My Texas Special Dilemma (tone is apparently not only about pickups) - advice needed

[jeremy]

ive never found a vintage output single that i like with 500k pots. if you like the texas special in the middle, its fine to leave it and just change the neck. if you tried running the texas specials in this guitar with 250k pots and still found it too bright then obviously the guitar is playing a part in your troubles since you loved them in your strat. so now you are trying to compensate for 500k pots and a naturally bright guitar. the stks7 might be a good choice, i love that pup in the bridge with 250k pots but have never tried it in the neck or with 500k pots. it might suit your needs well. the crusier doesnt sound like a strat pup to me but if you like that tone, maybe it would work for you.

[Teleplayer]

Another reason why your pickups my be unusually bright: The Pro-Mod DK22 specs on their website say it has a "no-load" 500k pot as the tone control.
I suggest to take out the "no-load" tone control and replace it with a normal 500k pot. I would order a spare 250k Linear taper pot that you can use for a volume control if needed.

[alexreinhold]

Ordered the Classic Stacks - will try them with both 250k and 500k and will let you know how it worked.

Aware of no load, I mostly keep them on 9.

[PFDarkside]

That's a very insightful post, thanks Teleplayer! To be very honest, I have no clue if mids or treble is the culprit but they sound shrilly af. This morning I tried to play around with the height and they keep on sounding horrible (and I think most - regardless of taste - would agree).

Assuming I want to keep 500k pots and achieve some sort of balanced Strat sound (i.e. more towards SSL 1 than to SSL 6), do do you think the Classic Stack Plus will be the right fit? What about the DiMarzio Cruisers? I've been eyeing them for a while because Andy Timmons makes them sound very pretty and "full" and I personally quite identify with that sound (though I am not even a big fan of Andy Timmons).

How does it sound when you roll back the volume to 8.5-9? Does it sound a lot better or not much difference?

[alexreinhold]

How does it sound when you roll back the volume to 8.5-9? Does it sound a lot better or not much difference?

not significantly better. Only a tiny bit - still bad to be honest.

[PFDarkside]

not significantly better. Only a tiny bit - still bad to be honest.

Ok. Might need to swap to the STK-S7 then...

[alex1fly]

It sounds like what you have is an HSS, and what you want is an HSH. Leave the middle Texas, find yourself a full size humbucker or single coil sized humbucker to go in the neck spot.

[alexreinhold]

Ok. Might need to swap to the STK-S7 then...

Trying the STK-S4 first. Wish me luck

[Teleplayer]

I hope you will keep us updated when you try the new pickups in the Charvel. I'm interested in your plan to use more vintage-sounding pickups in a 22 fret modern guitar. Did you order a complete set of STK-S4 or just the neck and middle?

[Mincer]

I was just playing my Strat with the Classic Stacks, and I smile every time I am finished playing.

[alexreinhold]

So here's what happened. I ordered the classic stacks neck and middle and was super excited. I installed them, soldered everything and when i wanted to adjust pickup height, I noticed that the charvel dk cavities are not routed deep enough for them - the poles were on string level at the lowest height. For a moment i considered deepening the cavities but since I don't have the tools and experience, I thought that'd be an overkill.

I returned the Classic Stacks with a heavy heart and thought hard about alternatives. What I know now is that I can rule out all SD pickups with the Classic Stack height and pickups with staggered poles. So after a lot of reading in other threads and forums, I asked my US friend who's coming to Germany in 2 weeks to bring me Dimarzio Cruisers (currently sold out in Germany). I'm aware of the potential output imbalance with the Hot Rails but given that they are very Straty (though not fully vintage) and optimized for 500k pots, they are alluring to me + i love the Timmons sound. Will update the thread once they arrive.

[Mincer]

Oh man, sorry that didn't work out. I hadn't run into a routing that wasn't deep enough, but I guess they are out there.

[alexreinhold]

Oh man, sorry that didn't work out. I hadn't run into a routing that wasn't deep enough, but I guess they are out there.

Yeah, i was confused as well. I kept screwing and nothing happened. I did however put the bass E string on and it did sound just the way i like it. Will definitely get them for my next strat build. Will keep you updated on the Cruisers.

[alexreinhold]

Quick update. The Cruiser pickups work like a charm, am really happy. I can see why some warned me that the output is too low compared to the Hot Rails but I can only hear the difference when playing clean. Given that I never play my humbucker clean that doesn't pose any problem to me.

Next pickups will for sure be the Classic Stacks though.

[Mincer]

Happy you found something that works in that guitar- thanks for the update!