Is there a reason the 2 and 4 positions on my strat sound dark?

[MJL721]

Dimarzio Area 61 neck, Area 58 middle, Pearly Gates bridge (wide open, no tone control wired)

250k volume, 250k tone for the neck and middle

It's sort of always been the case that after I installed these pickups years ago, that I lose a considerable amount of high end in those positions. I also feel like I am not getting quite enough "quack" out of them either, but at the very least I'd be happy if the high end matched the pickups when they are selected individually. I feel like I have played other strat style guitars that sound nice and bright in those positions.

Is this a wiring issue? Is it the pickup design? Or is it completely normal and I should just accept it?

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Is there a reason the 2 and 4 positions on my strat sound dark?

2 and 4 are darker naturally. Humbuckers and 250k pots accentuate that.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Is there a reason the 2 and 4 positions on my strat sound dark?

^ other strats have 250k pots

The stack design tends to be shy on a little sparkle, and the notch positions always lose a bit of push and bite compared with only 1 pickup engaged. If you have true singles to compare to then you will be doubly behind.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Is there a reason the 2 and 4 positions on my strat sound dark?

That's true, but with humbuckers you can compensate if you wish.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Is there a reason the 2 and 4 positions on my strat sound dark?

Yes, he has the tone bypassed for that position, and indeed when the 2 position is selected the tone pot load will be equal to a regular modern strat where the tone is either on the middle only (AVRI style) or bridge only.

But its the comparison that is the key to the whole thread.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Is there a reason the 2 and 4 positions on my strat sound dark?

I agree that the stax are the main difference.

 

[freefrog]

Re: Is there a reason the 2 and 4 positions on my strat sound dark?

+1 about the stacks: noise cancelling coils add Eddy currents and stray capacitance (and cause a beefier inductance than with true single coils).

So, disabling the dummy coil of each stack for positions 2 & 4 would help. It would defeat their noise cancelling capability but it's not a problem if you want "quack", which suggests that you use positions 2 & 4 in clean mode.