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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 5:46 pm
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fendermike wrote:
Ultimately, I checked them with a friend's meter after they were installed and confirmed that the bridge was the bridge. But still, it sounds weak to me. Not weak enough to think it's installed or wired improperly, but weak enough to disappoint me!

Not knocking them. The other two are FANTASTIC!


Then rout the guitar for a humbucker at the bridge and be done with it.

:mrgreen:

Seriously, you might try a bridge pickup from the 57/62, Texas Special, or Tex-Mex sets as a substitute. All of those offer significantly more beef than the '54 set's bridge pickup.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 5:22 am
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Thanks Arjay,

I have another pickguard with a JB Jr mounted in it. I have a little micro-switch coil tap that gets me to single coil territory, but after a few years with that setup, I decided I would give the '54 bridge another try.

I want my Strat to be a Strat again.

I'm going to give it some time for my ears to adjust to the '54. Pickups are so subjective. It's hard to answer the question "Is it really supposed to sound like that"?

A friend has a '73 strat that just seems to nail the Strat sound for me. I have thought of maybe looking into a CS '69 bridge PU to get close to that. But.... hard to know!

I don't mind the single coil tonality of a bridge pickup. I'm a tele player mostly, after all. It's the "thin-ness" that catches my ear on this '54 install.

Thanks again!


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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 9:30 am
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Bear in mind that the '54 pickups are voiced pretty close to prototype and that they sound best through a similar-vintage amp (or a re-issue of same). In practical terms this generally means a tweed amp of some persuasion -- 5E3, 5F6, and the like. These amps did not have the extended treble response of the later blackface and silverface amps. Hence, if you're playing a relatively modern Fender, the guitar may sound thinner and tinnier than another Strat with more modern-voiced pickups.

A base plate affixed to the bridge pickup's bobbin and/or a wiring mod to connect it to your guitar's bottom tone control may help fatten it up sonically.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 2:37 pm
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Thanks.

Yes, I mostly use a DRRI with assorted pedals.

I do have a Tech 21 Trademark 60, which can do a pretty good tweed. I have noticed that it sounds better through that amp.


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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 3:56 pm
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Back your treble down a skosh, milk the bass up a bit, then increase the amp's volume control.

Arjay

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