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Post subject: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:07 am
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:)

Hey guys, sorry...I have not been around a while.

Been dealing with health issues and have been out of commission. So sorry if I confused anyone with crazy questions before.

I have never been a big Fender guy, but more and more I am falling in love with Fenders. I have a Fender Standard American HSS and since I have never been a Fender as my main guitar guy, I thought of making this a secondary guitar for some songs. Last time I did this with a strat with 3 singles, I rarely used it!

If I want to really use this one, I need all pickups usefull to me. I want to remove the Diamondback, and two Fat 50s and want something more my style.

250k pots!!! This is what is stock and my preference. Although I use 500Ks with the Duncan Little 59 in my American Tele.

This would be to have a humbucker that is low to medium output. The lower the better I think for better cleans and it must be open sounding for good cleans, not too congested with mids. However, it must be tight for when we heavy riff high gain tunes, like Alice in Chains.

Most of the strat tones I use would be for bands like Live, Train, Red Hot Chillie Peppers, Pearl Jam, etc. Mostly 90s rock with the odd classic rock or modern rock.

I want the middle and neck good clean, but also great for middle pickup rhythm and neck clean plus great solos. I like a single coil to have some humbucker qualities sort of like the DiMarzio Paul Gilbert Injectors, or the DiMarzio Satriani Satch Tracks! Maybe even the Seymour Duncan Classic Hot Stack Plus or Vintage Hot Stack Plus.

For humbuckers, I am looking at Rio Grande BBQ, Fender Atomic, Duncan SH-16 Hybrid, Duncan Screamin Deamon (PAF 10K), Duncan 59 DiMarzio AT-1 and any others you all can think of?

I prefer noiseless singles.

Any suggestions on all 3 pickups? I play a lot of classic rock and hard rock, am in a 90s grunge and rock cover band and still play some heavy music from the 90s-2000's.

Amps: 20th Anniversary Bogner Shiva, PWE Event Horizon, BFG modified Dual Rectifier and soon to have Marshall Vintage Modern 2266 50 watt amp head.

Thanks!
-Rich


Last edited by richedie on Tue Jun 03, 2014 11:29 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:21 am
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Regardless of which pickups you end up with, they all need to operate via the single volume control. Thus, the value of that pot needs to be simpatico with all three pickups (whether it's a 250K, 500K, or 1Meg). You have some flexibility with the tone controls but the value of the volume pot is a critical factor for optimum performance.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:53 am
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I prefer 250k.


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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 10:35 am
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You didn't really ask a question but I am assuming you are looking for a suggestion on which pickups to use with 250k pots? Since you are into rock and versatility you would want something geared to that. As far as the pot value in general all single coils are fine with a 250K unless they are very high output approaching humbucker levels. I would think if you were using a low output humbucker it would not make too much difference if using a 250K pot.

As far as suggestions for a pup I favor duncans and dimarzios if looking to hot rod the sound a bit but you will find like with all things which is "better" is highly subjective. If you read reviews or watch youtubes of all different pickup tests it is all over the board from one person saying it sucks to the next person swearing they are the best thing ever. IMO playing technique and the amplifier make more of a difference then pickup brand or output all else being equal and assuming a quality instrument that is set up well.

Also to add you can purchase pots that totally bypass the volume control when up full (aka "no load") meaning if you use those at full volume it would be irrelevant what the ohms rating is because essentially it is going from jack straight to pickup. There are also circuits you can look up on google that show you how to tone bypass as well meaning when the tone control is up full it presents no load kind of like if you did not even have the control there at all.

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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 12:06 pm
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Thanks guys! Sometimes I think I should keep it stock. The Fat 50s are actually good singles....I believe so.

I think the bridge humbucker sounds fine except needs to sound better for palm mutes. Maybe I will play around with pedals first. Maybe it is just the nature of this guitar and my next strat will do better with those tones.


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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 5:27 pm
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How do I know if a Dimarzio or Duncan will be a direct fit? The pickup ears or tabs look different and the Fenders' have three holes per side. :(


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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 7:23 pm
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Tone is entirely subjective. Go to the pup makers web sites and try to figure out how to interpret the jargon they each use. It's not all equal. The jargon will only be useful in a comparative discussion, meaning this pup sounds such and such compared to that pup. Jargon won't be useful as a standalone descriptor because each person has a different idea of what constitutes good tone, bright tone, thick tone, etc. YouTube videos can also be useful but again for comparison purposes only, particularly due to the fact the amp plays such a huge role in final tone and each vid will be done with a different amp.

My 2₵

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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 7:30 pm
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Pups are comparitavely cheap in the guitar universe.
Try as many as you can afford.
The journey is usually more fun than the arrival.

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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:04 pm
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Thanks!

What do you all think about Duncans or DiMarzios fitting into a strats? It looks like the screw holes don't match up?
Too bad......


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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 12:55 am
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I just recently upgraded the pups on my Strat with Lace Hot Golds. I have a HSH configuration so I have two humbuckers neck and bridge and the single coil in the middle. For the bridge pickup I used the hotter overwound Hot Gold humbucker. I primarily use two guitars to cover the range of tones I like. I have the Strat and a Les Paul. What I wanted to accomplish was to give the Strat a bit more range in sound, but retain the character of the strat. Here's my impression of the Hot Golds after having played them for a month now.

First impression is these things are VERY clear, low noise, and full-range. You can really make out every string in a chord easily and even my bandmates noticed the difference in clarity and how well it cuts through the mix onstage.

I play a fairly wide mixture of styles with my band including blues, R&B, classic rock, rock ballads, and some jazz. For the most part I prefer my Les Paul for the heavier rock tones and grittier blues, and the Strat for most others. The Hot Golds really helped in that regard because they gave me a much better range in sound that I could get in the various pickup configurations. My most often used configurations are the position 2 and 3 (combined bridge and middle, and middle alone). I find position 4 (middle and neck) a bit thin and I don't use it much but that may be because of the split coil with the neck humbucker which might not be a problem in your configuration. I do use position 5 (neck) when I use the strat for heavier tones and it carries it very nicely. The nice surprise was the overwound hotter Hot Gold on the bridge. The humbucker configuration has always helped in moderating the tinnyness of the bridge pickup, but the hotter Hot Gold really makes this position a screamer for strong solo work. I believe it also accounts for the added usefulness in the position 2 bridge and middle position in that it adds a lot of punch and presence. It doesn't seem to suffer like the neck pickup from the split coil configuration I assume because it's wound hotter.

Anyhow, that's another option for pups you can consider. Hopefully I've given you enough info to evaluate whether or not it fits what you're looking for.

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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:32 am
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The thing is, I am not a big fan of single coil tones at all! I prefer to get farther away from the single coil true tone. I prefer the clarity of a single coil, with the thick, wide, chunky character of humbuckers. However, I love the versatility of having 3 picvkups.
I could see doing the DiMarzio AT-1/Cruisers, although these are more single coil sounding. I could also see using an Air Zone and the Satch Tracks! Event the Duncan SH-16 Hybrid and Hot Vintage Stack Plus.

Finally, I recall actually liking the singles that were in my 2006-2007 Highway strat. Even though I am not a big single coil fan, I loved the beef of these Alnico III singles. Check out this set!
https://reverb.com/item/81203-fender-american-highway-1-stratocaster-loaded-pick-guard-2007

I also hate the tones of a split bridhe bucker. Is there a way to wire it so that I get the full humbucker combined with the middle position when in the 2 position or is that the 4 position - I want it to be like the middle position on a Gibsons, or when having two humbuckers. I want to avoid the thin tone of a split bridge humbucker!

Thanks for the Lace Sensor info! Will research it for sure.

How do I know if DiMarzio or Duncan humbuckers or singles, will fit or the screw holes will match up?


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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 1:21 am
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richedie wrote:
Thanks!

What do you all think about Duncans or DiMarzios fitting into a strats? It looks like the screw holes don't match up?
Too bad......


You can research to see if they make models that are Fender direct replacements but sometimes you have to get creative and "make" things fit. If you don't have the proper skills and tools then you can pay a shop to make anything fit four you. However I suggest learning how to do all this stuff yourself not only to save money but to experience the "zen" of working on you own instrument. Just don't practice on anything valuable lol.

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Post subject: Re: May I ask a pickups related question?
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 1:07 pm
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I ended up with a DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAF and two DiMarzio Satch Tracks.


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