Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

[SZjammin83]

I just traded an Ibanez 2005 SZ320 that I had loaded with SD Invaders and push/pull volume pots (for independent coil-split on each).... for..... A 2009 Fender MIM Deluxe Lonestar Stratocaster HSS.

1st order of business gonna be new pickups. I'm going to be using it to play blues and classic rock, so I'm NOT looking for crazy high output pickups. I've got an Ibanez with high output humbuckers for all the heavy/stuff. I'm wondering if a 36th PAF pro might be the trick in the bridge, or a custom custom, or custom hybrid, something along those lines?

Far as the single coils. I just know I'd like 2 good STRATOCASTER sounding pickups in the middle n neck positions. I'm not after hot-rails or anything too hot period.

Any n all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has tips on how I could wire up a mini toggle or two, just to get more versatile, I'd be grateful for your help!

 

[rustyjones13]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

I just traded an Ibanez 2005 SZ320 that I had loaded with SD Invaders and push/pull volume pots (for independent coil-split on each).... for..... A 2009 Fender MIM Deluxe Lonestar Stratocaster HSS.

1st order of business gonna be new pickups. I'm going to be using it to play blues and classic rock, so I'm NOT looking for crazy high output pickups. I've got an Ibanez with high output humbuckers for all the heavy/stuff. I'm wondering if a 36th PAF pro might be the trick in the bridge, or a custom custom, or custom hybrid, something along those lines?

Far as the single coils. I just know I'd like 2 good STRATOCASTER sounding pickups in the middle n neck positions. I'm not after hot-rails or anything too hot period.

Any n all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has tips on how I could wire up a mini toggle or two, just to get more versatile, I'd be grateful for your help!

I have a custom custom in the bridge(great pickup) a cool rail in the neck and a classic stack plus in the middle. custom custom is on a push/pull pot. not too many tones I can't get of of her.

 

[Tone Meister]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

I just picked up a 2015 MIM Fat Strat and was not happy with the bridge humbucker. First thing, I swapped the magnet with a rough A2 and also connected the bridge HB to the bottom tone control and left the middle pu with no tone control. It now sounds very similar to a Pearly Gates with a tad less treble. The annoying presence peak is now gone and the pickup is quite usable.

Actually, I was really happy with the stock single coils so I have kept them in for now. They just have a sweet bell like quality to them, so I kept them. For comparison, I have Strats with Surfer II, SSL 2, Lollar, and SSL6/SSL2 so I do have some experience with some great single coils.

Unless you have your mind set on doing a complete pickup swap, those two changes are well worth the time.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

First, what is wrong with the current pickups, and what do you want out of them that you aren't currently getting?

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

Some things to keep in mind:

 

[daenius]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

Fender fat strat you say? One thing to keep in mind is Fender tends to use 250k pots for fat strats with 0 regards for the Humbucker. I saw this when I was helping my friend hot rod his American Deluxe Fat Strat.

Most people test their humbuckers through 500k pots. Check the values of your pots because if they're all 250k, then a humbucker that you're familiar with would sound quite different in that Strat. Typically the 250k pots will cut out treble and you'd also lose a little bit of output. For example, if you put a JB in there with the 250k pots, it'd tame the output a bit, and you'd lose some of the high end. It may or may not be a good thing, just your personal preference.

That said, if you're looking to play some blues and you don't want high output pickups, that 250k pot will also tame some of the harsher trebles that some find off-putting in lower output humbuckers.

If you want your humbucker to "see" 500k and your single coils to "see" 250k, there are ways to do that too! You can achieve this by adding a resistor.

 

[kyleivanblake]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

I just traded an Ibanez 2005 SZ320 that I had loaded with SD Invaders and push/pull volume pots (for independent coil-split on each).... for..... A 2009 Fender MIM Deluxe Lonestar Stratocaster HSS.

1st order of business gonna be new pickups. I'm going to be using it to play blues and classic rock, so I'm NOT looking for crazy high output pickups. I've got an Ibanez with high output humbuckers for all the heavy/stuff. I'm wondering if a 36th PAF pro might be the trick in the bridge, or a custom custom, or custom hybrid, something along those lines?

Far as the single coils. I just know I'd like 2 good STRATOCASTER sounding pickups in the middle n neck positions. I'm not after hot-rails or anything too hot period.

Any n all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has tips on how I could wire up a mini toggle or two, just to get more versatile, I'd be grateful for your help!

I had a 36 PAF in a Strat just last year. It didn’t stay in long. It sounded weird, I tried 250k and 500k pots with it. It just sounded woofy.

 

[Despair]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

Noiseless: I'd go with STK-S4m & STK-S4 Classic Stack Plus (noiseless take on SSL-2) in middle & neck, but I tolerate hum and noise much less than most strat owners. could consider STK-S7 Vintage Hot Stack Plus, either in neck or both, if you want hotter than standard without starting to sound partway to a humbucker.

If you want traditional single coils, I'd consider SSL-2 RWRP & SSL-2 instead. Though some Strat owners don't like ANY hum cancelling, believing that noise is where the tone lives, if you are in that group, skip the RWRP too. If you want warmer, could go with a SSL52-1 Five-Two in either position (keeps A5 snap under wound strings, but softer on plain), or APS-2 Alnico II Pro Flats.

If you have a low radius fretboard, you can go with staggered, they'd be SSL-1, APS-1. Five-Two doesn't come in a flat version (probably needs some stagger to balance the A5 and A2 magnets anyways, though maybe a different stagger would be ideal for flatter fretboards).

There's also the Antiquity Surfer II, which appears to be less bright than the SSL-1/2 according to the SD tone chart, but otherwise similar output & specs. And the Antiquity Texas Hot, which is A2 and more bass but less high end.

Options ABOUND. I don't remember which are the oddballs with reversed polarity from other SD single coil pickups, though.

Custom Custom tends to pair well with A2 pickups, if really are going for fat. I'd probably look at Antiquity Texas Hots, Five-Twos or Alnico II Pro Strats for that.

'59/Custom with STK-S4s or SSL-2s is another popular set for a brighter humbucker that works well split in strats.

 

[SZjammin83]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

Thanks for all the replies and insightful suggestions gents! Life kinda showed up just after I got my guitar and put up this thread, so its been a good few days since then and I was stoked to see plenty of great input now that I am able to come back on and check up on things.

As far as what it is that I don't like about the pickups that came in my Strat.... Well, just about EVERYTHING! I've had this guitar before, so I knew what I was getting. Also, I bought an MIM with the intent to use it as a foundation for my next project guitar. If I wanted to spend USA strat money, I'd simply find the Strat that was right for me and buy it. There are American Strats that come straight from Fender sounding amazing and just like you'd want and expect it to sound. However, I don't have a Fender US Custom sized budget. An MIM body and neck however, are great, rock solid, dependable platforms, and a perfect way for someone who loves building/customizing guitars almost as much as playing them (which would be ME...), they provide a great affordable starting point for a Strat project... However (and tone is all based on personal opinion, but this is mine...) the MIM Strat pickups suck, plain and simple! They are far too bright, to a point that its abrasive, at least to my ears. The humbucker is no exception there either.

I am looking for a fat, warm, vintage sounding tone, with the snap and spank you get from a good Strat-style pickup. And I want a humbucker to pick up just where the singles leave off, and will provide just a bit more push for when I'm moving into "crunch" territory and want a bit of chug from my 4x12 or 2x12 cab and Ive got my amp cranked up, and the harmonics are beautiful when the OD is kicked in as well.

I'm actually about to get my hands on another Les Paul too, and let my Ibby go. I want my Strat to sound unmistakably like a Strat, but with just a bit of added balls, if you will. I'll have the Les Paul for anything else that calls for a Les Paul.

Thanks again for all the great input guys. Im gonna go and check some of this stuff out and I'll let you know where I'm at with it soon!

 

[chadd]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

My blue strat has a Custom Custom in the bridge with a pair of APS-1 singles, middle is RWRP. Additionally, I have a two way switch for splitting the custom custom. That covers all the bases I need and could run it for an entire gig if I wanted. I had a Hybrid in the bridge for a while, and even put an A2 in the hybrid, but I prefer the Custom Custom.

 

[donaldr]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

SSL1n/SSL1m/Screamin Demon? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-xkwOtdvRM

 

[DKSEARS]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

I have an original series Fender Sambora Strat which came with two Texas Specials and what was supposed to be a “PAF Pro” but looked and sounded very little like a PAF Pro.

Anyway, I kept it this way for number of years, but never played it much because the humbucker was well out of proportion to the singles and it had this weird honk to it that I didn’t like.

About two years ago, I swapped the humbucker for a PAF Master for the bridge and haven’t looked back. It has a much nicer balance to the single coils and still leans toward the vintage output side and plays well with all my amps.


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[zionstrat]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

When I sync HSS I think about a performance guitar that can get most sounds at the flip of a switch.

So I would second the custom custom for the bridge. JB could work if you were looking for a very authentic second position but you always have to deal with the upper mid-range.

My favorite single size pups for a HSS strat is cool rails in the neck and DiMarzio Cruiser in the middle for many reasons.

Yes they are rails however they aren't metal...they have a distinctive and clean sound of their own and of course they are humbucking which is very important for gigs.

However if you add a parallel to self on the cool rail you get a very strati sound and it remains humbucking. The DiMarzio is low output which greatly enhances quack in the 2 and 4 positions. I rarely use the middle strat pickup by itself however the cruiser is so clean that I will often mix it with my bridge piezo for a more convincing acoustic tone.

Another great trick with the cool rail and Cruiser is spin a split. Both of those pickups sound very straty when you've rolled off about three-quarters of the second rail. surprisingly they stay pretty humbucking except in the worst environments.


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[Mincer]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

I did an interesting take on a Fat Strat with this wiring. I used a 59/Custom Hybrid, Five Two and Classic Stack, and all positions were hum-cancelling.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Pickup suggestions for my Fat Strat......

Dave thanks for reposting that. I remember reading this long ago and glad you refreshed my memory.

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