would like more. cool rails is fun to but doesnt sound like a single coil if thats what you are going for
                      I think SD should offer the STK-S7 as a regular single-coil. It's missing a true bridge single-coil to match the SSL-1/2 in their catalog IMHO.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                        Originally posted by Pitman907 View Post
                        Hello Mincer and thank you. I see that the DC resistance of SSL-5 is 13k. Would this be an issue with my CS fat 50s DC resistance? What will happen if I put them together? Output volume differences will be noticeable?
                        The SSL-5 and 6 are higher volume, but because the bridge position is naturally less output (less string movement) than the neck and middle it ends up working out OK with vintage output singles. It balances well with SSL-1 or 2s in the neck and mid.
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                        • #13
                          Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                          i agree, something 7.5k to 8k of #42 formvar would be a great bridge pup. i have a bunch of strat pups that i wound maybe two months back, keeping everything as close to the same as i could, magnets from the same batch, same spool of wire, same tpl & tension, 8000 turns neck, 9000 turns middle, 10000 turns bridge. i really like the neck and bridge, would go a little lighter on the middle next time.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                            Originally posted by jeremy View Post
                            the vintage hot stack plus is a very nice bridge pup if you want to go noiseless, not as hot as the ssl5 but more output and a fatter tone than what you have now. hard to say which you would like more. cool rails is fun to but doesnt sound like a single coil if thats what you are going for
                            Hello. Is this the STK-S7 or the STK-S9B that you mentioned as vintage hot stack plus? I'm interested in this one too. I might pass on the cool rails because of the pickup cover look as it would look different from my typical fender covers. (silly reason but I just really want them to look the same all 3).

                            So far I'm thinking about SSL-5, Lollar Special Strat, Vintage Hot Stack Plus. The twangbanger I'm a little hesitant because I'm trying to stay away from bright sounding bridges.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Bridge Pickup Recommendation for a Strat

                              vintage hot stack plus is stk-s7, the stk-s9b is the hot stack plus and is much middier and hotter

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