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Post subject: Looking to "create" my own strat - advice please
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:45 am
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I am really fond on the 70s look and was looking to do the following:

Buy a new 70s MIM strat - natural finish, RW board
Exchange the pick ups for some custom ones (or SDs or Di Marzios).
Exchange the pickguard with a brown speckled one
Get some strap locks
Replace the nut with a Graphtech one

What do people think of this?

Also, any special advice on the pick ups? I am after the "quackiest" clean sound and a good beefy distorted sound.

Thanks in advance


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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:57 am
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Have u tried a highway one?

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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:00 am
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bss wrote:
Have u tried a highway one?

+1


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:30 am
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Sadly the Highway One does not come in a Natural finish


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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:41 am
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All sounds pretty reasonable to me. Nice visual group of colors. For no particular reason I'd go for a Tusq nut, but your black one would be just as good.

You don't like the pups that come with that guitar, I take it?

Then if it were my project I'd go with my local pickup maker, Bare Knuckle, and for the sound you are chasing I guess I'd be looking at something from the Vintage or Vintage Hot single coil selection on this page:

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/products.html

But I suspect you can do just as well for a lot less money from a maker closer to home.

More suggestions coming shortly, I'm sure...

Good luck - C


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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:53 am
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Ceri wrote:

You don't like the pups that come with that guitar, I take it?

Good luck - C


I am looking for a punchier response, but a tone that retains a high degree of "quack". The standard pick up's sound a bit thin to me...

Thanks for your advice


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Post subject: Re: Looking to "create" my own strat - advice plea
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:46 am
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tremolo arm wrote:
...Also, any special advice on the pick ups? I am after the "quackiest" clean sound and a good beefy distorted sound.


Those are two differents sounds. Quack is usually very thin and clean and "quacky". But that is what I was looking for too, quack with balls, so to speak.

What I have on my 98 mia is a SD JB Jr on the bridge, Silver Lace in the middle, Blue Lace on the neck. I can get a lot of quack, but not "quite" as much as my other, all-stock strat. Enough so you definitely know it's a strat. With this thing , I can even go pretty high with the gain, use the 2 and 4 position, and get some thick strat quack with some Mesa Boogie gain, a tone I've always tried to get.

A lot of the thickness and rich tone will come from from a good tube amp though. Playing my strat through my Rectoverb combo can really thicken the tone up good, even with my other strat that's completely stock.

Look up the Sound Samples at seymourduncan.com to hear some differences in the strat replacement pickups.

Just some thoughts.


Last edited by dgonz on Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Looking to "create" my own strat - advice plea
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:02 am
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dgonz wrote:
Just some thoughts.


But good ones.

8) - C


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Post subject: Re: Looking to "create" my own strat - advice plea
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:57 am
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tremolo arm wrote:
I am really fond on the 70s look and was looking to do the following:

Buy a new 70s MIM strat - natural finish, RW board
Exchange the pick ups for some custom ones (or SDs or Di Marzios).
Exchange the pickguard with a brown speckled one
Get some strap locks
Replace the nut with a Graphtech one

What do people think of this?

Also, any special advice on the pick ups? I am after the "quackiest" clean sound and a good beefy distorted sound.

Thanks in advance


Unless you like the look, the Graphtech nut might not be necessary if the OEM nut is cut correctly (and I'm sure it will be). The Straplocks are a necessity and everything else is a matter of personal taste. However...

As to "quackiest" and "good beefy distorted" sounds out of the same pickups, it's one or the other unless you have a great distortion unit. This is because if you want your pickups to be capable of real, true quack, they cannot be high output as the higher output a pickup is, regardless of what anyone tells you, it looses dynamics. On the other hand, a high output pickup with "beef" is because the tonality of the pickup is concentrated in its midrange and lower end and as a consequence of this, by and large, there will be plenty of 'grunt' but no 'sparkle'.

You can search this forum from now until the end of time and you'll get as many opinions on which pickups you should use as there are stars in the sky. Some will swear by certain ones whereas others wouldn't use them if their lives depended on them. Also bear in mind that two people can play the identical guitar through the identical amp with identical settings and either player can sound a world apart from the other tonally. So, you'd get no further ahead this way.

The bottom line: It's all about YOU. YOU would have to hear what YOU think is a pickup set. Identify them, and play them in a Stratocaster similar to YOUR'S (with and without distortion). This is the ultimate test to see if that particular set played by YOU has 'the' sound YOU are hearing in YOUR head right now.

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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:32 am
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This specific pickup was made my SD to be the quackiest in the gaggle...

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=300487

... hence the name. But like Martian said, a good amount of it is in your hands. I can get a lot of quack out of mine, all most gain levels. My buddy, although a good player and not a strat guy at all, barely gets any of that on my guitar.

You have to know how to coax the quack. Love the quack, be the quack, until you are one with the quack. Then there is no you, and no strat - just blissful quack in its infinite beauty. Then you will be pure energy, young Jedi.

May the Quack be with you.


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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:42 am
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dgonz,
You quack me up.

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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:01 pm
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:lol:


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Post subject: Re: Looking to "create" my own strat - advice plea
Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:12 pm
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Martian wrote:
tremolo arm wrote:
I am really fond on the 70s look and was looking to do the following:

Buy a new 70s MIM strat - natural finish, RW board
Exchange the pick ups for some custom ones (or SDs or Di Marzios).
Exchange the pickguard with a brown speckled one
Get some strap locks
Replace the nut with a Graphtech one

What do people think of this?

Also, any special advice on the pick ups? I am after the "quackiest" clean sound and a good beefy distorted sound.

Thanks in advance


Unless you like the look, the Graphtech nut might not be necessary if the OEM nut is cut correctly (and I'm sure it will be). The Straplocks are a necessity and everything else is a matter of personal taste. However...

As to "quackiest" and "good beefy distorted" sounds out of the same pickups, it's one or the other unless you have a great distortion unit. This is because if you want your pickups to be capable of real, true quack, they cannot be high output as the higher output a pickup is, regardless of what anyone tells you, it looses dynamics. On the other hand, a high output pickup with "beef" is because the tonality of the pickup is concentrated in its midrange and lower end and as a consequence of this, by and large, there will be plenty of 'grunt' but no 'sparkle'.

You can search this forum from now until the end of time and you'll get as many opinions on which pickups you should use as there are stars in the sky. Some will swear by certain ones whereas others wouldn't use them if their lives depended on them. Also bear in mind that two people can play the identical guitar through the identical amp with identical settings and either player can sound a world apart from the other tonally. So, you'd get no further ahead this way.

The bottom line: It's all about YOU. YOU would have to hear what YOU think is a pickup set. Identify them, and play them in a Stratocaster similar to YOUR'S (with and without distortion). This is the ultimate test to see if that particular set played by YOU has 'the' sound YOU are hearing in YOUR head right now.


I have to go with Martian on this, especially the bottom line, that would be my advice too.

-Harley 8)

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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:10 pm
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tremolo arm wrote:
Sadly the Highway One does not come in a Natural finish


Don't be so sure of that now. I played one a few months ago that was in a natural finish.

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Also, any special advice on the pick ups? I am after the "quackiest" clean sound and a good beefy distorted sound.


Have you checked out the "Duckbuckers" by Seymour Duncan? :lol:


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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:05 am
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tremolo arm wrote:
Sadly the Highway One does not come in a Natural finish


The Amber finish is as close to Natural as the Highway One gets.

I have one.

I think it's pretty close to Natural.

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