New Duncans for Fat Strat???
- Thread starter papersoul
- Start date
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Funkfingers
Guest
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
CT, are you ok? Are you ok? Are you ok, CT?
CT, are you ok? Are you ok? Are you ok, CT?
CTN
The Drama Dude
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
Yeah dude, I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking! How are you? How's the family? I hope the weather where you are isn't too horrible. Just started getting nice and warm around here. I think I'll go for a long walk with some good tunes tonight and enjoy some warmth and fresh air. Cheers buddy!CT, are you ok? Are you ok? Are you ok, CT?
ok.
ok.Just picked up a used Pearly Gates. Should have it in tonight!
GoldenVulture
Braindeadologist
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
ratherdashing
Kablamminator
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
You and I must have different ears, because I would never even come close to describing the old flat-pole American Standard pickups that way. I found them to be very thin and bland. No character whatsoever. A Texas Special, or pretty much any Fender Custom Shop pickup, crushes them IMO.
You and I must have different ears, because I would never even come close to describing the old flat-pole American Standard pickups that way. I found them to be very thin and bland. No character whatsoever. A Texas Special, or pretty much any Fender Custom Shop pickup, crushes them IMO.
F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
+1
I still have two that I cannot offload. Everybody knows that they are disappointing.
I'm ok. Most of my family is ok.
@GV Nice Barts!!!
+1
I still have two that I cannot offload. Everybody knows that they are disappointing.
I'm ok. Most of my family is ok.
@GV Nice Barts!!!
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Powdered Toast Man
New member
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
I agree about the old AS pickups. Terribly sterile. The 2012 and up models now come with the Fat 50's which IMO, are some of the best Strat pickups around. They really sound amazing with the volume knob rolled off just a little to about 9 or so.
I agree about the old AS pickups. Terribly sterile. The 2012 and up models now come with the Fat 50's which IMO, are some of the best Strat pickups around. They really sound amazing with the volume knob rolled off just a little to about 9 or so.
ratherdashing
Kablamminator
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
^ reported.
^ reported.
F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
Bona.
Bona.
Powdered Toast Man
New member
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
Whoa. Uncalled for. Apparently if you talk about pickups in a papersoul thread you get called names and insulted by him.
Whoa. Uncalled for. Apparently if you talk about pickups in a papersoul thread you get called names and insulted by him.
F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
Sure - not much character. Maybe because they are wound so powerfully and wound so tight.
I (like you) also prefer texas specials and many other pickups with lower output that those - but that is a matter of personal preference and playing style.
Bland - maybe, because they lack dynamics (again due to the hot wind). I would not call them thin tho. Far from it. The thing about them that made me swap them out initially was too much output, and too hard an edge to the sound. They are very "modern" sounding for single coils with a lot of push for overdriving amps. Texas specials have more presence in the mids and a more vintage and more complex sound entirely but they do not have the same output. I think the way texas specials work is something like the pearly gates - they seem hotter than they are due to the nature of the eq. The am std pickups were released at a time when nearly all the guitarists in the world (it seemed) were mad on hot rodded marshalls and high gain sounds so fender built a workhorse pickup to give the majority of players at the time something in the ballpark of what was in vogue. Given the high output and relatively low noise of the am std pickups, i think they are an excellent match for a humbucker in the bridge.
Given the OP's original request i think they would fit the bill in blending with his current stock diamond back humbucker better than fat 50s.
If it was me of course, i would remove the humbucker and go with 3x fat 50s. I think HSS setups are extremely difficult to get right and in trying to do all things, they end up doing no one thing really well. Putting vintage wind singles next to a humbucker is inherently problematic in terms of gettting an amp sound that does justice to both the singles and the humbucker. But this is not about me and what my perfect strat would sound like. Its about helping the OP and he wants to go HSS.
...anyways he has ordered PGb so none of this matters.
Sure - not much character. Maybe because they are wound so powerfully and wound so tight.
I (like you) also prefer texas specials and many other pickups with lower output that those - but that is a matter of personal preference and playing style.
Bland - maybe, because they lack dynamics (again due to the hot wind). I would not call them thin tho. Far from it. The thing about them that made me swap them out initially was too much output, and too hard an edge to the sound. They are very "modern" sounding for single coils with a lot of push for overdriving amps. Texas specials have more presence in the mids and a more vintage and more complex sound entirely but they do not have the same output. I think the way texas specials work is something like the pearly gates - they seem hotter than they are due to the nature of the eq. The am std pickups were released at a time when nearly all the guitarists in the world (it seemed) were mad on hot rodded marshalls and high gain sounds so fender built a workhorse pickup to give the majority of players at the time something in the ballpark of what was in vogue. Given the high output and relatively low noise of the am std pickups, i think they are an excellent match for a humbucker in the bridge.
Given the OP's original request i think they would fit the bill in blending with his current stock diamond back humbucker better than fat 50s.
If it was me of course, i would remove the humbucker and go with 3x fat 50s. I think HSS setups are extremely difficult to get right and in trying to do all things, they end up doing no one thing really well. Putting vintage wind singles next to a humbucker is inherently problematic in terms of gettting an amp sound that does justice to both the singles and the humbucker. But this is not about me and what my perfect strat would sound like. Its about helping the OP and he wants to go HSS.
...anyways he has ordered PGb so none of this matters.
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F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
I just used my creaky old analogue resistance meter to take readings off the conductor cable solder joints of two Am Std single coils and a 57/62 set. The DC resistance of the Am Stds was a gnat's higher than the "vintage" styled 57/62 - including the bridge position pickup.
Either you have changed the magnets in your Am Std single coils or you actually have Tex-Mex singles. (Both models show the same part number in the plastic bobbin form.)
I just used my creaky old analogue resistance meter to take readings off the conductor cable solder joints of two Am Std single coils and a 57/62 set. The DC resistance of the Am Stds was a gnat's higher than the "vintage" styled 57/62 - including the bridge position pickup.
Either you have changed the magnets in your Am Std single coils or you actually have Tex-Mex singles. (Both models show the same part number in the plastic bobbin form.)
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
How old are the am std'd pickups you are measuring? They may well have changed spec over the years. The set i'm referring to were in a 1993 american standard. Flat pole pieces etc. At one stage i actually installed Texas special in this guitar and although it sounded groovier and more harmonically rich, it took a step down in output.
I just did a quick search and found these threads:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1111243
The set im referring to are the ones that were wired with the TBX tone control.
http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=82788
Looking at other pages tells me that the standard series strats that came out in 1987 stayed pretty much the same until 1996.
Perhaps this is why we hear different things: because we are talking about different pickups even tho both yours and mine came OEM in american standard strats?
edit: i found a couple of pics of the axe and a close up of the pickups:
this next pic is when it had the texas specials installed:
How old are the am std'd pickups you are measuring? They may well have changed spec over the years. The set i'm referring to were in a 1993 american standard. Flat pole pieces etc. At one stage i actually installed Texas special in this guitar and although it sounded groovier and more harmonically rich, it took a step down in output.
I just did a quick search and found these threads:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1111243
The set im referring to are the ones that were wired with the TBX tone control.
http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=82788
Looking at other pages tells me that the standard series strats that came out in 1987 stayed pretty much the same until 1996.
Perhaps this is why we hear different things: because we are talking about different pickups even tho both yours and mine came OEM in american standard strats?
edit: i found a couple of pics of the axe and a close up of the pickups:
this next pic is when it had the texas specials installed:
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F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
Mine is a 1995 Am Std Stratocaster. After the return of the "spaghetti' script Fender logo. Equal length polepiece magnets, no "stagger" positioning, no bevelled magnet ends, TBX (swiftly removed and replaced with a No-Load pot).
Before anyone asks, yes, I know how Fender recommends to use the TBX control.
Am Std usually gets 009-042 strings. My AVRI gets 010-046. None of the pickups mentioned in post #35 is installed in a guitar.
Mine is a 1995 Am Std Stratocaster. After the return of the "spaghetti' script Fender logo. Equal length polepiece magnets, no "stagger" positioning, no bevelled magnet ends, TBX (swiftly removed and replaced with a No-Load pot).
Before anyone asks, yes, I know how Fender recommends to use the TBX control.
Am Std usually gets 009-042 strings. My AVRI gets 010-046. None of the pickups mentioned in post #35 is installed in a guitar.
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
mystery.
Anyways im sure your ears (and multimeter) are not decieving you but i also trust my ears as well. Maybe fender changed more than just the logo in 1995.
Whatevs. In the end we both prefer different pickups that the OEM pickups in our ideal version of what sounds best in a strat. And the OP has found what hes after anyway.
My current faves are just normal ssl-1's with vintage wiring (and the tone connected to the bridge as well).
mystery.
Anyways im sure your ears (and multimeter) are not decieving you but i also trust my ears as well. Maybe fender changed more than just the logo in 1995.
Whatevs. In the end we both prefer different pickups that the OEM pickups in our ideal version of what sounds best in a strat. And the OP has found what hes after anyway.
My current faves are just normal ssl-1's with vintage wiring (and the tone connected to the bridge as well).
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F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
I described my multimeter as creaky with good reason. The intention was not to quibble over exact readings but to show that the Am Std coils were only a very small percentage hotter than Fender's own basic vintage re-issue pickups.
Any apparent output differences between your '93 and my '95 pickups could be accounted for by magnet changes, string gauges or neck mass. The other factor is amplification. I generally use 6L6-powered Fender style stuff. It might be that those pickups are better suited to, say, Marshall or Vox voicings.
I am not about to throw a hissy fit or question anybody's sexual orientation over this.
I described my multimeter as creaky with good reason. The intention was not to quibble over exact readings but to show that the Am Std coils were only a very small percentage hotter than Fender's own basic vintage re-issue pickups.
Any apparent output differences between your '93 and my '95 pickups could be accounted for by magnet changes, string gauges or neck mass. The other factor is amplification. I generally use 6L6-powered Fender style stuff. It might be that those pickups are better suited to, say, Marshall or Vox voicings.
I am not about to throw a hissy fit or question anybody's sexual orientation over this.
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: New Duncans for Fat Strat???
yeh i know. No hissy fits from this end either. its interesting to guitar nerds like us tho. We do love delving into the obscure details of crap like this! lol
If they were changing things at fender tho, we really have no way of knowing exactly what they did, cos i sold my axe years ago.
yeh i know. No hissy fits from this end either. its interesting to guitar nerds like us tho. We do love delving into the obscure details of crap like this! lol
If they were changing things at fender tho, we really have no way of knowing exactly what they did, cos i sold my axe years ago.