Humbucker for HSS strat

S

Sam SG

Active member
So finally dragged my new/old strat to rehearsal.
Its got 250k Fender CTS pots a .022 cap and top tone wired to neck/ middle and bottom tone to bridge. Has an older DiMarzio super dist in bridge.
Anyway in the co text of the band it sounds woofy no sparkle no cut.
As far as bridge pickups likes dislikes.
I love the WLHs in my SG and mahogany Charvel. I like the 490t in my other SG...in a softer mellower way. I like the stock Fender HB that comes in the pkayer II modified strat my freind has.
I absolutely hated the JB in another strat and hated the Custom Custom I replaced it with befor just ditching that strat.
What might be a good bridge HB?
So is the WLH a good fit in a strat? If the WLH sound the same in F spaced?
Or should I just toss the strat in the corner with the other 4 and call it WTF was I thinking playing strats for 20yrs....( more hacking up strats trying to make um not sound like strats lol)
 
Last edited:
Decide what EQ you want.
Decide if volume balancing with the single coils is important to you. With 250k pots, I'd go with a slightly brighter pickup than you'd usually get. I'd also use a Trembucker if it has a tremolo.
 
I dont care if the volume balances.
As far as EQ i have no idea. For me either a guitar wrangs on chords and attacks and bites on leads or it dont. Historically Im more a get rid of it and get something else kinda guy than a guitar tweaker. Why I hemmed and hawwed for 6 mo befor getting pickups for my one SG...first humbuckers I bought in 20+ years( allthough I do love that set)
Back in the day I allways hacked up strats and tossed in humbuckers.( once put a hole in a 54 RI strat trem cavity chisling it out for a HB LOL) Thats why once I bought SGs like 15yrs ago and later LP Jrs I just shelved the strats. Weird I can get on with a tele but strats are a fight. But ironically I tend to like the cheap ones with bar magnet pickups.
I know with the Super D and JB and Custom custom in strats. They all were like bassy and lacking bite and clarity. Like the EQ was shifted back toward the bass end.
 
I suggest to disconnect the wire to the lower tone pot completely so there is no tone control on the bridge humbucker. With 250k volume control and no tone pot, the SD will have more bite.

Edit: Now I see Jeremy posted the same thing.
 
Thats a good point guys. When I had this axe 20yrs ago. I didnt have a tone on the SD. I decided to add it in when I replaced the harness.
Sonewere along the line in the last 20yrs someone had replaced the harness with a cheap dime size pot Amazon harness.
When i built a new harness I went with all Fender cts pots crl switch and pushback wire.
 
I can see the tone control being connected if you pick a brighter pickup, like the Full Shred or even the Pearly Gates. Otherwise, I'd just disconnect it and use something like the 59/Custom Hybrid, which works great in HSS guitars.
 
Im gonna disconnect the tone tomorrow and see what happens.
Maybe from there I may look into the hybrid.
How are those with 250k pots?
Otherwise im getting into 500k vol and 220k resistors off the singles to ground and tbats gettin into a project.
 
Sounds like you don't like high inductance pickups, since it's what a Super Dist, JB and Custom Custom have in common.

Maybe I'd try the Super Dist in parallel with itself (rather than split). That's how Paul Gilbert had the DiMarzio wired in his Wilshire, if memory serves me (IOW: it's not a super weird option that only an old frog would consider).

I'd not expect any pickup to sound in a Strat like humbuckers in a SG. But you know that.

I'd keep in mind that Fender did release a Strat with a PG, itself fitted with an A5. ;-)
 
Yea actually the strat I got rid of with the JB I had a series/parallel switch on it. Parallel was decent( still a mid honky pickup) but decent. Series was mud city.
Problem in this case is my SD is an older 2 conductor one.
Yea not expecting a strat to sound like my SG and WLH...LOL....just a reference point of what I like.
Its really been a decade since I had a decent strat and Im kinda on the fence of weather I even like a strat anymore...I mean they look cool but I dunno.
I remember liking a SD in a strat....but that was slso years ago and Ive had 65 tone revelations since and kinda play a little different now too....so not sure were I stand on this.
But yea lower output pickups do make me make better guitar faces in recent years.🤪
 
Last edited:
You might like a medium output pickup such as Suhr SSV-PLUS ( 10k = DCR). It has bright upper mids, and less hot than JB and S.D. etc.

WLH humbucker will be very cutting in a Strat. More so than in a Gibson SG..
 
I've used a Hybrid with 250k volume before and I liked it. I might do it again with an HSS pickguard I am putting together.
 
Why not consider putting a single-coil size pickup in the bridge? There's some single-size humbucker if you don't want a regular single-coil.
Or put a STK-S6 for a hot single-coil, STK-S7 for an overwound single-coil, all noiseless for better gain handling.

I'm with you, my Strat is never been played. But my ESP/LTD Strat copy with a STK-S7 in the bridge is my daily player even if I prefer a 2-humbuckers guitar. With my Laney IRT Studio I can go from clean to crunch and bright to warm using only the volume and the tone knobs.

I'm looking to swap the SSS config in my Strat and put an HS pickguard. I will probably go PATB3 bridge and Pro Track neck.
 
I disconnected the bridge tone pot(well put the tones to stock T1 neck/T2 middle) and it is more bitey in the music room at dont piss off the wife levels. But in the band mix will be early next week befor I can see.
But A/Bing against my mahogony Charvel its still a bit thick and slow and loggy feeling on leads in comparison
 
the sd is a thick pup for sure, and the 250k volume isnt doing it any favors. i have an old one and i like it in some guitars with 500k pots, but it does its trick and not much else
 
Nah never tried a PG.
Been doing P90s and Gibson 490T in my Gibsons along while and recently WLH 59n in another SG.
Other than that its been a decade since I had a strat I bonded with. Ive had HSS with JB then CC hated it sold it. Had a MIM Standard was mediocre swapped pups to Fender Fat 50s set which made it a more 50s sounding mediocre strat. Had a partscaster with a JB switched to parallel...got the job done but meh.
 
jeremy said:
the sd is a thick pup for sure, and the 250k volume isnt doing it any favors. i have an old one and i like it in some guitars with 500k pots, but it does its trick and not much else
Click to expand...
Yea I have a SD/ dp103 set factory in my old OHagan shark. Maple Walnut neck thru and it rocks there....in a full throttle early 80s metal sorta way.
I Used to use SD allot back in the 90d 2000s but I dunno...maybe Ive evolved?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
HSS Strat Recommendations
Replies
4
Views
435
Sam SG
S
S
HSS strat humbucker
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
Artie
Artie
S
HSS strat #2 position
Replies
5
Views
115
Mincer
Mincer
patchworkman
Pickups for [?]SS Strat
Replies
3
Views
350
playas
playas
dadodetres
Which humbucker for neck Strat to Fuzz /hi gain?
Replies
14
Views
1K
Mincer
Mincer
Back
Top