What should I do to my Strat?

[Rex_Rocker]

So I've got this Strat, right?

It has an Alder body, a Maple neck and fretboard, bent steel saddles, and a brass block.

Acoustically, it sounds great. It's nice and lively with some zing from the saddles and some girth from the brass block. It's pretty cool.

However, plugged in, I have never gotten it to sound the way I want. Right now, as it is, it is really close. Just not quite. It's just missing aggression to the voicing. It's too smooth. It's mostly the pick attack is too laid-back and relaxed. Not snappy enough. Mind you, it's not dark. It's just too polite (and slightly stuffy in the low mids, if I wanna be really picky).

I attribute this to two things:

• First, the bridge pickup is almost half a cm further away from the bridge itself than my Les Paul.
• Second, the Nazgul itself I feel is very polite and polished-sounding to the attack. I know because I also had that same Nazgul on the Les Paul at some point, and I swapped it out really quickly because it was just too round and fat for an already fat-sounding guitar.

So what I figured I can do is:

• Replace the 500K volume pot with a 1M Pot. I have the pot. But I fear that will just make things brighter, not change the feel/response of the attack. But there's a chance the EQ might bring out the attack a bit more. I don't know.
• Replace the trem block with steel. I also have the block. But I fear the same thing will happen as with changing the pot.
• Change the pickup. But I'm not sure, because as it is right now, it's like 95% of the way to where I want it to be. It's not like I hate the Nazgul as is.
• Get a custom pickguard made where the bridge pickup is a couple mm closer to the bridge itself. But the downside to that is there is only so much I can move the bridge pickup closer to the bridge. The routes only go so far. But I'm sure I can get it at least 2 or 3mm closer if I tried.

So what would you do in my situation? What are your thoughts?

 

[ErikH]

Start with the trem block. Brass will soften things up. It's known to do that. Think warm and fat. You have the steel block, give it a shot.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I could give it a try!

 

[jeremy]

thats where id start too, you already have the block, just swap it and see if it gets ya closer to what ya want

 

[Aceman]

This is a crazy idea, even radical perhaps. But...stick with me on this...


Play it.


It's a Strat, love it for what it is. You WANT it to sound different than a Nazgul loaded Les Paul. It's just new to your ear. There are some knobs on the amp. Try turning them. Maybe toss a pedal up front.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

This is a crazy idea, even radical perhaps. But...stick with me on this...


Play it.


It's a Strat, love it for what it is. You WANT it to sound different than a Nazgul loaded Les Paul. It's just new to your ear. There are some knobs on the amp. Try turning them. Maybe toss a pedal up front.

I do play it. I like it.

But that doesn't mean I can't improve it.

Part of the fun of playing guitar for me is getting in there, wiring stuff in, swapping parts, modding stuff, etc. I don't think that's wrong, is it? After doing that, I feel more inspirted and enjoy playing more.

 

[Aceman]

I do play it. I like it.

But that doesn't mean I can't improve it.

Part of the fun of playing guitar for me is getting in there, wiring stuff in, swapping parts, modding stuff, etc. I don't think that's wrong, is it? After doing that, I feel more inspirted and enjoy playing more.

Yeah - I hear you. Like I have a stock guitar anywhere...LOL:9:

Just providing the counter-wisdom on principle.

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

I uh.... Don't always have the best advice, but

 

[Rex_Rocker]

LOL.

I did add the steel block today. It got me closer, but not quite there.

I wish I could move the pickup like 2 mm closer to the bridge itself.

It was like 95%, now it's like 97%.

 

[Mincer]

You could move the pickup with a chisel and a new pickguard. How you feel about the bridge pickup is probably how I feel about neck pickups. There is a 'right' place for it, and if it isn't there, the sound isn't right...and it is much more than a 4 % difference to me...more like 40%.

 

[ErikH]

For this last 3 percent, start with adjusting the pickup poles and the pickup height. See what that does.
If you decide to remove wood in front of the bridge, be careful how much is removed as that can make the bridge post inserts unstable with less wood in front of them.
Crazy enough, action can have an effect. Maybe it needs to be up a mm to get what you want and let the strings ring a little more. If not, set it back.

 

[Seashore]

I uh.... Don't always have the best advice, but

Mostly how I feel about Strats.

Raising the action will give you a fuller tone if it's low enough to interfere by even a hair. I usually wind up putting a little (very little) extra relief into the neck for that reason.

The softness on the pick attack and "stuffy" quality in the lower mids makes it sound like a job for a different pickup. On the other hand, this might be the kind of stuff that bothers you at home when you're really zoomed in on minutiae of your sound, that won't make a difference when you're playing with other people.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I don't think it's an issue with action. HIgher action usually gets you a fuller tone, and that's kinda the opposite of what I want.

I have messed with pickup height and tweaking the poles. As it is right now, it's the most aggressive I've had the Nazgul be.

The Nazgul is inherent well-behaved and polite, especially compared to the 500T or the Black Winter, though. I know because I've had the Nazgul on my Les Paul as well, and over there, it was just unusably blunt. But like I said, I don't hate it right now on this Strat. It's really close. Just not quite.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

You could move the pickup with a chisel and a new pickguard. How you feel about the bridge pickup is probably how I feel about neck pickups. There is a 'right' place for it, and if it isn't there, the sound isn't right...and it is much more than a 4 % difference to me...more like 40%.

Probably true.

However, I think it's mostly Gibsons that have the bridge pickup so close to the bridge itself. Most LTD's, Jacksons, Ibanezes, etc. that I've played for years before owning a Gibson didn't, and they have all sounded fine to me.

So I'm not sure now. Becuase I don't wanna feel like I only ever will like Gibsons from now on.

 

[Seashore]

I don't wanna feel like I only ever will like Gibsons from now on.

This is a thing that can happen to people.

 

[beaubrummels]

LOL.

I did add the steel block today. It got me closer, but not quite there.

I wish I could move the pickup like 2 mm closer to the bridge itself.

It was like 95%, now it's like 97%.

Sometimes you have to accept that 97% is 100% for that particular guitar.

 

[donaldr]

I never liked bent steel saddles, so maybe swap those?

 

[Mincer]

I never liked bent steel saddles, so maybe swap those?

I never liked them. They are one of the first things I change on a Strat.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I've had block steel saddles as well as block brass saddles, and I like the tone from these better.

These definitely feel zingier/less dull, so I don't think going back to block saddles will be a step in the right direction if I want more attack and less low mid bloat.

These are Highwood saddles too. So functionally, they're less archaic than traditional bent saddles. They have a groove where the string sits so that it doesn't flop around, and the height adjustment screws don't poke your palm from the top. So I guess, it's the thinner/brighter/zingier/"Strat-y-er"sound of bent-steel saddles without the functional downsides.

 

[donaldr]

I've had block steel saddles as well as block brass saddles, and I like the tone from these better.

These definitely feel zingier/less dull, so I don't think going back to block saddles will be a step in the right direction if I want more attack and less low mid bloat.

Strange because I'm having the opposite behaviour from block saddles, both on a Gotoh 510 and Hipshot. They removed that annoying "zinggy" thing I had with bent saddles.