gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

[strangegrey]

Hey folks, It's been a while since I've posted here. I hope everyone's doing fine!!!

I'm posting here, because I think I'm at the end of the rope with my SCN pickups. I really keep wanting to make noiseless pickups work, but in the end, I'm still missing the good ole response of a good single coil pickup....I've tried em all, Holy Grails, Vintage Noiseless, Virtual Vintage, SCNs, etc...To add insult to injury, I've grown frustrated with the S1 system. Personally, I find all of the series connections flat out useless....

Sooooo....

I'm thinking about tearing out the whole pickgaurd and going to something else. I'm not sure if I'm going to do 3 singles or a hum with 2 singles...But I'd love to hear some suggestions...I'm into country, blues rock, hard rock and **** rock...

-Frank

 

[ErikH]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Those SCN's are pretty nice. I like 'em anyway. They weren't designed by Fender though. Bill Lawrence (www.billlawrence.com) did them for Fender. What is it that you don't like, specifically?

 

[GrevDrake]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

I use Kinman Hank Marvin (modern) pups in my Strat and they're awesome.
Best noiseless strat-pups there are.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

I have a set of Duncan Classic Stacks in my US Strat, and they're fantastic. If I were you, I would wait for the new line of Stacks to come out ... word on the street is that they are far and away the best noiseless singles on the market.

 

[BigBazz]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

BareKnuckle Irish Tour singlecoil pickups, give bareknuckle an email.

 

[strangegrey]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

What is it that you don't like, specifically?

Honestly, I think they're damn muddy. It's almost as if I've got a vol or tone pot in there that's undervalued. I dunno...I'm going to pop open the strat and spend some time checking things....


But because the pups are muddy to begin with....the s1 pushed down (series wiring) only adds more mud to things...

 

[ErikH]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Honestly, I think they're damn muddy. It's almost as if I've got a vol or tone pot in there that's undervalued. I dunno...I'm going to pop open the strat and spend some time checking things....


But because the pups are muddy to begin with....the s1 pushed down (series wiring) only adds more mud to things...

What are your amp settings? Are they same as what you would normally use with "noisy" single coils? Bill's stuff is kind of unique in of itself. What we are used to hearing in a single coil may not be the same how he hears them, or how they should sound to him. But he does make some of the best out there (no disrespect to Seymour at all).

Check under the hood. I'd like to know what's packed in there with 'em myself.

And I'm waiting for the new Duncans to come out to try myself.

 

[sunnysideup]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Hey folks, It's been a while since I've posted here. I hope everyone's doing fine!!!

I'm posting here, because I think I'm at the end of the rope with my SCN pickups. I really keep wanting to make noiseless pickups work, but in the end, I'm still missing the good ole response of a good single coil pickup....I've tried em all, Holy Grails, Vintage Noiseless, Virtual Vintage, SCNs, etc...To add insult to injury, I've grown frustrated with the S1 system. Personally, I find all of the series connections flat out useless....

Dude, if you haven't tried Kinman, you haven't really tried noiseless pickups.

 

[strangegrey]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

What are your amp settings? .......

With respect, I don't think amp settings are at all the problem...as I also have a fender american deluxe tele and that thing has snap and crystal clarity for days...

I really think that either 1) the strat pups are either muddier or 2) the volume or tone knob in this guitar is undervalued.

I'm hoping its 2, since that's a cheap fix (assuming it's tone its a few bucks...)

If it's 1, I'm going to tear the whole thing out and replace it with something better...

-F

 

[Kelsey]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

I really love the tone of my American Deluxe V-neck Strat. However, it took a bit of tinkering to get the SCN pickup heights adjusted to keep the middle pickup out of my way and get good tones in all positions. I'm very happy with the set up now, and I especially like the warmth of the neck pickup and fatness of the bridge pickup. With the S1 engaged in series mode, I find that the bridge position has a cool humbuckerish vocal tone, the B/M position has a cool tone that doesn't sound like a series link at all, and the N/M position has an acoustic guitar like tone on the unwound strings. It does sound darker and warmer than a vintage Strat setup like my California Series Strat with SSL-1's and Twangbanger, but I like the different flavors a lot.

I hope you get it all sorted out.

 

[itbepopples]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

I really love the tone of my American Deluxe V-neck Strat.

I have the same guitar but switches pickguard assemblies with a guy who wanted three SCNs instead of two and a humbucker. All I can say is they're obviously not single coils but they're damn good for what they are. They ARE a little lacking in treble response and they can get muddy quick if you don't adjust them perfectly. As for undervalued pots....I don't know...I've been told the pots for the SCN's are actualy 1 meg. I know my SCNs are narrow spaced but I'm really interested in finding a set that would line up in a vintage spaced bridge (if they exist). If you DO end up selling them let me know if they're regular single coil spaced or narrow like the ones on the AmDxVneck.

 

[ErikH]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

With respect, I don't think amp settings are at all the problem...as I also have a fender american deluxe tele and that thing has snap and crystal clarity for days...

I really think that either 1) the strat pups are either muddier or 2) the volume or tone knob in this guitar is undervalued.

I'm hoping its 2, since that's a cheap fix (assuming it's tone its a few bucks...)

If it's 1, I'm going to tear the whole thing out and replace it with something better...

-F

No problem. Just offering suggestions to hopefully help out. It may just be what Kelsey said, getting them adjusted right. Last time I played a Strat with them in it, I loved how they sounded.

 

[strangegrey]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Thanks guys for all the responses....

I spent some more time with the guitar this afternoon, mucking with pickup heights......and I walked away even more frustrated than not...The set's just real muddy...

Hey Kelsey, can you off the top of your head, recall what you did to dial in your pickups on your V?

As for the down positions on the s-1, frankly, I hate em all. Every position on the strat with the s-1 switch down, leaves me with a tone that's just too muddy. I also don't find these positions to be very humbuckerish at all.

I've really been very tempted to go to an HSS setup instead of a SSS setup, since I rarely if every, use the sc bridge on a strat without cringing. Part of me thought the least offensive change would be to find a DH-1 on ebay and swap it into the S-1 assembly. But with my frustrations on the SCN's, I would only be fixing one problem, with 2 more still sitting on the pickgaurd.

My problem with the s1 HSS config, is that position #4 (since it splits a humbucker with an SCN) renders noise...where the #2 notch position doesn't.

I wish someone would come up with a switching scheme where you can use humbuckers and noiseless singles, split the humbucker, but still get a noise free position #4....


Regardless, I'm still going to try to make these pups work....I might end up getting a JB and a few singles coils to match...and going that route...I dunno....

 

[ErikH]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

I think in a HSS config, you can split the humbucker and be in position 4 with hum cancelling at the same time. It's just a matter of which coil is set to be active when it's split. Artie knows something about this I'm sure. He's where I got this from in another thread that he told someone else.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Custom 5 and 2 Surfers.

 

[Rev Donzo]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

noise free singles are something one needs to learn to work with,
never should anyone assume that there actually buying into a better than single coil product.

BTW when I heard Bill Lawrence was behind the SCN's I new they would sound like all his other's pickup's do -- and they did! LOL!
(A Strat turned into a Flamenco guitar!) Which sounds really bitchen when Bill Plays it cause thats his style-- but in the majoritys hands they cause people problems..

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

noise free singles are something one needs to learn to work with,
never should anyone assume that there actually buying into a better than single coil product.

BTW when I heard Bill Lawrence was behind the SCN's I new they would sound like all his other's pickup's do -- and they did! LOL!
(A Strat turned into a Flamenco guitar!) Which sounds really bitchen when Bill Plays it cause thats his style-- but in the majoritys hands they cause people problems..

That's odd, I've used several of Bills pickups including his single coils and I've never thought that. They do have their own character but I wouldn't necessarily call them troublesome. Bills designs are quite different than most other companies including most makers of noiseless pickups. I've had just about everything but Lollars and Kinmans and I keep going back to Lawrences everytime.

But to pretty much say just because a guitar player doesn't play flamenco, they will have problems w/ someones pickups is ignorant. Like I said, I've used authentic BLs for years, playing metal, rock and blues, and I've NEVER had a problem dialing in "bitchen" tones.

 

[Rev Donzo]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Tell Me,


Is Becky Really (mom) ?

 

[Kelsey]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Strangegrey,

Measuring while holding down the respective E strings at the last fret, I adjusted the bridge and neck pickups up to within 5/64" on the treble side and only slightly lower (still a hair less than 3/32") on the bass side. I hate the middle pickup getting in the way of my picking hand, so I always lower that more than spec (about 3/16" or so on each side, but slightly closer on the treble side). The SCN's are less angled (more parallel to the pickguard) than any other Strat pickups I've used when dialed in for good balance across the strings.

I think that many of the S-1 switch settings (i.e., S1 engaged) can turn muddy in a heartbeat. Having so many tones makes it extremely difficult to dial in an amp setting that works well for all of them -- I usually prefer a simpler arrangement. However, I find useful tones with the S1 switch up or down, and the S1 down with the switch set to the traditional B/M notch position sounds particularly clear and natural. I agree that none of the settings with the SSS pickup arrangement are truly HB sounding (how could they be, given the layout differences vs. HBs?), but I do like some of the series tones a lot.

All of that said, I'm not the biggest fan of Strats in my hands, despite loving their sound in the hands of many other players, so the fact that I love the SCN's and S1 setup may not reflect the norm.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: gonna rip out these SCNs and this darned s1!!!

Tell Me,


Is Becky Really (mom) ?

$hit I wish. Then I wouldn't have wait 2-4 months to get my pickups when I ordered them and I wouldn't have to pay for them either. I'd just go tell my mommy to make me some pickups after dinner.