Which Strat pickups?

[John Harrison]

I'm jonesing for something different, so out go the Rio Grande Vintage Tallboys, and on to something else.

I'm considering Fralin Vintage Hots and Blues Specials. What else floats your boat?

Alder MIJ '62 reissue, rosewood fretboard.
Deluxe Reverb, AC30, and/or Carr Hammerhead amps.

Thanks in advance.

[GUITARmole]

I like the Fender Custom Shop '69s...they're probably very different from the tallboys though.

[Falstaff]

I have the Fender 54's in a similar guitar and they are nice.

[Old Guy]

I've got Texas Specials in mine. Sort of a love / hate relationship with those pickups. You might want to check out the Acme Guitar Works site. They have mp3's that feature Lollar (I like them a lot), Fralin, Fender and Lace. I also really like the Fender 69's.

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/webpa...x?webpage_id=1

[Seegs]

Of the ones I've tried...for a glassy vintage style strat tone I really like the Lollar Blondes...they are great clean or overdriven and the in-betweens are really nice...they are smooth when played soft and can get bity and aggressive when you hit em hard...very piano-like bass end...

I also like the Van Zandts for similar glassy strat tones but the high end is very aggressive and a tad sizzly and that you can't dial out...

However...I wanted a bit more clarity in the neck pu so I have a set of Lollar Tweeds on order as this will be my Motown funk guitar and overall I want a thinner more articulate tone...

Chow,
Seegs

[Mark Davis]

Fralin Vintage Hots 3% underwound are my favs.

They have it all the glassy sounds they sound gritty when you crank them and cleanup real nice when you turn down. The neck pickup sounds just like Wind Crys Mary.

[KBR]

Van Zandts rule.
I can get the Neck pup tones of SRV and Jimi (Wind Cries Mary) great Hubert Sumlin (Howlin Wolf's Man) on pos 2 & 4, Anson Funderburgh's 57 Strat middle pup tones. and the Bridge pup is too die for.
I always wire em up for Master Volume, Master tone, then dummy pot, ala SRV, (who was a Van Zandt pickup user, too)

I also like Fralins & Jason Lollars.

imho, one should alwys be able to roll the highs off any pickup, especially the bridge pup, at any time.

KBR
Tone King Records

[jumpnblues]

What KBR said. Hey Kenny, what up? 8)

Tom

[Andre']

Bill Lawrence Keystones

[SinnerBoy61]

OC Duff Traditionals...

Owen wound me a set of '61's and I can never see them leaving my MIA strat.

[TDPRI]

I've had great luck with Fender Custom Shop '69s. I haven't tried too many pickups in a Strat. I had a '79 Strat that I experimented with SDs and Custom Shop '65s signed by Abigail Ybarra but like the '69s the best for overall sound.

I sold that guitar and bought a real '65 Strat so there's no messing with the pickups on that one.

Paul

[BB]

Well....you couldn't go wrong with any of the above suggestions. All darn good sounding pickups.

As Seegs said, Lollars hold a specail place for me. After using many, many after market pups in my strat over the years, a set of Lollars took this guitar up a few notches in the tone department.

A buddy has Fralin vintage winds in his strat and that sucker sings.

I like a nice vintage wind myself. Some I'm very interested in trying are Tone Riders, Bare Knuckles, Lawrence Keystones, Truetone, Vintage Vibe, Tom Short, Tesla, Rolphs, Wolfetone, Stephens, Manlius, Lynn Collins.....Lordy...the list goes on and on.

Andrew at Tonerider has some beauts. These things are really ( especially the A3's ) tweaking my interest. $90 a set is a no brainer.

Lynn Collins is local fella that wind s ome great stuff. Not cheap, but everyone I talked with that has his pups love em. I've run into 3-4 guys in my area that are trying their hand ( thanks to Jaosn Lollars out of print book ) at winding. It will be intersting to see what transpires.

As muc as I love my teles, there is something so organic and comforting about picking up a great sounding and playing strat for a bit of Hendrix, Gilmour, Knopfler, Trower.......................

[John Harrison]

After a lot of hand wringing and researching, I stumbled onto a good deal on a set of John Suhr V60 LPs (favorites of Scott Henderson and Michael Landau, two of my favorite Strat masters).
Now the hardest part, waiting for them to arrive and get installed in my Strat. I'll report back with my impressions.
Again, thanks for all of the suggestions!