Perplexing Strat issue

[Shadow78]

Hello All,

I appreciate all replies. I know I've posted on this one before...I've received mixed responses to it. I finally got a reply from Customer Service over 10 days later from email. it's been difficult getting through by phone. This is for my 2000 Fender Double Fat Strat, Hardtail. Typical construction and woods, Alder body, maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard. Here's my dilemma. the guitar is downtuned a whole step...

I like the Invader...I do...but I'm needing more dynamics from the pickup and am finding that I prefer a more PAF like tone with Barky mids, a singing lead tone and tight crunch when I need it. A fat warm tone, but crisp and sparkly top end will do it. I don't need a ton of output any more, as I'll let the amp or pedals do that. I used to have a different amp and was playing on a Mesa Boogie F-50, but it died and fixing it is on the back burner. Now my amp is an Orange, which is much more my tonal speed. I play on a Crush 35RT right now and that is my main amp until I can get either a Tube Orange or a higher wattage Crush series, as I just dig their tone anyways. Another tube amp isn't financially attainable right now anyways, LOL.

Here's what people have recommended here, the Custom Custom, 59/Custom Hybrid, and the Custom series in General. Duncan themselves have recommended the WLH or the Pearly Gates to look at. There is a '59 model in the neck of the guitar right now. I found the Pearly Gates Plus hard to eq on my mesa, but found i loved the tone of it when playing my old marshall DSL50 head back in my band days. So, i'm thinking the midrange of the pickup and the overall harshness was partly the Mesa now. I

I'd like to avoid spending more cash right now if I can...I'll get another pickup if it really needs to happen. But, I'm considering going back to the PGP and giving that a go, or just staying the course, because I play anything from pop and jazz to harder metal or progressive music like Dream Theater esque styles, not necessarily Petrucci's tone. So any thoughts are appreciated...sorry this was so long! i've thought hard about it and am getting a headache! Thanks all!

 

[vinnie1971]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

I got Seymour Duncan ALNICO 2 pros (APH1) they do every you describe plus fantastic cleans. The classic PAF clean tone is what I love most and these do it nicely for me without breaking the bank. But a strat might need a trembucker and neck rather than buying a set.


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[Shadow78]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

thanks for that reply Vinnie. i hadn't considered the Alnico II Pro...i've had the hardest time reaching customer service...is that typical? i'll get to the position 1 on the queue and then it goes right to voicemail. I was really curious if my assumptions about the PGP were right, or if it really is a bright pickup with an aggressive midrange. I have a JB at home, but it's not trembucker spacing and i've compared the PGP to other pickups i have, and the PGP is every so slightly wider

 

[vinnie1971]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

From what people say and in all the YouTube vids, PGs are really bright with lots of upper mids. That's why I decided against them. I wanted the Billy Gibbons tone but the guitar they were going in is super bright. Mahogany body nullified by straight through maple neck, bras nut string through back, hard tail bridge and brass saddles, 25 1/2 inch scale length. Even the APH1s are bright in this guitar. Glad I didn't go for pearly gates as they would have been as ice pick as the Cushin Gakki high gain original pickups.
Never tried to contact SD. YouTube has enough info to make an informed choice.
I have done demos of my guitar doing cleans with APH1s and low gain.


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[Lewguitar]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

From what people say and in all the YouTube vids, PGs are really bright with lots of upper mids. That's why I decided against them. I wanted the Billy Gibbons tone but the guitar they were going in is super bright. Mahogany body nullified by straight through maple neck, bras nut string through back, hard tail bridge and brass saddles, 25 1/2 inch scale length. Even the APH1s are bright in this guitar. Glad I didn't go for pearly gates as they would have been as ice pick as the Cushin Gakki high gain original pickups.
Never tried to contact SD. YouTube has enough info to make an informed choice.
I have done demos of my guitar doing cleans with APH1s and low gain.



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Absolute rubbish. You've never owned a PG have you?

The PG is an alnico 2 humbucker and alnico 2 humbuckers do not tend to be overly bright or to have too much treble.

Try one - very different from your imaginings.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

I am sorry that it was difficult to get through to Customer Service.

I would go with the Custom or the 59/Custom Hybrid. Or even a JB, since it is barky, but it isn't really that touch-sensitive. The Custom Custom is a great pickup too, but it tends to mush out with lower tunings, and it isn't very tight...either is the Alnico II Pro. Stick with more classic PAF-type winds.

 

[vinnie1971]

Perplexing Strat issue

Absolute rubbish. You've never owned a PG have you?

The PG is an alnico 2 humbucker and alnico 2 humbuckers do not tend to be overly bright or to have too much treble.

Try one - very different from your imaginings.

No need to be quite so harsh. The PG is one of my favourite sounding pickups, but it's not for the guitar the APH1s ended up in.

Even APH1 is very bright in this guitar. The old pickups had a large ceramic and they were ice pick bright, I swapped out for ALNICO 2 and they were still border line ice pick.

I find I still have to roll back the tone a bit with the APH1s. I never owned PG that's right but I have listened to the SD demos and I know how bright my guitar is and I don't have the money to just change one set of SD pickups for another. This guitar is very bright no matter what you throw at it which is why having listened to the PG demos compared to 59s and APH1 is why I settled onAPH1s because I believed they would tame it's brightness. But even those are very bright and trebly in this guitar.


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[Shadow78]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

thank you Mincer. I appreciate it. I've gotten a lot of mixed responses. I like the Whole Lotta humbucker's tone, but was concerned it might not hold up under the low tunings. I like the 59/Custom Hybrid so far. thanks!

 

[beezerboy]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

maybe a P90...

 

[Mincer]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

Thing about the WLH is that I've only ever heard it being used in standard tuning going for classic rock tones, and it has been out long enough that if it had been considered amazing for lower tunings, I might have heard about that.

 

[Hot Octopus]

Re: Perplexing Strat issue

I'd take a look at a Dimarzio Norton. Might do the trick for you.