New pickups for a hss strat

D

dreamadelica

New member
Hi everybody! I' ve got this beautiful mex strat that plays very good but the pickups are the standard fender that sound a little bit too limited to me....i wanna change them. My idea is to put an Alnico pro slash at the bridge, a fender custom 69 at the middle and a lil screamig demon at the neck.
First of all I wanna ask if it's perfectly technically possible and second what do you thinkof the sound I can create with this combination.
I'm not playing any kind of hard/heavy rock, I'm more into experimental stuff, with delays and echos and some overdrive, but I really love deep jazz bass sound and I want the humbucker to sound powerful when I go with distosrion
I will have the 69 fender for the classic fender sounds though.
The lil demon is my choice for a single coil/humbucker to get extra powerful and rich sounds but if you got any other suggestion I will appreciate it.
Thnx and bye!
 
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Re: New pickups for a hss strat

Fender Custom Shop pickups are unpredictable with their polarity. Sometimes the middle pickup is reversed; sometimes it is not. You risk phase problems using a 69 or Texas Special along with Duncan humbuckers. I would put a Duncan SSL-1 single coil in the middle to avoid the potential headache.

P.S. Have you considered the Classic Stack Plus pickups for the neck and middle? They sound like a good Strat should, just without the noise. If you want the SRV sound, try a Hot Stack Plus.
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

I think you would like this. I'd also favor the Lil '59 over the Lil Screaming Demon neck, Duckbuckers sound beautiful, especially for experimental layering type of tones. And to top it off, the set looks awesome.
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

Ok guys I really appreciate your suggestions. I will consider both the Ssl 1 and the Lil 59....I'm not convinced 100% by the set, I'd prefer to customize in an even more vesatile and personal way the guitar
Thnx anyway
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

You realize of course that the Lil 59 sounds nothing like the full-sized 59, which has a scooped midrange. The Lil 59 has very full mids, strong bass, and subdued highs and is quite powerful. IMO the Lil 59 is way out of place and way too powerful for the neck of a Strat.
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

GuitarDoc said:
You realize of course that the Lil 59 sounds nothing like the full-sized 59, which has a scooped midrange. The Lil 59 has very full mids, strong bass, and subdued highs and is quite powerful. IMO the Lil 59 is way out of place and way too powerful for the neck of a Strat.
Click to expand...

That's true of the bridge model, but the neck is lower output and has more highs and less mids. That "everything" pick guard SD offers even has a Lil '59 in the neck, so that's saying something. http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/sets/everything_axe_1/
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

And what, pray tell, IS it saying?

Let's look at the whole picture.

The "Everything Axe" set has a JB Jr in the bridge which is very high output (over 16k ohms - yes I know the resistance isn't a true measure of output, but it gives a fair value for comparison sake). The Lil 59 would match ok with the JB. But the OP is talking about an APH-2 in the bridge which is relatively low (PAF) output at 8.5k. The Lil 59, even the neck model, sounds way too powerful for this match up and it is way too thick. IMO, of course.
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

You had said "way too powerful for the neck of a Strat", not "this Strat".

OP was thinking of a Little Screamin Demon, which is barely different from the Little 59, except that I feel the Lil 59 was a bit warmer than the Little Screamin Demon. A lot of people like HSH Strats, and pickup balance is an ideal but hard to maintain when you move away from the traditional SSS setup.

I just got my first MIA Strat back after not having played it for 10+ years, a stock Fat Strat with some no name humbucker and noiseless singles for the neck and middle, and the the first thing I noticed was the stock bridge humbucker is outrageously loud. It seems like Fender didn't even try to balance the pickups. I don't really know how they would, though, making one louder or the other quieter would have a big impact on their overall tone. I'm not a fan of HSS or HSH, or mixed sets in general.
 
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Re: New pickups for a hss strat

If you are on blade single-sized humbies:

cool-rail in neck and middle
JB in bridge
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

I keep focusing on the "deep jazz bass sound" and can't help but conclude that you want a full sized humbucker in the neck.

Personally, I'd go with the whole Slash set and a Classic Stack Plus in the middle. Get a push pull pot or mini switch to select from stacked humbucker to true single coil mode in the middle.

And use 500k pots.
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

zenmindbeginner said:
I keep focusing on the "deep jazz bass sound" and can't help but conclude that you want a full sized humbucker in the neck.

Personally, I'd go with the whole Slash set and a Classic Stack Plus in the middle. Get a push pull pot or mini switch to select from stacked humbucker to true single coil mode in the middle.

And use 500k pots.
Click to expand...

Ok thnx for this other suggestion....I mean the only one sure of the 3 is the slash at the bridge, I'm taking my time to undestand what's really the best possible combination for the most versatility on one side and the most powerful, rich, deep, full sounds on the other.
I've got this idea, after one of you suggested me to put a ssl1 at he mid, to put a ssl 3 or a ssl 5 to get out some vintage warm sounds. At the neck I'm gonna put a single coil/humbucker or a humbucker as you suggested.....lil demon, lil 59, jb junior, cool rails or vintage rails? Not decided yet
 
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Re: New pickups for a hss strat

if you want more of a typical strat tone in the neck, I would go with a duckbucker, vintage rail or something like that in the neck. I have a lil demon in the neck of one of my strats and it sounds great, just not very much like a typical strat.
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

Don't get mad at me, threads veer from specific to general all the time. Why not just say you mistyped?
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

chadd said:
if you want more of a typical strat tone in the neck, I would go with a duckbucker, vintage rail or something like that in the neck. I have a lil demon in the neck of one of my strats and it sounds great, just not very much like a typical strat.
Click to expand...

Hi, I keep the sound of the strat in the mid with a ssl 3 or 5....I heard some demos of the lil demon and it's true the sound is dry and maybe too much metallic for the music I play.
At the neck I could put another single coil or one of the sc/humbucker I said in another reply.
Thanx
 
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Re: New pickups for a hss strat

Before you shell out for a miniature humbucker, why not look under your pickguard to see if a full-size humbucker will fit in the neck? Some strats have whats called a "swimming pool route" which basically means just a big square hole in the middle. If that is the case, you could fit a big bucker, which would generally give you an even biigger, fatter, yet sweeter jazzy neck tone than one of the miniature buckers.
 
Re: New pickups for a hss strat

dotsdad said:
Before you shell out for a miniature humbucker, why not look under your pickguard to see if a full-size humbucker will fit in the neck? Some strats have whats called a "swimming pool route" which basically means just a big square hole in the middle. If that is the case, you could fit a big bucker, which would generally give you an even biigger, fatter, yet sweeter jazzy neck tone than one of the miniature buckers.
Click to expand...

**** ok thnx! I will definitely check that out.....in case I could really put a double slash, as suggested by the other guy, or another full humbucker that would be great.
 
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