Lil 59 in Neck of Strat

[NDRU]

I recently put a Lil 59 in the neck of my Strat.

It sounds okay, but not too diferent from my original single coil Fender PU.

Sounds a bit dull. Not as much gain as I expected, and not the tone I expect from a humbucker.

I'm wondering how much I can alter the tone by adjusting the pole pieces, and if there's any guide to doing that? Maybe the neck was the wrong place for it?

Also if anyone wants to contribute any feedback on the pickup in general (or compared to other mini humbuckers) I'd appreciate it.

 

[NDRU]

Re: Lil 59 in Neck of Strat

I adjusted the height, and it helped a bit. I turned down the tone on the other PU's to about 8 to give this one more treble in relation.

Still, I wonder if there are guidelines about adjusting the pole pieces, or how it might sound in the middle position instead of the neck.

 

[Artie]

Re: Lil 59 in Neck of Strat

Hi NDRU; Welcome to the forum. A Lil 59 is a killer Strat pup, but I'm amazed that you think its not very different from your old single-coil. That makes me wonder if its wired correctly. Is it possible that you have it connected in single-coil-mode? You want to have black going to the switch, red and white soldered together and taped off, and green and bare going to ground. Check that first.

If all of that is ok, then the next thing is adjustment. There's really no hard rule. Just adjust the overall pup heighth and pole piece heighth's until it sounds good to you. Sometimes, it can take several weeks to get everything tweaked right where you want it.

But check that wiring first. Let us know how it comes out. The Lil 59 should be a fairly gutsy, punchy pickup.

 

[baritone]

Re: Lil 59 in Neck of Strat

The pole pieces of the Lil 59 in my Squier do not totally line up with the strings. To counteract this, I raised a couple of the pole pieces a little and adjsuted the overall height to match the other pickups. I am totally satisfied with the results. Since I got this pickup, I have become a big fan of it; I feel that it gives my Strat-style guitar acceptable Gibsonish tones.

 

[NDRU]

Re: Lil 59 in Neck of Strat

Thanks for responding

ArtieToo, I'm sure that's how I wired it. It doesn't sound wrong (thin & naselly), exactly, it just doesn't sound like most humbuckers I've heard.

It does sound better now that I've adjusted the height. I'll mess with the pole pieces next. I won't break it by going too far will I?

Baritone, what position do you have yours?

 

[NDRU]

Re: Lil 59 in Neck of Strat

I moved the pickup to the mid position to hear how that sounded. I definitely preferred it there, (though after adjusting the height it sounds decent in the neck, too).

But now I'm thinking Lil 59 in the Bridge & Mid, and putting the single back in the neck.

This doesn't seem like a normal configuration though (Fenders are routed for HSH, but not HHS) Is there any reason this is a bad idea?