Please help me understand what I'm looking for (Surfer Custom almost...)

[gunjabeans]

Hello,

I've tried a lot of pickups in my workhorse strat and currently have the Antiquity ii's with custom bridge and am nearly there with the exception of the bridge. I like the tone of the custom bridge when the tone is around 7 and the pickup is raised to almost touching the strings. Of note, I also use a .05uf ceramic cap.

My all-time favorite bridge sound was my USA Jackson Soloist with a JB in the bridge. I tried a real JB in my strat and it was too much power and sounded completely different actually. Much Brighter even with 250k pots. People associate Jacksons with metal but I actually play reggae, rock, and blues, and just need a reliable bridge pickup for crunch and leads.

I'm looking for a pickup that already has the highs rolled off, more output, more compressed, balances nicely with the antiquity ii's, fits in a single coil, and looks like a traditional strat pickup.

What would take the Surfer Custom Bridge there? More windings? A different magnet?

Is there a pickup in production that meets this criteria?

Thanks

 

[gunjabeans]

Re: Please help me understand what I'm looking for (Surfer Custom almost...)

You know what? Chasing tone is like a drug. I'll try to be thankful for what I have.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Please help me understand what I'm looking for (Surfer Custom almost...)

Hot rails bridge is one idea.

There's also the SSL-6 which is similar to the Ant2custombridge thing but hits a bit harder. It'll hum like a mofo, though.

Or a good treble booster.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Please help me understand what I'm looking for (Surfer Custom almost...)

You could always try the Texas hot custom bridge....similar but with an A2 mag for more mids and rolled off treble.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Please help me understand what I'm looking for (Surfer Custom almost...)

I like the Hot Rails idea from what you are describing that sounds like it would be worth a shot.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Please help me understand what I'm looking for (Surfer Custom almost...)

My main strat has a Surfer Custom/Surfers. I also run the bridge a little higher than the neck and middle, but my main thing is Eric Johnson/Jimmie Vaughan wiring.

volume/neck tone/bridge tone, with no tone control attached to the middle. I leave my bridge tone around 8. This gets me where I want a vintage strat to be. I've contemplated waxing a base plate under the bridge pickup to make it more strident, but haven't yet. That's something you could consider.

As for higher output options, Duncan has many, from the SSL-5 to Quarter Pounders a lot of players love if they don't mind the look.

 

[gunjabeans]

Re: Please help me understand what I'm looking for (Surfer Custom almost...)

Very Cool. Thanks for the ideas gentlemen. Gearjoneser, I also have my tones wired like yours! Every once in a while I think about getting a Super Switch so I could still have 1,2,4,&5 the same and then put a Tone on the middle pickup in position 3. I don't want to run through 2 tones in my 2&4 spots. Maybe it's psychological but I always felt the vibe was better the way we have it now.