Strat pickups: I've stopped using a RW/RP middle and a hotter bridge pickup

[Lewguitar]

Re: Strat pickups: I've stopped using a RW/RP middle and a hotter bridge pickup

Lew, isn't a Strat really bright with vintage low-wind pickups and a .1uf cap?. I think that's why Fender switched caps in the first place.

I don't think so...not from my experience anyway. If anything, the larger cap would allow more treble/mids to pass through it and go to ground when the tone control is turned down.

By the way, I used to have a beat '63 Strat when I was younger, and sold it at one point. It had been modded a lot while I had it, by the time I sold it it had Quarter Pounders in it. Did the '63's still have the .1uf cap?. I thought they had changed the cap by that point.

Nope...I don't think so. Pretty sure .1 was still the value Fender was using in 1963. Bet you wish you still had it, huh?

I like the newer Fender 9 1/2 inch radius, I think 12 inch radius on a Strat is a bit too much. 9 1/2" keeps the high bends from fretting out, which is the main problem I had with the vintage radius, but still feels like a Strat neck to me. I like the look of the EJ rosewood Strat, but I wish he hadn't put a bound neck on it. I prefer unbound, other than that it seems like a nice Strat. How is the neck profile?. I grew up with the '63 profile, and the modern Fender profile just isn't round enough for me, although my modded Standard Strat has it. I'm going to change the neck on it at one point, I have changed out the trem block to a full sized steel block, and the pickups are an old Duncan set I've had for years, this is the second guitar I've had them in. SSL-1's in the neck and middle, and the Seymorized staggered one in the bridge (SSL-6? Can't remember).

Al

I love the 12" radius and large frets of the latest Fender EJ. It's super comfortable for me and the binding is a non-issue for me. It's a fairly large neck for a Fender Strat. Feels sort of like my ES-335. My buddy Aj says it's the most comfortable Strat, and the easiest to bend notes on, of any Strat he's ever played. You really should check one out in person, spend some time with it, and see if you like it. I liked the original maple fingerboard version, but love this new version.

Those Duncan SSL-1 pickups are among my favorites. I use Antiquity Surfers in some of my guitars but really, the SSL-1's are right up with the best, IMO.

Thanks for the post Al...good post.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Strat pickups: I've stopped using a RW/RP middle and a hotter bridge pickup

I don't think so...not from my experience anyway. If anything, the larger cap would allow more treble/mids to pass through it and go to ground when the tone control is turned down.



Nope...I don't think so. Pretty sure .1 was still the value Fender was using in 1963. Bet you wish you still had it, huh?




I love the 12" radius and large frets of the latest Fender EJ. It's super comfortable for me and the binding is a non-issue for me. It's a fairly large neck for a Fender Strat. Feels sort of like my ES-335. My buddy Aj says it's the most comfortable Strat, and the easiest to bend notes on, of any Strat he's ever played. You really should check one out in person, spend some time with it, and see if you like it. I liked the original maple fingerboard version, but love this new version.

Those Duncan SSL-1 pickups are among my favorites. I use Antiquity Surfers in some of my guitars but really, the SSL-1's are right up with the best, IMO.

Thanks for the post Al...good post.

You're right, the larger cap would just mean that the lowest setting on the tone pot will be a lot more bassy. That's the reason I use an .022uf or .015uf, I want the tone with the pot rolled all the way down to give me usable tone (like "woman tone" territory, not muddy bass. Might be good for jazzy tones, but I like to tune in the rolled-off tone pot sound with the cap. With a large cap, if you roll off the tone all the way it gives a tone that just isn't usable to me. I just don't see the advantage of the .1uf cap, but whatever floats yer boat!.

Al

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Strat pickups: I've stopped using a RW/RP middle and a hotter bridge pickup

You're right, the larger cap would just mean that the lowest setting on the tone pot will be a lot more bassy. That's the reason I use an .022uf or .015uf, I want the tone with the pot rolled all the way down to give me usable tone (like "woman tone" territory, not muddy bass. Might be good for jazzy tones, but I like to tune in the rolled-off tone pot sound with the cap. With a large cap, if you roll off the tone all the way it gives a tone that just isn't usable to me. I just don't see the advantage of the .1uf cap, but whatever floats yer boat!.

Al

It has to do with the way the guitar sounds through a Klon or Klon circuit.

All of my Strats had a .02 tone cap that I installed except for my '63 Strat which had the original .1 cap.

And my '63 sounded the best through my Klon Klone.

When I changed the tone cap in one of my other Strats to a .1, it sounded better through the Klon too.

Eric Johnson must hear the same thing with his Fuzzface and Tube Driver because all of the Fender EJ Strats have .1 cap as well.

 

[marcello252]

Re: Strat pickups: I've stopped using a RW/RP middle and a hotter bridge pickup

I have now two strats and I got rid of the RW/RP middle, I think they generally sound better than rw/rp too, still I prefer a hotter bridge.
Since I've never used the middle by itself and I've always hated the bridge + middle in a normal strat, in both I installed a tele 4 way switch wired this way:

1 bridge
2 bridge + neck
3 middle + neck
4 neck

it seems odd but it's much more comfortable to me, I often change the pickup position during a song, that way I found the right one quicker.

But there's more: in the best sounding one, a late 80s basswood mij strat with rosewood neck, I put a SSL5 in the bridge and two SSL1 in middle and neck, the combination of the hot bridge with the weaker neck in 2nd position gives an awesome tone that is something right in the middle between the central positions of a tele, a Jaguar and a Jazzmaster, really, you have to try it.

The other one, an ash body with rosewood neck which has a more standard bridge pickup (a dmz true velvet bridge), still sounds good in bridge+neck but it is much more similar to a normal central Tele position.