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lets talk Strat Pickups


SteveB

Question

Posted

so, got a Daytona ( Thanks DavidE!), love the guitar, pickups not so much. Looking for something ballsier. Something like Rio Muy Grandes maybe. Also thinking of a "tele-ish" pickup in the bridge, like the Rio Stelly or Duncan Twangbanger. Anybody have experience with these pickups, or other suggestions? Thanks.

15 answers to this question

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Posted

Neck: Duncan Antiquity series "Texas Hot"

Middle: Rio Grande Tallboy

Bridge: Duncan JB Jr.

Tap the JB with a push-pull on one of the tone pots if you wanna tele tone. Grab the coil closest to the bridge.

FYI, the JB ain't that bucker'y tone wise, it's just a wealth fatter without the spike-ice of a traditional strat bridge pickup. It kinda behaves traditional just fatter, if that makes sense.

In bucker mode mixed with the Rio in the middle, it is the perfect Kings X tone, that tubular sound. Roll the vol down a little and it gets this even more tubular tone that just melts you. At least it does me :blink:

Ultimate versatile ballsy strat without spending booteek-ey bucks. I hit this combination on my G&L Legacy eight years ago and I haven't lifted the pickguard since.

Posted

well, I am going to deffer in another way....

A strat, being whatever manufactor, is a STRAT.

embrace the strat as a strat.

you could be chassing down a rabbit hole with no end in sight

to tone chase what you may thnk it may, should sound like, but in the end,

it is still a strat.

there are some great strat pickups out there, some great winders, etc.

more bump, Fralins.

classic tones, duncans, etc.

but, except for some real el'cheapo stuff, most single coil pups are stupid simple good, its justryng o get more out of what is already there and your not going to anyway.

the way of lore~ pedals.

strat singles will not be humbuckers, strat singles will not be tele singles.

But, pedals can induce the strat singles to yeild what you want... out of a strat, while still being a strat.

theres alot of pups out there, alot of strats.

but a great strat with great strat hardware and some pedals to tailer you needs and wants.... omg :blink:

unleash the McKracken!

Posted

I've got the Fralins blues specials w/blender pot in mine ... wowee, sounds great

Still could use a bit more growl in the bridge position but the guitar sounds so good I decided not to mess with it

bone nut and base plate helped also ...

Jimi Hendrix 11-52 set REALLY made a big difference as far as fatter tone was concerned ... and for $6.50 a no brainer

Posted

I like the G&L dual blade Strat-sized humbuckers.

IMG_0863.JPG

I used to have a Legacy Special with ash body and maple fretboard. Instead of V,V, T, the knobs are Vol, passive Treble and Bass.

LEGACY-SPECIAL-butterblonde.jpg

These pickups have so much phatness, output, and growl that getting a classic Strat sound required rolling the passive bass knob down to about 4. Otherwise, full on it had what I think you're looking for--more output, more balls, fuller and better extended and defined bass. These are deceptively powerful pickups. I played it side-by-side with a Gibson Lucille. With all the settings pretty much equal, the G&L smoked the Lucille on the Gibson's turf, exhibiting a bigger, fatter sound, and much more dynamic jump when you laid into the strings. It was simply a better blues guitar, whether played clean or overdriven. It has humbucker sweetness when played clean and can get very grindy and growly when overdriven.

I had the local guitar tech, a seriously good player and shredder who's swapped and tested hundreds of pickups, check it out. He way preferred these G&Ls over the trendy blade pickups of that time, the much more expensive and hard-to-get Kinmans.

I wish I had that guitar back, and the only comfort in its departure is that trading it helped me get my Newport.

Posted

all great suggestions - I've used Duncan Quarter Pounders and was pleased. It gave me the midrange that was missing. I was looking for fuller sounding p/u and it hit the mark in normal and overdrive mode.

good luck!

Posted

Neck - S. Duncan antiquity Texas hot 50’s

Mid - S. Duncan antiquity surfer II 60’s RWRP

Bridge - S. Duncan custom staggered SSL-5

I have this combo in 1 of my strats .... tone galore!

Posted

I was thinking of Fralin Blues specials in the neck and middle of my 1980 ash strat with a Steel Pole 42 or 43 in the bridge. Its kind of a brite guitar. Any one try that mix? Anyone have experience with the difference between Steel Pole 43 and the Quarter Pound. They seem to be very comperable.

Posted

I just put in a pair of Dimarzio Area 67 single coils in my Centaura replacing the stock Seymour Duncans. The sound is AWESOME and the middle and neck position quacks and sparkles like they should. There is absolutely NO hum or noise and they are pretty damn loud and blend quite well with the humbucker in the bridge. The Area 67s also have this crystalline like high end that is as smooth as glass and have PLENTY of output.

Here is a video of Paul Gilbert playing his new Ibanez Fireman with three Area 67 single coils installed.

They sound exactly like they do in the video in real life I must say. Absolutely phenomenal pickups.

Posted

I say either get a Strat with crystal clean Strat tone pups and make the amp do the dirty work, or go get a set of the Fender, Jeff Beck model, ceramic magnet pickups and have at it.

Posted

Did you check LeoSounds?

Posted

I just put in a pair of Dimarzio Area 67 single coils in my Centaura replacing the stock Seymour Duncans. The sound is AWESOME and the middle and neck position quacks and sparkles like they should. There is absolutely NO hum or noise and they are pretty damn loud and blend quite well with the humbucker in the bridge. The Area 67s also have this crystalline like high end that is as smooth as glass and have PLENTY of output.

Here is a video of Paul Gilbert playing his new Ibanez Fireman with three Area 67 single coils installed.

They sound exactly like they do in the video in real life I must say. Absolutely phenomenal pickups.

I just loved the SSL-1's in my Centaura. They sounded absolutely killer, a total vintage strat sound, worked very well with the Floyd. The JB on the other hand... ..had to go.

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