Sorry if this has been discussed previously, I tried doing a search and was not too successful. Has anyone put noiseless pickups on their American Standard Strats? I read that they tone down the sound making the sound a little more jazzy. Is that true? I was considering changing my new strat pickups to noiseless ones.
Second question. I know the strats come with 9 gauge strings. I know the intonation has to be reset if I replace the 9's with 10 gauge strings. Would there be any noticeable differences if I put 10's on my Strat?
Thanks,
Kenny V

I've installed some. To make the Vintage Noiseless Pickups sound their best (which is a relative statement), they have to be more away from the strings than most other stack design pickups. Consequently, the weakened magnetic pull from them sitting so low on the pickguard will mellow them out some if this is what you mean by a little bit more jazzy.

It is a fact that the heavier the gauge, the 'bigger' the strings will sound as well. Notwithstanding, a tweak of the amp can make an .008 gauge set sound and sustain like a .012 gauge set. In your particular situation, along with the intonation, the action and the tremolo block would have to be adjusted.

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You dig?

i will have to disagree here. if this were sound, stevie would not have used 13's. go to the store and have your strat se up for 10's if you like. the cost including new strings should be somewhere around $40.00

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

But didn't he play them because he broke lower gauge strings too easily?

Thicker strings do not necessarily equal better tone. Angus Young plays .09s, Jimmy Page plays .08s, Peter Frampton plays .08s, Eddie Van Halen plays .09s, Carlos Santana plays .09s, Billy Gibbons plays .08s, B.B. King plays .08s, Jimi Hendrix played .09s, Eric Clapton plays .09s and nobody could question their tone.

Here is a link to an article that explores some of the myths surrounding heavy gauge strings:


http://digital.premierguitar.com/premie ... 007_1#pg63

in part yes. 13s were a big part of his tone too.
if you take notice of these stevie tone chasers,
they too use 13s most of them.
not because they are breaking strings, they know its a must do
to try and achieve stevies tone. if there were no noticable difference,
they would just use their amps like the suggestion above.
i made the jump myself from 9's to 11's.
huge difference in tone and playability. i dont see myself going back to 9's on my blues rigs.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

And none of them sound like SRV! They do it becuase he did. Playing 13's will not make you sound like SRV and they played the least important role in his tone.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Oh boy...the SRV huge string phenom....the ones that ripped his fingernails away from where they attached to his fingers,that he supposedly used super glue to reattach....then used smaller guage strings to get through tours....all the while playing through amps at such a loud volume it drove the sound guys nuts.....yep,that's the ticket to sounding like SRV for all the ones out there doing it.How many SRV tonehounds are willing to go through that?...or should I ask,how many people are willing to listen to them attempt to copy SRV?
He played so hard he could have made a set of 9s sound huge...if they would have held up through a song or two.
Don't forget guys,Stevie was supposed to hold his pick so that the rounded edge contacted the strings....that's an important piece of his sound too.

As far as noisless pups on AS Strats,I've used them and really didn't care for the vanilla sound they had on my guitar,but then again I like the single coil rawness.

Hi guys, just to butt in... I have FVN pups in my ash bodied Deluxe Players Strat and they sound very bright and ringing (think strat meets Rickenbacker) compared to the "vintage-style" single coils I have in my MIM 50th Anniv. Golden Strat (alder body) which sound very honeyed thick and warm in comparison... wish I knew what the specs of those golden strat pups were... I can only imagine a low output Texas Special sound is how I'd describe them despite having the same volume roughly as the FVNs - any advice or info would be welcome as I love them even if they can get a wee bit woolly if I'm not careful

Don't forget that SRV tuned down as well, so the bigger strings were to maintain "normal" string tension.
The Fender noisless also require you to change your pots for higher values. If you don't, you will get a more bassy/jazzy sound.

I personally like the Dimarzio Area (noisless) pickups. They used the standard pots and sound very Single-Coilish.