Single coil sized humbucker for Strat

K

Kinight Templar

New member
Hello folks, my first post here!
Currently I have my eyes on a MIJ Strat(maple neck+board and alder body) and if I buy it I am gonna replace the bridge pup so I can have a fuller and warmer tone for classic rock, instrumentals (think Eric Johnson), and some prog (Pink Floyd, Marillion). I am not looking for hot pickups but just to make the strat sounds fuller and warmer, and that's it. Duncans, Dimarzios, whatever.
What do you guys recommend?

Thank you very much!
 
Re: Single coil sized humbucker for Strat

Welcome to the forum.

I suggest that you replace all three MIJ pickups with something American.

Right now, I am having enormous fun with a set of Fender Custom '54 single coils in a mongrel MIM alder/maple Stratocaster.

My personal favourite combinations tend to involve a Twangbanger bridge pickup. Since you have expressed a preference for a single-coil-sized humbucker, I am going to agree with DMyers77 on the Li'l '59 and add my own suggestion of the Li'l Screaming Demon.
 
Re: Single coil sized humbucker for Strat

Dimarzio Fastrack II in the bridge and JB jr's for neck and middle.
 
Re: Single coil sized humbucker for Strat

Kinight Templar said:
a fuller and warmer tone for classic rock, instrumentals (think Eric Johnson), and some prog (Pink Floyd, Marillion).
Click to expand...

Slight irony. You want "warmer, fuller" guitar tones and cite Gilmour and Rothery as examples. Problem is, they have both spent much of the last twenty five years playing Stratocasters fitted with "cold, sterile" EMG pickups! ;)
 
Re: Single coil sized humbucker for Strat

idsnowdog said:
Dimarzio Fastrack II in the bridge and JB jr's for neck and middle.
Click to expand...

I would always recommend keeping the middle a low output single coil. It just allows more tonal options. And it's cheaper too! Leave the middle single coil you already have, and upgrade the other two with the suggestions you get here.

Unless you use the middle pickup on it's own a LOT.
 
Re: Single coil sized humbucker for Strat

The little screamin demon is very nice, and it sounds very close to the full-size one.

I didn't like the little 59 for Strat. It sounds kinda PAFish but it has not a single bit of the special character that the full-size '59 has over e.g. a Jazz.
 
Re: Single coil sized humbucker for Strat

Funkfingers said:
Slight irony. You want "warmer, fuller" guitar tones and cite Gilmour and Rothery as examples. Problem is, they have both spent much of the last twenty five years playing Stratocasters fitted with "cold, sterile" EMG pickups! ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you for your suggestion. I cited those guys as what I wanna play instead of their respective tones. My goal of changing the strat bridge pickup is to make the tone sound warmer and fuller, since the original bridge pickup is very bright and sharp(well with maple fingerboard and 3 layers of maple top on the alder body, it's gonna be bright!).
But I am not interested in hot pickups or anything aggressive. I have my Yamaha RGXTT for that.
As for neck and middle pickups, I don't think I will change those since they sound fine to my ears.

Anyway thank you guys for the suggestions.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top