Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

[STRATDELUXER97]

Lew,Curly....Vintage Strat Gurus of tone!

Yesterday I stuck an Antiquity Texas Hot Custom in the bridge with an APS2 in the neck and middle spots in my 62 reissue strat..The pickups sound great and the APS2s are nice and sweet...

My dilemma...I only have noise cancellation in the neck/middle position and no other noise cancellation in the other 4 positions because I mistakenly put the RWRP pickup in the neck(I think)?

All positions work great and I have nice quack at the bridge/middle position,but I'm wired like a vintage strat pretty much...

This is cool I guess,but here comes the opinions and or advice....

Do you guys feel like you hear a difference in your in between positions between rwrp middle or just the non-rwrp middle pickup when used with your neck and bridge pickups?

Basically I don't feel like going back into my strat(today)at least,to swap the neck and middle APS2s.....I've already had to flip flop the wires on the Texas Hot because it was originally out of phase with the middle APS2...I'm also confused now also because if I switch the neck and middle pickups,will I then have to re-switch the Texas Hot wires? :smack:

Advice and opinions wanted from all.......What would you do? I Like the tone of my 62 with these pickups and I guess I'm wondering if the rwrp middle pickup changes the quack factor of positions 2 and 4:burnout:

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

Well, until someone else comes along, I guess you're stuck with me. Some people claim to hear a difference between the RWRP and vintage notch tones, but apparently more folks prefer some noise reduction. I'm surprised that you only got noise reduction between neck and middle if the RWRP pickup is indeed at the neck. I'm guessing it's actually in the middle like it would normally be, but only you can tell...

 

[walt]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

I had a similar problem with a set of rio grandes with a jb in the bridge. I had to put the RWRP in the neck to get the bridge in phase. I "believe" that you will have to switch the wires back on your bridge pup if you switched the RWRP back to the middle.

 

[Dom L]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

Ok, you know that on a Strat you'll only get noise canx if 2 of the pups are RWRP in respect to each other. So this limits you, with normal switching, to noise canx in position 2 or 4
I would swap neck and mid pickup positions and then see if the mid/bridge is oop. If so reverse the leads... and rock on or off
I really feel weird giving you advice, since I've gotten so much from you

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

Ok, you know that on a Strat you'll only get noise canx if 2 of the pups are RWRP in respect to each other. So this limits you, with normal switching, to noise canx in position 2 or 4
I would swap neck and mid pickup positions and then see if the mid/bridge is oop. If so reverse the leads... and rock on or off
I really feel weird giving you advice, since I've gotten so much from you

Thanks guys....Dom...I surely don't know everything either buddy! :smack:
Maybe I did in fact install the rwrp in the middle? I do know that both the bridge and middle poles read "N" polarity and the neck is "S"....Normally you want the bridge and neck polarities the same and the middle opposite the bridge and neck with a rwrp middle pickup...Automatically that tells me that I need to switch the middle and neck pickups.....I was curious as to whether you guys like rwrp or not also though? Normally I do,but today I guess I thought I Liked the vintage noisey position tone for my bridge/middle position? Probably just me though? :laugh2:

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

For me, John, the RWRP middle was simply to cancel hum. Some with bat ears may disagree, but I never really heard a difference in tone.

Whatever weird combo you might come up with, I say if it sounds good, go with it!

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

For me, John, the RWRP middle was simply to cancel hum. Some with bat ears may disagree, but I never really heard a difference in tone.

Whatever weird combo you might come up with, I say if it sounds good, go with it!

Thanks for posting brother....I really wanted alot of guys to chime in on this to tell me if they hear a difference between rwrp or standard in the middle position....I'm waiting on Lew and others on more...

 

[Farkus]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

Thanks for posting brother....I really wanted alot of guys to chime in on this to tell me if they hear a difference between rwrp or standard in the middle position....I'm waiting on Lew and others on more...

Well, I'm no Lew, but I think a non-RWRP sounds fatter in the 2&4 positions, esp with overdrive. But, I think it might just be the background noise?

Mark

 

[Curly]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

this one's over my head .... I've always had RWRP strats, except for my early 60s strat I had a long time ago, so I couldn't tell you if there's a difference in tone

I'm no wiring expert either ... the specs on the Antiquities though say they're wound like 50s strat pickups:
"The magnets are calibrated and the coils are wound "top going" with "north" magnetic polarity, the same as the early vintage models."

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

Thanks guys....More please!

 

[ErikH]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

I could never hear the difference. Always got the same notch position tone. It was just a matter of noise or no noise. I'd make sure the RWRP is in the middle and swap the bridge pickup wires back to what they normally would be. Since you'd have N-S-N going then, you should get hum cancellation in positions 2 & 4.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

some times ive had to do a little futzing around to get antiquitys and other pups to get rw/rp. i suspect youll have to flip the neck and middle and then flip the wires to get hum cancelling all around.

i did a little expermenting with non rw/rp middle pups a few years ago and didnt find all that much difference. the trick is i wasnt using a good quality recorder, just a cassette 4 track.

i think they maybe just a touch of difference but not enough for me to use non-rw/rp middle pups. its nice to have atleast a few dead quiet settings for those really noisey rooms

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

Thanks guys.....I'll go back in and swap some things around then.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

How bout just leaving things as is and installing a push-push pot to activate your bridge pickup no matter where the pickup selector is. This will allow you to use the bridge and neck pickups or all three in concert. Imagine using the bridge and neck together and having noise cancelling with it. I think that would be a cool thing to have really. If you like the way it sounds, why not leave it that way and add a switch to add even more mojo to it.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

I gave up on RW/RP PuPs. To my ears it does steal a Lil' Qwack or Chime from the # 4 pos. I A/B'ed 2 of my strats Both with APS's neck&Mid playing stuff like the Intro to Sweet home Alabama and Bell bottom blues. The one with the RWRP I found to be lacking a lil' sizzle. Hard to explain, It just seemed to respond flater ? Maybe it's the lack of back ground noise when it is Hum canceled??

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

I gave up on RW/RP PuPs. To my ears it does steal a Lil' Qwack or Chime from the # 4 pos. I A/B'ed 2 of my strats Both with APS's neck&Mid playing stuff like the Intro to Sweet home Alabama and Bell bottom blues. The one with the RWRP I found to be lacking a lil' sizzle. Hard to explain, It just seemed to respond flater ? Maybe it's the lack of back ground noise when it is Hum canceled??

Yep...What you explain is what I thought I was hearing.....The noise I did hear was minimal but there isn't any neon or flourescent lights where I play in my home...I guess I'd change things around so I could have no hum in the 2nd and 4th positions if the tone doesn't sound different? I normally go with the rwrp middle pickup though.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

I forgot to mention. When I pulled the RWRP APS outta that Strat. The only only PuP I had to replace it with was a silver lace sensor. I don't like that PuP But I gotta say it sounds pretty good with the APS in the neck? And Quiet.
I'm gonna have to compair it to my other Strat with the APS neck SSL-1 Mid.
I love the way the APS and SSL sound together.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

I forgot to mention. When I pulled the RWRP APS outta that Strat. The only only PuP I had to replace it with was a silver lace sensor. I don't like that PuP But I gotta say it sounds pretty good with the APS in the neck? And Quiet.
I'm gonna have to compair it to my other Strat with the APS neck SSL-1 Mid.
I love the way the APS and SSL sound together.

I feel that the APS2 in the neck is actually a bit too boomy and not articulate enough for me in this strat...Even bringing the height down doesn't resolve it....Just goes to show how spoiled I am about the Surfer neck and middle pickups! Nothing to me does it better in my neck and mid spots,plus I favor A5 in these positions...The APS2s sound good,but I'd be happier with 2 more Surfers...The Texas Hot Custom or a Twangbanger(A2) in the bridge does it for me though...My fav setup is Surfer/Surfer/Twangbanger...I don't currently possess any extras of these pickups...Darn it! :smack: :burnout:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

I just flip flopped the APS2 middle and neck pickups aand didn't have to do anything to the Texas Hot in the bridge...Everything is perfect now..Noise cancellation in 2 and 4 positions...I Like the sweetness of these pickups and nothing else needs to be said about the antiquity texas hot custom bridge.

 

[Stratcat]

Re: Bit Of A Strat SC Dilemma? Advice,Opinions Wanted

Thanks guys.....I'll go back in and swap some things around then.

That's what I would do my friend.