pickups for alder strat

[jimmy_s]

I have an American series strat, alder body and maple neck/fretboard, with tremolo bridge. I was thinking about installing two humbuckers, a JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck.

I have read mixed reviews of these pickups in an alder strat though. Some people like them and others say they are too bright. What are your opinions?

I play a bit of punk, classic rock and a bit of blues. Are these pickups suited to these styles? If not what would you recommend?

I would also like the pickups to have a nice clean sound too.

I currently have the AmSe stock single coils in, which I quite like, but just want something a bit more meatier. I definately want proper humbuckers rather than single coil sized pickups.

My amp is a Marshall 40w DSL, would this effect my choice in pickups?

Any help/advice would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[Farkus]

Re: pickups for alder strat

Jimmy,

Welcome to the forum!

First of all, what style of music do you play? I play rock/metal, so all of my comments will be based on that.

I think that the JB is a great choice in the bridge of an American Strat. Right now, I'm using a custom 5 in the bridge of my favorite one, but I almost always gravitate back to the JB.

In terms of the neck position, I use a Pearly Gates in the the neck (PGn). It's an alnico II magnet-based pickup. In terms of using a 59 neck, I have no experience with that pickup. There are many folks here that do, however, and they can chime on that that one.

I set my 2 humbucking guitars up to fit my way of playing, which is warm soloing tone in the neck and tighter, brighter rhythm/soloing in the bridge. So, if you don't play that way, your mileage may vary. I also use a DSL Marshall, but mine is the 100 watt head version. Even though I'm not a huge fan of the amp, my JB equipped axes are the best sounding (of my little collection) through it.

Hope this helps,
Mark

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: pickups for alder strat

Is your guitar already routed so you put two humbuckers in it? Or do you plan on cutting it up so you can fit them in? Lew

 

[Farkus]

Re: pickups for alder strat

Is your guitar already routed so you put two humbuckers in it? Or do you plan on cutting it up so you can fit them in? Lew

Current American Series axes are routed H-S-H (full sized humbuckers) by design. This is different from the American Standard Series which used the 'swimming pool' route, which could even accept H-H-H (full sized humbuckers).

So, if he has an American guitar made in the last few years, he's in good shape, unless it's a signature series or another special edition. For example, the Malmsteen Strat body I'm working on right now has a S-S-S route so that it's 'vintage correct'. I believe that the 57/62 series is also still S-S-S, but I haven't owned one for a few years, so I'm not 100% sure about that.

Of course, the only way to be 100% sure what your route is (especially if you may have one the makes I described above) is to pop the pickguard off and look.


Mark

 

[frankencat]

Re: pickups for alder strat

Welcom to the forum!

I use Pearly Gates (not the plus) in the bridge of my alder Strats and it is perfect in every way for a Strat.

P.S. I was doing this before Fender starting putting the PG+ in there so I guess I must have hit on something. LOL

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: pickups for alder strat

Current American Series axes are routed H-S-H (full sized humbuckers) by design. This is different from the American Standard Series which used the 'swimming pool' route, which could even accept H-H-H (full sized humbuckers).

So, if he has an American guitar made in the last few years, he's in good shape, unless it's a signature series or another special edition. For example, the Malmsteen Strat body I'm working on right now has a S-S-S route so that it's 'vintage correct'. I believe that the 57/62 series is also still S-S-S, but I haven't owned one for a few years, so I'm not 100% sure about that.

Of course, the only way to be 100% sure what your route is (especially if you may have one the makes I described above) is to pop the pickguard off and look.


Mark

Cool! If that's the case then the 59N (or Jazz N) and a JB would be an excellant choice for a Strat to be used for rock and roll.

The JB is a little stronger than I prefer and both the Jazz N and 59N have a little more bass than I need...I like a completely clear and unmuddy tone from my neck pickup for chords and rythym.

So I use the Pearly Gates neck and 59 Trembucker in my Strat. But I'm a blues and R & B kind of guy...not a hard rocker.

The 59N (or Jazz N) & JB will also yield very good single coil tones if you split them. The 59N & JB is my favorite set of humbuckers for splitting into single coils.

Lew

 

[jimmy_s]

Re: pickups for alder strat

Thanks for the replies.

I have an American Series, made in 2003/2004.

I wanted to confirm the H-S-H routing myself so I actually took the pickguard off a few days ago and it is routed H-S-H, so its able to accept humbuckers.

I play various music styles, started off playing american punk (green day, weezer, etc), and classic british rock (the who, stones, etc) and also like to play hendrix and a lot of mellower stuff like Luna and some blues too.

I play mainly rythm, as I am not too good at lead guitar, but can play a bit!

I have just listened to the audio samples again and looked at the specs for the pickups and think that the pearly gates sound a bit nicer to me than the 59n, so I think I will get a PGn, but still am not sure on a bridge pickup.

If I got a JB bridge, would it drowned out the PGn when using both pickups together, cos it has nearly doulbe the output of the PGn?

If so, what could be done to get them to sound more even?

For the bridge i would need to get a trembucker right? So the poles correctly align to the strings at the bridge?

Thanks

 

[Farkus]

Re: pickups for alder strat

I don't use trembuckers on my Strats-I personally don't think it's a big deal, but others may disagree.

IMO, I like the JB with the PGn. The Custom5 works well with it, too. If you go to the tips and clips threads, many times you'll find sound samples of the various pickups.

Good luck!
Mark

 

[jimmy_s]

Re: pickups for alder strat

From the replies and info i have found from searching the forums, I think i will go for a JBb and a PGn.

What about the output levels? Would the JB be louder than the PG?
And if both pups are used together would the JB drowned out the PG?

I am going to install two tone pots, should i also install two volume pots?
Would this help?

What size pots do you recommend?
On the schematics on the SD site it says to use 500k pots for both volume and tone controls. What difference would using 250k pots make?

And finally which pots should I use audio taper or liear?

Thanks

 

[jimmy_s]

Re: pickups for alder strat

bump...

 

[Woodcutter]

Re: pickups for alder strat

adjust the the pickup hieght untill they sound right to you. I use a JB and Cool rails in my strat and raised the CR to make up for its lower output.

 

[Farkus]

Re: pickups for alder strat

Don't worry, the JB and PG will work well together. Adjust the JB to where you like it, then adjust the PG neck to suit. They're an excellent combo!

Mark