What pickups for double humbucker strat

[AlexR]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

curious as to what you settled on? i have a new strat with factory HH and my ears are a hurtin so i'm gonna replace em with some SD's. just don't know which and was curious what you ended up with

Is it a floyd or fender trem
Woods? body and fretboard
What music do you want to play.

Need to narrow the search a bit

 

[Nxpb7B]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

bridge = vintage stype synch tremolo
woods = body:alder neck:maple fretboard:maple
frets = 21 vintage style
hardware = chrome

music = beginning student interested in: prefer english edgy blues, opeth type(at times), appalachian blues ... obviously could change as i'm an older beginner

 

[AlexR]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

Ok, I'd go down the 'more vintage' path too. The heavier stuff will be harder to get with a fully vintage pup, but if you go for one of the Custom pickups (paf tone with a hotter wind) in the bridge that would be a good compromise. Given you are complaining of too much treble, the CustomCustom would be best. It has a warm magnet which will add mids and tame the treble.
For the neck I'd go vintage all the way. A pearly gates should do the trick.

If you don't mind non-vintage looks then my other suggestion is the PATB 3b, and PATB 1n. These will really fatten up a strat and sound incredible.

 

[MasterKtulu]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

I've tried many SD pickups in my HH Strat, in many different combination's and all with different mag swaps. And I couldn't find a better fit than a pair of Pearly Gates.

 

[Grandturk]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

Dimarzio Super Distortion bridge, PAF neck - done and done.

 

[Nxpb7B]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

Ok, I'd go down the 'more vintage' path too. The heavier stuff will be harder to get with a fully vintage pup, but if you go for one of the Custom pickups (paf tone with a hotter wind) in the bridge that would be a good compromise. Given you are complaining of too much treble, the CustomCustom would be best. It has a warm magnet which will add mids and tame the treble.
For the neck I'd go vintage all the way. A pearly gates should do the trick.

If you don't mind non-vintage looks then my other suggestion is the PATB 3b, and PATB 1n. These will really fatten up a strat and sound incredible.

i'll adventure out for the pearly gate in the neck and customcustom in the bridge. i'll see how my ears react to em. if not, then i'll try the patb's. thx

 

[Nxpb7B]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

I've tried many SD pickups in my HH Strat, in many different combination's and all with different mag swaps. And I couldn't find a better fit than a pair of Pearly Gates.

if you don't mind me asking, what exactly does the "2 Mini Series/Split/Parallel Switches & Upgraded Electronics" do to enhance your sound?.

 

[jmcorey]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

I've tried many SD pickups in my HH Strat, in many different combination's and all with different mag swaps. And I couldn't find a better fit than a pair of Pearly Gates.

Did you do the comparison of these versus A2 or A3 59s?

Thanks,

JMC

 

[MasterKtulu]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

Did you do the comparison of these versus A2 or A3 59s?

Yes I did, the A2 in the '59 smoothed the highs and added some mids that I found was lacking in the '59 but the EQ balance of the stock '59 was messed up with the A2. I also found that the A3 was similar to the A2 in the '59 but was brighter than the A2. (Hope that made some sense.)

Now As for the PG's...
In the neck position I passionately believe that it is the perfect neck pickup, period. For the bridge in an Alder Strat, the PG can be a bit bright, so you have to take the time to adjust it right. Before I settle for the PG in the bridge, I tried the '59, the AIIP , all the Customs imaginable and even a few hybrids. And although none were perfect, the PG was the best of them all for what I looking for in my Strat. But after the PG in the bridge, I like the '59/Custom hybrid and the '59 the best.

Best of luck on your quest!

 

[MasterKtulu]

Re: What pickups for double humbucker strat

if you don't mind me asking, what exactly does the "2 Mini Series/Split/Parallel Switches & Upgraded Electronics" do to enhance your sound?.

They don't enhance anything in my sound, just give me more sound options. When in Series, they're just regular Humbuckers. When Split, they give me a mock single coil sound (Not as good as a real single coil but still sounds really good especially with PGs). When in parallel, they sound less bright than when split but have a bit more snap to them.

Most of the time, I play with both pickups in series but it's always fun to play around with other sounds once in around.

And "Upgraded Electronics" is just fancy talk for installing CTS 500k pots, Fender 3-way pickup selector and adding a K40Y-9 Paper-In-Oil 0.022µF Tone Capacitor.