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Post subject: Gibson Hunbuckers on a strat???
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:09 pm
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i own a 06' HSS HWY1 Strat and wanted to know if i would replace the stock humbucker on it with a Gibson humbucker, how would it sound???

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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:31 pm
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It would sound okay.
Would you be wanting a hotter humbucker or a less hot one?

You might have to get a new pickguard (or modify the current one) if you get a Gibson humbucker. Be prepared for that possibility. For example, does your Humbucker use three screws to adjust height/angle?

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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:20 pm
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it does use 3, but i do plan on buying a new pick guard and i think those only need 2 screws...

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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:14 pm
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Be careful as the Gibson's polepieces might not align correctly with the strings on the Strat.


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Post subject: Re: Gibson Hunbuckers on a strat???
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:14 am
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stratdt wrote:
i own a 06' HSS HWY1 Strat and wanted to know if i would replace the stock humbucker on it with a Gibson humbucker, how would it sound???


I guess my question on this is....why?

I like modified pickups myself...but Gibson?

Talk about paying out the nose for a name....

*cough*

Seriously...if it's humbucking you're looking for, I can think of at least 3 brands off of the top of my head that could probably outdo what Gibson puts in its instruments...


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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:43 pm
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it would sound evil. why destroy a perfectly good strat with gibson parts. :cry:


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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:18 am
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Why make a fender sound like a gibson? just leave your strat alone it's great as it is and buy a Gibson so it will SOUND LIKE A GIBSON. I would recommend the SG Standard, can't beat it.


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:43 pm
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Interesting question.

Wouldn't the pots come into question here?

Sourced from WD music:

Basic rule of thumb goes like this: single coil pickups get a 250k pot, humbuckers get a 500k pot. Why is this? The higher the value of the pot, the brighter the sound, so higher value pots are used with humbuckers to allow a bit more high end to get through with what is, by design, a warmer sounding pickup. Lower value pots are used with brighter sounding pickups to tame some of the extended high end that is associated with single coils.

The Effect Of Potentiometer Values In Relation To Output And Tone:
As a potentiometer is turned fully down, all of the signal from the pickup(s) is diverted to ground, resulting in no output from the instrument. When the potentiometer is turned up to full volume, the resistance of the potentiometer theoretically prevents any of the output signal leaking to ground, and weakening the output signal. Lower value pots, however, do not completely block the signal from leaking to ground even when turned up all the way, so using a 250k potentiometer will result in a slight loss of high frequency, as well as volume. This may please some musicians who want a mellower tone, but for those seeking ultimate purity of signal, a higher value potentiometer may be just what is needed. The higher the value, the more leakage is blocked from ground, which allows more of the signal to be sent to the output. A 500k pot may be just right, but a 1meg ohm pot will provide an all out sonic assault. Higher highs; lower lows; more volume - a rocker's dream! The only drawback of going to this higher value is the perceived range and sweep of the control. It's like going from 0 to 10 without the fine increments of control in between.

The Telecaster® is a good example of potentiometers determining the overall sound of an electric instrument. The earliest Telecasters® utilized 1meg ohm potentiometers. They were deemed too bright to be practical for a wide range of musical styles. As a result, the potentiometers were changed to 250k to "bleed off" some of the extreme treble "twang" that the early versions were known and loved for (Stratocasters® also use 250k pots for the same reason). Some Gibson® laptop guitars had 5 meg ohm pots. Talk about bright!


So your pots are going to come into play here. I also know that with some of the Gibson pickups (the Tony Iommi signatures), some do-it-yourselfers and guitar techs recommend that 1 meg ohm potential pot to full utilize the pickup. Gibsons are also set up somewhat differently in terms of their stock pots.

To be honest about this, it would really be worth it to look into the pots setup on the American Standard strat. Otherwise you could end up forking out a ton of money for a brand name pickup that will sound like crap in your guitar...

2 cents.


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Post subject: Pots...
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:10 pm
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I found the information posted by The_Sentry on the pots to be very interesting.

That is a good point if you are going to mix up the pick-up configuration.


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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:11 am
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imonlysleeping24 wrote:
Why make a fender sound like a gibson? just leave your strat alone it's great as it is and buy a Gibson so it will SOUND LIKE A GIBSON. I would recommend the SG Standard, can't beat it.


Bah, this is clearly subjective.
Do what you want!
and yes you would have to change the electronics and pickguard but thats easy stuff.

As for sound, well it's gonna sound like humbuckers! loud fat warm tone. haha and no hum!
And yea look into other company's better value... and sound will be just as good.

p!


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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:26 am
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phuot wrote:
imonlysleeping24 wrote:
Why make a fender sound like a gibson? just leave your strat alone it's great as it is and buy a Gibson so it will SOUND LIKE A GIBSON. I would recommend the SG Standard, can't beat it.


Bah, this is clearly subjective.
Do what you want!
and yes you would have to change the electronics and pickguard but thats easy stuff.

As for sound, well it's gonna sound like humbuckers! loud fat warm tone. haha and no hum!
And yea look into other company's better value... and sound will be just as good.

p!


Sure....

But then again......Look at the price of a set of Gibson Pickups. Even the low end pups are over 100+ apiece.

And they're set up by that manufacturer for 500k pots. In some instances, 1 meg pots or higher.

Now...there's the question of the single coils. Sure...install a 500k pot and your single coil sound awful...leave the 250's in there and your humbucker sounds like mud.

It's not completely subjective.

There's also the question of outright price.

If it's an aftermarket/humbucking sound that's desired here, it seems silly to go with Gibson on a Fender not because of name, but because of the setup of each.

And, are electronics truly THAT easy? Sure...solder a few points in, get your grounding correct, but if you have the wrong stuff in there....seems a shame where you could end up pulling the guard, changing the pups, modifiying the pickguard (strat pickguards aren't set up for Gibson pups...the screws are much longer..drilling the body might be in order...Epiphones MIGHT fit in there, but you'd still have to alter the pickguard to fit those suckers in there)./....then you put it back together after checking your stuff for output with a screwdriver...

You restring it, tune it...and it sounds awful.....

Now you're pulling the strings off, the pickguard (which has now been bastardized) and starting all over again.

Wouldn't life just be easier here if you found something that was actually DESIGNED to go into the Fender?


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