How to make a fatter Strat tone?

O

OlinMusic

New member
(I posted this on another forum as well, in case it sounds familiar, but you guys are the pup junkies...lol)

for my new 54 Strat RI -

NECK/Middle - I want a "Fatter" strat. Not fat to the point of being humbuckers, but warm, still stratty, and nice hollow quack in 2 & 4.

Bridge - Here is a major discussion point. I have a Franken-Strat with a Gibson 57 Classic (Series/Parallel switch) in it AND a 54 Strat RI with a Seymour Duncan Lil 59 in it. The Lil 59 works nice but is a little nasally, yet has some strat twang and bite. BOTH guitars SUFFER in position 4, and I blame the HB's.

The STOCK single coil is so classic and bitey, BUT with the wrong rig or provided backline - I can be STUCK with a shrill, thin sound all nite. I think its time to keep a classic Strat bridge.

How does Gilmour, Gallagher, etc etc get such a fat bridge tone?

SOOOOOO...

1) I could wire the tone to the bridge, but then do I have the tone still goto the middle?

2) do I get a Fralin baseplate?

3) Maybe a Dimarzio VV Solo in the bridge or somethign P90 like?

4) How about a Duncan Twangbanger, Rio Stelly (sp?), or anything that gives a TELE like thickness? I LOVE 52 RI Teles and NOcasters

5) Go with a Single Coil sized HB because there is no choice?
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

I'd go with a full Antiquity Texas Hot set with the Custom bridge. Also, wire your tone control to he bridge ad leave the middle pickup without it.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

I've been there, exactly the same problem, but one day I realised two things:
1 - Rory Gallagher is god.
2 - Tele bridge pickups are great and strat bridge pickups are not for me therefore one must get a tele bridge pickup!

In the neck and middle I have Alnico II and in the bridge a Broadcaster tele pickup, the neck is warmer than the traditional strat neck, sounds sweet and never thin or harsh, the middle pickup is very nice but I very seldomly use it alone, the bridge pickup has the tele sound, very thick, with a big kick in the mids, it took me some time to get the height in the sweet spot, I really like it clean but when I crank the amp I LOVE it, handles overdrive and a fair bit of distortion like nothing else I've heard on a strat bridge position before.

In my 5E3 I love the 2nd and 4th positions, they're glassy and very clean, they cut so well in the mix, but they never get harsh and thin, every single time I use them I smile, altough in other amps I don't find them as glassy instead I find them warmer and less articulate.

As for mods, I added an extra toggle so I could have the neck+bridge and the neck+middle+bridge combos and my bridge pickup is mounted in a piece of a tele bridge.

If you find tele bridge pickups too bright go for a Jerry Donhahue pickup, they're more balanced, not as much treble and a little less mids if i remember correctly.

About the tone control for the bridge pickup you can do it, I have the first tone knob wired to the neck pickup and the second to the bridge just look at the Eric Johnson strat wiring in the Fender site if you want to do the same.

Hope I helped and I'm sorry if my writing is a bit confusing, anything else please feel free to ask.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

I really prefer the rear tone control operating the bridge pickup, and set up that way in my MIM the Lil 59 desn't seem nasaly at all.

Leave the middle completely without tone pot. My APS-2 in the mid is very bright and crisp sounding without the pot. I really like it.

For some reason, though, the N/M notch is a little darker sounding than I like.

If you go with the Twangbanger you'll get a lot of twang with the fatness and the notch is sweet. it was too much twang for me, but if you're a tele fan ........
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Well, if you get a fatter neck pickup the neck/middle combo will be fatter and as long as you get a Strat pickup (not a bucker) it should still sound stratty. Maybe look at an Alnico II neck pickup...those are thicker than alnico 5 pickups but still sound very stratty

On the bridge deal its tough to get a good number 4 tone with a bucker...maybe if you get a buckler you can split, you coudl wire it up so that position 4 is the middle single and the bridge split and position 5 is just the bucker however I think an S/S/S Strat will give you the best classic Strat tones...

FWIW, Gallagher used stock Strat pickups in his Strat...David actually has used several things over the years but he's a big fan of Duncan SSL-1's!

I'll tell you this, I recently switched my Strat over from Duncan Custom Shop Alnico II singles with a tapped bridge pickup to a plain old set of SSL-1's in the neck and middle and an SSL-5 in the bridge...killer set, slammin classic Strat tones in positions 1 thru 4 and a slightly less glassy/more powerful tone on the bridge but it is still a single coil...I love that set up!

On the bridge tone control I have mine set up like that...I leave the middle with no tone control as I prefer that to the set up where the tone control works on both the middle and bridge...

A baseplate will add attack and defination but to my ears it doesn't make them and fatter really...just more defined and more focused...

If you want something like a P-90 try the Fralin Steel Pole 43...VERY P-90 like in a strat package however IMO the position 4 is a little lacking...I reccomend the SSL-5 for the bridge...nice and Stratty but with more power and punch to the tone and a little thicker and it also balences well with stock/vintage style neck and middle singles...

Those Tele like bridge pickups add beef to the tone and some guys get great results with them but I like the SSL-5 better than a Twangbanger personally

Single coil sized bucker will do what you are asking but you loose single coil tone...I think there are a lot of other ways to add thickness to the bridge and still retain single coil tone
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Some sort of Alnico 2 single coil...wound a little bit hotter than vintage.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Blue_Fingers_Jay said:
I've been there, exactly the same problem, but one day I realised two things:
1 - Rory Gallagher is god.
2 - Tele bridge pickups are great and strat bridge pickups are not for me therefore one must get a tele bridge pickup!

In the neck and middle I have Alnico II and in the bridge a Broadcaster tele pickup, the neck is warmer than the traditional strat neck, sounds sweet and never thin or harsh, the middle pickup is very nice but I very seldomly use it alone, the bridge pickup has the tele sound, very thick, with a big kick in the mids, it took me some time to get the height in the sweet spot, I really like it clean but when I crank the amp I LOVE it, handles overdrive and a fair bit of distortion like nothing else I've heard on a strat bridge position before.

In my 5E3 I love the 2nd and 4th positions, they're glassy and very clean, they cut so well in the mix, but they never get harsh and thin, every single time I use them I smile, altough in other amps I don't find them as glassy instead I find them warmer and less articulate.

As for mods, I added an extra toggle so I could have the neck+bridge and the neck+middle+bridge combos and my bridge pickup is mounted in a piece of a tele bridge.

If you find tele bridge pickups too bright go for a Jerry Donhahue pickup, they're more balanced, not as much treble and a little less mids if i remember correctly.

About the tone control for the bridge pickup you can do it, I have the first tone knob wired to the neck pickup and the second to the bridge just look at the Eric Johnson strat wiring in the Fender site if you want to do the same.

Hope I helped and I'm sorry if my writing is a bit confusing, anything else please feel free to ask.
Click to expand...

Can we have a picture of that install?

I have the following single coil size hum combo..... Not sure that I care for the ceramic mag traits. But it has ballz

Neck = Dimarzio Pro Track
Middle = Fast Track
Bridge = Tone Zone
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

What about adding a metal base plate to the bottom of a strat pickup? I have read something about this in the forums before but never tried it. It is said to force the field towards the strings.

The tele bridge plate, IMO does not make much of a difference. I say this because I have tried a solid brass and a solid steel bridge plate back to back and no appreciable difference.( the brass does not attract magnetically ) Bill Lawrence, from what I have read, prefers no metal around the pickups and he should know. I use brass or stainless.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

I think that strat sc bridge is the best position available for a tone control. Not that it needs it, but that I find that they have the widest pleasing range and are at their most useful there. Definitely wire one there. I have the rear tone control both bridge and middle.

I think that when I have a vintage set with all pickups equally weak the bridge won't naturally sound similarly thick as the neck pickup. But with tweaks it can sound godly through a good amp and there's nothing it can't do in my opinion. It's my #1 guitar sound.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Just use normal lowoutput strat singles....it is in how you setup your amp and such...
Plus I always wire a tonepot on the bridge pickup.
And a good strat does not hurt either.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Since a '54 RI is a specific high-end design, I wouln't want to change out any parts. My personal solution would be to run it into an EQ unit.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Might I say that the STK-S4 is a fine choice for a pup that will give you a fat Strat tone, however, it does SLIGHTLY lose the single coil tone. I at one time had a SSL-1 neck single coil with the STK-S4 RW/RP (they do make one) STK-S4 in the middle.

Sure the SSL-1 was that vintage single coil tone, but I actually preferred using the STK-S4 whenever I was looking for that "strat" sound because I preferred it's thickness, punch and unique almost modern-Gilmourish sounding tone.

Now I have that very same STK-S4 between two humbuckers and it actually sounds like a single coil compared to the warmth of my 59 neck and Alnico II Pro bridge.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

baritone said:
Since a '54 RI is a specific high-end design, I wouln't want to change out any parts. My personal solution would be to run it into an EQ unit.
Click to expand...

Whatever, he could keep the stock pickguard all original and just swap one in that has the pups he wants to PLAY the guitar with.

both problems solved :)
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Set it on a guitar stand between two HUGE stereo speakers. Then play roughly 150 hours of the best strat tones ever recorded from various artists. Let the guitar soak it in.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

my solution for the bridge position was an SSL-3. The B/M tone is a little different than stock, but I like it. The bridge tone is beefy.

If you insist on stock B/M notch tone, you can use a tapped hot bridge pickup, such as the SSL-3, SSL-5, or SSL-4.

personally, I like single coils in strats, and like retaining that stock look.

I also wire my mid tone to the bridge ... it's a simple jumper.
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

Sanford said:
Set it on a guitar stand between two HUGE stereo speakers. Then play roughly 150 hours of the best strat tones ever recorded from various artists. Let the guitar soak it in.
Click to expand...


Believe it or not...this works!:approve: +1000
 
Re: How to make a fatter Strat tone?

From reading this

the Tele, Twangbanger, and SSL-3 or SSL-6 are the fascinating choices.

Do you put an ACTUAL Tele pup in?

I get the impression the SSL-3 gives you BOTH s REAL strat tone and some beef and attitude??????????

on the wiring - yes, you wire in the bridge, so why do people prefer the MIDDLE pup wide open vs wiring it to the TONE#1 pot?
 
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