Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

[Mr. B]

I've replaced the single coil neck and middle in my strat with Fender Fat 50's and the neck seems out of balance, in presence, with the other pickups.

Before anyone tries to take me back to pickup kindergarten, let me say I've been doing mods for decades, and I already know about pickup height, pot values, and the difference between neck and middle pickup tones.

The problem is that the neck seems very quiet and bland compared to the middle. Its very similar to the jump in volume and power between a single coil and humbucker. I first suspected bad wiring connections, but I've redone them, and it is hooked up fine. I have not changed the pot values, they are still stock Fender Highway One pots. The neck seems VERY muddy and has no dynamics compared to the middle. From all the reviews I've read, this does not compute with the descriptions.

I've had texas specials, SSL-1's, and the stock A3 singles in this guitar before and never had this issue. I've tried adjusting the pickup height even til there was an extreme difference in height between them, and it doesn't help much.

Any ideas ???

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

Since they're calibrated, the only thing I can think of is that the bridge pup is in the neck, as far as tone goes, but the drop in volume would not make sense then, assuming the bridge may have been wound a tad hotter.

My diagnosis is based on my ability to mess things up even though I know better!

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

Good suggestion. I just checked, and the leftover pickup I still have in the box has a red dot on the bottom of one pole piece, which means it is the bridge. The neck pickup SHOULD be in the neck position then, since I don't have phase issues. I may pull them and meter them just in case the neck is severely overwound or something. I also want to check the pot and cap values again if I can see them, although the tone pot is hooked to the neck and bridge, not the middle.

I was psyched about the Fat 50's neck version. I wanted something a little brighter and cleaner than the Texas Special, but with more mids than the SSL-1's. I can't imagine this Fat 50's neck is what everyone talks so highly of.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

Sounds like a wiring mistake. I'd double check the way that you wired the neck and bridge tones together. Even if the wrong pickup was in the wrong position, there should not be enough of a difference to cause what you are hearing. Also, metering and marking all of the pickups before an installation is a helpful practice.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

The problem is that the neck seems very quiet and bland compared to the middle. Its very similar to the jump in volume and power between a single coil and humbucker.

so are the other two pickups texas specials?
If you have wired correctly, there would be a a big change in both eq and output with a fattie in the neck. Texans are very powerful in the mids so i guess they can quite easily make a fatty sound anaemic if your amp is set for them.

tone pot is hooked to the neck and bridge, not the middle.

You said there's no tone control on the middle pickup...that makes a big difference to both presence and output, so switching to the neck from there would be a big drop.

Just to get a fair idea of the capabilities of the fatty, i recommend trying standard wiring first (i.e. no tone for the bridge pup). You can always add the jumper so the middle tone does the bridge as well if you want later.

I think this problem is twofold: firstly that you have no tone load on the middle, which gives it a much louder brighter tone, and secondly that fat 50s are much cooler and less middy than texas specials anyway.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

As an experiment, try taking the neck tone pot out of circuit.

What is the fingerboard radius of the Fender H1? Fat Fifties single coils have a magnet height stagger pattern intended to match the vintage 7.25" value. Using these on a shallower radius 'board usually creates an imbalance somewhere.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

Figured it out. I DID have the tone pots wired to the wrong pickups. I meant to change the configuration so the middle and bridge had tone controls. I left the tone pots connected to the neck and bridge instead. It was the neck having a tone pot connected to it, and the middle pickup having nothing to cut down on its presence. I would never have guessed it made that much of a difference with the tone pots turned all the way up, but I guess it does.

Strats that mix Fender and Duncan are a pain in the a-hole anyway. I've got a 59 humbucker in it, with braided wire and one lead, so I can't switch the lead on the humbucker. You have to switch the leads on the singles, AND flip the magnet in the humbucker to get hum cancel in the 2nd position. That plus the tone pot change was too much to keep straight in my head at once I guess...

Thanks for jumping on the problem guys. If a guitar problem has an a$$, Seymour Duncan Forum will kick it !!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender fat 50's neck too muddy/quiet

glad you got it figured out!