This weekend I attend a concert that included The Guess Who. I noticed that the lead guitarist, Laurie Mackenzie, had a Strat with four pickups. There was a humbucker installed between the neck and middle pickups. I doubt that the guitar left the Fender factory in this configuration, so I was wondering if anybody out there is familiar with this setup. Is the humbucker used in conjunction with or in lieu of the other pickups? I don't plan on adding a humbucker to my Strat, but I liked the sound and was just curious how it was used and wired.

Hi ras1500,

Four pickups? Are you sure it wasn't an HSH (3 pickups, 2 are hum-bucker, neck and bridge), or even HHH? Are you counting the humbucker as 2 pickups? I don't see how you could have 3 single coils and a hum-bucker on the same Strat without some serious modification. And a hum-bucker between the neck and mid seems very strange. Seems very unusual to me, not a factory job...unless it is Custom Shop. I have heard of using a "dummy" single coil pickup between the neck and middle, but it is hidden under the pick guard and not a hum-bucker. I have also seen HSH, but never an SSHS.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I Googled Laurie MacKenzie and found this pic:


So yes, that's a 4 pickup Strat with a humbucker in between the neck and middle pickups. I don't know how it's wired or whether he uses it by itself or in conjunction with the other pickups.

Lots of players use weird pickup arrangements. Stever Morse had 6 or 7 pickups on a Fender Bullet back when he was in the Dixie Dregs. JJ Cale has an old archtop hollowbody with a bunch of extra pickups installed -- nothing but pickups from the bridge to the neck.

edited to add: I didn't spend a lot of time Googling him after discovering Laurie's a guy and not a hot chick. I just copied the first pic that showed the humbucker clearly. He has a black single-coil in the bridge position. That might possibly be a Tele pickup ala Lowell George (MacKenzie's '70s SSS Strat would need routing to fit a Tele pup in the bridge, but the added humbucker shows he wasn't adverse to routing the body.)

Some players want one guitar that can cover a lot of different sounds. Other players like to have different guitars for different sounds. "Different courses for different horses."

Thanks strayedstrater!

My apologies to ras1500 for doubting.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

4 pickup strat? No plectrum room..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

With a "swimming pool" rout and a custom pickguard, four+ pickups are easily doable...

ORC

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The 4 X single pickup version

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http://www.guitarmotel.com

This topic dislodged a long forgotten memory. In the original Guess Who, one of Randy Bachman's main guitars was a heavily modified Strat with a neck humbucker and a Tele bridge pickup. MacKenzie's Strat isn't exactly the same but it's kind of the same idea.

Here's an old article that goes into some detail on Bachman's Strat:
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/classic-interview-/October-2010/121863

My VG strat has four pickups, sss and a Roland pickup at the bridge.