Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

[Twitch]

I want a more vintage/punchy sound out of my rig, and from Curly's site the APS-2's seem to be a pretty good fit. Now I'm wondering how much of a difference these pickups will make from the stock ones in my MIM Fat Strat? I have a Classic 30 but am considering returning it because it seems their is a lack of punch, will new pups cure this?

Also, I have a Fat Strat, would buying an SSS pickguard and putting 3 single coils into it work?

 

[dd12939]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

Replacing stock pickups with higher quality pickups such as Duncans will almost undoubtedly make a massive difference. In my SG, it was completely night and day. I have little experience with strat pickups, and even less experience with Classic 30's but there are lots of other guys who'll be big helps with those items.
As for the pickguard, you should be able to do that no problem.
Cheers!

 

[flank]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

there is a difference........however, with strat pickups, i say that the good ones are not that different from the "great" ones.......so, a duncan SSL1 is not any better or worse than say, a Lindy Fralin, although the prices are different being $50 compared to $75 for the fralin......however, they are just different flavors of the standard strat vintage tone.........both are good...... some could say that the fralins are better, but i cant honestly say that the duncan APS1 i have in the middle sounds any less good than the Antiquity i have in the neck......the difference is slight, but in the end, it is just a difference, not really a thing about quality in sound

i can say that the fender custom shop strat pickups, the duncan standard vintage line, and the duncan antiquity line are all very nice sounding pickups, however they are not THAT much different from eachother, and that could all be different depending on everyones setup

that being said, i think there would be a nice improvement moving from those pickups you have (just alright) to a set of duncans, which are very nice sounding

 

[Twitch]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

Thanks Flank, that really helps. The reason I listed APS-2's were because compared to the Surfers (which everyone loves on here) they seemed punchier, which is what I want.

 

[flank]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

I had a Surfer in the neck position of my strat before i settled on the Texas Hot (very similar to the APS1) and it just didnt jive in there......im not sure if it was because everything else in the guitar was A2 or what.....but it felt kinda flat and reserved...... the Texas Hot was a little warmer and juicier sounding

everyone else seems to say the surfers are very edgy and punchy lively pickups......but it just didnt sound like that in my guitar.........i like the texas hot better, and the APS 1 sounds very good as well, has plenty of punch for me.........and to say which has the most guts and punchyness of all, it goes to the twangbanger , GREAT pickup!

 

[Twitch]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

I'm considering a twangerbanger in the bridge. But like i asked before will it work on my fat strat to buy an SSS pickguard and put three single coil pups in?

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

Being a MIM Strat owner myself, I can say that a pickup change is the best thing you can do. I loved the feel, quality and playability of my Strat but never liked the pickups. Changing them out made it really like night and day. I absolutely love the sound of that thing now and it's a keeper (see my signature for what I put in it).

You should be able to go s-s-s easily, although I don't know if the volume pot would need to be changed to 250 since your's had a humbucker, maybe it's 500. My s-s-s
Strat was routed s-s-h in the wood.

 

[Twitch]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

Nice, i'm thinking about going to SSS. When I bought it I wanted the heavy bridge distortion, but now I'd rather have the twang achievable with the bridge+middle. So would an Aps 2 in the neck/middle with a twanger banger in the bridge be a good combination for blues/jazz?

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

So would an Aps 2 in the neck/middle with a twanger banger in the bridge be a good combination for blues/jazz?

Yep.

I have a very similar set to that (I have the pickups out of an EB Musicman ALbert Lee model) in my own strat and it rocks. :burnout:

 

[flank]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

that would be a very nice combo

the twangbanger is able to do nice tele like bridge sounds with the volume layed off a bit, down to 6 or 7, it gets real sweet that way.........then turn the volume up and it gets kinda mean and growly, great for very punchy chords like The Who type tone.....it overdrives an amp well at full volume if you play real hard......... and with some good overdrive, it does very good at led zeppelin and other british rock type tones (Cream, yardbirds, bluesbreakers etc)........ i think its an excellent pickup overall, and its got a real sweetness to the sound when the volumes down a bit, and you play near the neck, its very hollow and very deep sounding......i cant imagine a strat bridge position sounding any better, every time i play another strat with a vintage output bridge pickup, it sounds nasty,nasal,weak, and brittle

by the way, i just made a ghetto clip of my strat, ill have it posted in the clips section in a little bit

 

[Twitch]

Re: Pickup change...noticeable difference...?

Awesome, anyone have any clips of the twanger banger bridge? I've heard the APS-2's but not the twanger banger.

Also, I know the difference between the staggered and flat versions of this pickup, but what is the advantage/disadvantage of getting one or the other?

Edit: Just saw your soundclick flank