pickup/pot help (please)

[drew_half_empty]

ok, i know its the wrong forum, but people never respond or go to the pickup lounge, soooo, here we go, this is all referring to a strat

this is what i want

-neck 59

-mid position for middle/neck to sound like a bridge 59

-mid pickup to be like a mix between a 59 lead and a regular strat lead pickup, something a little less boomy than a bridge position 59, and keeps lots definition in heavily driven open chords, but doesn't cut out the gain too much

-bridge noiseless strat raised to sound like its in the middle

-mid for middle/bridge, well, i don't care really

I'm guessing for the middle i'll need a JB jr, but i have no expirience with JB's, i really don't even know if they'll give a good mid position with a 59, but people always put them together so i assume they do, I'll prolyl lower it to sound like its in the bridge, does it sound like i have things right so far, or am i way off? is the JB the right pup for the job?

also, i guess i'll need new tone pots, so, reccomendations?

 

[mrfjones]

Re: pickup/pot help (please)

well i have a few questions before i post my opinion, first are you thinking of having a hsh configuration with a single coil sized humbucker in the middle or are they all singles or is the only full sized humbucker going in the neck position?

If you are going with the hsh configuration then i would suggest a trembucker version of the 59 and also one in the neck but i would suggest that you wire it so you can use just one coil of both, kind of like a prs with the 5 position rotary switch. that would give you single coils or humbuckers in both positions and also if you use something like a push/pull pot or mini switch for the coil tapping then you can combine the single coils or humbuckers with the single coil sized humbucker in the middle position. i think this would make a very versitile strat.

If you are going with all single coil sized humbuckers disregard all of the ideas i have had so far and maybe think about a duckbucker for a single coil sound without hum.

now for the pots: if you have hsh then you might want to use 500k pots but if you are using all single coil sized humbuckers i sugggest that you use 250k pots because this is the value they were designed to be used with and i think they have a little too much high end otherwise.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: pickup/pot help (please)

yeah, all single coil sized.

would it be easier to just use some weird configuration on the selector switch, so from neck to bridge the pickups go 59, strat, jb (i'm getting the hum cancelling strat pickup by the way, the fender one, so no worries about buzz)?

but will the jb/59 combined give me a sound kinda like a 59 bridge? i don't want it too identical, and will the jb give more clarity & definition in distorted open chords?

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: pickup/pot help (please)

oh, and should i use the tone pots that come with the noiseless strat pups or the stock MIM ones

 

[mrfjones]

Re: pickup/pot help (please)

i really don't know about the pots that come with the noiseless pickups. I think you should go all duncan for two reasons, the vintage noiseless or whatever they are called didn't sound real good to me, but reason number two is that most fender pickups seem to be out of phase with duncan pickups, though the single coil sized humbuckers may be different.

i think you might want to install a fralin blender pot, you can blend the neck with the bridge pickup to give you just the sound you want.

i think with whatever pickups you are going to use you should get some nice cts pots and some orange drop caps and you should be all set.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: pickup/pot help (please)

where do drop caps go?

and i heard the exact opposite about duncan/fender strat pups from a couple people

i'm not too concerned about a jb/strat mid position, tho it'd be nice. Someone PLEASE tell me what the 59/jb mid is like

i figured out a way to configure the selector switch so i don't have to do anything weird, i can have a jb bridge, 59 neck, and strat middle

if i DO go duncan tho, well, i want something that sounds like a mexican strat middle pup