Humbucker for HSS Strat? Looking for tight, smooth compressed(?)

beggar_guitar

beggar_guitar

New member
I'm toying with the idea of swapping the the PG in my MIM strat.

They guitar plays great. Sounds great. I have SSL1's in the neck and mid and definitely love the way they sound.

Neck and Mid pups combined is easily my favorite setting on any strat and this one is no exception.

I am considering swapping out the PG though. It's is a great classic sounding pickup. To me it is tight but gritty. Definitely has some more classic tones in it.

I Think I want something... smoother and creamier? I want four conductor. I like to split the coils and run Neck and Bridge split for some tele-ish tones. So it needs to split well.

Tonally... Think Eric Johnson Cliffs of Dover... I know that it was recorded on an ES335 and there are factors of amps and pedals...

Here are some particulars for my set-up.

MIM Strat - HSS
Vox AC15
Fulldrive 2 and MI Audio Crunchbox for Dirt.
MXR Dynacomp
10 Band Eq

Include all that in case someone feels I can pull those tones from my current setup and would care to help with some direction.
 
Re: Humbucker for HSS Strat? Looking for tight, smooth compressed(?)

If the Strat is stock with 250k pots, then I'd def say JB.

It's exactly how I'd describe mine. :friday:
 
You can smooth it out just by swapping the tone caps. Even with the tone pots on 10 you'll be able to tell the difference. Change it to .1uf. Yes, .1 not .01. Just like the EJ Strat.
 
Re: Humbucker for HSS Strat? Looking for tight, smooth compressed(?)

wolf5150 said:
If the Strat is stock with 250k pots, then I'd def say JB.

It's exactly how I'd describe mine. :friday:
Click to expand...

I do have a 250k pot in it. I had considered a JB as well.

ErikH said:
You can smooth it out just by swapping the tone caps. Even with the tone pots on 10 you'll be able to tell the difference. Change it to .1uf. Yes, .1 not .01. Just like the EJ Strat.
Click to expand...

Ok... Good to know. As mentioned above I have a 250K pot would your reconmmend sticking with that or moving to a 500k?

The humbucker is the only pup that I care to use the tone control with.
So I could rewire with the Neck/Mid without a tone control since I tend to run them wide open anyway.
That would free me up to have a Humbucker specific tone control.
 
Do this. Wire it like the EJ Strat. All 250k pots, .1uf tone cap shared between the tone pots. The middle tone for the beck and the bottom tone for the bridge. No tone on the middle.

Go to Fender's site and look up the wiring for the EJ Strat. It's simple.

If you find it too warm, change the bridge tone pot to 500k.
 
Re: Humbucker for HSS Strat? Looking for tight, smooth compressed(?)

custom-custom in a strat! sounds great split too:)
 
Re: Humbucker for HSS Strat? Looking for tight, smooth compressed(?)

How different is a Custom Custom and a C5?

I have a C5 in my Dean. Considered swaping the PG to the dean and trying the C5.
 
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