Strat Pick-up Suggestions

Hi all,
I have a 2008 Am. Std. Strat and think the pick-ups sound like generic rock pick ups. I don't know that much about strat pick-ups and tried a few different searchs. I couldn't find anything that would help me out. I'm looking for something full and warm sounding while still having the bell like quality. Any ideas? Also, I am fully aware that I may just have a bad case of G.A.S. :smile:

CS Fat 50's might get you what you want.

Tonerider City Limits

http://www.tonerider.com/pickups/stratpickups.html

Chris Klein or Lindy Fralin are THE strat gurus in my mind. If you are in the mood for something Fender doesn't offer I suggest those.

Thanks everybody! I'll be sure to check out their websites. Does anybody make Eric Johnson clones? I'm not a huge fan but man, that guy has some tone.

Disclaimer: I am well aware of the hard work he puts into his rig as well as his bat-like hearing. I am not inclined, however, to go to Lowes/Home Depot to get screws with better tone capabilities for the bottom of my effects pedals.

Thanks everybody! I'll be sure to check out their websites. Does anybody make Eric Johnson clones? I'm not a huge fan but man, that guy has some tone.

Disclaimer: I am well aware of the hard work he puts into his rig as well as his bat-like hearing. I am not inclined, however, to go to Lowes/Home Depot to get screws with better tone capabilities for the bottom of my effects pedals.

I believe DiMarzio makes EJ's pups. Google is your friend on this one, lots of info out there.

Think lower output, more '50s style than '60s pups. The advice about the CS '50s pups is right on.

Not to say you wouldn't enjoy a new set of pickups, but they ain't always the answer.

I like pretty much the qualities that you say you're looking for, and I think the Am. Std. pickups are fantastic. Have you tried playing with the heights and the tilts? Adjusting a pickup just a little bit can yeild a wide range of different tones and responses.

I've had DiMarzio, Duncan, Fender CS, Fralin, Lawrence, and several other kinds of strat pickups over the years. I've found that I get the most spring, bounce, chime, and overal textbook stratty goodness out of my stock pickups. Adjusted the way I like them, I just haven't found anything I like better.

You might really need a set of pickups to get what your ears are after, or you might not. It'd be a shame to drop a ton of dough though if you could get what you wanted with a few minutes spent with a screwdriver. If yours really sound like "generic rock pickups", I would venture a guess that they are too high.

Just an idea.:smile:

Don Mare Super Sports all the way...

I agree with you Jakedog. It could very well be that I am just G.A.S.'ing. I have had my guitar set-up and have done all the adjusting on pick-ups to try to find the sweet spot. LawDaddy, I've googled a ton of stuff and found the most helpful stuff on this web-site. I was a silent reader for years. From what I've read, I would probably like a lower output pick-up. I've been to websites and read and read and the pick-up samples are helpful but ear fatigue does set in rather quickly. A member on this fourm has e-mailed me offering me some help. I plan on tinkering the pick-up heights again when I get home from work. Again everybody, Thank You so much for sharing your insight and experience with me.

Fender Custom Shop 69s.

Lollar, they are absolutely the best strat pickups I have ever played. Look them up. They are worth the cash.

Thanks everybody! I'll be sure to check out their websites. Does anybody make Eric Johnson clones? I'm not a huge fan but man, that guy has some tone.

Yes. Klein S-7. http://www.kleinpickups.com/p-147-s-7-stratocaster-set.aspx

They used to be called the EJ specials but Fender stepped in and made them change the name.

Here's a vid of those pups.- 4UCNONWqESw

I've heard great things about the both the 69's and Lollar's. I have read somewhere that there are two different types of 69's. One is actually hand made and another is just wound by machines. The former being in the more expensive strats and the latter for lower end strats with fancy p/u's. I'm not quite sure on any of the specific's though. Just kind of paraphrasing what I've read. I have some more homework to do!

The EJ specials sound great as well. The problem with seeing vids for me is that I usually want a similar amp and guitar as well. If I had 1000+ guitars, I would be the idiot that would think "hmm...I don't have a sunburst esquire...". While I'm one this subject, why doesn't someone send me a Tweed and Blackface Deluxe to try out as well. I have trouble making up my mind as you can tell so don't expect it back anytime in the near future. :mrgreen:

I've heard great things about the both the 69's and Lollar's. I have read somewhere that there are two different types of 69's. One is actually hand made and another is just wound by machines. The former being in the more expensive strats and the latter for lower end strats with fancy p/u's. I'm not quite sure on any of the specific's though. Just kind of paraphrasing what I've read. I have some more homework to do!

The EJ specials sound great as well. The problem with seeing vids for me is that I usually want a similar amp and guitar as well. If I had 1000+ guitars, I would be the idiot that would think "hmm...I don't have a sunburst esquire...". While I'm one this subject, why doesn't someone send me a Tweed and Blackface Deluxe to try out as well. I have trouble making up my mind as you can tell so don't expect it back anytime in the near future. :mrgreen:

Kind of an extension of what you're saying: People tend to buy new guitars thinking it will help their sound, when, in fact, a new amp is so much more important. The majority of your tone is in the amp, I would rather have a squire with a great amp than a top-notch Strat with just an ok amp. People should worry about their amp more than they worry about their guitar.

I have a relic '59 bassman. An original Marshall JCM 800 2205 and a Vox AC-15. Most of my bases are covered. I use a little delay and a little phase for Waylon stuff. In all honesty, I'm at a point where I have more than I could have possibly dreamed of 10 years ago. Now, I'm going through a "Keep what I've got and tweak it to my liking" phase.

I love the Kinman Strat pickups that I have. I think some people dislike the noisless pickups, but I love the sounds they give me and regularly get compliments from people who have never heard of them.

This might help you with adjusting the stock pickups, it's how I do mine. It may or may not work for you, but it does wonders for me. Now your strat is quite a bit newer than mine, mine is a '95, and the Delta-Tone pickups and circuit in yours are slightly different, but I like those a lot too, and played an '04 stock for a number of years.

I do not care for the factory pickup adjustment. It's purposefully "beefed up" IMO, to get people who think strats should "rock" more to buy them.

Mine get progressively higher from neck to middle My neck pickup sticks up out of the guard just a hair over a 16th of an inch on the bass side, about twice that on the treble side. Mid pickup is about a 32nd higher on the bass and the treble side than the neck pickup is set. Bridge pickup is set about 3 16th's on the bass side, and the treble side so close to that I can't really measure it. It's a touch higher, but really, very close to flat.

I find with this setup, I have to get more of my juice out of the amp, but it sounds tons sweeter. It really turns this into a whole 'nuther guitar when played next to one with factory pickup adjustments.

Several things happen- First of all, stock strat bridge pickups have next to NO balls, but when you set one like this, and get your juice from the amp, it balances with the neck and middle very nicely, and sounds a tad beefier while still retaining dynamics and a nice cut.

If I get the neck and middle pickups much higher than where I run them, they start to sound flat and lifeless, and if I get them too high, they cause all kinds of intonation and other weird problems. The bridge pickup can be higher, because it's so close to the bridge, the string is really stiff there, so the pickup just can't pull it as far. With the neck and mid pickups run low like this, you will hear a noticeable difference in sustain, harmonics, and general openess and air in your sound.

With these settings, my other guitars are quite a bit louder than the strat when used with the same amp settings. But the strat sounds super sweet this way to me. And with the bridge pickup up a notch over the mid pickup like I have it, the quack and inherent "strattiness" of the mid/bridge combo is really cool. It's got plenty of bite AND plunk.

If you decide to give this a chance, and don't dig it right off the bat, remember to re-adjust your amps to try to get what you're after. They will need a little extra goosing because your guitar will have significantly lower output than it will with stock adjustments, but to me, the payoff is well worth it.

Jakedog, I'm at work right now but I cannot wait to get home and try your set up. I'm not worried about twiddling with my amp. In fact, I'll give me even more of a reason to turn up. BTW, for the most part, on my amps, depending on the room, etc. I tend to put everything around 12 and use the controls on the guitar. It works especially well with less pauls. I can dial in a sound on the neck and a similiar sound on the bridge with a little more volume for leads and stuff. Those knobbie thingies work great for stuff like that. I'm beginning to think the people who put them there had an idea about what they were doing....

Jakedog, I'm at work right now but I cannot wait to get home and try your set up. I'm not worried about twiddling with my amp. In fact, I'll give me even more of a reason to turn up. BTW, for the most part, on my amps, depending on the room, etc. I tend to put everything around 12 and use the controls on the guitar. It works especially well with less pauls. I can dial in a sound on the neck and a similiar sound on the bridge with a little more volume for leads and stuff. Those knobbie thingies work great for stuff like that. I'm beginning to think the people who put them there had an idea about what they were doing....

Man, you ain't just whistlin' Dixie...

I recently discovered (after twenty plus years of gigging) that Strats have tone knobs... Who knew?

My '95 has the TBX on the bridge pickup, and holy cow, actually using that thing yeilds some serious results. I got into it because I've been doing a lot of downtown pub and restaurant gigs where I have to travel really light. A lot of nights it's just the Strat, an OD, and a small amp. Those knobbie thingys really do a butt load! I went from using none for more than twenty years, to using all three of them all night long. It's like having five amps and ten guitars with you!:lol:

So did you try it? It's ok to say you hated it if that's the case...:wink: You won't hurt my feelings...

They aren't cheap, but I'm really diggin' the Fralin Vintage Hots. Don't let "hot" fool you. It's just that they're wound to the hotter '63 specs than they are the lower output '54 specs. Get the base plate option for the bridge pickup and a blend pot mod and thank me later.

Rio Grande dual calibrated set

Man, you guys are great! Jakedog, I didn't try it yet. I guy on here offered to wind some pickups for me to try out so I'm excited to try those. I work nights at my "real" job so I didn't get home until about 2 a.m. and then I found a thread on here that's a couple of years old where Lerb21 transcribed a bunch of Don Rich's stuff. I couldn't get away from it. Then I woke up this morning and it's time for work again...*sigh*. This problem with this artifical universe is that it works incredibly well with cool guitars and cold beer.

woodstock 69's

Mine get progressively higher from neck to middle My neck pickup sticks up out of the guard just a hair over a 16th of an inch on the bass side, about twice that on the treble side. Mid pickup is about a 32nd higher on the bass and the treble side than the neck pickup is set. Bridge pickup is set about 3 16th's on the bass side, and the treble side so close to that I can't really measure it. It's a touch higher, but really, very close to flat.

I find with this setup, I have to get more of my juice out of the amp, but it sounds tons sweeter. It really turns this into a whole 'nuther guitar when played next to one with factory pickup adjustments.



Jakedog,

Thanks for posting this, I just used your guide above and Like it! I have a 60's Classic Strat and I just put some Lawrence noiseless pu's in it. So I've been fooling around with height adjustments for a while now. I was pretty close to your settings on the middle and bridge, just a bit higher, but a lot higher on the neck. I'm going to leave it here for a few days and see how I feel after that. I really do like it though, and you're right about tweeking the amp as well. I put a blender pot on my strat and the neck and bridge sound pretty cool as well! Oh yeah, I play mostly Blues and Rock.
Thanks for Posting your set up!:lol:

I'm going to try it tonight/tomorrow as well. This thread has been informative so far. Rob S, Does your 60's strat have a 9.5 radius? I'm beginning to really like the curved fretboards more and more. I've had my eye on those 60's Strats for awhile. As with most things, One is too many and a hundred ain't enough.

Aaron Campbell's Rumpelstiltskin pickups or some that don't get the recognition they deserve and that would be Carvin pickups.

When it comes to Strat pickups, yeah, I think lower is better and so does my guitar repair guy (we both arrived at this independently). I have a '94 Strat with stock American Standard pickups in the neck and middle, and a Seymour Duncan Little '59 in the bridge and it gives me a terrific variety of "Strat" and humbucker-type sounds. Also, the blend of the middle and bridge pickups gives a cool, not-quite-quack sound that you don't get from a stock Strat pickup setup.

[QUOTE=Radspin;2643320]When it comes to Strat pickups, yeah, I think lower is better and so does my guitar repair guy (we both arrived at this independently). QUOTE]
That seems to be the consensus from others that I have talked to as well. I have tomorrow off so I'm going to try Jakedog's set up. I have it sitting out but I had a beer or two last night and when I picked it up, the strings were rusty (it's hot and humid here). I was in one of those "Ugh, I don't want to mess with this right now. I want to relax." kind of moods so I just left it. To be perfectly honest, though. I do like the idea of having "custom wound pick-ups to my specifications". Not that it will make up for the lack of tone in my fingers or the lack of theory between my ears. :wink:

I'm going to try it tonight/tomorrow as well. This thread has been informative so far. Rob S, Does your 60's strat have a 9.5 radius? I'm beginning to really like the curved fretboards more and more. I've had my eye on those 60's Strats for awhile. As with most things, One is too many and a hundred ain't enough.

They only come with the 7.25 Radius. I really am liking it! It's called the Classic 60's Strat

Do they come in black? Quick back story, I lived in Utah about 10 years ago and had a MIM black strat with rosewood fretboard. I bought it off of some kid who was moving back to Texas. It had two SD singles and a humbucker in the bridge. He did it himself. I saw the light reflecting on it one day and painted two thin racing stripes on the top left part, right about where your arm would go. At the time, I thought it was heresy to have a humbucker in a strat so when I moved, I let it go. I have spent the past 10 years trying to find a guitar that comes close. It just had IT! Whatever "IT" was...The roadworns from what I hear, have "IT" in spades but limited color options. I think I'll try one similar to yours. No wait....I have a very nice guitar. I don't need you giving me G.A.S.!!...but man, that does sound cool....;)

Jakedog,

Thanks for posting this, I just used your guide above and Like it! I have a 60's Classic Strat and I just put some Lawrence noiseless pu's in it. So I've been fooling around with height adjustments for a while now. I was pretty close to your settings on the middle and bridge, just a bit higher, but a lot higher on the neck. I'm going to leave it here for a few days and see how I feel after that. I really do like it though, and you're right about tweeking the amp as well. I put a blender pot on my strat and the neck and bridge sound pretty cool as well! Oh yeah, I play mostly Blues and Rock.
Thanks for Posting your set up!:lol:

No problem man! Glad it's working for you so far.

I went through years of changing pickups in strats, never to find exactly what I wanted. Then about four or five years ago I remembered that the very first one I ever had ('90 dead stock Am. Std. bought new) was perfect for what I wanted. I had one of the local hero guitar gods from my hometown set it up (every town has one or two), because he was supposedly THE guy to see about strats. I remembered thinking when I got it back that the pickups were really low. The guys in my band at the time had told me I needed to have them really cranked up to get more output. But I tried it, and I loved it.

So when I remembered that, I started dropping pickups down until they were almost un-useable, and then slowly bringing them up, and adjusting the treble to bass tilts until they sounded like I remembered. Doing this with the neck first, then mid, then adjusting the bridge to work in balance with the first two did it for me. I've been running this setup ever since.

Every guitar is a little different, and there are no hard fast measurements. That's one of the problems with factory setups. The guys and gals that do them are hard workers, but they are not in most cases techs, or even players. They are factory workers with a set of gauges, and a list of numbers. And that's one part of why you can grab ten identical Fenders, and have them all sound and play just a little bit different.

I start in the general ballpark I've described above in my other post, and then make very minute adjustments 'til I find just the right spot. I do the same thing with my neck relief, saddle heights, etc. Nothing drives me more nuts than a "tech", who busts out a set of numbers, makes the guitar match, and hands it back with a big smile announcing that it's "done". Sure it is pal.

I put that last bit in to say that if somebody here tries the setup I've described and kinda likes it, but doesn't totally dig it, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just try noodling with it ever so slightly. The setup I mean, not an actual baby...:grin:

As I also said earlier, if you don't like it, it won't hurt my feelings. Heck, I don't like Fender amps, and that usually goes over like a fart in church around these parts. This just works well for me, and has for lots of other people I've shared it with.

I love the Wilde Pickups Keystone strat set. I think it is even better than the Tele set.

Today I ordered some Rumpelstiltskin Tele pickups, I obviously haven't received them yet but I can say that Mr. Campbell is a pleasure to deal with.

Thanks, Jakedog! I just got home and tried it. I cannot believe that I couldn't spare the 15 seconds last night! It's late here and I unfortunately have neighbors so I can't turn my amp up as loud as I please but the neck and middle are spot on, the bridge, I'm still fooling around with. My bridge pick up is connected to the second tone knob and I was alway rolling off the high end. It used to have a very generic AC/DC kind of sound. Now, it's finally cleaned up a bit and seems less aggressive. I haven't found the sweet spot yet but it's about 4 miles up (down) the road from where it was! I am so glad that you've taken the time to post this me...for us!

Do they come in black? Quick back story, I lived in Utah about 10 years ago and had a MIM black strat with rosewood fretboard. I bought it off of some kid who was moving back to Texas. It had two SD singles and a humbucker in the bridge. He did it himself. I saw the light reflecting on it one day and painted two thin racing stripes on the top left part, right about where your arm would go. At the time, I thought it was heresy to have a humbucker in a strat so when I moved, I let it go. I have spent the past 10 years trying to find a guitar that comes close. It just had IT! Whatever "IT" was...The roadworns from what I hear, have "IT" in spades but limited color options. I think I'll try one similar to yours. No wait....I have a very nice guitar. I don't need you giving me G.A.S.!!...but man, that does sound cool....;)

Chk this out, This is what I have. I got a decent deal on mine, new I paid $570. at a local independent shop. http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0131000302

I got the Sunburst and really enjoy it. This pic is before I put the new pickups in it.
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/rsmalling/Classic%2060s%20Stratocaster/GearPhotos007.jpg

My favorite Strat pickup right now is a 1967 Fender Mustang pickup rewound for me by Tim Mills of Bare Knuckle pickups.

My other favorites are a 1976 Strat pickup and a formerly trashed Fender CS '69, both also rewound by Tim.

My favorite "hot" Strat pickup is the TexMex. Not the Texas Special, but the cheaper cousin. Some guitars also like the old DiMarzio FS-1.

I also like the way the 57/62 sounds in the middle position of one of the guitars I built.

I love the Kinman Strat pickups that I have. I think some people dislike the noisless pickups, but I love the sounds they give me and regularly get compliments from people who have never heard of them.

Likewise. Chris Kinman really solved the noiseless-pickups-that-still-sound-Stratty equation.

That is a beautiful guitar Rob S. I had a 50's player's strat for a while. A guy I work with let me have it for a song. (and a PS 2) I thought it was great. I didn't care for the tuners but the p/u were really good. I ended up basically giving it to someone less fortunate than me. He loves it. So it has a good home. Those 60's classics look great to me. They happen to come in my favorite colors as well. I'm tempted by the neck but I think I'll avoid them at all cost! I have way too many guitars as it is and most just sit around. I am partial to black strats because when I was young and banging out my favorite songs in front of the mirror with a Tennis racket, that is what I imagined. That was before I even knew what it was. Okay, I was doing that last week as well! ; )