Strat Pickup Suggestions?

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by radicalcon

Any other suggestions?

Vintage Vibe Guitars and www.toneriderpickups.com Untitled Page


My favorite besides the ones in my Squier CV strat www.copperheadpickups.com
www.tonefordays.com

and also if ya find (see) any squier CV pups F/S grab them they are great .

[coldsteal2]

I have tried a bunch of different pickups
on my strat and keep coming back to
Fender Hot Noiseless for neck and middle and
Dimarzio Virtual Lead for bridge.
I can pretty much get every tone i want from them
from vintage strat to hoter output,
and with the TBX tone (on the bridge and Neck)
even a broader range

And i have Custom Shop Eric Johnson pickups
which are great but low output, i mean low
great for clean work but not high gain

[radicalcon]

Wow, a few more suggestions. Thanks guys!

[scottystrathead]

Copperheads are my favorite.........

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by scottystrathead

Copperheads are my favorite.........

Now if ya could only try the canadianteleparts stuff. and Prairie Custom Guitars - Home bodies. Why you would be all set.

[scottystrathead]

Are those sites yours Overdriver? The canadiantele parts site wont open.

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by scottystrathead

Are those sites yours Overdriver? The canadiantele parts site wont open.

They are not mine and yes the canadianteleparts one seems to be down , as I say . Wasn't a few hours ago. I emailed James from there to see whats up. The tdpri link shows some of there stuff. The necks they can make to order. usuall they are 9.5 with fall off 12th and above stewmac hotrod truss. nitro finish tinted. Thats their standard build.

http://www.tdpri.com/phpclassifieds/...t/14223/cat/77

[Kate033]

I'm not an expert on strat pups, but based on the few I've played here's my top choices:
The ones in my Squier 50s Classic Vibe are actually really nice for the $. I like the custom shop 69's. The Fender noiseless pups are nice, but I find they lack a bit of "character". My favorite strat pickups that I've ever had the pleasure to play are by far the Bare Knuckle Irish Tours. They have that dirty gritty blues/rock tone that I love. I'm sure their other sets are great too, just haven't had a chance to play them all. They pop up on ebay from time to time at good used prices.

[coldsteal2]

I dont know if they make them anymore but
back in the mid 70's Schecter made some of the
best sounding Strat pickups ever (and bass pickups)
I dont believe i have seen any lately


OH WOW i just found one set on eBay from 1980's!
Unfortunately they are in the UK

http://cgi.ebay.com/USA-80-Schecter-...3286.m63.l1177

.

[NXC1978]

I have been wanting to hear in person the "Big Dipper" pickups that are in the John Mayer strat. I hear those sound pretty good too. I might stroll into GC just to check if they have a Mayer strat I could try out.

[mattsblues]

You might check out WB Pickups, Fralin or Dave Stephens Pickups.

[NXC1978]

I wish there was someone out there like Gearmandude, but instead of pedal demos they would swap out pickups in the same guitar/same amp so you could really hear the differences. Pickup shoot out!!!

[thedonal]

To sort of hijack this a little, I'm thinking of replacing the pups on my Strat Plus.

I was looking at Hot Noiseless, but the Texas Specials sound very sweet too.

Strat-wise, my main icons are Gilmour, Beck and SRV- I want something that can do a fat, vintage sound, but also with some kick too.

Suggestions?

[leftyguitarman]

Originally Posted by thedonal

To sort of hijack this a little, I'm thinking of replacing the pups on my Strat Plus.

I was looking at Hot Noiseless, but the Texas Specials sound very sweet too.

Strat-wise, my main icons are Gilmour, Beck and SRV- I want something that can do a fat, vintage sound, but also with some kick too.

Suggestions?

Search Ebay for the Fender Alnico 3 pickups. I have a Strat with an Alnico 3 bridge and I can get some good Gilmour tones. The Texas Specials also sound sweet, but they don't sound very "Strat like" to me.

[Goldtop75]

Originally Posted by PINKBITS

I have not used these but I would certainly check them out if you could afford it, they certainly look the part.

hahahaha! I see you're really taken in by the Sliders! if I wasn't so satisfied with the 54s, I'd buy a set myself.

You asked for a review of the Fender Custom 54s? For the benefit of the OP, here it is:

They're focused. Very focused. The chime you get on the neck pickup is tight, and it sings. It's very different from the 69s; opposite, in fact. Where the 69s are sweet and mellow, the 54s are bitey, chimey and in-your-face. They get the point across.

They're installed in an ash-bodied, maple neck partsocaster, and I think this is the right set for this guitar. The inbetweens are very bold, and they're definately bigger sounding than the 69s. This is a very "country" sounding set, which is quite punchy. It's got more upper mids while the 69s have more lower mids.

What I was surprised about, was how nice the bridge pickup sounded. i was expecting thin and weedy, which is common with many 50's styled pickups I've tried. it's sitting at 6.5k, which isn't terribly hot. but it's tight and packs quite a punch. I wound't try this for higher gain tones, but for that right amount of aggression without bordering on Rock, this is a good set.

I think this set is great for SRV styled players who enjoy attack more than smoothness. it's not mellow, though played with the right dynamics, they're very sweet. It's a bright set. Pretty much similar to the fat 50s, which is nice, but missing something in the inbetween tones. The 54s cover those tones very well. I can only think of Knopfler when I hear those tones. not quite fat enough for some vintage Pink Floyd, but that's covered by the fat 50s for me.

This set has quite a bit of balls, mainly due to it's punch.

[Goldtop75]

Originally Posted by radicalcon

Wow, that's a cool link. Thanks, Pinkbits. I'm really diggin' those fat 50's right now. I need to search for some slightly more overdriven examples now.

Yep... Fat 50s RULE!

[leftyguitarman]

Originally Posted by Goldtop75

I can only think of Knopfler when I hear those tones.

I was pretty much already sure that the 54's would be my next Strat pickup purchase, but since you said that, I'm sold. I put Texas Specials in my Strat to achieve that Knopfler tone and it does it well for some of his stuff (think Sailing to Philadelphia and What It Is) but not too great for some of the older Straits stuff.

[Goldtop75]

Originally Posted by leftyguitarman

but not too great for some of the older Straits stuff.

You want the 54s then... remember that some of knopfler's stuff (brothers in arms) was played with an LP though. but if you want Sultans Of Swing, then the 54s are your thing.

[NXC1978]

Originally Posted by leftyguitarman

The Texas Specials also sound sweet, but they don't sound very "Strat like" to me.

I didn't think so either until a friend suggested I lower them almost flush with the pickguard. They sound a lot better now.

Still, I just ordered a set of 59's from Copperhead with the reverse wound middle. I am going to compair them to the Texas Specials and go with the set that sounds the best to me.