Pearly Gates bridge to go with STK 4's in neck & middle?

H

hendrixstrat

New member
I've been back and forth over what to put in the Bridge of a USA Alder/Maple strat..I picked up a used set of STK 4's from another forum member, and can't decide on using another stacked single, or a splittable bucker in the bridge..Anyone know how the Pearly Gates will do in this set-up? I will be using the guitar for mainly Blues & Rock n Roll type stuff, but would like it to be able to crank out a Metallica type riff every once in a while..Any opinions would be great, and if anyone is selling something that I might be able to use, even better...Any color but white, and buckers need to be trem spaced..Thanks..
 
Re: Pearly Gates bridge to go with STK 4's in neck & middle?

I love the STK-S4's. I run a HSH with a RW/RP STK-S4 in the middle and a set of 4 conductor jazz buckers in neck and bridge. I have the trem spaced bridge version of the Jazz in the bridge and run it all on coil splits. I run mine in a 24.75" scale guitar that uses darker woods than alder and maple so I definitely do not think the Jazz set would be good for you.

I do think you would like the Pearly Gates. They are great sounding pickups and usually sound great in a Strat. So does the JB imo but the JB would not be as balanced to the STK-S4 volume as the PG will be (even though the PG will still be louder but just not as much as the JB).

I think the PG can do any kind of music you throw at it. IMO the difference between playing jazz/blues/classic rock and playing something as heavy as metal are not in what pickups you choose but in what amp and effects you choose. Of course the rest of that equation is the player behind the guitar but for the sole purpose of picking out gear it has more to do with the amp/effects than the pickup. A nice medium output humbucker cleans up nicely but can also handle as much gain as you can throw at it too.
 
Re: Pearly Gates bridge to go with STK 4's in neck & middle?

Thanks for the reply..The PG seems like my best option as far as humbuckers..I had a JB in another strat, and grew to hate it over the years..I replaced it with an Alternative 8, and never looked back..The main other pickup on my radar is the STK-6, but I rarely ever hear feedback on it..
 
Re: Pearly Gates bridge to go with STK 4's in neck & middle?

Screamin' Demon works well with STK-S4 too. So does PATB-3.
 
Re: Pearly Gates bridge to go with STK 4's in neck & middle?

I just checked out the PATB 3. Sounds very warm, and violin like..A lot of people use those in strats? I think I like it..Every clip I've heard sounds just like Saraceno though..Is it a one trick pony?
 
Re: Pearly Gates bridge to go with STK 4's in neck & middle?

Dunno. Not everyone likes the look of it. I guess it's their loss. It's indeed warm and violin like, make for a great single pickup guitar. Just roll the tone knob off and you don't need a neck pickup. This very dynamic pickup has plenty of bites wide open. Slightly less hot than Screamin' Demon which is also a great pickup for most type of music. Comparing both of them, Demon has tighter low end while PATB-3 has thicker sound. Well, I like PATB-3 a lot. It sounds good for blues, rock, hard rock and some metal (with right amp/pedal) to me that I don't care if it sounds like Saraceno. Demon and STK-S4 go well with either 500k pots or 250k pots. I never tried PATB-3 with 250k pots and I never have it in split mode. If you want split feature, I'd say go with Demon. It works for this guy:

 
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