banner

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Looking for a strat set . . .

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Looking for a strat set . . .

    I've sent a couple emails to David Allen, and think that I may go with his Echoes set. Neck and mid are a little underwound compared to an SSL-1 and the bridge is tapped in a spot that's slightly hotter than the tap for the SSL-5.
    Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

    Originally posted by Douglas Adams
    This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Looking for a strat set . . .

      Originally posted by David Garner View Post
      I have the Psychedelic set and it is unreal. I will say, the bridge position might be my favorite, so my advice is forget about the mid-heavy bridge and just get the Psychedelic set or a set of 69s. That scooped, low wind bridge isn’t going to get Tele or LP tones. But it sounds exactly like a Strat bridge should.
      I've heard of many fans of late 60s pickups digging the Psychedelic Set, from people alive at the time that were using late 60s Fender guitars. I might not know enough about what makes that era so different, but a great sound is a great sound.
      Administrator of the SDUGF

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Looking for a strat set . . .

        i think it was around '65 when strat pups changed. narrower a5 rods, machine wound with #42 pe and around 7600 turns rather than hand wound with #42 formvar and 8000-8300 turns on slightly larger rods. when the pups were hand guided, the turn counts were all over the place but became pretty consistent once machine wound over all. though i believe cbs did change the target turn count over the years

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Looking for a strat set . . .

          Not sure if you have already gotten a set yet or not, but I will fill you in on my recent adventures. I bought a set of SSL-1's about a year ago. To me, these are the closest to a real strat sound I have ever gotten. Bright, spanky, bit twangy even and they had the nasally quack in the #2 & #4 positions. My only gripe was that the bridge was a little weak and thin compared to the other two pickups. I purchased a steel backing plate and that actually helped add some girth and mute the high end a touch. Just enough that it would at least play well with the other pickups now. Overall, the SSL-1's are my favorite set of strat pickups I have ever played through. They have the bite, the quack, the spank and with a little work can balance out well and just sing.

          I wanted to get what I figured was an even more vintage sounding set and went with the ANT II's Surfer set. I was under the impression that they would be bright, well balanced, and Straty. To me, they are not..... They are kinda dark and the neck is VERY full and almost too boomy. They don't have that bite I had hoped for. Perhaps no-load tone pots and or 500k pots would get me there? I have considered using a capacitor in series with the neck pickup to reduce the low end a little which I think may also get it where I want it. That being said, the bridge balances perfectly and the middle is probably the best sounding middle pickup I have ever heard. Not too bright and not too dull. BUTTTT, the Bridge is too dark and overall the set is just a tad on the dark side. As a set though, they are very well balanced and sound like a set, the challenge for me is tuning them to get what I FEEL is right.

          So, if you go with the SSL-1, I think it may behoove you to go with the SSL-5, Five-Two, or the Twang-Banger bridge though if you want a more balanced volume and sound. I essentially have a Twang-Banger now sans the extra output. The SSL-5 seems to be the favorite ( essentially the David Gilmour option ) and I think the Five-Two might just be the in-between of all the options. Not having used either of those I can't say 100% though. I know that the SSL-1 in the bridge is just a bit weak, and a bit too bright and thin. But it has that spank, twang and bite that you want in a Strat pickup.

          If you go with the ANT Surfer II's, you will be happy with the overall balance and sound, but you may find it too dark if you want a bright set of pickups. I think the neck is a tad on the boomy side and the bridge a tad too dark, but with a small amount of tuning the set as a whole can be made to be the bee's knees. The middle pickup is where it's at though, it is simply the best sounding middle pickup I have ever heard. I think with the changes to the other pickups it will scale well with them and fit right in. If I had to desert island choose between the two, I would go with the SSL-1's. They are the most Straty sounding set I have come across. Not the best per see, but certainly has that sound.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Looking for a strat set . . .

            Some nice recommendations were already given above in my opinion.
            For the neck and middle, you might want to try out some alnico 3 single coils, I first experienced alnico 3 single coils in the Classic Vibe '50s Strat (Tonerider Surfari pickups), and they were sursprisingly good!
            "You can buy muscles (steroïds), but you can't buy "cojones". (quoted: Bas Rutten)

            Comment

            Working...
            X