Lipstick Pickup in a Strat?

[Guitarmusic]

Has anyone ever tried this? I have seen videos of SRV playing a strat with a Lipstick pickup but haven't really heard of anyone else using one.

[freefrog]

I've a short scale Strat with Duncan lipsticks and a few normal Strats too. What do you want to know?

[Jack_TriPpEr]

I found this demo/comparison video a couple weeks ago. I thought the guy did a pretty good job in showing how Strat pups sound different than Lipstick pups.

[Mincer]

Honestly, more people like the looks or idea of using Lipstick pickups, rather than using them for how they sound. They are bright and weak, and not an improvement over basic Strat pickups. I suppose you can boost them to sound better, or better yet, see if custom ones can be wound with a better sound.

[idsnowdog]

They are very bright and weak sounding. What I found was they are very transparent and if the guitar doesn't have a good tone to begin with Lipsticks aren't going to do it any favors.

[freefrog]

In a short scale guitar, whose fundamental notes are strong, lipsticks are a good way to bring back the harmonic richness of a longer scale Strat...

I've mounted mine with a no load pot so, they are not so weak.

It's true that their specs are on the thin side: with 1,3H they measure half the inductance of a SSL1... and their structure give them a very round resonant peak, with a really low Q factor... but yes, they are transparent and have this nice "clang" heard in "Tin Pan Alley".

FWIW, it's not impossible to make a regular Strat pickup sonically closer to a lipstick: choose a low DCR one (5.8k or less), fit it with a metal cover in order to favor eddy currents and pair it with 100k pots... Should be in the ballpark. :-)

Oh, and... the GK3 driven Boss/Roland emulation of lipsticks is not bad. Better than the lipsticks sound in my Variax IMHO.

[Clint 55]

I'd put 3 in series lol!

[Mincer]

I'd put 3 in series lol!

That's actually not a bad idea. I've never done it, but worth a try. I know I don't like them as they are.

[Guitarmusic]

Wow, didn't expect so many responses but many of the questions I had were answered. I was listening to SRV recordings with him playing Lipstick pickups and they did sound tinny and weak in my opinion. I guess I was intrigued and didn't know if that was just his tone with them or other people felt the same way? I remember playing Danelectroes as a kid always found them very unique. Never had much experience with them in a Strat and was curious how popular they were and how other people experienced their tone. Thank you for all the replies!

[Mincer]

They are certainly a unique sound, if not exactly 'good'. I think SRV's use made them gain popularity in the 90s, but unless they were a newer design with a more modern output, the popularity didn't last once many people heard them.

[ArtieToo]

Honestly, more people like the looks or idea of using Lipstick pickups, rather than using them for how they sound.

You nailed me almost perfectly. 90% of my purchase decision was that I loved the look. Still do. But the other 10% was that I was trying to get the "Dano" sound in a better playing guitar. My own 12-string Belzouki was virtually unplayable. My friend has a nice collection of vintage Dano's, that all have "that" sound, but simply aren't great guitars to play. And, they aren't mine. So the Squier Vintage Modified fit that bill perfectly. If you want to mess around with vintage Danelectro tone, it's an option.



Those are Duncan Designed Lipsticks.