Clapton strat pickup change

[Instructor57]

Hi, first post on this forum, I did find a similar topic posted a few years ago but can't now find it so sorry for any repetition.
I have a Clapton strat and am looking for more of a Gilmour tone. (Huge fan and seen floyd many times over the years)
I am thinking of putting 2x STK-S4'S and a STK-S6 in the bridge.
I am assuming these will be better than using the SSL-5, The custom shop 69 and the fat 50 as I guess these could/would be noisey ?
Will I be able to fit the STK's without any modifications to the wiring or removal of the tbx circuit ?

Thanks in advance for any answers or suggestions!

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Welcome to the forum, a new voice is always nice!!! If it's a Gilmour kinda vibe that your after Passive puppies would be best but if the noise is a issue for you I'd probably look into some Lace Sensors or perhaps a D.G. EMG for Strat set before the Duncan stacks? If I were going to go with STK's I'd probably go STK-4's all around? Off all the Duncan stacks I find them to sound the closest to actual passive single coil Strat pickups.

Unfortunately there is no noiseless, stacked, bladed, or humbucking S.C. sized Strat pickup that is going to sound as good as the real deal!!!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

welcome to the forum!

im assuming you are wanting to leave the clapton electronics in the guitar (as well as the tbx you mentioned) as just swap the pups.

getting gilmour tones from a noiseless strat set would be just as you suggested stks4n, stks4m, stks6. you can use passive pups like the fat 50s, cs 69, and ssl5 if you want and they will work fine with the stock electronics but the preamp will amplify any 60 cycle hum that the single coils pick up. i have used the clapton electronics with single coils and it sounded great as long as the room didnt have a ton of things making noise (nean signs, crt, dirty power). if it was a poor environment then the obnoxious hum/buzz would be a little louder due to the preamp and a little louder still when you use the mid boost. in a live band setting you wouldnt hear much difference as long as you turn your volume down between songs. currently i use a stks4n, stks4m, stks7 setup with my clapton electronics and really like that set.

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Welcome to the forum, a new voice is always nice!!! If it's a Gilmour kinda vibe that your after Passive puppies would be best but if the noise is a issue for you I'd probably look into some Lace Sensors or perhaps a D.G. EMG for Strat set before the Duncan stacks? If I were going to go with STK's I'd probably go STK-4's all around? Off all the Duncan stacks I find them to sound the closest to actual passive single coil Strat pickups.

Unfortunately there is no noiseless, stacked, bladed, or humbucking S.C. sized Strat pickup that is going to sound as good as the real deal!!!

Hello and thanks for your reply.
Im not sure if the noise would be a problem or not but don't want to take the chance.
I hadn't considered lace sensors but had looked at the D.G EMG
still leaning towards the STK'S but trying to get a few opinions first

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[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

welcome to the forum!

im assuming you are wanting to leave the clapton electronics in the guitar (as well as the tbx you mentioned) as just swap the pups.

getting gilmour tones from a noiseless strat set would be just as you suggested stks4n, stks4m, stks6. you can use passive pups like the fat 50s, cs 69, and ssl5 if you want and they will work fine with the stock electronics but the preamp will amplify any 60 cycle hum that the single coils pick up. i have used the clapton electronics with single coils and it sounded great as long as the room didnt have a ton of things making noise (nean signs, crt, dirty power). if it was a poor environment then the obnoxious hum/buzz would be a little louder due to the preamp and a little louder still when you use the mid boost. in a live band setting you wouldnt hear much difference as long as you turn your volume down between songs. currently i use a stks4n, stks4m, stks7 setup with my clapton electronics and really like that set.

Hi, thanks for your reply.
Yes I will leave the clapton electronics if that won't be an issue!
I am encouraged to hear you use the STK's in a clapton strat.
I was thinking of a new pre wired gilmour style scratch plate but I may build one at a later date.
A few things to consider

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[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Also you'd be surprised how "Gilmourish" just about any S/S/S set sounds when you add 7 way switching! The bridge & neck pickup working in unison is a pretty distinct D.G. tone and I've heard pretty convincing covers of Another Brick In The Wall played on stock MIM's and Squire's where their only modification way a 7 way switching toggle...

Jeremy does bring up a good point with the STK-6, in hindsight it & STK-4's might get your tone a little closer to the Black Strat's SSL-5 bridge pup balancing with the neck & middle pickup's which in your case would be STK-4's? I just suggested the STK-4's all around because I think it's the most natural sounding stack out of the bunch.

Personally I'd still either look into the Lace Sensors, with the right set you could make a pretty badass Clapton/Gilmour Hybrid Stratocaster, LOL!!! Or I'd just keep everything passive but that's just me. Your day to day needs & situation might be quite a bit different than mine, I'm sure if I still gigged a lot I'd probably be much more inclined to gravitate towards the stacks? As of now 97% of my playing is done in a fairly controlled environment and honestly I've just gotten used to dealing with the 60 cycle hum from my Fenders over the years....

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

The classic stack are great. I have owned fender vintage noiseless, fender csns, lace sensors, dimarzio areas, and fralin split blades; and the stacks are my favorite by far. They are stratty enough to sound good with a clean amp, and dead quiet so you can stomp all the fx boxes you want. Good stuff!

I agree with the previous posted who called out stks4 stks4 and stks6. It is good for floyd and awhole lot more. Very versatile and a lot of fun to play.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

As others have echoed, the noiseless will be better for noise, but not better for tone if you yearn for true singlecoil tones. But you have to make sacrifices somewhere so you have to know where that point is and be comfortable.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Just remember, since Gilmour himself uses an SSL-5 in the bridge, you'll want a hotter bridge pickup regardless of what you go with.

Also remember, he did a pretty good job of getting his tones using a set of EMG SA pickups with an SPC and an EXG, so I don't think going with the noiseless equivalents of his current single coil pickup set will be nearly as big a deal as has been mentioned earlier in the thread.

An STK-S6 in the bridge, an STK-S4m middle, and an STK-S4n neck should do just fine for you.

Let me tell you from personal experience, though... Whatever you do go with, standard single coils with the Clapton midrange booster is a recipe for TONS of noise. You need to go with something noiseless.

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Thanks Nostalgic

Yes, I think the switch mod is a must! and I am open to any thoughts and suggestions on the pups as I have
only had the strat since january (and I would say I'm around beginer to intermediate player, so a lot to learn!)
I don't gig so my environment is also fairly stable.
Again, I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Thanks dotsdad!
I appreciate your input and comments on the stacks!

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Thanks Gilmour
Yes I have been warned that the singles with the ec strat are a recipe for NOISE ! ��

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Thanks AlexR
Your right, I have to find a comfortable compromise!

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Thank you all who have replied!
I appreciate ALL your comments
So I think what I now need to decide is whether to keep or remove the clapton electrics and electronics.

If I keep them in will go for the STK''s (and fit the switch mod)
If I decide to remove the clapton mod then I might build a new scratch plate and use the single coils.

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[always SD]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

You can have his set or lace sensors gold
that's the best thing to do
but i think with the good pinch harmonics technique and guitar gear
you don't need to change your pickups because you have the tbx and sustain

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

You can have his set or lace sensors gold
that's the best thing to do
but i think with the good pinch harmonics technique and guitar gear
you don't need to change your pickups because you have the tbx and sustain

Interesting you mention pinch harmonics as they seem poor with the noiseless pups (could be my technique though! �&#56849

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

Hmm, I'm now considering making up a drop in Gilmour scratch plate using the single coils (SSL-5, Custom 69 and fat 50 pups) and removing the clapton plate and electronics so I could replace it if I sell the strat (although I probably wouldn't sell it !)

Decisions Decisions!!!

 

[JarickL]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

I've got a Clapton kit in my Strat. At first I tried it with Fender Hot Noiseless, but they seemed to lack a lot of the presence of real singles. I haven't used any noiseless pickups I've really liked yet to be honest, although the new Mojotone ones look really interesting.

Anyway, I swapped them out for some Rose Mariposa singles I had around, which are kind of noisy for single coils. They sound much better than the noiseless pickups in this guitar. The noise isn't awful but it's definitely there. The Clapton kit adds something like 10dB of clean boost right off the bat so that may be a factor.

If noiseless is a concern, I'd check out those Mojotone pickups. They are rail humbuckers but they use magnetic rails rather than steel rails with a bar magnet, and they at least matched the resistance and inductance of vintage singles. Their clips are really good, maybe a different attack of course because of rails vs poles. They have 59, 67, and hot models so you could kind of mimic that type of set. Those would drop right in without any changes.

Otherwise I think that set you mentioned sounds like it would work really well.

 

[Instructor57]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

I've got a Clapton kit in my Strat. At first I tried it with Fender Hot Noiseless, but they seemed to lack a lot of the presence of real singles. I haven't used any noiseless pickups I've really liked yet to be honest, although the new Mojotone ones look really interesting.

Anyway, I swapped them out for some Rose Mariposa singles I had around, which are kind of noisy for single coils. They sound much better than the noiseless pickups in this guitar. The noise isn't awful but it's definitely there. The Clapton kit adds something like 10dB of clean boost right off the bat so that may be a factor.

If noiseless is a concern, I'd check out those Mojotone pickups. They are rail humbuckers but they use magnetic rails rather than steel rails with a bar magnet, and they at least matched the resistance and inductance of vintage singles. Their clips are really good, maybe a different attack of course because of rails vs poles. They have 59, 67, and hot models so you could kind of mimic that type of set. Those would drop right in without any changes.

Otherwise I think that set you mentioned sounds like it would work really well.

Thanks for your input!
I'm really not sure which way to go yet but just looking around and notice the custom 69's are only sold in 3's CURSES!

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[Lewguitar]

Re: Clapton strat pickup change

If it was my guitar I'd remove everything and start from scratch.

I'd install new 250k pots. Volume, neck tone and bridge tone.

Schaller MegaSwitch that in the middle position gives the neck and bridge combined.

I'd install a Fralin Steel Pole 43 bridge pickup and either a pair of Duncan Surfers or a pair of Fralin Vintage Hots.

I would not use a RW/RP middle pickup.

If I wanted a hum-free Strat, I'd look into an Ilitch back plate which will make the guitar almost hum-free.