Strat tone advice

[Bone Machine]

Nice site /forum just found it and decided to join up asap.

I'm after some help-

Any of you guys have suggestions for a good set of replacement pickups for my strat?
I got a 87 japanese 50's reissue stock strat that i've owned since day one ( I love the neck, fat and juicy) and I am looking for a nice sweet singing tone - think Dave Gilmour meets Stevie Ray, Hot but smooth and Vintage.
I have my strat strung with Ernie Ball 13-56 nickel strings and 5 springs in the trem (if that helps)
I only really use valve amps, so I think a pickup change is really all that I require, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I'm in wet old London but will happily order stuff abroad.


:)

[Joe Neri]

I like the Blues (bridge and middle) and Vintage Plus (neck) pickups. Hot but not over the top, and very vintage.

[Bone Machine]

Are they Fender? (probably a dumb question, but it's been a long day)

[Joe Neri]

I believe you can order them direct from Van Zandt but I do not know their URL. Also available from www.musictoyz.com. Check out the reviews on Harmony Central. I have two Strats, one with Van Zandts and I like them a lot. Fralin Hot Vintage comes in a close second, though.

[Bone Machine]

Cool thanks man. I'm gonna go check it out and then get some shut eye, I got a long weekend ahead of me.
:D

[TheGoodTexan]

Seymour Duncan Antiquity I for Strat. I love'em. Go with the Texas Hot for neck and middle and the Custom Bridge for...well, bridge. The most authentic vintage sounding pickup there is.

Don't get me wrong..I've used VanZants and Fralins and they're good too, but the Antiquities are the shiznit.

Oh yeah...and I'm stringing up 12-54 myself...Ernie Balls or course.

[bek]

Go to www.torresengineering.com and check out all their choices. Very informative site, too--it will help you choose what will work for you.

[Ringo]

ask this question you will get a lot of opinions, Fender Custom Shop Fat 50's are supposed to be good ,then there are lot's of variations of Duncans,many like the Blues Van Zandts, Rio Grandes are good, for an alternative take - a good inexpensive Strat pu check out the Kent Armstrong line.

[5965]

The first decision might be whether you want an rw/rp middle. Some people think the 2/4 sounds are different.

[JoeyV]

I got the EMG David Gilmore rig in my strat and they nail his tone and every other tone you could think of...they got some balls to them, there dead quiet, very flexible and big huge tone...you will hate regular pickups after you try em..You get a pre wired strat pickguard w 3 low impediance pickups, a volume knob, BASS and Treble expander knob and a Midrange Boost knob,,,you can get any sound imaginable with it..

[Bone Machine]

Looks as though I got a bit more researching ahead of me....
Thanks for all your suggestions I'll be taking them all on board and doing a little bit of phoning around to get some prices this week.
I'll let you know what I end up using in the end.....


:)

[Kris]

I've tried a lot of strat pickups, including SD Antiquity and Antiquity II, Rio Grande Vintage Tallboy, and many others. They're all great pickups.

But, you described the tone you want as follows:

I am looking for a nice sweet singing tone - think Dave Gilmour meets Stevie Ray, Hot but smooth and Vintage.

I'd say that's Fralin Vintage Hot.

Good luck!

Kris

[Bone Machine]

I reckon I'll try and get my hands on a set of Van Zandt's then. I just got to find some one who can do a nice price with shipping to England and accepts Paypal.....

:D

Has anyone tried the Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Strat Pickups?

Because they could also be an option.......

[Roel from Holland]

Originally Posted by Bone Machine

I reckon I'll try and get my hands on a set of Van Zandt's then. I just got to find some one who can do a nice price with shipping to England and accepts Paypal.....

:D

...

I think you can pay with Paypal whn you order from Musictoyz. Shipping starts around 17 dollar.

[5965]

"Has anyone tried the Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Strat Pickups?"

That gets back to whether you want rw/rp middles. Fat's have 'em; Custom '54's don't. Most of the early Knopfler stuff is on '61/'62 Strats and not rw/rp.

[5965]

And if you want a thicker tone, don't forget about picks. You can do as much with them as you can with strings.

[Both CS series are very good pickups, btw.]

[Bone Machine]

As I said the other day I'm using 13-54 gauge Ernie Ball strings and I generally use Jim Dunlop JAZZ 3 picks, (because they are nice and thick) along with my fingers to play.


I did find that putting 5 springs on my trem changed the tone somewhat and for the better, but obviously thats just my personnal taste.


I just got to get these pups right and then I'll be happy.


I've owned four strats in the past 15 years and |I keep going back to this Japanese 50s reissue that I'm currently using, it walks all over my other 3 reissues one of which was an American 57 reissue (long gone now, overpriced hunk of junk that it was) and two identical Japs that were not nearly as fine as this one.

Just goes to show that the proof is in the playing and not the price tag............

:D

[cklingo]

Do you tune down?

How do you bend those monsters?

I've tried strings your gauge. The tone improvement was awesome! However I just couldn't do my thing with the added string tension.

Just curious.

Thanks mate!

[alembic54]

Besides tone being ultimately in your hands, I really think that strings make a huge difference. Although I've played guitar for 30 years and have owned electrics for 20, I played mostly acoustic until about 2 years ago when I began to take electric guitar much more seriously. Playing primarily acoustic for all that time has given me strong hands! Also it made me play HORRIBLY on really light gauge strings. I switched to 11's about 6 months ago and they really make a difference,. Yesterday i picked up Pyramid Medium gauge roundwounds and although they are very expensive they are the best sounding strings I have ever heard. I figure if a monster player like Steve Kimock swears by them then they are good enough for me. The tone on these Pyramids is nothing short of amazing> they have an incredible bell like chime to them and are low tension. I lucked out 3 years ago when I bought an American Standard Strat off the rack at GC. It is just a sweet guitar and other than block the trem, I haven't done anything else to it.Given all the horror stories one hears about GC, I'm lucky.

I'm a new poster here> If anyone on this board lives in North jersey and is into playing email me. I'm an old fart who is into the Dead, Hot tuna, Allman Bros you know jam band stuff....blues, you get the picture.

thanks for listening...Jeff

[Bone Machine]

If I'm bluesing I tune to Eb, but I regularly play in standard.

I found that after playing for a week or so the 13's made no difference to my fingers, mind you I started on 11's when I was about 15 years old so I had a head start on most people.

I have never been able to get on with light strings as they make me play all funny and steal all my feel from my fingers (bit like playing with elastic bands covered in vaseline).
I reckon that 11 is the lightest gauge I can play with comfortably anything lower than that and I've had it.

Problems only really arise when I go to try out a new guitar in a store and it's strung with 9's (the devils strings ,tone stealers), I sound REALLY bad when I play in guitar stores, bit like a novice on acid - all out of tune and sloppy (it's good for a laugh though).

I believe that if you make the effort it pays back tenfold on your tone.

[m1911]

Originally Posted by Bone Machine

Any of you guys have suggestions for a good set of replacement pickups for my strat?
I love the neck, fat and juicy and I am looking for a nice sweet singing tone - think Dave Gilmour meets Stevie Ray, Hot but smooth and Vintage.:)

Lindy Fralin Vintage Hots

[singing single coil]

I would go with the Van Zandts. I have two strats with them in. one has a set of vintage plus the other with the
blues. both are great. there is a gentleman in Carolina that distributes for Van Zandt. They are being bought though so make it quick. If all else fails. There is a guy in New Jersey that has a set for sale. New. Call (732) 257-4505, John @ Highway music. A gentleman named Bob is selling them John can hook you up. Good luck

[jumpnblues]

eom.

[Mark Davis]

Strats like to be tuned to Eb. I have heard Hendrix for so long I naturally tune to Eb SRV too.

Pickups I have used in Strats that sounded good are.

Fralin Vintage Hots best for that glassy sound like on Little Wing Spanish Castle Magic.

Fender Fat 50's sound real close to the Fralins and have the same ohm readings just not quite as glassy or smooth as Fralins but real good.

Fender CS 69's The neck pickup nails Jimi/SRV but the middle and bridge sounded too thin to me.

Fender new design 57/62's these are excellent for that Vintage Strat tone . 5.6k ohms lots of highs not rwrp so a little noisy unless shielded.

The Van Zandts are good too just voiced more for Rock Blues tones and dont have the glass and shimmer the Fralins do.

[Tom A.]

I am about to change the pups out in my 60's Classic. I have narrowered the choice down to the Fralin's or Bill Lawrence 280's. I am looking hard at the BL's since they are about half the price. Anyone know how they compare to the Fralin's tone wise. Thanks.

[Blaster]

In my ash body strat the Fat 50's sound wonderful. I had a Van Zandt bridge pup in and it sounded good too.

I would check out the BL's since the price can't be beat. But look at the Fat 50's too

[redshoesjim]

get the sd antiquitys ive had them in most of my strats and like them best

[davidp158]

I've been messing with Strat pickups in a Tom Anderson and recently a Don Grosh guitar. I play blues and alt-country and needed pickups that were full sounding for blues, but have a little snap and twang for the country side. The Fralin Vintage Hots are good, but not as versatile for the styles I play. The Fralin Blues Specials seem to give me more output and have more character than the Vintage Hots.

A while back I found a used set of John Suhr V60LP pickups, and really like them. They are a bit darker and woolier than the Fralins, but still have plenty of twang. For a good example of the tonal range of these pickups, listen the the last 2 or 3 Scott Henderson CDs. Scott nails some unique blues tones, as well as agressive fusion and country stuff. I believe Scott's guitars have basswood bodies, which tend to be darker/bassier than ash and alder, but he still has plenty of top end shimmer to his tone. He's also a deadly player, which is a big part of the tonal equation, of course.

dave patterson

[Marino]

What about Bartolinis? Bright and alive.