Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

L

Longhair

New member
I am not happy with the output levels (or lack there actually) of the stock pickups in the Fender Hwy1 Strat.

My goal is to have something that is warm, balanced and full sounding without having the adjust the volume on the amp when I switch from my Ibanez SZ720 (HH stock pickups) - the SZ is louder than the strat right now.

I also want to keep the SSS pick guard configuration - very important.

I'm doing a lot of clean, some blues, wanting to get that 70's rock (southern & classics) out of it also - effects can fill in all the gaps.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

Duncan antiquity texas hots. They have a bit aged a2 magnet rods, and hence, they are as clean and warm as it gets. Great choice.

Too bad that I am not into that a2 warm strat thing.

B :)
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

I can tell you, if those are the A3 pickups on the "Upgrade" Highway One Stratocasters...those pickups are actually VERY hot by Strat standards.
 
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Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

tc said:
I can tell you, if those are the A3 pickups on the "Upgrade" Highway One Stratocasters...those pickups are actually VERY hot by Strat standards.
Click to expand...

Why? What's their resistance figures?

Just curious.

BTW I always found a3 strat pickups (but not HBs and teles though) to be steely. Cold...

B
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

I never was happy to tune up a strat to humbucker volume level. It lost much of what i liked on a strat. I learned to live with the volume drop.
I still have a HSS Strat, because i can deal with the middle and neck being lower.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

tc said:
I can tell you, if those are the A3 pickups on the "Upgrade" Highway One Stratocasters...those pickups are actually VERY hot by Strat standards.
Click to expand...

This is my first Strat - never even had a strat clone before - just because I wanted something different sounding.

I guess it is an "Upgrade" Hwy 1 because the serial starts with Z945...

Another thing that should be considered is I am removing one of the tone knobs (volume / tone instead of volume / tone / tone) and using a 0.47 cap instead of a 0.22 cap as described in SD wiring diagrams.

I'm also not inclined to keep the stock 250k pots either.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

tc said:
I can tell you, if those are the A3 pickups on the "Upgrade" Highway One Stratocasters...those pickups are actually VERY hot by Strat standards.
Click to expand...

I had totally different experience with them. The whole overwounding thing did make their EQ curve kind of flatter but they really don't have any extra output.
The neck pickup is actually very nice, it's also warm, you don't get any quack in the notch positions though and it gets very ice picky in the bridge position...

Longhair - I'd get a lower output pickup for the middle position (it would add a lot of quack to positions 2 and 4) and get hotter pickups for the neck and bridge. Also, try to decide if you want the Strat to stay "Straty" or rather put in humbucker voiced pickups (like the Lil 59 which is still a SC).
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

What amplifier do you use? Many designs feature input sockets of two different levels. (In short, one is more highly attenuated than the other.) Play the H1 Strat through the less attenuated input. Play the Ibanez through the more attenuated input. This should bring their respective volume/gain levels more closely into line with each other. Costs nothing.
 
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Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

JohnnyGuitar, would I be able just to have the middle pickup set at a very low height to achieve the same effect?

Funkfingers, unfortunately my guitar practice amp has 1 input unlike my ampeg bass amp which has 2 (0dB & -15dB) :(

Getting back to the Everything Axe set, I found a pre-wired pickguard loaded:

Features:

~ Seymour Duncan "Everything Axe" Stratocaster Pickups!

~ 10 Way Switching

~ CTS Pots, Oak Grigsby Switch, Toggle Switch and Sprague Cap

~ White Pearl / White Setup!

~ Pickguard Screws

~ Installation Diagrams
Click to expand...

Would that be the same as Fender's new S-1 Switching System

Has anybody seen any wiring diagrams for doing it that way?
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

Longhair said:
JohnnyGuitar, would I be able just to have the middle pickup set at a very low height to achieve the same effect?
Click to expand...

The purists among us would say no. I'm not a real purist - so I'd say hardly. It didn't do much good on my HW1...
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

If you are happy with the H1 Strat tones and just want more level, why not use some form of in-line booster.

The Marshall BB-2 Bluesbreaker pedal has such a mode.
Some people use a Graphic Equaliser pedal to pull off the same trick.
SD makes the Pickup Booster pedal. This can do several interesting things to the sound of your Stratocaster.

Try sending a PM to Crusty Philtrim. He uses some sort of Rory Gallagher-inspired booster pedal but I cannot remember its name.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

dr.barlo said:
Duncan antiquity texas hots. They have a bit aged a2 magnet rods, and hence, they are as clean and warm as it gets. Great choice.

Too bad that I am not into that a2 warm strat thing.

B :)
Click to expand...

+1

There's also the 5/2 and the hot 5/2. But I think he's more concerned about loudness rather than adjusting the tonal voicing.

The question is if he wants it to remain straty or if he wants to turn it into a fat strat?

The SC strat sized HBer's like the JBjr or the Lil 59 are humbuckers. They sound like HBers. Maybe not exactly like their full sized eqivilents, but they are voiced as HBers and are HBer loud.

I don't find Hbers with super switches as really doing the real deal strat SC tone though.

Three options for remaining SSS in looks but louder:
1) A hot single coil set if he wants it to remain mostly strat voiced but louder.
2) Put in a hotter ( perhaps a bridge model) single coil into the neck position, leaving the middle alone, and Jbjr or Lil 59 in the bridge. Wire it up so that bridge can be split when used with the middle pickup. This is basically an HSS set up, but with the SSS pickguard configuration remaining intact. It gets most of the best strat tones, but louder, and has a much stronger bridge HBer pickup option for soloing too.
3) Go to a single coil sized HBer in the neck too, if he's not concerned with keeping it straty.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

You can look into three SSL-5's.

One of my parts'ostrats has SSL-5 n&m with Qtr Pnd b. There's no volume drop switching from that set to humbuckers.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

dr.barlo said:
Why? What's their resistance figures?

Just curious.

BTW I always found a3 strat pickups (but not HBs and teles though) to be steely. Cold...

B
Click to expand...

A quick Google search gave me results all the way from 8k to 13k from different sources.

So, at 8k, we're talking Antiquity Custom/Twangbanger levels and at 13k we're talking a hair over SSL-5 territory.

I actually put this on my first post, then edited it out since those numbers are numbers I got from the Telecaster Forum and another one which I don't remember right now. That's why I deleted them because I can't really verify if it's true or not.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

Here's my guess. Treble PU = 13k, centre and neck PUs = 8k. Call it a hunch.
 
Re: Fender Hwy1 Strat - What Pickups?

No no no no...we're talking some people say 8k to 13k for the bridge.

I also remember someone saying that the specs went 10k-11k-13k, N/M/B.

Which is why I didn't want to say numbers, because I don't have those pickups at hand so I can measure them and Fender does not publish numbers either, so I don't have a truly valid source of info.
 
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