Putting Little 59 in American Stand Strat bridge... 250k or 500k push-pull volume?

[skiltrip]

Just ordered a Little 59 for my American Standard Strat. I'm going to be keeping the stock Fat 50 single coils in the neck and middle positions.

In regards to the tone control, I'm leaving the stock pot, as it's the Delta tone control, and 10 bypasses the tone circuit. But I'm considering picking up an Alpha push-pull volume pot so I can switch the Little 59 to single coil mode. Should I be looking at a 250k or 500k pot? The age old concern is ending up with something that makes my single coils to bright, or my humbucker to dark. Thanks.

 

[9unslin9er]

Re: Putting Little 59 in American Stand Strat bridge... 250k or 500k push-pull volume

Just use the stock 250k.

It'll help the bridge position from being too shrill.

Alpha pots suck IMO. Don't bother splitting the '59. It won't sound like a single coil. Waste of time/money.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Putting Little 59 in American Stand Strat bridge... 250k or 500k push-pull volume

My recommendation to anyone installing a new pickup is to try it first with whatever electronics you have in the guitar already instead of assuming you automatically have to change pot/cap values. Sometimes the wood in your guitar will counterbalance whatever negative effect the existing pots/caps have on tone.

It's embarrassing to buy the extra electronics -- or to even swap with pots/caps you have on hand already -- only to find out that it sounded best, or at least better, with your original harness.

 

[skiltrip]

Re: Putting Little 59 in American Stand Strat bridge... 250k or 500k push-pull volume

Just use the stock 250k.

It'll help the bridge position from being too shrill.

Alpha pots suck IMO. Don't bother splitting the '59. It won't sound like a single coil. Waste of time/money.

Thanks. Yeah, my gut says just put it in and rock it like I would have back in the days before I knew too much. I've swapped out a bunch of pickups over the years and never once considered (or knew much about) pot values, etc.

 

[9unslin9er]

Re: Putting Little 59 in American Stand Strat bridge... 250k or 500k push-pull volume

Well...sometimes it's really important.

e.g., Gibson uses 300k volume pots in a lot of their modern Les Pauls. I guess, to give them a more vintage tone in the absence of capacitors.

Swapping in thick juicy pickups without changing those first is a big no-no.

 

[skiltrip]

Re: Putting Little 59 in American Stand Strat bridge... 250k or 500k push-pull volume

I put in the Little 59 last night. Not a terribly difficult install. I used all the stock pots and honestly I'm not disliking anything. It's plenty bright wide open and even with the tone rolled back it sounds good. Another thing that I can't say for all my guitars, is that rolling the volume down on the Little 59 doesn't get muddy at all. It just cleans up while retaining clarity. It's definitely a more mid-forward pickup than I'm used to, but it's in no way harsh or unpleasant. It's a very focused and present sounding pickup. I haven't used it full volume full band yet but I can see it cutting through the mix very well. It definitely has less output than my SG with Gibson pickups, but again, not a bad thing. I can get the gain up on the Little 59 to compensate, and the fortunate side effect is that it doesn't sound as Metal. Definitely more rock. I can dial out a bit of the mid hump with the mid control on my Wampler Sovereign. I'm very pleased so far. I miss my single coil tone a bit, but the humbucker is honestly the more useful tone to me right now. Very cool to hear this Strat rock!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Putting Little 59 in American Stand Strat bridge... 250k or 500k push-pull volume

A Lil' 59 doesn't sound very good at all when split, IMO, but sounds pretty good and single-coilish in parallel. In fact, it sounds so mid heavy in standard series mode that I wired mine permanently in parallel.

Installing a p/p switch to change from series to parallel is a great option that I think you will use alot.

Here's how you would wire the p/p switch in case you decide to give it a try:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=1h_1v_1t_sp