Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

[Guitar Toad]

What pup and amps do you use most when you're really going after bright chimey tones? What about amps settings? I have a set of Texas Hots which are not the best for bright chime. But, When I do try to get a really bright tone from them I need to really crank the vol and gain on my Reverend Hellhound. Then, I need to roll back the guitars volume to 5 to get the brightest tone to ease the amps breakup. Rolling the amps gain helps a bit also of course.

When you go for bright tones with surfers or other pups and plug into a Fender amp I'm guessing it must be lots easier to get bright tones at lower volume settings. I need to haul my guitar down to the local guitar shop to see how it would sound through a DR or SR or other Fender amp.

How do Fender amps behave when going for a bright tone at low and high volumes? Does early breakup always work against the bright bell chime tones? Is it easier to get a nice bright tone at practice volume and tougher at gigging volumes?

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

Vintage output, A5 mag for the classic glassy Strat tones(ssl-1,surfer, fat 50's etc.). If you raise the output on the pup you start losing high end, same with an A2 mag.

As far as amps, I've never had trouble getting chime with vintage style pups, even through Boogies. Almost any good tube amp will get the tone you are looking for, although some will be harder to dial in.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

That's why the vast majority of vintage spec strat pickups are Alnico 5. I'll be honest, I'm not really big on Alnico II for single coils. As for amps, as long as it's a tube amp, single coils sound fine. I like EL-34's for woodiness, 6L6's for big bell tones, 6V6's for early breakup, and EL-84's for harmonically rich single notes and chimey chords.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

When I had the stock A5 Tex Mex pickups it was tough to get a bright chime even from those. I guess they were a bit hotter than stock standard/vintage strat pups. Either my guitar is not very bright or the amps a darker sounding amp. The Texas Hot's that I have are about as bright as the Tex Mex's were, but the TH's just sound rounder and fuller and better, but not any more or less bright.

Which do you think is the bigger factor here? It seems to me that a different amp might give a brighter tone. Is that a fair conclusion?

 

[Dave]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

I have a set of Texas Hots which are not the best for bright chime.

I was playing tonight and thought the same thing..a bit. I'll admit, sometimes I'd like a bit more glass/chime, but I'm kind of an a2 fan. I'll probably change the cap in my guitar to a 22 or so to see if that works out.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

I was playing tonight and thought the same thing..a bit. I'll admit, sometimes I'd like a bit more glass/chime, but I'm kind of an a2 fan. I'll probably change the cap in my guitar to a 22 or so to see if that works out.

Mine has the 22 in already. I wondered about changing it to a 15 or smaller to see what effect that would have. I wonder if that would brighten it up very much.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

I have 3 Strats. One (57 RI) equipped with Texas Hots. They are not as Chimey as the Fender Tex Mex PUPS I had previously had in this guitar. I also play thru a SF Super Reverb (68) and a Deluxe Reverb (67). The Super with the Texas Hots gives me plenty of chime. THe Deluxe breaks up to quickly IMO. The other 2 Strats I have are EC Strats, stock with Lace sensors. Some people don't like the LS PUPS. For me they work fine. I get really good high end with them and the TBX tone controll allows me to roll of the treble nicely when I need to. Point is a good Fender amp will get you where you want to go!

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

What pup and amps do you use most when you're really going after bright chimey tones? What about amps settings? I have a set of Texas Hots which are not the best for bright chime. But, When I do try to get a really bright tone from them I need to really crank the vol and gain on my Reverend Hellhound. Then, I need to roll back the guitars volume to 5 to get the brightest tone to ease the amps breakup. Rolling the amps gain helps a bit also of course.

Me? When I do, which isn't often, it's usually a USA Strat into a Fender amp of some sort, usually Fender Twin Reverb.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Q. for guys who love bright strat tones...

The Super with the Texas Hots gives me plenty of chime. THe Deluxe breaks up to quickly IMO.

Bludave, I was hoping you would chime in with some comments on your TH's. You confirm my suspicion that I need a Fender amp. Of course I really already knew it. A Super may be what I need, although I'm hoping to find something a little smaller like a 1x12 combo that can be plugged into an extension cab when I want a bigger sound.

Thanks.

Me? When I do, which isn't often, it's usually a USA Strat into a Fender amp of some sort, usually Fender Twin Reverb.

Do you like lugging a Twin Reverb around?