What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

I like Orange Drops because they sound good to me. I'm not a fan of "Paper in Oil," or many other caps used in guitars. Guess it's just personal preference. I used to be an amp tech, and have tons of OD caps laying around. I really like what they do in cheaper amps. They seem to be much more lively sounding and feeling than a lot of other brands.

This guitar had a really cool looking dark red cap that was almost transparent, but it was a .01mf, and the guitar is super bright with maple neck, maple top, alder body, and maple fretboard.
I might have to go to a .047 just to get some use out of the tone pot. It doesn't have much affect on the tone when rolled all the way down.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

Well....
I opened the guitar up. There were in fact two crappy solder connections. The neck and middle on the selector switch.
I resoldered them, and changed the tone cap from a .01 to a .022 Orange Drop.

It still sounds underpowered and underwhelming. I raised the neck pickup up a little and that helped tremendously, but the poles were so close to the strings that I got ghost tones with my distortion settings.
I had to lower it back down.

Now I'm on the search for an STK-S6 or S7. I'm hoping that a little hotter output will mean I can lower it down enough to not drag the strings down.

If I was you, I'd re-do the whole wiring, this time with a new switch and a .047 cap. The right pots for those p'ups are 500K. Make sure they measure at least 485K. Anything less than that, the loss in quality of the highs is audible. Also, taper-wise, a linear pot for volume and an Audio pot for tone will make it easier to control.

HTH,

 

[Archer250]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

I have heard Manypeople here say something dealing with anORANGEdrop cap. What is the difference with an orange drop cap and a standard like you would get at Radio Shack like a .47?

They're bigger, so they look cooler and are easier to hold onto when soldering.

That's the reason why *I* use them.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

If I was you, I'd re-do the whole wiring, this time with a new switch and a .047 cap. The right pots for those p'ups are 500K. Make sure they measure at least 485K. Anything less than that, the loss in quality of the highs is audible. Also, taper-wise, a linear pot for volume and an Audio pot for tone will make it easier to control.

HTH,

They are full size Alpha pots. 500k. I did not measure them though.
The switch is a nice quality one. Looks like a standard Fender Strat switch.
All of the electronics look really good, all of the solder connections are now good as well.

I was planning on lowering the middle and bridge pickups a hair today to see if they balance better, then I can just turn the amp up. It seems like sometimes this robs all of the magic from a guitar though. I had an Air Norton in the neck of an old Ibanez 540R. It sounded incredible but way too loud, I lowered it 1/4 turn of the screws and it went from very nice to mud. I eventually pulled the AN out and now there is a PAF Pro in there, which sounds better for cleans, but nowhere near as nice for distorted tones.
Anyway......I'm going to lower the other pickups and see if that takes care of it.

I've always had issues with strong pole pieces on Strat style pickups. It seems that the magic spot for clean tone is just past the magic spot for distorted tones. If I crank it high enough to sparkle, it creates muddy distortion.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

What about the STK-S2?
Everything I've read about it says, "Strat with more sustain."

I'm a bit worried, looking at the tone chart, that the S6 and S7 are darker sounding than the S4 in the neck.
The S4 sounds pretty good, just a little too low output for me and a little bit darker than I would like for the neck position of this guitar.
It definitely could use more sustain as well.....

 

[LtKojak]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

The S4 sounds pretty good, just a little too low output for me and a little bit darker than I would like for the neck position of this guitar.
It definitely could use more sustain as well.....

All of this will surface if you lower the p'up and slant it about 8mm to 1.5mm lower on the 6th string side than the first string's side.

They're SUPPOSED to be low'ish output, if you wanna keep the "quack" on positions 2 and 4.

On my own HSS, the bridge sits 2.8mm from the 6th string side, 2.4mm from 1st string side. The middle p'up sits 4.0mm from the 6th string side, 3.2mm from the 1st string side and the neck sits 4.6mm from the 6th string side, and 3.9mm from the 1st string side.

If the output is not as high as you would like it to be, then use a booster. You can thank me later!

HTH,

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

I'm still looking for an S6, but a friend of mine loaned me a Hot Rails neck pickup.
It sounds freaking great in this guitar!
Just a hair too much output for what I was looking for, but lots and lots of sustain and just a really mean distortion tone!
The cleans are nice and fat with lots of sustain.
I might have to talk him out of this pickup.......

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

I'm still looking for an S6, but a friend of mine loaned me a Hot Rails neck pickup.
It sounds freaking great in this guitar!
Just a hair too much output for what I was looking for, but lots and lots of sustain and just a really mean distortion tone!
The cleans are nice and fat with lots of sustain.
I might have to talk him out of this pickup.......

If it is just a hair too much output then maybe you want to try a cool rails too. I tried the HotRails in neck once some time ago before using the JB (it was my absolute first SD pickup I tried), too dark for me but I was a newbie to pickup installation and I was still using 250K pot. I know from that the cool rails was meant to be less output and more clarity but never got to try it, may be much output than the S6 but I am just guessing.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: What Duncan STK pickup sounds really Strat like but is hotter than STK-S4?

If it is just a hair too much output then maybe you want to try a cool rails too. I tried the HotRails in neck once some time ago before using the JB (it was my absolute first SD pickup I tried), too dark for me but I was a newbie to pickup installation and I was still using 250K pot. I know from that the cool rails was meant to be less output and more clarity but never got to try it, may be much output than the S6 but I am just guessing.

I've had Hot Rails neck pickups before, but only liked them in extremely bright guitars.
Years ago I got an Ibanez 540R from Frank Falbo. The basswood body and rosewood fretboard make this guitar very warm sounding, I didn't like the HR at all in it!

I used to have an Edwards Kiko Loureiro guitar with the HR in the neck and it was really incredible sounding. Maple neck through with an ebony board probably evened it out a lot.

I'll give the HR a couple of weeks before I decide if it's too hot. :smash: So much for getting a Strat tone out of the neck.......