Need help with Strat pickups

D

DonP

New member
Just curious as to which pickups would be recommended for a harder rock type of sound. I mostly use a Marshall DSL100 1/2 stack. Don't care if it's SD or Fender or other. Strat tones that I like (at least I think they are):

Alex Lifeson (What did he use for Limelight or Spirit of the Radio?)
Blackmore
Hendrix
Heart
Neil Giraldo (Pat Benatar)

I'm not sure if one set would cover all these tones or if a different set might be needed for each tone. Let me know your thoughts and I'll try to decide which tone I want the most.

Thanks.
 
Re: Need help with Strat pickups

I thought Heart was more Tele and Gibson and classic Lifeson was more Gibson. That being said, Fender CS '69s are great for the late 60's/70's Strat tones. They are low output but with decent bass and crisp treble. You may want a stronger bridge, a Texas Special or SSL-5 would work well. That being said, I think Hendrix was recording the earlier albums with pre-CBS Strats, both the SSL-1s and Antiquity II will do a great 60's Strat tone.

My Strats are loaded with a full set of '69s and APS-1/SSL-1/SSL-1, I feel like they are a great compliment of vintage Strat tones.
 
Re: Need help with Strat pickups

Your Strat is SSS, I assume?

SSL-3 in the bridge (get it with tap) will cover a lot of that territory you want. You could also consider a single-sized bucker for the bridge (you could split or run parallel to add lots of versatility).
 
Re: Need help with Strat pickups

I'm open to other configs besides SSS, but I'm looking to set up an SSS strat at the moment. I'll look at the SSL-3 with a tap.
 
Re: Need help with Strat pickups

The Fender texas specials are wery versatile, wery musical with a fat vintage tone.I might put a ssl-5 in the bridge with these one day if I want alitle hotter. But theres nothing they dont handle to be honest :D
 
Re: Need help with Strat pickups

Lifeson did you a strat on limelight with a humbucker not sure wich one now he uses a gibson 500 . A little 59 might do the trick I am waiting for a back ordered stk-s9 when I get that I will make a repost .
 
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Re: Need help with Strat pickups

When playing Deep Purple covers I prefer my Strat with SD STK-4 pickups...they look like regular Strat pickups but are hum canceling. They are great for that type of sound. The amp I'm using it with is often a DSL 2000 100 watt version and I play it through a 4x12 with G12H30's...I think we have the same or similar amp.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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