Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

[i3oosted]

Still noobie'ish, sold my agile 3k for school, and came by a cheap mim strat s/s/s. It's setup, w/ steel block, upgraded saddles, bone nut, maple fret board but it's still rocking the crummy ceramic pickups and sounds shrill, don't know if it's the amp(vox vt20+) or these pickups.

Since this will be my only guitar for a long while, I'm looking for versatility.

I'd like to get a really fat p-90'ish sounding bridge that can hang with heavier rock, with the middle and neck for clean strat tones.

Right now I'm really digging the SSL3 or QP for the bridge but have no idea what to get for the neck or middle, if its even possible for what I want.

I don't mind the volume change from switching or it sounding like a different guitar(thats what I'm getting at kind of) but I would still like to use the 4th and 2nd position so it would some how have to blend decently.

I would get the bridge tapped but what would give me that hendrix, classic strat sound, bell tone'ish for the neck/middle that could be mated with a high output bridge?

Diversity and able to blend, possible?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

Hi,

You can do a lot with the stock Mexican pickups. IME, their weakness is when you are playing very loudly. They lose definition unless you are playing on the bridge pickup alone...and then you are making people's eardrums bleed with that shrill tone from the one pickup what has no tone control. Simply using an amp with more headroom solves that problem. The muddier the guitar I am using, the higher wattage amp I tend to use.

What may allow you to work with what you have, instead of buying all new pickups, is to eliminate the volume control and go to a three tone pots setup.

Or, if you cannot stomach eliminating the volume pot, replace one of the pots on your guitar with a Jazz Bass stacked control, which gives you two pots in one hole.

Or just make a new hole and have four knobs. What they hay?

And the more classic solution would be to simply rewire the switch so that the second tone pot controls the bridge instead of the middle, or controls both together. (I prefer the former.) Or you can wire it so you can control the middle and bridge, and have no tone control for the neck. Or wire it so the first tone knobs controls the neck and middle together, and the second tone knob controls just the bridge pickup. Or.....You get the picture.

If you want to change pickups for sure, my favorite Duncans for a Strat are the Surfer ones. They are the ones that IMHO best make a Strat sound like freakin' Strat. (Imagine that!) And that is a very versatile sound.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

The ssl1's are the 'stock' (read: less expensive) duncan that will sound like hendrix/SRV etc in the neck/middle. The antiquity surfers are great, but they are essentially a ssl1 made with much more love and care, so a lot more $ for a small % better tone

The bridge is tricky. The ssl5 (or 6 if you want non staggered height polepieces) is a pretty punchy singlecoil (often used for Dave Gilmour tones) but there is a tapped version which will give you lower output as an addition.

The alternative is something like the cool rails, which you could wire with series/parallel options via a push-pull pot. This might make the position 4 more 'authentic strat' for Dire straits tones in parallel mode.

 

[Despair]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

Just how authentic do you want your middle/neck pickups? If you want Hendrix tone without the curly cord or other high cut filter, some hotter/warmer pickups might be called for.

Another trick for a more Hendrixy tone is reverse slant on the bridge pickup -- if you take a right-handed guitar, play it left-handed and reverse the strings, you wind up with the low strings over the part of the bridge pickup closer to the bridge, and the high strings over the part further from the bridge. This makes for a much warmer sound on the high strings, and more bite on the low strings. If you have a large bridge pickup route under the pickguard, that's an easy change to make, though you'll have to either find someone that supplies the proper replacement pickguard or a blank to cut yourself.

Some people find the SSL-3 too hot for a bridge single coil, tougher to balance with other pickups. But you could get a tapped version (same is available for the non-humcancelling versions of the SSL-4 & SSL-6).

Do you want a noise-cancelling pickup in the bridge for high gain? Would a set of good noise-cancellers like the Stack Plus series do it for you, or does it have to be retro noise antennae?

Or do you want an actual P-90? If you have a large route, that's an easy option.

A very popular set is the STK-S6/STK-S4/STK-S7. Similar to the SSL-6/SSL-2/SSL-2 set (or SSL-5/SSL-1/SSL-1, if you want vintage stagger), but with a warmer, slightly overwound neck pickup like used to be popular with SRV tone chasers who couldn't cope with massive strings.

A quick rundown of SD's Stack Plus series:
STK-S4 Classic Stack Plus is the noiseless equivalent of the SSL-2 Vintage Flat (or SSL-1 Vintage Stagger for Strat). SSL-1/2 is one of the most widely used strat replacement pickups, very frequently heard in recordings.
STK-S7 Vintage Hot Stack Plus, a hotter/warmer take on the STK-S4, no direct equivalent in standard lineup.
STK-S6 Custom Stack Plus, noiseless take on the SSL-6 Custom Flat. Great for David Gilmour tones.
STK-S9b Hot Stack Plus, equivalent of SSL-3.

There's a lot of other possibilities, like STK-S9b/STK-S7/STK-S7 (or even STK-S6 in neck), for slightly better balance opposite the hot bridge pickup (and a generally warmer tone).

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

I didn't realize the Surfers only came as Antiquities, though that is what the set I installed was. I put a set in a customer's '62 Strat some years ago and they were the best sounding aftermarket Strat pickups I'd ever heard.

So, what is the extra love and care all about? I thought Antiquities were just given the relic treatment.

 

[Despair]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

Surfers aren't standard production models. Neither are the rest of the Antiquities models.

Antiquities aren't just reliced, they are built by the Custom Shop to vintage specs, with vintage materials (where needed to meet the vintage specs) that can be more expensive to source.

 

[rumblebox]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

if you're wanting to save money, just swap out the crappy ceramic magnets for some alnico pole magnets. i did that recently, and it made a huge difference.

but, in reality, if you want to get the most versatility possible from one axe, just get an HSH pickguard, a pair of P-rails and a rails middle pickup with triple shots.

 

[i3oosted]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

Just how authentic do you want your middle/neck pickups? If you want Hendrix tone without the curly cord or other high cut filter, some hotter/warmer pickups might be called for.

Another trick for a more Hendrixy tone is reverse slant on the bridge pickup -- if you take a right-handed guitar, play it left-handed and reverse the strings, you wind up with the low strings over the part of the bridge pickup closer to the bridge, and the high strings over the part further from the bridge. This makes for a much warmer sound on the high strings, and more bite on the low strings. If you have a large bridge pickup route under the pickguard, that's an easy change to make, though you'll have to either find someone that supplies the proper replacement pickguard or a blank to cut yourself.

Some people find the SSL-3 too hot for a bridge single coil, tougher to balance with other pickups. But you could get a tapped version (same is available for the non-humcancelling versions of the SSL-4 & SSL-6).

Do you want a noise-cancelling pickup in the bridge for high gain? Would a set of good noise-cancellers like the Stack Plus series do it for you, or does it have to be retro noise antennae?

Or do you want an actual P-90? If you have a large route, that's an easy option.

A very popular set is the STK-S6/STK-S4/STK-S7. Similar to the SSL-6/SSL-2/SSL-2 set (or SSL-5/SSL-1/SSL-1, if you want vintage stagger), but with a warmer, slightly overwound neck pickup like used to be popular with SRV tone chasers who couldn't cope with massive strings.

A quick rundown of SD's Stack Plus series:
STK-S4 Classic Stack Plus is the noiseless equivalent of the SSL-2 Vintage Flat (or SSL-1 Vintage Stagger for Strat). SSL-1/2 is one of the most widely used strat replacement pickups, very frequently heard in recordings.
STK-S7 Vintage Hot Stack Plus, a hotter/warmer take on the STK-S4, no direct equivalent in standard lineup.
STK-S6 Custom Stack Plus, noiseless take on the SSL-6 Custom Flat. Great for David Gilmour tones.
STK-S9b Hot Stack Plus, equivalent of SSL-3.

There's a lot of other possibilities, like STK-S9b/STK-S7/STK-S7 (or even STK-S6 in neck), for slightly better balance opposite the hot bridge pickup (and a generally warmer tone).

I could go either way with stacker or not in the bridge, hum doesn't bother me if I can get hum cancelling in the bridge/middle position.

It's either going to be an SSL-3 or it's stack equivelant or QP in the bridge, haven't decided. But I would like to get a more stratty tone in the neck and mid. Not a fan of SRV(not into blues so much) so I haven't listened to him much but Gilmore and Hendrix I am a fan of and like their sound.

What would be a good compliment to get a Gilmore/Hendrix sound'ish if my bridge is that hot for the neck and middle?

I know with an all in one sound you won't have a perfect 1 of anything but just good of everything(most).

 

[uOpt]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

Can you afford a set of Strabro90ties?

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

Here's a vote for the QP in the bridge. I love that pup for a ballsy sound, and getting a tapped model gives you some lower output colors on your palette as well.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Only have 1 axe, what pickups?

The QP sucks, IMHO.