Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

H

-Heineken-

New member
I have a Fender am. deluxe ash strat with maple neck and the Fender deluxe trem. Though i LOVE the guitar and it's beautifull green transparent finish but i really don't like the stock Fender vintage noiseless pickups. They sound very compressed and lifeless to me. Nothing vintage really. So i'm looking for some new pickups and i'm definatly going for a HSS setup. I would like to get that Peppers "under the bridge" and 70's Gilmourish lead tone out of the neck/middle single coils and be able to shred like Satriani on my bridge bucker. For the single coils i am considering Fender Texas specials but i'm afraid they are maybe a bit TOO hot for a good clean "bell" like picking sound. I prefer true single coils with the original strat"quack" over stacked humbuckers. For the bridge humbucker i was looking at a diMarzio PAFpro (best bridge humbucker i ever owned in my opinion), or Duncan either custom5, Pearlygates or Pearlygates+. Something that would give me a nice dark fat growl on high gain without overpowering the single coils TOO much. (A SLIGHT volume boost is actually kinda cool)

But i am open to any other suggestions.

Also, what about the volume pot? Should i go 250k or 500k?
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

I have the Fender Tex-Mex single coils on my JV Strat and I think they're great. Other than that, I don't have much else to say about single coils.

I think a Custom 5 would be great. I have one in my LP, and my friend has one in his Strat. Both sound killer and are versatile.
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

First let me say, NICE guitar choice!

For the neck and middle I'd suggest either SSL-1's or APS-1's. Both of these have a vintage wind and output.

The SSL sounds like the early strat pups very jangly and bubbly. I always think of the Ventures, or Hendrix, or SRV. Very chimey and bell like.

The APS is going to have more mids, with a rounder bottom and smoother top. They sound quite a bit warmer, and are more OD/Dist. friendly. I prefer them actually.

For the bridge I'd go with the Custom Custom. It is going to do all out rock well, and give you a more open sound than the C5, but when you roll off the volume it will clean up very well. C5's, and JB's can be bright in strats, that's why I like the Custom Custom.

When I build/get another super strat I'm going with a APS-1's, and a Custom Custom. Warm, and versatile.

Hope that helps!

Luke
 
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Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

Fender Fat 50's for the singles. Custom Custom -- not a bad choice for the bridge, especially if you pop an Alnico 3 or 4 magnet in place of the Alnico 2.
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

Thanx for the input guy's. But do you mean Alnico5 magnets won't sound as good in a Ash strat body then in my Mahogany Les paul?
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

Whats being said is that the JB and the C5 can be a tad bright in Strats...To be honest I would use a 59 in the bridge of an HSS Strat...it will far closer match the output on the singles. As for the singles for classic Strat tone Surfers are top notch and SSL-1 are very, very good if you want to spend a little less money...I do want to say this though...if you listen to both David Gilmore and John Fusciante you will notice that theyboth lean pretty hard on the bridge single coil.
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

the guy who invented fire said:
I do want to say this though...if you listen to both David Gilmore and John Fusciante you will notice that theyboth lean pretty hard on the bridge single coil.
Click to expand...

True, but i really want best of both worlds. So i'd rather choose a bit higher output humbucker, that will do a very good single coil when split. The '59 won't do that, and i also don't like the way a '59 sounds with high gain. (palm-muting)
Does anyone have experience with the Rio-grande humbuckers b.t.w? Their stuff looks very cool on their site but i'm curious how their buckers sound with a cranked Marshall DSL100.
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

-Heineken- said:
True, but i really want best of both worlds. So i'd rather choose a bit higher output humbucker, that will do a very good single coil when split.
Click to expand...

I'd say stick with the JB or one of the Custom series, then keep the 250k pot if you get anything other than a CC, those pups will all have enough wire per coil to make somewhat passable strat tones.

The magnet issue is that to my humble ears A5+maple+ash=ouch. But your tone is yours and yours alone. Christian knows more about strats than I ever could, so you can really put stock in his opinion.

Luke
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

Luke Duke said:
The magnet issue is that to my humble ears A5+maple+ash=ouch.
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True, and I would add that even aside from the tone issue, A5 has a good deal more output, which would create a huge output disparity between it and the single coils, which is wide enough even with a vintage output 'bucker with an Alnico 2. With an Alnico 5 mag, you might end up having to back the bridge pu off further from the strings than you would like.
 
Re: Pickup advice needed (fat strat)

/\This man knows his stuff too!

If I wanted a do-all axe I'd have 2 APS' and a APH that was trem spaced, I can't imagine a super strat sounding sweeter in any position, the only problem is the neck bridge notch position would be weak.

Ok back to your regularly scheduled thread!

Luke
 
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