STL-2 questions

[Supernautilus]

I pulled an old STL-2 Hot Tele bridge pickup out of a box this weekend and slapped it into my Tele Custom just for kicks. Had a few questions for you folks if you don't mind.

1) With 250K pots it seemed really dark sounding out of the gate. Last time I had this in my Tele was probably around 2010 so I can't really remember what it sounded like before. I swapped in some 500K pots for both volume and tone and that made it sound much better. However, a quick google search showed people recommending 250K. Can pickups get dark sounding with age? Or is this naturally just a dark pickup?

2) Anyone ever try to put a bottom plate on this thing? Just wondering how it would sound. Or if it's even possible.

3) If you guys were to match a neck humbucker to the STL-2, what would it be? I got a Seth Lover in there now but it's not really doing the trick. The STL-2 is pretty high gain so I think I need something a little hotter than the SL. Just looking for opinions.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks guys.

 

[hamerfan]

1. Use any pot value you like with it. I use 1meg and a noload tone pot on my Tele.
2. The bottom plate is highly overrated. It changes sound in the wrong direction for you (it increases the induction) and gives the chances of feedback, if not done right
3. Thats a bit tricky indeed. Look at the website of Zhangbucker (humbuckers) or Cavalier pickups (single coils). They are specialised in this field.
Hope that helps.

 

[jeremy]

pups dont usually darken with age unless something messes with the magnets. the stl2 is a darker sounding pup. lots more turns on there to get higher output which typically will give a darker/warmer tone. some people like that rolled off treble response, i prefer that pup with 500k pots. same with the qp. as hamerfan said, you might be able to add a baseplate but it will make the pup even darker sounding so probably not a good idea.

is it the output or the tone of the sl that you dont find matches up well? have you tried raising the neck pup closer to the strings?

 

[Supernautilus]

pups dont usually darken with age unless something messes with the magnets. the stl2 is a darker sounding pup. lots more turns on there to get higher output which typically will give a darker/warmer tone. some people like that rolled off treble response, i prefer that pup with 500k pots. same with the qp. as hamerfan said, you might be able to add a baseplate but it will make the pup even darker sounding so probably not a good idea.

is it the output or the tone of the sl that you dont find matches up well? have you tried raising the neck pup closer to the strings?

Mainly the output. I have an A4 mag in the SL right now. If I put an A5 or UOA5 mag in there do you think it would match up with the STL-2 better in terms of volume and tone?

 

[jeremy]

a5 would up the output, uoa5 wouldnt