Advice on a bridge pickup for my strat

[stuntmedia]

Hello everyone! This is my first post to the forum, and I'm hoping the pickup gurus here can lend me their insight.

I have a set of very vintage sounding strat pickups (6-7k), and I love the tones I get between positions 2-5. I have always really loved the 'traditional' strat tones in these positions, however, I have never been a fan of the vintage strat bridge pickup on its own. It has always sounded a bit too bright and weak. While I want to hear Hendrix, SRV or Knopfler in my neck and middle positions, when I flip to position 1 (bridge only), I want a Gary Moore lead tone.

While my first instinct would be to drop a humbucker into the bridge, my strat is not routed to take a humbucker, and I really don't want to hack into this guitar. I've also found that wiring a guitar HSS also presents some issues, as 'traditional' strat tones are achieved, in part, by using 250k pots, and most humbuckers are designed with 500k in mind. If I try to drop in something like a JB jr., (or other rail Duncan) it probably is not going to sound as it was designed to, and it would also probably be a massive jump in volume. Is there a practical solution, designed to sound its best with 250k pots, that won't be a lot louder than the rest of my set, while simultaneously giving me some 'chunk' and a soaring lead? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Despair]

Re: Advice on a bridge pickup for my strat

There's a number of options, though if you really want to sound like a humbucker, your best bet is a full size humbucker.

If you just want a warmer, hotter pickup, and not precisely humbucking tone, you can look into either the single coil-sized side-by-side humbuckers, or a hot single coil (or stack, because even if you prefer conventional single coils for clean work, under high gain they can get nastily noisy, particularly for live play).

For a Gilmouresque tone, you might look at an SSL-3 Hot or SSL-6 Custom in the bridge, or in stack versions the STK-S6 Custom Stack Plus or STK-S9b Hot Stack Plus.

You can also get tapped versions of the SSL-3 & SSL-6, which will make for a less hot bridge + middle combo, or give you the option of a more conventional bridge tone/volume.

For side-by-side humbuckers, I've liked the Cool Rails in the neck but haven't really heard it in the bridge. Hot Rails can be cool, but is a bit one-dimensional compared to the PAFs Gary Moore is mostly associated with. I'd suggest searching the forum for reviews on the little '59 and l'il Screamin' Demon as the most likely non-custom shop options.

Oh, and as far as the 250K pot thing, many humbuckers like them just fine, the JB in particular most people prefer at 250K. It's interesting and very likely meaningful that the shared wiring diagram for them all shows 250K pots.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Advice on a bridge pickup for my strat

welcome to the forum!

my first thought reading your post is get a lil 59 for the bridge. a friend of mine has an old '73 strat with stock neck and middle pups and a lil 59 in the bridge that sounds great. it is set to auto split when used with the middle pup to keep most of that tone intact. he still has the stock 250k pots.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Advice on a bridge pickup for my strat

Hello everyone! This is my first post to the forum, and I'm hoping the pickup gurus here can lend me their insight.

I have a set of very vintage sounding strat pickups (6-7k), and I love the tones I get between positions 2-5. I have always really loved the 'traditional' strat tones in these positions, however, I have never been a fan of the vintage strat bridge pickup on its own. It has always sounded a bit too bright and weak. While I want to hear Hendrix, SRV or Knopfler in my neck and middle positions, when I flip to position 1 (bridge only), I want a Gary Moore lead tone.

While my first instinct would be to drop a humbucker into the bridge, my strat is not routed to take a humbucker, and I really don't want to hack into this guitar. I've also found that wiring a guitar HSS also presents some issues, as 'traditional' strat tones are achieved, in part, by using 250k pots, and most humbuckers are designed with 500k in mind. If I try to drop in something like a JB jr., (or other rail Duncan) it probably is not going to sound as it was designed to, and it would also probably be a massive jump in volume. Is there a practical solution, designed to sound its best with 250k pots, that won't be a lot louder than the rest of my set, while simultaneously giving me some 'chunk' and a soaring lead? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

A humbucker doesn't die from 250K volume pots. And you can use a 500 Kohm tone pot and close it half for the singles.

Gary Moore lead tone is pretty fat. I think your best bet is something like either the little Demon (which sounds nice split for the 2+3 switch position) or the little Pearly Gates (which I never tried, I assume it's somewhat like a PG here). The little Demon in particular will do chunk quite well.

The JB jr. will not be much louder than PAF-class pickups.

 

[stuntmedia]

Re: Advice on a bridge pickup for my strat

Thanks, everyone, for the help. I ended up going with the SD lil '59, and it worked out beautifully. Of course, it doesn't sound like a full-sized humbucker in a Les Paul, but I didn't expect it to. I needed my bridge to be a power position, sound good with distortion, and give me a soaring, humbucker-esque lead tone, all of which it did. Now, I just can't set the thing down. Just what it needed.