Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

[PINKBITS]

G'day lads. Been a long time lurker of this forum and thought it about time I actually joined.

What I really like about this forum is the advice provided. Always excellent.

Anyhow, I am in the process of chasing the "ultimate strat tone" for my 08 American Standard.

I've got two of Fender Custom shop 69's and a Dimarzio Super D in my other 1994 deluxe which are fantastic but on this axe I want true vintage for that real 62 type tone. You guys now, chime, bell like, quak etc. I am going to use this Strat primarily for clean tones ala Frusciante, Hendrix, Knofler etc.

I was pretty set on the Antiquity Surfers and then I stubbled across these.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260341621969

This guy seems to put a lot of effort in trying to create something special and he is also a fellow Aussie.

What do you guys think?

I should mention too as it obviously has an impact but I play through a Laney GH50L all tube head and a Laney Celestion v30 loaded cab.

I know the "ultimate strat tone" is of course different for everyone but any help/suggestions would be fantastic.

Thank you.

 

[Farkus]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Well, the auction ended...did you buy them?

I have a set of Ant I's for Strat but have never gotten around to installing them. From what I understand they're great. Of course, if you wanted the 60's tone I guess you'd be getting the A5 Antiquity II strat pickups.

My favorite Strat pickups for vintage tones are Chubtone pickups...the winder isn't making them anymore but you can sometimes find a set on Ebay. I love the 63 set with an 'El Gordo' bridge.

If you're gonna play some overdriven material, I'd suggest at least looking at Duncan 5/2's. They have the great, bell-like tone on the bass strings (A5 mags on the 3 low strings) but have a smoother top end (top three strings use A2 mags) without being too dark. I love them for distortion/OD tones and they still sound great clean as well.

 

[PINKBITS]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Well, the auction ended...did you buy them?

I have a set of Ant I's for Strat but have never gotten around to installing them. From what I understand they're great. Of course, if you wanted the 60's tone I guess you'd be getting the A5 Antiquity II strat pickups.

My favorite Strat pickups for vintage tones are Chubtone pickups...the winder isn't making them anymore but you can sometimes find a set on Ebay. I love the 63 set with an 'El Gordo' bridge.

If you're gonna play some overdriven material, I'd suggest at least looking at Duncan 5/2's. They have the great, bell-like tone on the bass strings (A5 mags on the 3 low strings) but have a smoother top end (top three strings use A2 mags) without being too dark. I love them for distortion/OD tones and they still sound great clean as well.

Nup, didn't buy em. He lists them on a regular basis. I have had my eye on them for a little while. Don't want to rush into a decision. I have wasted plenty of money on pu's over the last 12 months. :smack:

I am still very interested in the antiquities. I had a set of Antiquity Texas hots in an Edwards John Frusciante strat replica last year. They were nice.

 

[Ark]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Well, the auction ended...did you buy them?

I have a set of Ant I's for Strat but have never gotten around to installing them. From what I understand they're great. Of course, if you wanted the 60's tone I guess you'd be getting the A5 Antiquity II strat pickups.

My favorite Strat pickups for vintage tones are Chubtone pickups...the winder isn't making them anymore but you can sometimes find a set on Ebay. I love the 63 set with an 'El Gordo' bridge.

If you're gonna play some overdriven material, I'd suggest at least looking at Duncan 5/2's. They have the great, bell-like tone on the bass strings (A5 mags on the 3 low strings) but have a smoother top end (top three strings use A2 mags) without being too dark. I love them for distortion/OD tones and they still sound great clean as well.

I didn't know that 5/2 had to do with mixing magnets, what a great idea!!!

I may have to try some

 

[PINKBITS]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Well, the auction ended...did you buy them?

I have a set of Ant I's for Strat but have never gotten around to installing them. From what I understand they're great. Of course, if you wanted the 60's tone I guess you'd be getting the A5 Antiquity II strat pickups.

My favorite Strat pickups for vintage tones are Chubtone pickups...the winder isn't making them anymore but you can sometimes find a set on Ebay. I love the 63 set with an 'El Gordo' bridge.

If you're gonna play some overdriven material, I'd suggest at least looking at Duncan 5/2's. They have the great, bell-like tone on the bass strings (A5 mags on the 3 low strings) but have a smoother top end (top three strings use A2 mags) without being too dark. I love them for distortion/OD tones and they still sound great clean as well.

I did not know this. Interesting.

 

[Farkus]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

I didn't know that 5/2 had to do with mixing magnets, what a great idea!!!

I may have to try some

I have a set in my '76 Strat and they are just perfect there. IMHO these do great for material like Floyd. Very underrated pickups...I don't see many folks here talking about them but they really cure the 'icepicky' tone I was getting on the treble strings of that Strat.

 

[Peter Crossley]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Hi there Pink,

If you are after really good custom strat pickups, Mick Brierley in Adelaide hand winds them.
He builds nearly all of my pickups, and all my customers are pretty stoked with the sound.
Give him a try, PM me if you want for his contact details
Cheers
Pete

 

[Farkus]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Not to hijack the thread Peter but your guitars are stunning. If they sound half as good as they look...well, let's just say I'd love to have one!

To the OP, what pickups have you tried and not liked? That might help give you more recommendations if you want them.

 

[PINKBITS]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Hi there Pink,

If you are after really good custom strat pickups, Mick Brierley in Adelaide hand winds them.
He builds nearly all of my pickups, and all my customers are pretty stoked with the sound.
Give him a try, PM me if you want for his contact details
Cheers
Pete

I am. Will PM. Thank you very much for the offer.

 

[PINKBITS]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Not to hijack the thread Peter but your guitars are stunning. If they sound half as good as they look...well, let's just say I'd love to have one!

To the OP, what pickups have you tried and not liked? That might help give you more recommendations if you want them.

It's not so much tried and not liked, but tried and there was just something missing. Or I should also say a quality they didn't have that I would like in this new project.

Best Strat pu's I have tried so far are CS69'S and Antiquity Texas hots.

I love the cs69's for that bluesy, woody, raw type sound. They are fantisic pu's and I still have them in another strat.

I really liked the texas hots too but they were a tad dark and missing a certain spank about them. As you guys know it's incredibly difficult to describe the tones in your head.

I want this axe to be really refined if that makes any sense. I love to play Frusciante, Hendrix, Knofler, Pink Floyd etc.

I obviously realise that pu's are only part of the story, but they certainly do help.


This is what they will be going into. Just a classic colour combo IMO.

Not my actual guitar but exactly the same.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Looks like he basically takes about the same amount of care as the other boutique makers do.

It is my opinion that for some boutique makers the hand-made pickups just come out better than regular production pickups. To my ears it is most noticeable with Seymour Duncan Custom Shop (including Antiquity) and WCR. They are just better and I don't even care why. Other boutique makers are in between so far.

Having said that, I notice a large difference with humbuckers. With Strat pickups I notice less of a difference between a SSL-1 and a surfer than between an APH and an Ant humbuckers. I also think the difference between SSL-1 and APS-1 is less than between e.g. APH and 59, so maybe I'm just not properly trained for Strats.

I think the overall verdict is that I recommend getting boutique pickups but do not expect that just because something is hand-made it must be better.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

for these tones "Frusciante, Hendrix, Knofler, Pink Floyd" i would suggest antiquity II surfers for the neck and middle for sure. the texas hots are great but the alnico 2 magnets arent the classic strat sound and thats what you want for those guys you listed.

for the bridge it depends on what you are looking for. the antiquity II custom, ssl5 or 6, texas hot custom, 5/2 bridge or if you want to get the best strat bridge pup ever (besides the stratbro90 which i havent heard yet) get the custom shop tapped alnico II tele lead for strat. its really expensive but it kicks so much ass

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

for these tones "Frusciante, Hendrix, Knofler, Pink Floyd" i would suggest antiquity II surfers for the neck and middle for sure. the texas hots are great but the alnico 2 magnets arent the classic strat sound and thats what you want for those guys you listed.

for the bridge it depends on what you are looking for. the antiquity II custom, ssl5 or 6, texas hot custom, 5/2 bridge or if you want to get the best strat bridge pup ever (besides the stratbro90 which i havent heard yet) get the custom shop tapped alnico II tele lead for strat. its really expensive but it kicks so much ass

That's what I use: two Surfers and a CS tapped alnico 2 Tele lead in my favorite Strat.

I've never heard a better Strat pickup for the neck and middle than the Ant Surfers. And never heard a better pickup for the bridge than an Ant Texas Hot or the CS tapped alnico 2 Tele lead.

Honestly: the Surfers are even better than the original pickups in my original '63 Strat and just as good as the pickups in the best vintage Strat I ever lived with and had a chance to play everyday: my stepbrother Bob's original '62 Strat.

Lew

 

[PINKBITS]

Re: Slider's hand would Strat pickups. What say the Strat Guru's

Thanks for the replies guys. I do really like the look of the antiquity surfers. I can't say I'd heard of the cs tapped tele pu. I'll check that one out for sure.