What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

[bornagainplayer]

Does anyone know what kind of pickups U2's "The Edge" uses in his black Strat? I know he uses a Herdim pick to get the "chiming" sound by scraping the strings a bit with the rough round side, but I'm very curious about the pickups.

Thanks!

 

[marcello252]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

if you're talking about the first four records I think they're the stock ones

 

[Aceman]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

I was gonna say - probably whatever came in it...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

In a video interview, he stated they were the stock ones that came in his 79 strat.

My friend has the exact same strat, and they aren't bad, but Antiquity Surfers are much better.

 

[bornagainplayer]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

Thanks, all.

 

[CTN]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

I'm glad you have a solid answer already, cuz I was going to be completely unconstructive and post this:

"who cares, he covers up his guitar sound with so many effects, it probably doesn't even matter what pickups he uses"

 

[marcello252]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

I don't agree, although The edge now uses a lot of effects at least in the first 4 o 5 records the sound depends a lot on guitar, in 'boy' you can clearly hear 3 things for example, an humbucker guitar, a MemoryMan and a middy amp, probably his AC30, in 'War' it's clear the large use of a strat without much delay.

 

[bornagainplayer]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

I'm actually trying to replicate the sound he gets for "Where the Streets Have No Name" too. I have a crate V-50 tube amp set to clean with a Digitech RP-255 multi-effects unit. I've downloaded some Edge presets from the Digitech site and some others, but none of them produce it quite right. The delay is pretty good, but there isn't quite enough crunch. Particularly the high notes, especially on the intro, sound a bit dead. It needs some more compression or distortion...or something, but I just can't seem to get it quite right. I have an SSL-5 in the bridge position and stock pick-ups in the middle and neck positions (soon to be replaced by SSL-1s). Does anyone have any ideas? Should I re-post this question somewhere else in the forum?

 

[beggar_guitar]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

I'm actually trying to replicate the sound he gets for "Where the Streets Have No Name" too. I have a crate V-50 tube amp set to clean with a Digitech RP-255 multi-effects unit. I've downloaded some Edge presets from the Digitech site and some others, but none of them produce it quite right. The delay is pretty good, but there isn't quite enough crunch. Particularly the high notes, especially on the intro, sound a bit dead. It needs some more compression or distortion...or something, but I just can't seem to get it quite right. I have an SSL-5 in the bridge position and stock pick-ups in the middle and neck positions (soon to be replaced by SSL-1s). Does anyone have any ideas? Should I re-post this question somewhere else in the forum?

The Edge is one of my absolute favorite players. I think SSL1's will be a great choice for getting you in the neighborhood.
Gearjoneser's recomendation for the Antiquity Surfers is a good one too.

Personally I have SSL1's in neck and mid on my strat and I can pull of a decent Edge tone.

To my knowledge he has recorded with humbuckers more often than he has with single coils (I could be very wrong here) but I know he plays live on the strat a lot.

His amp is a big part of the sound though. Actually there are a lot of factors to his tone. He uses Herdim picks and plays on their side.

Check out this site. He talks a Lot about the Delay tones you will find some other useful info. Read through some of the comments as well. Plenty of good info.

 

[bornagainplayer]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

Than you!

 

[guitarplayerpr]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

Actually, the guitar matters a LOT. IMO, Stratocasters, specially "stocks," are more effects-friendly than any other guitar, at least the ones I've played. Maybe it's a single coil thing.

 

[jeremy]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

welcome to the forum!

this thread is three+ years old

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

The Edge's all-black Stratocaster is loaded with three high-output DiMarzio FS-1 single coil pickups. http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/standard-strat/fs-1

My Squier JV Strat had a set of these in when I bought it. Through delay, picked false harmonic stunts sounded just like the man himself. Once I installed my old APS-1s and a Twangbanger, the guitar produced nice all-rounder Stratocaster tones, rendering it no longer suitable for Edge stylings.

 

[primo]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

Apparently The Edge has tried both a Duncan Quarter pound pickup and a DiMarzio FS-1 in 'Blackie' in the bridge position only during the 80's. I have heard that he has gone back to stock pickups.

Cheers Primo.

 

[RayBarbeeMusic]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

My understanding was that a lot of the first 3 records was a LP deluxe through a boogie mk1.

 

[roseblood11]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

New answers to a very old thread...
The '73 stratocaster that was used for many songs on “Joshua tree“ was quite special:
- alder body, one piece maple neck (vintage radius)
- brass saddles
- pickups with flat pole pieces, a Dimarzio FS-1 at the bridge and standard Fender pickups for neck and middle position.

The new signature model is a bit different, as it has a modern two point vibrato and a neck with 9.5“ radius.
But still pickups with flat pole pieces: a custom version of the Fender Fat 50's and a custom version of the FS-1 (flat, like they were in the 80ies).

Which Seymour Duncan pickups would come close? SSL-2 for neck/middle and SSL-6 for bridge position?

 

[jeremy]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

yes the ssl2/ssl2/ssl6 combo would be the duncan equivalent which is also just a great setup in a strat regardless of what specific tones you are after.

 

[marcello252]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

I bet the earlier black strat, the one used during Live Aid for example, was stock. I heard a lot of AC30 chimes and, now that I have one I recognize it, a lot of color from the EH Memory Man, which isn't so transparent, if you try one you instatly hear it.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

If I were going for a Strat sound similar to The Edge, I'd do some amalgamation of CS69/CS69/FS1 or Psych/Psych/SSL-5. Interesting how similar that is to what I'd do for a Gilmour Strat and how different their two tones sometimes are.

 

[marcello252]

Re: What pickups does "The Edge" use in his Strat?

If I were going for a Strat sound similar to The Edge, I'd do some amalgamation of CS69/CS69/FS1 or Psych/Psych/SSL-5. Interesting how similar that is to what I'd do for a Gilmour Strat and how different their two tones sometimes are.

have you ever compared FS1 and SSL5? I have the SD but I've never tried the DMZ