Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

[mfisher]

After some homework and lots of forums research, I am about to put a little '59 into the bridge position of my Am Standard Strat. The other pickups and all wiring is currently standard as made in 2003.

I play Blues with some classic rock through a Carvin Nomad or a Vox AD15VT. Pedals are an Analogman modded TS-9 and a Vox 847 wah.

I am decent with solder but never have modded any of my guitars. Will the '59 just drop into place where the stock single coil is and the wiring match up wire for wire? No out of phase issue 'cause the '59 is an HB in a single coil type package right?

Thanks for any advice. I am new but don't want to just "get a tech to do the work".

Mark
San Antonio

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

Mark,

Welcome to the Forum.

The single coil size humbuckers are made to fit into the slot like the original. As for wiring, I've never done one of these, but the diagram that comes with the pup should be pretty straight up.

Good luck,


Jeff

 

[mfisher]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

Thanks. Just looking to avoid any rookie mistakes if I can.

Mark

 

[tone4days]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

you can get into phase trouble, but it is easy to fix if it happens ... note, the colors do not represent the same things on fender pickups as they do on SD pickups .. each mfr uses their own color scheme ..

if i am thinking clearly on this, the lil 59 is 4 wire, right? ... if you are not doing any coil splitting, you need to solder the red and white wires of the 59 together and then tape (insulate) the end so it doesnt short anything out in the cavity ... then you can run black to the switch and green and bare to ground ... if this results in the 59 being out of phase with the stock single coil pickups, you just reverse the black and green from the 59

let us know how it goes and if you need any other help
cheers
t4d

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

I think it should be pretty easy. The pups come with schematics and as long as you can solder, you'll be ok.

Jeff

 

[mfisher]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

Cool.

The Little '59 is a four wire pup according to the description.

I'll check out the instructions. I figure that SD has a normal scenario for strat replacement wiring. There must have been thousands of guys that paved this road long before I came along.

Appreciate the input above.

Mark

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

I had the Lil 59' in an American Standard Strat with the stock Texas Specials. Red and white soldered together and taped off. BLACK and bare to ground....green to hot. This will solve the phase issues with the Fender pups.

 

[mfisher]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

I wired it up as suggested by Jeff H and it works great. Green to hot.

Love this pickup!

The bridge by itself is a great lead tone now and the position 3 blend is just that right chunk of mildly fuller low/mids and a smoother high end. The distortion is much creamier.

The output seems right on for a small humbucker and I got the blend to suit my ears pretty quickly by setting the '59 clearance as recommended (about 3/64") and the singles a little further away.

Only glitch is that my position 4 in now even quackier and lower output than it was stock but it has never been a slot I wanted or needed much so I am not chasing a fix for that. 1,2,3, and 5 are right on!

Thanks for the install advice guys. It was easy once I got over the fear of open heart surgery on my new Strat.

Mark

 

[Artie]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

Hey Mark; Its great that you got it working the way you like, but I did want to just toss this out there. The #4 position is one of my, (and others), favorite Strat tones. Its also, the only position where phase issues with the 59 will become apparent.

If you feel like it sometime, you may want to reverse those wires and just see what the difference is. Not a biggy, but it would be a shame to miss out on one of the Strats best tones.

Artie

 

[mfisher]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

Geez....you can tell that I have been playing in a vacuum...mostly home studio and I am a heavy keyboard guy too. I didn't know that #4 is so well liked. The green / black swap will take me 10 minutes and I'll have to give it a try.

Thanks for throwing that in there Artie.

Mark

 

[Istanbul]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

you can get into phase trouble, but it is easy to fix if it happens ... note, the colors do not represent the same things on fender pickups as they do on SD pickups .. each mfr uses their own color scheme ..

if i am thinking clearly on this, the lil 59 is 4 wire, right? ... if you are not doing any coil splitting, you need to solder the red and white wires of the 59 together and then tape (insulate) the end so it doesnt short anything out in the cavity ... then you can run black to the switch and green and bare to ground ... if this results in the 59 being out of phase with the stock single coil pickups, you just reverse the black and green from the 59

let us know how it goes and if you need any other help
cheers
t4d

I just dont wanna open a new thread; thats why i wanna ask now.. Can Jb.Jr be splitted also?... I have one Jb Jr with 4 wires

 

[mfisher]

Re: Need a little install advice...little 59 into Strat bridge

Hey Artie,

I swapped green and black and it's great Didn't know what I was missing. Thanks for the advice. The "4" slot is particularly good. Cost me 30 minutes of my time and a set of strings. Well worth it.

What worked for me in my American Standard Strat stock pickups with the little '59 in the bridge was black to hot and green and bare to ground.

Mark