Guidance needed

[mars1704]

Hi guys,  

I have an american elite strat HSS, and I despise the pickups fitted in them, they do not sound full or alive enough. To be honest it doesn't even sounds like a strat. It has a very shrill sound that comes from the high E string. I want warmer tones from my guitar and some vintage strat tones out of it, while eliminating the shrill from the high E string.  

Please help me figure out a way to get my problem solved by pickup change or any other way possible.  

I like Jimmy Page tones and expect them out of my guitar. Also, I like playing AC/DC, Nirvana, John Frusciante songs and dig those kind of tones.  

I love my guitar and I don't want to sell it for another one

Thanks in advance guys, I am new to modding an electric guitar, your help will take me a long way!  

God bless you! 

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Guidance needed

You're asking for Les Paul, SG, Strat, Tele, and assorted offset Fender sounds from one guitar. That said, a humbucker in the bridge and singles in the neck in middle AND (especially) an old Marshall amp should get pretty close to all that. A small tube combo amp will help for a lot of the JP tones, also.

For the Kurt tones, a Boss DS1 into a clean amp will get you close.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Guidance needed

Also try Monel or pure nickel wound strings like Pyramid brand.

 

[gregory]

Re: Guidance needed

Are you sure your high E is ringing properly? It could be a setup problem.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Guidance needed

Make sure the setup is done properly (neck relief, string height, pickup height) and try some new strings first. (Bigger that 9 gauge, if that is what you are using) I like at least 9-1/2 or 10 gauge strings on a strat or they sound really plinky to me.

 

[mars1704]

Re: Guidance needed

My guitar had been setup just recently, so there is no setup problem in my guitar.

Which pickups should I buy to replace the stock ones with?

 

[gregory]

Re: Guidance needed

I always make sure to listen without plugging in just to be sure. I've found one bad string is usually a mechanical problem. Is it only happening with the bridge pickup? I would have a hard time blaming the pickups if it was happening to all of them.

It could even be something wrong and the nut or saddle, which could have been either overlooked or ignored.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Guidance needed

My guitar had been setup just recently, so there is no setup problem in my guitar.

If you are saying this without actually checking the guitar then you don't have any idea.

There are just as many guitars that are not actually set up after a setup as are.

 

[mars1704]

Re: Guidance needed

If you are saying this without actually checking the guitar then you don't have any idea.

There are just as many guitars that are not actually set up after a setup as are.

Yes, I have checked the setup and I do also have an idea. You are just taking the high e string problem into consideration while ignoring the other. As you can see in my earlier post I have mentioned in the first line itself that the pickups don't sound alive and it doesn't have the sound of a strat, it might be good but it is not a strat sound that comes out of it.

Thanks for your concerned advice though.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Guidance needed

There's the issue of noiseless vs true single coil that may be making you despise and there is also the issue of output. I think a pup set up the would cover all your bases for you would be a JB for your raunchy tones and 2 Custom Flat Strats (1 being a rwrp). The increased output will give you warmth and the true single coil aspect will make it sound more authentic. However they will no longer be hum cancelling in neck and middle position. I don't know how important noise reduction is for you but that would be my first choice.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Guidance needed

Of course I take only 1 problem at a time. The pickups are important but unless the guitar is right then its pointless swapping out (or considering it) until the greater issues are solved.
The 'shrill high E' points to something non-pickup related. Otherwise the B and G would also present this shrillness as they will produce similar types of high frequencies - all plain strings. Pickups do not really add in something only on one string unless there are polepiece stagger issues......something that an HSS in this case cannot suffer from.

Hence the doublecheck on the setup and making sure you'd actually checked the string acoustically, checked it to see if there are any other rattles brought on by playing, and checked all the pickup positions to see where the noise presents. Just saying 'its been setup so therefore it should be ok' without critical thinking and checking means you don't know.

So can you elaborate on the shrill noise in as much detail as you can - this is the first step.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Guidance needed

i havent played one of these so cant comment directly on the pups in it, only give you suggestions to point you in the right direction. vintage strats are bright sounding guitars, not very warm at all depending on the amp.

the high e is shrill but none of the other strings are? on all pup selections?

do you use the s1 switching?

for a vintage sounding strat setup, id recommend antiquity surfers for the neck and middle. you could get ssl1 or ssl2 pups as a less expensive alternative and they are still very nice pups (john frusciante used these on many of his recordings). jimmy page tones are all over the place. do you want to stick with a humbucker in the bridge? the 59b would be good in a strat bridge and with the right amp, you can get those tones you want.

 

[mars1704]

Re: Guidance needed

i havent played one of these so cant comment directly on the pups in it, only give you suggestions to point you in the right direction. vintage strats are bright sounding guitars, not very warm at all depending on the amp.

the high e is shrill but none of the other strings are? on all pup selections?

do you use the s1 switching?

for a vintage sounding strat setup, id recommend antiquity surfers for the neck and middle. you could get ssl1 or ssl2 pups as a less expensive alternative and they are still very nice pups (john frusciante used these on many of his recordings). jimmy page tones are all over the place. do you want to stick with a humbucker in the bridge? the 59b would be good in a strat bridge and with the right amp, you can get those tones you want.

I do use the s1 switching. There are some pickups that I found after researching, can you please suggest me if using them will help me achieve my goal or not.

Neck : vintage staggered strat SSL1 or cool rail strat neck
Middle : Antiquity Texas Hot strat middle RWRP or lil'59 bridge
Bridge : whole lotta humbucker bridge SH18B

And is it true that I can get a tele tone out of a strat? If yes how to?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Guidance needed

you cannot get real tele tones out of a strat. if you put a tele bridge and bridge pup on a strat, then youd get really close. without that, no.

you seem to be all over the place with your selection. a ssl1 is a great neck pup and so is a cool rails, but they sound nothing a like. the texas hot is a great sounding pup if you like a warmer smoky strat sound but is a world away from the lil 59 bridge. the wlh bridge is a cool pup but if you are using 250k pots (which is what you want if you are using the ssl1 or any other vintage type single coils) its probably going to be very dark.

every ones ears are different so my super dark might be your warm and lovely. my doesnt sound anything like a tele might be your that sounds like a tele to me. we can only help you so much, clips help.

 

[mars1704]

Re: Guidance needed

you cannot get real tele tones out of a strat. if you put a tele bridge and bridge pup on a strat, then youd get really close. without that, no.

you seem to be all over the place with your selection. a ssl1 is a great neck pup and so is a cool rails, but they sound nothing a like. the texas hot is a great sounding pup if you like a warmer smoky strat sound but is a world away from the lil 59 bridge. the wlh bridge is a cool pup but if you are using 250k pots (which is what you want if you are using the ssl1 or any other vintage type single coils) its probably going to be very dark.

every ones ears are different so my super dark might be your warm and lovely. my doesnt sound anything like a tele might be your that sounds like a tele to me. we can only help you so much, clips help.

So what should I do? Where should I start from to get to my goal?

I apologise for being naive in this case, but please help me figure out this problem.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Guidance needed

do you know how to solder? if so, id suggest start with just swapping the neck pup to an ssl1 or ssl2 (same pup with staggered or flat pole pieces) and see how you like that. they can be found cheaply used and if you can solder, its a quick thing to put it in. if that sounds like what you want then we can go from there. if that doesnt get you what you want, you can move it to the middle and we can figure out a better neck pup. if you dont solder then it probably isnt cost effective to do one pup at a time.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Guidance needed

For true Strat tones, I'd go with an SSL-1 in the neck, like Jeremy said. In the middle, I'd do the same. Then I'd order a Pearly Gates humbucker for the bridge and be done with it. That's a versatile, expressive, be-all, do-all combo for the styles you mentioned. If you find the SSl-1's too bright, move up to the SSL-5 for a little more output and warmth without going over the top. If you find yourself wanting a little more "oomph" in the bridge, find a used "Pearly Gates Plus" from an older Fender Strat or order one from the Custom Shop. The Slash signature pickup is great, as well, if you want more warmth in your bridge tone or a '78 Model if you want a hotter "PAF" type tone with plenty of bite.

Other options...

1) Just buy this and swap the pickup assembly over to your pickguard: LINK

2) Move to all single coils and use something like the DiMarzio Injector set or the Duncan YJM Fury set to keep things warm, stratty and noiseless with bigger output.

3) Order a Tele pickup in a humbucker housing (MJ at the Custom Shop can do that!)

4) Go with a Cool Rails neck, Vintage Rails middle and your choice of bridge pickup

 

[tabeck5]

Re: Guidance needed

Going to repeat much of what has already been stated but:
1. Setup, get it right or no pickups are going to sound good. Is the truss rod adjusted properly? Strings still good? Intonation? String Height? Nut, etc. Most of this you can do yourself.
2. Hit the pots, switches and jack with some de-oxit. I always keep a can of this in my tool box.
3. Pickup height. This really can change the tone of any pickup dramatically. I had many guitars that I thought needed a pickup swap but sometimes simply changing the height is all it takes. I don't know what pickups you have but they don't usually put garbage into the American Elite HSS strats so you might be wasting your money. Experiment, lower them as low as you can and work your way up, you might be surprised,

Good

 

[mars1704]

Re: Guidance needed

If I change the pickups will I lose the S1 switching feature?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Guidance needed

the s1 switch can do a lot of different things so depending on what you end up with for pups you could modify the s1 wiring so youd still get 10 available sounds