Talk to me about early 60's strat pickups.

Benjy_26

Benjy_26

25's Nemesis
Hello all.

I'm not super familiar with old strat pickups, and I feel like it's time for me to change that.

I own a early 90's MIJ 62RI strat that I love. It sounds balanced and clear unplugged and sounds pretty darned good with tje pickups out of an old EBMM Albert Lee sig model (basically APS2's with a steel bar under the bridge unit).

If I wanted to get my strat to sound more like a real 60's strat, what pickups or what features should I be looking at?

Thanks all!
 
How do the Fender 57/62's compare to the SSL-1's or Surfers? I noticed that they Fenders are wound about 1k less than the SSL-2 that I own. Would this be a noticeBle difference in real world terms?
 
If you already own SSL-2s, it would at best be a sideways step. You have some of the best early 0s type pickups around. If you want more authenticity, use a wound G string like they did back then.
 
Benjy_26 said:
How do the Fender 57/62's compare to the SSL-1's or Surfers? I noticed that they Fenders are wound about 1k less than the SSL-2 that I own. Would this be a noticeBle difference in real world terms?
Click to expand...

I was thinking before of changing my Player pickups for SSL-1s, but have since changed my mind to upgrading my Affinity instead.

Listening to video demos of both SSL1s/2s and 57/62s, they are very similar, but I will be going with the 57/62s to "keep it in the family". If there are any issues with height (always possible), I'll go with the SSL2s.

Due to the slender body of the Affinity, I might not get quite the same sound as what I hear in the demos, but it should be an interesting change nonetheless.
 
There is 'soft' rule concerning the stagger. If your guitar has a fretboard radius of 7.25 inches, use staggered pups like ssl-1, on all flatter boards use flat poles like ssl-2.
 
Mincer said:
If you already own SSL-2s, it would at best be a sideways step. You have some of the best early 0s type pickups around. If you want more authenticity, use a wound G string like they did back then.
Click to expand...

I have APS-2's in the guitar now, with a steel bar loaded in the bottom of the bridge pickup.
 
Benjy_26 said:
I have APS-2's in the guitar now, with a steel bar loaded in the bottom of the bridge pickup.
Click to expand...

If you have other Strats, my “secret weapon” is an APS-1 in the neck and SSL-1 in the middle. Fat, round neck, bouncy middle and a very complex position 4. Very chewy and reminiscent of the Continuum notch tones.
 
Mincer said:
Then get SSL-1s, and get some serious snap. BTW, what don't you like about the current pickups?
Click to expand...

I like them quite a bit, actually. I was just thinking of getting my '62 a bit closer to sounding like a '62.

I guess this is more of a thought exercise and info gathering mission. I see all sorts of pickups with all sorts of specs being advertised as early 60's style. They vary in magnet type, resistance, wire type, wire insulation, et al. I wanted to know if there is a definitive typology or if all the different specs I've seen were pushed out by Fender between, say, '59 and '65.
 
PFDarkside said:
If you have other Strats, my “secret weapon” is an APS-1 in the neck and SSL-1 in the middle. Fat, round neck, bouncy middle and a very complex position 4. Very chewy and reminiscent of the Continuum notch tones.
Click to expand...

I may try this. I have Tex-Mex pickups in the neck and mid of one, an EMG Gilmour set in another, and Carvin AP11's in the neck and mid of a Washburn Mercury.
 
the first response was the right one, antiquity II surfers. if you want it proper '62 spec then get three "neck" pups. same wind, same polarity. back then, there was no five way switch so the notch positions werent much of a concern other than for the players who found those neck/middle, middle/bridge parallel tones by futzing with things. i have a strat setup with three antiquity ii pups and its fantastic. i will say that i moved the middle tone to the bridge pup to be able to dial things back when wanted. i think is a fantastic sounding strat. the ssl1 are great pups too but i do like the surfers better. i really like the aps pups but they are not a vintage fender sound. the texas hots are great pups too, but again, dont sound like a vintage fender strat pup. a guy i play with almost every week plays a '63 strat much of the time and ive spent tons of hours with it. the surfers are damn close to whats in there
 
jeremy said:
the first response was the right one, antiquity II surfers. if you want it proper '62 spec then get three "neck" pups. same wind, same polarity. back then, there was no five way switch so the notch positions werent much of a concern other than for the players who found those neck/middle, middle/bridge parallel tones by futzing with things. i have a strat setup with three antiquity ii pups and its fantastic. i will say that i moved the middle tone to the bridge pup to be able to dial things back when wanted. i think is a fantastic sounding strat. the ssl1 are great pups too but i do like the surfers better. i really like the aps pups but they are not a vintage fender sound. the texas hots are great pups too, but again, dont sound like a vintage fender strat pup. a guy i play with almost every week plays a '63 strat much of the time and ive spent tons of hours with it. the surfers are damn close to whats in there
Click to expand...

There ya go, right there.
 
jeremy said:
the first response was the right one, antiquity II surfers. if you want it proper '62 spec then get three "neck" pups. same wind, same polarity. back then, there was no five way switch so the notch positions werent much of a concern other than for the players who found those neck/middle, middle/bridge parallel tones by futzing with things. i have a strat setup with three antiquity ii pups and its fantastic. i will say that i moved the middle tone to the bridge pup to be able to dial things back when wanted. i think is a fantastic sounding strat. the ssl1 are great pups too but i do like the surfers better. i really like the aps pups but they are not a vintage fender sound. the texas hots are great pups too, but again, dont sound like a vintage fender strat pup. a guy i play with almost every week plays a '63 strat much of the time and ive spent tons of hours with it. the surfers are damn close to whats in there
Click to expand...

A buddy of mine got a gutted '57 way back in the day at an estate sale for a few hundred bucks. We loaded it with Texas Hots, because the aesthetics matched the guitar, and we have pretty much always been Duncan fans. They were hot, dark, and didn't have a lot of snap or jangle, which was unexpected. I was assuming that the Surfers would be similarly restrained in the top end, but id they aren't, I may need to cop a set.

One question: do they fit under Fender covers? I'd hate to have to match new pickup covers to my 31 year old mint plastic pieces.
 
i assume they fit under fender covers? i have piles of covers and put whatever on that suits the guitar. i know i dont have the stock antiquity covers on em. i really like the texas hots, though i dont find them all that hot. they are a2 though so you dont get the snap and sparkle of a5 which the surfers have. they are a bit smokier than the ssl1, probably due to the aged magnet, but i find that to be closer to the actual '63 strat sound that im familiar with. if you want a little sharper high end then maybe the ssl1 would be a good option
 
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