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Post subject: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:28 am
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Hi there.
I have an '09 MIM HSS Strat. Love the sound of the neck and middles pickups but am finding lately the bridge humbucker is sounding rather shrill and harsh. So thinking of replacing it. As the single coils are fairly hot in output I'd need a fairly hot humbucker to keep things balanced but would like something with a smoother mellower tone. Any suggestions?
I play mainly blues, blues rock / classic rock through a modded Champ600 running a 12inch speaker.

Cheers.


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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:28 am
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Did you try to lowering the bridge pickup ?


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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 7:05 am
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stratele52 wrote:
Did you try to lowering the bridge pickup ?


+1

Drop that humbucker down about 1.0 mm on each side then see what it sounds like.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 8:02 pm
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+2 on the dropping of the humbucker.


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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:26 pm
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Thanks for the replies but I've tried that. Nearly have 10mm between the strings and the pickup.
Only way to tame the highs are to roll the tone almost completely back (yes I have my tone control hooked up to the bridge pickup).


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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:26 am
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mhainz wrote:
I play mainly blues, blues rock / classic rock through a modded Champ600 running a 12inch speaker.


For these musical genres I'd recommend something similar in tone to the Gibson Burstbucker or Classic Plus.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 1:10 am
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mhainz wrote:
Thanks for the replies but I've tried that. Nearly have 10mm between the strings and the pickup.
.


10mm with string fretted at the last fret :? ?

____________________________________________
PICKUPS see Support, How to guide


Humbuckers Bass side ; 4/64" (1.6 mm) Treble side ; 4/64" (1.6 mm)

Set too high, pickups can cause myriad inexplicable phenomena. Depress all the strings at the last fret. Using a 6" (150 mm) ruler, measure the distance from the bottom of the first and sixth strings to the top of the pole piece. A good rule of thumb is that the distance should be greatest at the sixth-string neck pickup position, and closest at the first-string bridge pickup position. Follow the measurement guidelines in the chart below as starting points. The distance will vary according to the amount of magnetic pull from the pickup.


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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 4:35 am
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mhainz wrote:
Thanks for the replies but I've tried that. Nearly have 10mm between the strings and the pickup.
Only way to tame the highs are to roll the tone almost completely back (yes I have my tone control hooked up to the bridge pickup).


What is the value of your tone pot? If it is 250K you might try replacing it with a 500K. It's worth a try, and a lot cheaper than a new pickup.

8)

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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 4:45 am
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omar59 wrote:
mhainz wrote:


What is the value of your tone pot? If it is 250K you might try replacing it with a 500K. It's worth a try, and a lot cheaper than a new pickup.

8)


If I understand what mhainz wrote, a tone pot roll almost completely back is close to 0 ohms.
A 250 k or 500k do not make any difference.

If you want more highs, a higher pot value may help or another capacitor or treble blead on volume pot
Less high need another capacitor value.


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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 4:23 am
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stratele52 wrote:
omar59 wrote:
mhainz wrote:


What is the value of your tone pot? If it is 250K you might try replacing it with a 500K. It's worth a try, and a lot cheaper than a new pickup.

8)



If I understand what mhainz wrote, a tone pot roll almost completely back is close to 0 ohms.
A 250 k or 500k do not make any difference.

If you want more highs, a higher pot value may help or another capacitor or treble blead on volume pot
Less high need another capacitor value.


You are right, I don't know where my head was when I wrote that! :oops:

I had a strat that sounded way to brittle and it had a 500K pot. I changed it to 250K and put in a .047 cap, problem solved!

8)

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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 5:00 am
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omar59 wrote:
[

I had a strat that sounded way to brittle and it had a 500K pot. I changed it to 250K and put in a .047 cap, problem solved!

8)


What was the original caps value before ?


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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 5:17 pm
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mhainz wrote:
Nearly have 10mm between the strings and the pickup


Too low.
Start at 3mm top and bottom, and tweak to suit.
'Buckers get thin and bright sounding if they're too low.

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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 1:22 am
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stratmangler wrote:
mhainz wrote:
Nearly have 10mm between the strings and the pickup


Too low.
Start at 3mm top and bottom, and tweak to suit.
'Buckers get thin and bright sounding if they're too low.


He did not answer to my question august 18th ;
" 10mm with string fretted at the last fret ? ? "
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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 5:08 am
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stratele52 wrote:
omar59 wrote:
[

I had a strat that sounded way to brittle and it had a 500K pot. I changed it to 250K and put in a .047 cap, problem solved!

8)


The original cap was .047 ceramic and I changed it to orange drop. I don't know if that makes a difference or not but since I was replacing the pot, I wanted to put in a better quality component.

8)

What was the original caps value before ?

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Post subject: Re: Another "what pickups should I buy" post.
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 5:50 am
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Thank's omar59

IMO ceramic cap is not worst ot better than polyester (orange drop) cap, it is just another material


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