A True Vintage Tone, Please!

dstrats

dstrats

New member
Hi all,

This is my first post on this forum. I hope y'all can help.

MIM50sStrat.jpg


This is my MIM '50s alder body strat. I'm looking for a true '54-'57 tone. I'm not interested in Fender's CS '54 due to the fact I feel they are too bright. I'm looking or that true vintage wood-y, organic, hollow tone from the neck and that sweet quack in the neck/mid, mid/bridge position.

Currently I have DiMarzio Area '58s in the neck and middle. I don't feel that their organic enough. They are extremely bright though. The neck p/u is just too bright and misses that sweet wood-y tone. And, the in-between tone is not as full as I'd like. Folks are telling me that the stacked single coil lacks in true vintage feel. Sure I'll get hum but I'd gladly take it for that true vintage tone.

Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

Try Seymour Duncan pickups instead of those DimMarzio's.

Serious take a look at the SSL-5's.
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

SSL-1's are based on 50's-type pickups, and are as good a starting place as any. Plus they're not expensive!

Welcome to the forum...
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

SSL-1's if you want your guitar to sound like a 50's strat when it was new, a set of uncalibrated Surfers if you want your strat to sound like a 50 year old guitar (electronics-wise, that is).
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

Have you looked at Curtis Novak pickups, he seems like a total vintage nut and propper clued up on vintage Fender pickups. If i was looking for the sound you described in a Fender, i'd go straight to him.

As for Duncans, i like what i've heard of the surfers but i have no experience of actually playing them...
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

If you want Duncan's go with SSL-1s....just remember that vintage strat pickups are bright by nature.

Does your Strat have the bridge pup wired to a tone control? If not, doing so will darken the tone a bit on that one.
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

Welcome to the forum!

The guys are right.

In the 50's and 60's all three Strat pickups were identical - they were not calibrated with a hotter wind for the bridge pickup. Personally, I think having a stronger wind for the bridge pickup is a BIG PLUS! Otherwise the bridge pickup sounds thin and plinky - as it does in my real '63 Strat.

Also, in the 50's Fender pickups tended to be wound a little weaker than in 1962. Strat pickups from 1962 are my favorites and the Duncan Surfers are based on the 1962 version.

If you want a bright but deep tone go for the Duncan SSL-1 (or 2 if you like flat poles) or Antiquity Surfers. If you want a smoother, sweeter tone with less glass on top and more mids go for the APS-1 (or 2 if you like flat poles) or the Antiquity Texas Hots.

My favorite Strat set is the Antiquity Surfer neck and middle and the Antiquity Texas Hot Custom Bridge for the bridge.

More confused now than ever??? LOL!

Just get a full set of the SSL-1's or if you can swing the extra cash, Antiquity Surfers!

Lew
 
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Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

welcome to the forum!!

there is actually a noticable difference between the '54 strats and the 55-58 strats ive heard, the '54s seems softer. like others have said, vintage strats are bright beasts. ssl1's are a great choice but the antiquity II surfers are my favorite strat neck and middle pups. a little warmer than the ssl1 but still very stratty
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

SSL-1's = Vintage vibe. If you want the bridge stronger - SSL-5
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

jeremy said:
welcome to the forum!!

there is actually a noticable difference between the '54 strats and the 55-58 strats ive heard, the '54s seems softer. like others have said, vintage strats are bright beasts. ssl1's are a great choice but the antiquity II surfers are my favorite strat neck and middle pups. a little warmer than the ssl1 but still very stratty
Click to expand...

Jeremy....weren't the early Strats A3 mags?
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

I have both the Surfers & Texas Hots in 2 of my Strats. I elected to go with the complete sets & I have the hotter bridge in both sets. I would highly recommend them. It really is a toss up, depending on what you like. As I said I have both & I can't really pick a favorite. I like them both which makes it hard to decide which guitar to use when I need a vintage tone.

OH!!!! Welcome to the forum...... Hang out, there are a lot of cool guys here & a lot of valuabel information.
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

bungalowbill said:
Jeremy....weren't the early Strats A3 mags?
Click to expand...

i dont know for sure but ive been told that by a few people, and from what my ears tell me i would say its true. i know when fender did their limited run of masterbuilt 1954 ri strats (incredible guitars) they used a3 magnets and that a3 was used on some older teles so its very plausible
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

Hi all,

Thanks so much for all the great replies and suggestions.

Those SSL-1 seems right up my alley, but now I am a lil confused on which is the better p/u between the Surfers and the SSL-1. I understand the true vintage strat tone is a tad bright but my DiMarzio Area '58 sounds like a bridge p/u at the neck, so as long as the SSL-1 or Surfers aren't that bright at the neck either should be fine.

As for my bridge p/u I have a DiMarzio HS-2 wired single coil. I really love that p/u in that position which made me think I'd love the Area '58 but I guess not. It has a great tone there and really smoothes out my overdriven tones. And yea, I have the bridge p/u wired to the last tone pot and the middle p/u is free of a tone pot.

Again, thanks for the replies. I look forward to hanging out here. :^)
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

The SSL-1 is wound to the same specs as a 50's pickup. It'll sound like they sounded in the 50's when they were new. The Surfers are built like the 50's pickups, then aged 60 years!!! So they'll sound like a 60 year old 50's pickup!! :D
The Surfers are the better pickup, but are quite expensive. The SSL-1's are a great pickup, and will get you a vintage tone, and are cheaper.
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

Hi guys,

Thanks for the clarification stevies_bees.

Can you guys send me link where I can see a set of these Surfers? On the SD site it shows a bridge Surfer p/u. I can't see/find a full set of Surfers neck/middle/bridge. Thanks in advance.
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

Lots of good posts here.

I'd like to throw in my $.02 here.

You might personally just not care for alnico 5 based pickups. In a strat it can be hard to tame the treble, so a set of Alnico 2 Pros, SSL1 wind with A2 magnets, might be the way to go with a hotter bridge pup or maybe a baseplate for an Alncio 2 Pro.

If you are considering Ants the Texas Hots will give a warmer thicker sound than the Surfers.

Luke
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

id get the fender 69´s which are warmer than any previous models.Agreed on the duncan´s ssl-5´s and surfers as well.

for what you want stay away from the vintage rails model.the exact oposite would be the alnico2pro single(aps-1 i think).
 
Re: A True Vintage Tone, Please!

Hi all,

Thanks blue_313.

I understand that '50s p/u have some brightness to them, and I'm fine with that. I just want some body to it rather than just glass tone in the neck which is what the DiMarzio '58 gives. I'm not really going for a SRV tone with this strat either. Being that I own a SRV strat with, funny enough, SD "Great White Snarks". Do you guys know if those are still made? I bought them when I worked in Guitar Center in Sac 'round '01. They are very heavy, dark and full of Tex tone.

With my MIM '50s strat, '50s tone is exactly what I want. Right down to the proper magnets. If you cats are familiar with Eric Johnson, you know the tune "Victory"? He uses the neck p/u primarily in that song and yes, it's bright but it has such sublime body to the sound. Full and kinda hollow. And at the end of the song he uses the in between tone of the neck and mid and it's just divine. That's what I'm after for this strat.

Thanks again guys. I truly appreciate all the posts!
 
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