Time To Try Noiseless Strat Pups,,,, MINCER??

[zozoe]

Hi all~ Never had noiseless p/u's before, but the noise inherent to my 50's modded PA amps, especially when pushed, is too much (but fine only in the 2 and 4),,,,
My thinking is to go for the 'Vintage' strength STK-4 pups, as going hot and heavy, along w/a noiseless design, may be too much of a departure from that good 'ol noisy spank...?? Is there a medium wind available, or is it just Vintage or Hot?
I dunno,, but I'd be grateful for thoughts & advice....
I believe a vintage wind would do~
thnx in advance~

 

[PFDarkside]

In the Duncan world you have, in ascending order:
STK-S4n (Classic Stack Plus) & STK-S4m (Classic Stack Plus RWRP)
STK-S4b (Classic Stack Plus Bridge)
STK-S7 (Vintage Hot Stack Plus)
STK-S6 (Custom Stack Plus)
STK-S9 (Hot Stack Plus)

Just because the S4b says Bridge, you can use it in any position, same for all the rest. The “classic” calibrated set is S4n/S4m/S4b (vintage neck and bridge and just a slight bump
in the bridge for balance). If you want to bump it up a level you can do S4b/S4m/S7 or S4b/S4b/S7. There’s a great video of Jack Thammarat with the S7 in the neck.

Basically, there are a ton of options in the lineup.

 

[Mincer]

The Classic Stacks are the one you want if you want early Strat tones and good quack.

 

[Artie]

I've also got the STK-6/4m/4n combo. It's my favorite Strat.

 

[ErikH]

I will add a nod for the Classic Stack Plus (STK-4) set. Either a STK-4b or a STK-7 in the bridge.

 

[ICTGoober]

I'll jump in with my usual recommendations.... Lace Sensors, Bill Lawrence, and Fender Noiseless are all excellent choices for this question.

 

[GuitarStv]

I'll jump in with my usual recommendations.... Lace Sensors, Bill Lawrence, and Fender Noiseless are all excellent choices for this question.

Which lace sensors do you recommend? They seem to have a ton of very different sounding ones. Gold? Silver? Hot Gold?

 

[jeremy]

my favorite set of noiseless is stks4n, stksm, stks7. i have a stks4b, stks4m, stks9 setup too that kicks ass, the neck is a little darker and fatter than vintage and the bridge is thick and hot

 

[ICTGoober]

Which lace sensors do you recommend? They seem to have a ton of very different sounding ones. Gold? Silver? Hot Gold?

You can't go wrong with any of them, but the Gold are probably the best selling. For awhile, that's what Fender was using in their American Standard series exclusively.

 

[ErikH]

You can't go wrong with any of them, but the Gold are probably the best selling. For awhile, that's what Fender was using in their American Standard series exclusively.

The Golds are great. I like the Hot Golds too. Back in the 90's I put a Red in the bridge of my Strat I had then. Scorched earth...lol. If I was to go with them again, I'd probably go with a Hot Gold in the neck and middle with a Blue or Burgundy in the bridge.

 

[ICTGoober]

One of my clients has several Warmoths with what Lace calls their "Batman" loaded Strat pickguards that features 2 Duallys, green & purple at the neck, silver and red at the bridge. 3 way pickup selector and 2 mini-switches. Lots of sounds.

 

[ErikH]

That's COOL!!!!!

https://lacemusic.com/collections/l...le-dually-black-orange-black-loaded-pickguard

 

[jeremy]

donzo gave me a custom set of hot golds and they were nice. didnt sound all that much like a vintage strat pup though

 

[ICTGoober]

That's COOL!!!!!

That's the exact thing on all his Warmoth Strats.

 

[PFDarkside]

donzo gave me a custom set of hot golds and they were nice. didnt sound all that much like a vintage strat pup though

Yeah, I wasn’t really a fan of Lace. They sound like how people describe EMGs to me. (And EMGs don’t sound like people describe to me).

 

[jeremy]

i like the lace pups, and i gifted that set of gifted hot golds to a good buddy who still uses em in his main strat. i prefer a more vintage character and the stks4 is as close to a classic strat tone as ive found in a noiseless pup.

 

[Artie]

i prefer a more vintage character and the stks4 is as close to a classic strat tone as ive found in a noiseless pup.

I know I've said it before, but the one set that I have that rivals, and possibly exceeds, the STK4's, is the Livewire Classic II set for Strat. It's kind of a shame that they quit producing it. Sales, I assume.

 

[jeremy]

i have the blackout singles set and its great but not overly vintage sounding

 

[Artie]

i have the blackout singles set and its great but not overly vintage sounding

Does yours have the pins so you can select the output level? And have you tried both settings? Just curious if the "low" setting is close to the LW Classics.

 

[jeremy]

they do have the pins and i use em on the neck and bridge pups. i have it wired up with volume, p/p tone to select low or high output for the neck and bridge pups. i have an emg spc wired up in the other tone spot. the middle pup is always low output and even that is pretty hot for a single coil. there isnt a real tonal change that i can tell, just an output difference. the livewires are more scooped and "stratty" than the blackouts. the blackouts are more balanced eq wise.