Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

[zionstrat]

Picked up a 99mim strat in a trade that brought in Splawn Streetrod. The Strret rod is one of the best clean and crunch combos I've ever played for blues/rock and the thread follows if you want some background-

Maybe the love of the Splawn is overriding my normal guitar choices, but I'm getting into this strat's middle pickup for the first time in my life- I'm a 2,4,5 guy, so I usually go for low output middles to get the 2,4 quack and almost never use the middle by itself-

However, in this build, the middle comes off as a slightly weaker and less dark version of the neck pup- 2 and 4 are great, 1 is a bit of the strat ice pick, but I'm using the middle a lot for clean rhythm and mild crunch lead.

With that said, I know nothing about these pups- Any background? Any ideas why a middle pickup would have more character than the average 'acoustic' sounding middle pup?

Splawn thread-
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?326466-NG-Splawn-Strat-you-gotta-hear-it

 

[AlexR]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

The MIM's were ceramic punchy numbers for a bit of time. Maybe if its one of those then the strength of wind has overcome your usual dislikes.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

The MIM's were ceramic punchy numbers for a bit of time. Maybe if its one of those then the strength of wind has overcome your usual dislikes.

Very good point- and funny, I have never been a ceramic fan-

But that could make sense- it certainly isn't 'tame'- but it isn't harsh either.

I've asked Fender CService for a break down- I think it's a polar body- if so, it's the only poplar strat I've ever owned and wonder if that's part of the magic.

But if they are ceramic, you've made a reminder that I shouldn't imagine that all ceramics sound like Dirty Fingers

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

I love middle position. When you want some snap but with body too.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

Pull the pickguard to be sure. Do you think they are all stock or some are replaced?

The typical ceramic bar pickups in the older MIMs weren’t vintage by any means, but they had a sound, it might be your sound? I didn’t hate them, especially with some gain.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

When you pull the pickguard, switch the second tone control to the bridge pickup. It'll give you a little more spank outta the middle, and let you dial out the icepick of the bridge. Yes, I'm saying leave the middle pickup without a tone control. Countless pros do this.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

Great point, I prefer the duller bridge and brighter neck/middle this provides as well.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

Almost definitely stock pups.

And yes I was thinking about turning neck tone into a blend pot so no reason I can't turn mid tone into bridge tone

except I love the sound of everything but the bridge and this maybe one of the few times I do no mods at all

Need to play it with other rigs in different locations... it's possible that this is more of the Splawns tone at work.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

When you pull the pickguard, switch the second tone control to the bridge pickup. It'll give you a little more spank outta the middle, and let you dial out the icepick of the bridge. Yes, I'm saying leave the middle pickup without a tone control. Countless pros do this.

I do this!

But I am not a fan of the middle alone- to me, it is only good with another pickup. I use a special switch so that in position 3, I get neck & bridge together.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

I do this!
I use a special switch so that in position 3, I get neck & bridge together.

I love that mod... Gets into tele territory so easily.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[dystrust]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

I do this!

But I am not a fan of the middle alone- to me, it is only good with another pickup. I use a special switch so that in position 3, I get neck & bridge together.

I love that mod... Gets into tele territory so easily.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

I'm in a similar position, but I have my Strat set up master volume / master tone with a blend pot so that I can also get in between sounds. One of my favorite clean sounds is full neck pickup with just a hint of bridge blended in for a little more sparkle / chime.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

I have my Strat set up master volume / master tone with a blend pot so that I can also get in between sounds.

I love blenders! Which one are you using?

I haven't started diagramming yet, but if I do mod this one, I'm likely to
1. Do a push pull to flip 3rd position between middle pup and 1 and 3 together because I like this mid pup
2. Include the Dan Armstrong blender- get's so many great tones (including series) and I want it push pull as well, so I can leave it dialed in at times. http://ashbass.com/AshBassGuitar/index.html?armstrongstratvers.html

I've never tried these 2 mods together, and I'm somewhat conflicted about doing anything with this guitar, but mods usually win in the end

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

The MIM's were ceramic punchy numbers for a bit of time. Maybe if its one of those then the strength of wind has overcome your usual dislikes.

I kinda like those MIM Strat pickups with the twin ceramic bars. Punchy is a good word; they handle gain well. If the guitar is a '99, that's probably what it has. I believe later MIMs have alnico pickups though. Not sure when they switched over.

I remember a couple of posts about modding these. One mentioned attaching an alnico bar under the ceramics to broaden and weaken the field a bit, softening the tone & attack just a bit without totally altering the character. Anybody tried this?

 

[dystrust]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

I love blenders! Which one are you using?

I have the Fralin one; it's basically a no-load pot between the neck and bridge connections on the pickup switch. Full up it's out of the circuit and blends in whichever pickup isn't selected as you roll the pot down (in the middle position it doesn't do anything).

I'm primarily a Gibson guy, so I only play my Strat when I'm recording on in a 'cleaner' sort of mood.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Can't believe I've in love with a middle strat pup- Background on 99MIM pups?

Ok, here's the input from Fender and I really am surprised-

Model Name: Standard Stratocaster®
Series: Standard Series
Body: Alder
Pickups: 3 Standard Single-Coil Strat® Pickups (Ceramic Magnets)

It's an alder body, so it wasn't poplar that was making the mid pup work for me- I have to admit that I am rather surprised to learn that these are ceramic- one of the few ceramic pups that I have ever enjoyed and surprising on so many counts-

1. The majority of ceramics I have played in the past are so overwound muddy or overly bright that I usually avoid them- The one exception in my stable are Joe Barden's in my ZionStrat- they are intentionally crisp and snappy, but I had always heard that there was a ton of winding magic going on to keep them out of 'brittle land, hence the high cost. And they are really different- nothing 'normal' about Bardens, but that killer attack and quack is why I love them so much.

On the other hand, these Fenders seem smack in the middle of the tone and attack spectrum where a classic strat pup belongs. They're a wee bit aggressive, but no more than some strat's I have played along the way.

Maybe I fell into the alnico snob camp by accident somewhere along the way. Definitely going to record all my strats to find out where this one falls on the FFT spectrum.

2. And I am so used to believing that I can hear the difference between magnet in coil vs magnets with slugs, but maybe that's the beauty of this design? ... moving to bar and slugs should increase warmth, so that might be part of the balancing act.

On the other hand, it doesn't look like these pups were incredibly popular, maybe they just fall in my personal happy zone.

So big thanks to all who pointed out that ceramics might be part of the equation, and once again, solid proof that I've got to do a better job keeping my mind open

ZStrat/Mickey