Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

[jerrydog]

This is mostly copied from my post on TGP. Hoping to get better feedback here.

Meet my custom strat. The neck is fat and chunky maple with rosewood. 12" radius, enormous frets. The body is hardtail ash, but I'm told it's an unusual specimen (I only have previous experience with Alder).

This guitar is open, bright, and cutting. Very good string definition, plenty of clear bass, scooped just a tad. Not TOO bright, but almost. Enough that I have taken measures to balance things out. Notice that there are graphtechs on the G/B/E strings which round out the treble a bit.
As shown - Pickups are SD Alnico Pro II/ Custom Custom, but we're in the process of changing that because it is quite redundant to my #1 guitar.
What I do love about this guitar is the country/blues twang/snap thing - it is what she does best.

What I have been thinking is that I should embrace that quality and milk some serious Tele tones out of this thing. I was considering putting a tele bridge on her. (I am aware of the mechanical complications here - string spacing etc. - my tech is on board and we're up for the challenge.) But for now this idea is on hold.

I put a Set of PhatCats in last night and I am VERY pleased with the neck.
The PhatCat Bridge is okay. Not great. The in-between tones are fantastic.
I am very curious about throwing in a Twangbanger or a Jerry Donahue. (Obviously some pickguard modifications required for these experiements...)
I've seen rave reviews for a PC/JD combo in a tele...

Can anyone compare these pickup options for me?


Looking for Medium or vintage output.
This guitar is plenty bright and snappy on its own. I don't want something too bright... and obviously I don't want mud either. I want some modern country tones/ blues / rock. Sparkling cleans but good under medium to heavy OD.

UPDATE: Upon further review, what I said about the PhatCats is true - but I am only really diggin them with the volume knob at ~6 or 7 or less.
Any ideas what sort of pickup I should look at for a similar effect?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

for balance with the pc, i would look at something hotter but with a tap to get your more vintage tones. the hot or qp would be where i would start. i love the jd though and ive never paired them together but id think the pc neck would be to big and dark by comparison

 

[Richard Irons]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

How about a P-Rails hot bridge?

 

[jerrydog]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

I edited my OP.
I've spent a few hours playing today. And yes, I love the neck PhatCat - but only with my volume knob @ 6/7 or less.
So looks like I could use another neck pickup recommendation as well.

I'm really gravitating to the Alnico II/Jerry Donohue set.
And I would really like to try them in a custom strat pickguard before I get into changing out my bridge. Has anyone tried this?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

where in upstate you at?

when you say alnico II do you mean the alnico II tele neck pup or ?

im not a big fan of tele neck pups but i think the aps2 strat pup with the jd in the bridge would kick all sorts of ass

 

[jerrydog]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

I'm outside Rochester.
I meant the Tele pickups. But I'm in a brainstorm tailspin right now.
This strat is twangy and snappy as is. Maybe I'll try APS strat pickups and fit a JD in the bridge...

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

The SD JD pickup is a T style, three screws on a pentagonal baseplate. The Twangbanger is a direct replacement pickup for Stratocaster. It is supposed to sound like a Telecaster but never entirely hits the spot. (More like S meets T meets P90.)

You could try fitting a Tele pickup in your Strat á la Lowell George. This still will not sound exactly right.

My recommendation is that you get your Tele sounds from a Tele and have your personal Strat sound like something else. How about one of the TV Jones 'Tron style pickups?

 

[jerrydog]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

My only problem with 'Get your Tele sounds from a Tele' is that I already have this fantastic build which is resonant, bright, and full. I just want to harness its mojo with the right pickup configuration.

Right now I'm leaning towards Lowell George style. A Jerry Donahue and an APS-2 for the neck and middle (unless someone has a better suggestion!).
If it doesn't work for me - I'll go ahead and make the modification to install a vintage style Tele bridge. And I can reuse the pickguard by cutting out the outline of the bridge.

 

[Richard Irons]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

Yeah, you're not asking "how can I make my Strat sound like a Tele?", you're asking "My Strat sounds like a Tele - how can I get that into the amp?", right?

Twangbanger is definitely worth a shot, purely because you can drop it in so easily. I'd definitely recommend trying that before you start cutting the guitar. Removing wood and stuff, of course, you risk taking away what's giving the Strat that sound it's got at the moment. It's probably a low risk, but one worth avoiding if it can be done.

 

[RockStarNick]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

My only problem with 'Get your Tele sounds from a Tele' is that I already have this fantastic build which is resonant, bright, and full. I just want to harness its mojo with the right pickup configuration.

Right now I'm leaning towards Lowell George style. A Jerry Donahue and an APS-2 for the neck and middle (unless someone has a better suggestion!).
If it doesn't work for me - I'll go ahead and make the modification to install a vintage style Tele bridge. And I can reuse the pickguard by cutting out the outline of the bridge.

I don't know anything about the specifics of the actual wind, but the Twangbanger and Jerry Donahue both are warmer, beefier Alnico II singles in the upper 7 range.

The APS2 APS2 TwangBanger combo is KILLER in a strat, especially one that is resonant and bright. I use this in my ash strat.

I agree that Id' probably give this combo an honest try before I start hacking away any wood.

 

[jerrydog]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

Yeah, you're not asking "how can I make my Strat sound like a Tele?", you're asking "My Strat sounds like a Tele - how can I get that into the amp?", right?

Precisely!
I'm still leaning towards a JD vs the twangbanger...
The guitar is bathtub routed, impact should be minimal. And this way, should I opt for a full tele bridge later, I will already have the pickup.

I appreciate all the input guys!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

The APS2 APS2 TwangBanger combo is KILLER in a strat, especially one that is resonant and bright. I use this in my ash strat.

I have that exact PU combination in one of my self-assembled Stratocaster type guitars. Ash body, rosewood fingerboard, vintage style bridge with stamped steel saddles. Very enjoyable guitar. Even with a No Load lower tone control, this guitar does not sound exactly like a Telecaster.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

i have the aps2/aps2 twangbanger in a strat and its a great combo.

i still like the lowell george idea of the jd in the bridge. i wouldnt do that on mine since id have to rout but with your situation where you already need to get a new guard and wont need to rout, id totally do it.

 

[RockStarNick]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

Precisely!
I'm still leaning towards a JD vs the twangbanger...
The guitar is bathtub routed, impact should be minimal. And this way, should I opt for a full tele bridge later, I will already have the pickup.

I appreciate all the input guys!

I dig the idea of a JD in the bridge too, BUT.... I doubt that you'll hear much difference between that and the Twangbanger UNTIL you put on a true tele bridge.

The Tele Bridge/3-Saddles combo has a certain magic in it.

If you do go that route, I can highly recommend Rutter's saddles. For $40 bucks, they sound noticeably better than the usual $12 brass saddles. His are milled from a solid billet, and not cast. I noticed more low end, more mids, more sustain, more of every good thing.

 

[jerrydog]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

UPDATE on this thread -
Finally got around to posting a follow up shot. Here she is.

And for posterity's sake - a mini-review.
I ended up with an APS-2 neck/ 5-2 RWRP in the middle/ Jerry Donahue in the bridge.
Three way switch. N/N+B/B.
The knobs control volume, tone (for N&B), and blend in the middle pickup.

So far I am VERY pleased. Is it a Tele? No. But it is nice and spanky - this pickup configuration suits this guitar perfectly. Crisp lows - strong midrange, and a manly amount of top end.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Strat - Bridge pickup to match PhatCat Neck - Phatcat/Twangbanger/Jerry Donahue?

Cool!

It is really very cool to find a "Stratotele" mate!



Here is mine:

Mine has a JD bridge and Fralin %5 underwound vintage hots in the neck and middle. Currently I am entertaining the idea of changing them with a BG1400 in the bridge and Little 59 in the neck and ~5.00K Gibson Melody Maker pickup in the middle (these suckers have quite a serious level of output and have a very nice tone I would say)... The reason is that this particular guitar is the one I am using for gigs and all. And them neons and all are not making things that easy. The tones I get from the JD and Fralins are great, I would say... Still I think I will be doing the mod...

B