Can new pups save my Strat?

[Mephis]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

I hate to keep recomending rio grandes... But instead of routing the thing out, try the rio grande dual calibraited set.(seriously)


And it actually have a useable #5 position!

heres sone clips and full review: http://www.allthingsguitar.com/2004reviews/Rio-Grande/riogrande.htm

Enjoy, im sure this is the set for you

 

[aerial7]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

Just a quick update: I did upgrade the bridge pup in my other guitar (described in my previous post) -- I went with a Custom Trembucker. Just deliriously happy with it so far, although I'm trying not to make any value judgements until after the "honeymoon"....

Anyway, I have two questions: First, in this other guitar -- with its rosewood fretboard -- what neck humbucker would complement the Custom I've now got in the bridge? I'd like something capable of rocking but that works very well clean.

Second question -- back to the MIA Strat. Pretty sure I'm just going to wire-up my own replacement pickguard, so first I have to decide whether to go Hum/Hum or Hum/Sing/Hum; I like the simplicity of the hum/hum approach. After reviewing the responses so far, it's not clear to me that everyone was thinking about this particular guitar with its maple neck, etc. For example, I'm afraid the JB will be too bright, and the only thing I hate more than "glass" is "quack". So, go with Custom in the MIA Strat also, or something else?

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

Since I prefer the simplicity of single volume/tone control guitars I removed the rear tone pot and installed a dpdt toggle switch and then I drilled a hole between the mid tone pot and the hole for the rar tone pot and installed a second dpdt toggle. One toggle is a series/parallel switch for the JB and the other toggle is an on/off switch for the JB which allows me to combine the JB with the neck pickup.

Doing this gives me the following combinations

JB series
JB parallel
JB series - Hot Stack
JB parallel - Hot Stack
Hot Stack
Hot Stack - lil59
lil59
JB series - lil59 (mid position LP tone)
JB parallel - lil59 (fat Tele tone)
JB series - Hot Stack - lil59
JB parallel - Hot Stack - lil59

It's a guitar that covers a lot of ground tonally.

I have also installed Sperzal locking tuners, a LSR roller nut and a Shaller Floyd. While most Strat purists cringe when they see it, most hard rock guys really dig it when they see it and try to buy it off of me when they hear it.

Strats are great guitars to modify to taste because the pickguards are easy to work on and the 90s MIAs with the pool route will accept almost any pickups. I wouldn't sell the guitar but tricking it out is definately something to consider.

That's :cool3: :cool3: :cool3: :cool3:

 

[aerial7]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

1. So, any opinions on hum/hum vs hum/sing/hum? Is the middle posiition useful enough to warrant having a 3rd pup?

2. For the bridge, I'm trying to decide between Custom and CustomCustom; I'm very happy with the Custom I just put in my Squier HM strat, so that's a known quantity. But the Alnico II of the CustomCustom seems interesting, and the product specs says it "Works especially well with maple fingerboards". So, of those two -- any opinions? Try the CustomCustom and swap it for the Custom if I'm not happy?

 

[aerial7]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

Just a quick update: I'm upgrading the American Strat now.

I decided to go hum/sing/hum, with a CustomCustom trembucker at the bridge -- for now, I'm just dropping in some old pickups as placeholders in the neck & middle positions.

I'm ready to drop in my newly wired pickguard, however, the latest -- and hopefully last -- little roadblock is the depth of the "swimming pool" rout: All the humbucker mounting screws I have are just simply too long. The rout is less than an inch deep, so there's not going to be a lot of clearance..... So I need to hit the hardware stores to see if I can find anything shorter, and if not, then I'll just start cutting down the screws I have and hope I get them short enough without being too short.

And if that doesn't work, then I'll just start boring holes into the rout so that the screws can go as deep as necessary.....

 

[aerial7]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

Okay, got the screws; in case it helps somebody, I went with 3-48x3/4" -- they're just barely long enough, but they work well for me.

Now, back to the original question: Can new pups save my Strat?

The verdict: YES!

The CustomCustom trembucker just sings in this thing!! Can't put the guitar down, can't get the grin off my face. I do have to admit that for awhile, this was more of a science project than anything; I was beginning to think the journey was more interesting than whatever destination I may wind up at.

Still, I also know to let things settle down for awhile; we all know how fleeting these first tonal impressions are. In fact, I still have the tone capacitor hanging out of the empty middle pup slot in the pickguard -- gotta try different values to see what I like the most. And soon, I'll have to get the new neck and mid pups....

 

[Farkus]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

Okay, got the screws; in case it helps somebody, I went with 3-48x3/4" -- they're just barely long enough, but they work well for me.

Now, back to the original question: Can new pups save my Strat?

The verdict: YES!

Awesome news man!

In my case, I really liked the PGn in the neck of my strat with a Custom5 in the bridge. I've been a Duncan user for a long time, and like Lew said in his post, if the guitar sounds good to me, I can usually find a Duncan that will fit my tonal needs. The guys around here are very helpful...so when you get ready to add the next pups, I'm sure they'll all have some suggestions for ya!

Mark

 

[saladin]

Re: Can new pups save my Strat?

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