Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

[gnoleb]

Hi Forum,

It has been awhile but you folks led me to a good choice a few times before, so hopefully you still feel helpful.

I have a fantastic playing 94 Strat Ultra (ebony fretboard, LSR nut), but I'm getting more and more unhappy with the Lace Sensor pickups in it. They aren't terrible, I suppose, but I'm just not getting that neck/middle cluck, a bit of throaty neck pickup, and the dually reds in the bridge are pretty standard HB sounding without any sizzle. The cleans could use more character and the dirty feels like its missing some guts.

I've been thinking about getting something like Classic Stacks in the neck and mid (or maybe the Area '69 Dimarzios) and a '78 Model from the Custom shop in the bridge. I'm looking for something like some classic strat neck with that neck/middle sound, and then something hotter in the bridge to go with my setup of a Orange Dual Terror and a Mesa DC-5 Head. Something in the bridge that sounds great with distorted chords.

Thoughts?

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

I guess it would depend on how hot you want the bridge pickup. I'm not sure how well it would work with an ebony board, but I would try a 59/Custom Hybrid paired with 2 SSL-2s. A classic rock voiced humbucker with a bit of extra grunt that splits really nicely married to 2 classic voiced Strat pickups.


Sent from my TARDIS using timey-wimey talk.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

I am with you on the Classic Stacks. For more sizzle in your Strat, take a look at the Pearly Gates and the 59/Custom Hybrid, which are a little more sizzly than a 78. You'll probably gain some touch sensitivity at well, as those 2 are probably lower output than your Dually.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

The Duncan '78 is generally/often/maybe too aggressive to use with a guitar that has a tremolo with a sustain block. It can be too thin.

If you want something PAF like for a trem guitar I would start the search at the Pearly Gator.

You seem to want noiseless for middle/neck. Still, as a measure so that you don't second-guess yourself over the stacks for the rest of your natural life I would recommend that you get a beaten set of SSL-1s off ebay and record them once before moving on to hum-canceling pickups.

 

[Natman]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

Hi Forum,

It has been awhile but you folks led me to a good choice a few times before, so hopefully you still feel helpful.

I have a fantastic playing 94 Strat Ultra (ebony fretboard, LSR nut), but I'm getting more and more unhappy with the Lace Sensor pickups in it. They aren't terrible, I suppose, but I'm just not getting that neck/middle cluck, a bit of throaty neck pickup, and the dually reds in the bridge are pretty standard HB sounding without any sizzle. The cleans could use more character and the dirty feels like its missing some guts.

I've been thinking about getting something like Classic Stacks in the neck and mid (or maybe the Area '69 Dimarzios) and a '78 Model from the Custom shop in the bridge. I'm looking for something like some classic strat neck with that neck/middle sound, and then something hotter in the bridge to go with my setup of a Orange Dual Terror and a Mesa DC-5 Head. Something in the bridge that sounds great with distorted chords.

Thoughts?

Hey man, a Strat Ultra was my first serious Fender back in 1997. I LOVED that thing but like you I got tired of it not sounding like a proper strat.

First, I tried a full set of four Duncan SSL-5s, including RWRP at middle and one for bridge to get hum cenceling. It worked but those have the overwound tone; nice & strong but there are other ways of getting beef. I kept thinking that the middle and bridge pickups need to be in the right positions to get authentic in-between tones. So...

Next I went for a standard pickguard and Van Zandt Blues. They were superb and they stayed in there until I sold the guitar around 2003.

Along the way I tried Lace Hot Golds and liked the tone MUCH better than any of the other colors (red, blue, gold). I also had a Noiseless set in a Deluxe strat (hated with passion) and I owned a set of Bill Lawrences (280/200/298).

I built another partscaster in 2012 which ended up with Onamac 50s wind pickups. I did start to miss that Ultra though...

Fast-forward to fall 2014, I built myself a faux-Ultra from parts. It is really more of a Jeff Beck model as I chose Lace Visionaries which are regular Golds with clear covers. I am now satisfied that I have been through enough strat pickups to know what's what.

I recommend the Lace Hot Golds if you like anything about the Sensors. They keep the noise down and sound terrific with dirt for some reason.

If you really want true cluck, you need alnico rod magnets under the strings. There's no getting around it.

HOWEVER of all the above, regular Gold Sensors have the most authentic strat tone aside from actual single coils.

My recommendation if you put a real humbucker in the bridge is a SH16. It destroys the rest in terms of lively responsiveness and good cleans -read: dynamics!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

if you want humcancelling then i suggest duncan classic stack + in neck and middle. ive had stack+ pups in two guitars basically since they came out and really like them. if you dont need humcancelling then i would suggest ssl2 vintage flats for the neck and middle, great vintage tone with flat poles. im a huge fan of the pearly gates in the bridge with single coils in the middle and neck. the tonality matches better than many pups when using 250k pots

 

[J E C]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

The Duncan '78 is generally/often/maybe too aggressive to use with a guitar that has a tremolo with a sustain block. It can be too thin.

If you want something PAF like for a trem guitar I would start the search at the Pearly Gator.

Sorry but, I will have to disagree with part of this. I have a 78 in one guitar with a Gotoh Floyd, and a C/59 with an UOA5 in another guitar with a OFR that has a FU Big Block. Both guitars are 25.5" scale. I play both of them through a Mesa Mark V, clean and over driven. I definitely do not find either one of them to be thin, or to aggressive.

 

[gnoleb]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

I am with you on the Classic Stacks. For more sizzle in your Strat, take a look at the Pearly Gates and the 59/Custom Hybrid, which are a little more sizzly than a 78. You'll probably gain some touch sensitivity at well, as those 2 are probably lower output than your Dually.

I have the 59/Custom Hybrid in my PRS Mikael Åkerfeldt guitar (on this forums' recommendation!). I do like it in that guitar, but I thought its treble aggressiveness there (which balances out an LP style guitar) might be too pokey in this strat. The Pearly Gates might be interesting.

I would recommend that you get a beaten set of SSL-1s off ebay and record them once before moving on to hum-canceling pickups.

I had a set of custom 50's in a guitar I no longer have (didn't play well). I'm just not a fan of the noise/hum

If you really want true cluck, you need alnico rod magnets under the strings. There's no getting around it.

That's pretty much where I'm at. I've seen some videos of the Dimarzio Area '67s sounsing pretty convincing in positions 2 and 4. There is less video evidence of the Classic Start Pluses, but I've had better luck with SDs meeting my personal tone taste than Dimarzios (but I'm not opposed).

im a huge fan of the pearly gates in the bridge with single coils in the middle and neck.

That's another suggestion for the Pearly Gates. I guess I should check it out. I can say I'm not a big fan of the JB in a strat bridge. A band mate of mine had one like that and not only did I not like how I sounded with it, I didn't like how he sounded with it. To me, it is just "compressed", generic (its part of that sound you hear in music people don't care about, like a guitar solo in a commercial"), and a little too much "hair". To that degree, the Custom 59/Hybrid is way, way better, much more responsive and with guts without losing dynamics or just not working well with a volume pedal (my personal feeling about the JB is that it sounds bad at "7").

Is the Pearly Gates similar to the JB? Because I'm likely not going to be a fan if it is.

 

[gnoleb]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

Experiment 1 didn't go so well. I tried two SSL-1s and the '59/custom from my other guitar. I really can't take the noise of the SSL-1s with an overdrive one (an OCD or Wampler Plexi), and the bridge has too much treble bite when EQ settings are optimal for the single coils. I can get it to sound nicer if I tone down the treble at the amp (but not with the TBX, unfortunately, it just loses bass), but then the single coils sound dark and I can't get those neck and neck/mid sounds I want. I guess I could try a traditional tone knob and keep it tapered to just the bridge, but I actually kinda like the TBX sometimes (its my Discumboblulator's best friend) so I'm reluctant to lose it.

I'm not sure whether to swap the single coils or the HB first? I guess the single coils since I don't like the hum.

 

[Leon Of Late]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

One thing is for sure, the JB and the Pearly Gates are nowhere in the same ballpark. I'm not even sure that "night and day different" is far enough apart. Now, the Pearly Gates has a little sizzle and treble bite, even in a Les Paul. I had a PGn in the neck of a double fat strat and loved it there, but always went for something fatter in the bridge.

However, if Jeremy says it sounds good in the bridge of a strat, you can take that to the bank. It's top end sizzle will pair well with vintage single coils.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Recommendations for a Strat Ultra

Swap the singles first. It is what makes it a Strat, really. The unique construction of the Ultra isn't going to sound like a traditional Strat 100%, but that is OK. I still think the Classic Stack Pluses would be great in there. You might look at a Custom Custom for the bridge, which might counteract the brightness of the ebony.