Strat pickups

[Topher60]

I have a 2001 Fender American Fat Strat Deluxe, Ash body, Maple Fretbd on Maple neck. 2 Noiseless singles in the neck/middle and a SD Sh-6 Distortion in the Bridge. LSR roller nut and locking trem set to only drop, block is set against body.
The Strat sounds amazing at home thru my amps but I have one live situation where I use a Line 6 podxt live directly into the sound board and I am looking for warmer clean and overdrive sounds in this setting.

Help?

Topher60

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Strat pickups

Welcome to the forum. You'll probably want to try some more vintage voiced and lower output pickups.

 

[Pacer_87]

Re: Strat pickups

Warmer clean and overdrive could mean changing to an alnico 2 magnet
pickups. I'd suggest Pearly Gates for lower output and Custom Custom for
a higher output. Both are warm and round full of great tone.

 

[Topher60]

Re: Strat pickups

I have the original Fender DH-1, but I don't know the specs and haven't tried it in the guitar since I started playing in this situation. Seymour Duncan replied that it is a Fender product and they don't have any info. Fender hasn't replied.
Thanks, Topher60

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Strat pickups

PATB-3 in the bridge would be cleaner and warmer than the SH-6. As far as the neck and mid are concerned, a pair of the PA Stacks would be cool. If you're put off by the looks, get a pair of Classic Stacks (the old ones, not the + version) in the neck and mid and get a CC in the bridge.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Strat pickups

honestly the problem isnt the guitar. line 6 stuff live isnt that great and i have never gotten anything resembling good tone going direct into the board with a guitar. bass & keyboard fine, not guitar.
even with the speaker emulation and all that jazz, its not the same. to make it work youll need to rework all your eq settings for that environment.

what works in the studio doesnt usally work best live unless its guitar cord amp

the dh1 is kinda lame, stick with what you have

 

[Topher60]

Re: Strat pickups

Thanks, I don't use the Line 6 thru the amps, even though it does sound much better thru my 65 Twin Reverb. My pedals and pre-amp blow it away.
This is mainly for that one setting. Sounds like I might have to start taking my pedal board with the tube pedals. I do appreciate all the suggestions and look forward to more of them.
Topher60.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Strat pickups

That's definitely not something to change pickups for. And besides, even if you found some pickups that made this rig sound good (unlikely), it would turn around and sound like crap through your amps so you should just get a separate guitar dedicated to your Line 6 rig. Just remember following little ditty and your music life will go much smoother:

Ain't no pickup
That can fix
Anything that says
Line 6

 

[Topher60]

Re: Strat pickups

Well, I finally found a fix for the thin sounds I was getting from the podxt live unit. Last night I tried a DOD Preamp 250 pedal from my pedal board in front of the pod with the pedal not engaged, it acted as a buffer just enough to add some kick to the pickups and it made a BIG difference!!! Now I must decide if I need to get some type of preamp pedal or just use the DOD 250 in the bypass position. Also, I spent about 2 hrs playing thru my gear and amps and this helped to CONFIRM THAT IT IS THE POD, because my gear sounds amazing!!!! In other words, DIGITAL SUCKS YOUR TONE!! Stay with tubes and analog!!!! Thanks!

 

[Kivitel]

Re: Strat pickups

Don't bash the solid state amps man. This vintage craze is going to end one day and we'll wonder why we had amp cabinets larger than a deck of cards.