'51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

[ImmortalSix]

Hey guys! I am getting a buttload of stuff in the mail today, and I just wanted to share my plans for all of it with you.

I'm starting with these:

1996 Fender American Standard Stratocaster - JB Jr. in the bridge (not pictured, as pickups in this Strat usually have about a 3 week lifespan :laugh2: )

2005 Squier '51 - Little '59 in the neck, GFS Mean 90 in the bridge

2008 Epiphone Dot Studio - Gibson Burstbucker Pros

What I got:
Seymour Duncan Triple Shot Ring
Seymour Duncan P-Rails bridge pickup
HSS Tortoise shell Strat pickguard
Gibson creme "RHYTHM / TREBLE" ring
New 3-way for 335, with creme switch tip
New Switchcraft jacks all around

What I'm doing:

P-Rails and Triple Shot are going into the '51. With the splittable Little '59 in the neck, that gets me 14 unique sounds. Hooo-wa! '51 gets a new jack as well.

Mean 90 comes out of the '51 and goes into the new HSS tortoise shell guard on the Strat --- I think this will be just what I was looking for. If it's not, I'll have an HSS pickguard to put whatever I want in there - not just single-coil sized pickups, which I don't like in the bridge of that guitar anyways.

335 gets a new switch, a new jack, and a Les Paul style "RHYTHM / TREBLE" ring --- should look great on that guitar. It used to be all black, and every bit of creme I put on it makes it "come alive" more, aesthetically.

What I end up with:
I'll get a completely re-character'd '51,
a completely re-character'd and restyled Stratocaster, and
an aesthetically "moar secksy" and more reliable (new switch and jack) 335.

Should be a fun evening!

-Hunter

 

[BigJoe77]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

sounds like fun....enjoy

 

[Iron Horse]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Cool. That cream should make the ES look great.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

cool man. i love gettin' little tidbits in the mail like that:fing2:

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

sounds like fun....enjoy

Beats packing! (we're moving soon, ugh)

Cool. That cream should make the ES look great.

Thanks mate, I think so too. I have some amber knobs for it too, they might make it on this time --- they've never looked good before, but this might be enough creme to make them work.

cool man. i love gettin' little tidbits in the mail like that:fing2:

Little tidbits? You've obviously never ordered a P-Rails, a Triple Shot, or a custom pickguard! :laugh2: I kid, I kid. I'm not breakin' the bank, but this stuff added up to be quite a "little tidbit" :laughing:

 

[StratTom]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Sounds cool! I wish I had soldering skills.

 

[blueman335]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Ambitious boy. Keep up the good work.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

I hate to say it, but the tortoise guard works a lot better on a rosewood necked Strat than a maple necked Strat, to my eye.

Who cares, though?! I got a P90-S-S Strat now!

 

[j9fd3s]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

that's an interesting look.... its not bad, but it is different? i guess i'm not used to a chrome pickup in a strat, but how's it sound?

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

It sounds good --- just recorded this with the Strat.

Neck + middle notch position on the left channel and all Mean 90 on the right channel.

Nice and full --- not as plunky as it was in the (admittedly very, very snappy) hardtail '51 it was in.

I like it.

I think it's ugly, but it sounds good.

(Much like me) :chairfall

-Hunter

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Sounds cool! I wish I had soldering skills.

Nothin' to it but to do it!

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Ambitious boy. Keep up the good work.

Thanks --- I know you're lovin' all this attention I've been giving my 335 :laugh2:

 

[StratTom]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

I hate to say it, but the tortoise guard works a lot better on a rosewood necked Strat than a maple necked Strat, to my eye.

I was going to say the same thing, but I keep looking at it thinking "that's a cool look." I think it's growing on me. Sure it's not what people are used to but if it sounds cool, go with it!

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

I was going to say the same thing, but I keep looking at it thinking "that's a cool look." I think it's growing on me. Sure it's not what people are used to but if it sounds cool, go with it!

That's weird. It's growing on me too. I definitely wish it had a rosewood board, for several reasons, and it probably will in the next year or so, but the combination of tortoise on sunburst with white plastic poking through and a chrome 90 in the bridge spot... I don't know, it just looks barely weird enough to possibly look cool, or good to me.

I probably think it's uglier than usual since she's my long-time #1 (13 years!) but it's definitely uglier than a standard SSS white on sunburst.

You're right, though --- it grows on you.

-Hunter

 

[j9fd3s]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

It sounds good --- just recorded this with the Strat.

Neck + middle notch position on the left channel and all Mean 90 on the right channel.

-Hunter

it DOES sound good, so congrats!

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

That Strat looks and sounds pretty sweet. You probably think it's ugly because you got so used to it looking one way. I felt the same way when I put a silver pearl guard on my #1 Strat, but now I can't imagine it looking any other way.

How do you like having a P90 in a Strat? Your clip sounds pretty much exactly how I expected such a thing would sound.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

it DOES sound good, so congrats!

That Strat looks and sounds pretty sweet. You probably think it's ugly because you got so used to it looking one way. I felt the same way when I put a silver pearl guard on my #1 Strat, but now I can't imagine it looking any other way.

How do you like having a P90 in a Strat? Your clip sounds pretty much exactly how I expected such a thing would sound.

Thanks team.

I will record something less "bubblegum" tomorrow. It's a really hot Alnico 5 P90, and it's hard to keep clean through my real amp --- that recording was all Line6 TonePort / GearBox.

I can see it being good for grunge, I played the opener to "Black Hole Sun" earlier and it was dead balls on.

It does a very cool take on the bridge / mid notch, too!

-Hunter

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Re: '51, Strat, 335: Rearranging pickups! And giving the Strat & 335 a new look...

Spent some more time wit the "new" Strat yesterday.

I raised the middle pickup a bit, lowered the P90, and stood the neck pickup a bit, to try to even the levels out across them all so that the bridge/mid notch will sound less like "only the P90" and more like a notch.

The notch between bridge/mid ROCKS! It's like a humbucker with less of that Alnico 5 boxy sound. You know how you sometimes get that "W" (hold your mouth like you're about to say 'wow') sound with an A5 humbucker?

The notch sounds similar to a humbucker in fullness and warmth, bite and output.

The P90 alone sounds just like it did in my '51 overall, but with less midrange. I guess that's a function of being in a different guitar with different wood / bridge / pickguard setup.

Overall, I really like it. I have a bad habit of messing with this Strat almost constantly, though, so I don't know how long it will stay. I hope I recognize that it's a good fit between SSS and HSS and leave it for a while.

-Hunter