NUGD 2008 62 AVRI - Nice, but not exactly what I expected

[Camplain]

Just got a like new 62 RI... It was in serious need of a setup, so went to work on that right away. It had waaay to much forward bow in the neck, saddles were badly slanted, and the neck needed to be reseated... also the trem was decked with 5 springs... went ahead and pulled 2 springs and set it to float at 3/32...

All the fixes went well, the guitar plays great now, but the pickups (57/62's) are driving me nuts...

It's easy enough to dial in a good classic Strat sound for the bridge and middle, and the bridge/middle quack is really sweet... but the neck... The neck P/U is not fat and "juicy" like I'd expect a Strat's neck to sound... I expected the neck to have that certain roundness to the low end, like you'd hear on a Hendrix song like Castles Made of Sand or Little Wing, or like SRV's Lenny... not that I'm wanting to copy those guys exactly, but when I think of a Strat's neck I think of songs like that, David Gilmour also comes to mind.

So, what do you guys think about the 57/62 set? Have I just not found the sweet spot for the neck p/u, or is it just not the right tool for the job? What sort of music is the neck best suited for? I'd love to hear any thoughts on the subject.

These are the seller's pics, I've taken pics with the p/g and neck off that I'll post when I get to my camera.








Still trying to decide if I'll keep the mint green p/g too... it looks better in person than I expected, but thinking white might look better.

[adjason]

Great looking strat. I put a set of those pickups (used out of a 62 reissue strat) in a Mexican standard. I agree 100% with you. That neck pickup cuts through but does not have the tone I like either. Funny enough I shielded that guitar today and it did make the neck pickup sound better but it has lost some of the magic of the other positions. I just chalked it up to this guitar has great 2 and 4 position sounds.

[robt57]

Nice, I like it.

I wonder if you have a degaussed situation or partial in the neck pup. My neck 57/62 is about my fav neck pickup across a lot of guitars.

Swap it with the middle, all three are the same anyway in the set, could prove or disprove my theory.

I have the problem with the bridge 57/62. I pulled it and stuck in a ceramic MIM pickup which is not tops on my list, but feel the added bite works better in the bridge than the 57/62.

You could also try a baseplate on the pickup, may get you what you are wanting as compared to how it is now...

[fenson]

57/62 are nice but if its the Jimi thing ya want get some CS69's or just 1 for the neck.
Either CS 69 or some other make you like, that have a representation of the grey bottom PE wired pups
oh IMO

[fenson]

oh and sweet guitar that is !!!!!

[Camplain]

Originally Posted by adjason

Great looking strat. I put a set of those pickups (used out of a 62 reissue strat) in a Mexican standard. I agree 100% with you. That neck pickup cuts through but does not have the tone I like either. Funny enough I shielded that guitar today and it did make the neck pickup sound better but it has lost some of the magic of the other positions. I just chalked it up to this guitar has great 2 and 4 position sounds.

Thanks, you gave me an idea, my 4th position isn't quacking very well, I've been trying to dial in the neck in the 5th position, but maybe if I put it in #4 (well 2.5, still have the 3 way switch) and dial it in for quack that'll leave me with 4 great sounding positions, and an OK neck.

Originally Posted by robt57

Nice, I like it.

I wonder if you have a degaussed situation or partial in the neck pup. My neck 57/62 is about my fav neck pickup across a lot of guitars.

Swap it with the middle, all three are the same anyway in the set, could prove or disprove my theory.

I have the problem with the bridge 57/62. I pulled it and stuck in a ceramic MIM pickup which is not tops on my list, but feel the added bite works better in the bridge than the 57/62.

You could also try a baseplate on the pickup, may get you what you are wanting as compared to how it is now...

Thanks, I wouldn't have thought of it being a degaussing issue, being that it seems to have plenty of output, but you may be right, certainly worth checking out... I'd thought of putting a baseplate on the bridge to thicken it up a bit, but would hate for it to change the sound of the #2 position, it's so Knopflerey (is that a word?) right now... by far the best sound I've pulled out of this guitar so far.

[Camplain]

Originally Posted by fenson

57/62 are nice but if its the Jimi thing ya want get some CS69's or just 1 for the neck.
Either CS 69 or some other make you like, that have a representation of the grey bottom PE wired pups
oh IMO

The CS69's are exactly what I was thinking may be the ticket, at least for the neck... I know the stock neck pickup in my '78 Strat is eating the 57/62's lunch when it comes to the sound I'm talking about... Wonder if the CS69's are much different?

[Mid Life Crisis]

Nice Strat. Keep the mint guard though - looks killer with Olympic White.

[StoogeSurfer]

I have the same Strat from 2010. It's a great guitar, but I agree on the stock pickups. They are close, but missing some fullness when A/B'd to other options, of which there are many. To me the benchmark comparison is to Kinmans. Pricey but the sound actually is amazing (to use the most overused word in a guitar forum). =:-]

Agree that you should keep the mint guard. You won't like white-on-white, and I can't think of another pickguard that would really work on Olympic White. Also consider putting in a Fralin blender pot for the bridge and neck p/u's, it's a cheap and simple but extremely effective mod.

[fenson]

Originally Posted by Camplain

The CS69's are exactly what I was thinking may be the ticket, at least for the neck... I know the stock neck pickup in my '78 Strat is eating the 57/62's lunch when it comes to the sound I'm talking about... Wonder if the CS69's are much different?

the 78 pups I can not remember if they are the same only with flat poles,I think they where, with what was called an X1 bridge pup . I may be wrong about the X1 I forget when they started out.

IMO get a 69 type and try it in the neck or you could just have someone rewire the 57 neck with PE wire.

IDK though I think the bevel on the 57 / 62 may have something to do with the sound and rewire may be a waste IDK! What I do know is the pups from 65 to 73 and or the new copies out are my fav. pups

[Camplain]

I've got the guitar sounding better, anyone out there trying to get the best out of a 57/62 set, here's what's worked for me so far....

The bridge sounds best at around 4.5-5/64 with the b and t sides very near level, higher than I would have thought, but it gives the bottom end some thump and really takes care of the thin issue...

The middle sounds best a little farther away with the bass side slanted slightly toward the p/g, it's the sweetest sounding pickup in the guitar at the moment, not too thin or fat, very bell like...

The neck is sounding better, though I would not call it bell like... I find raising it up really helps bring out the fat mids... Based on what I'd read, I thought the magic in the neck would come out by setting it real low... just makes mine sound dead on the E and A strings... even with it set up higher those 2 strings don't have the snap I'd expect, but I've noticed the 57/62's are very touch sensitive, and really digging in on those 2 strings livens them up quite a bit...

When it comes to the neck, I'm sure a lot of it is just learning how this guitar likes to be played, and keeping in mind that it's not going to respond just like my other Strat... I guess the question is... Do I want it to sound more like my other Strat?... At the moment, yes, but not exactly... so only time will tell.

Thanks for the p/g advice... The mint green is going to be staying, I looked up a few pics of white guards on OW bodies and even though they looked cool, it just makes the body look much more off white than what I'm going for.

Here are the pics I took, I don't think it's a fake or anything, but if anyone spots something suspicious, please let me know.

[Camplain]

I flipped on the tube late last night and noticed Palladia was about to air a show simply called Fender Stratocaster... Well I couldn't pass that up... The first band that came out was Sonny Curtis and the Crickets, they tore right into a bunch of Buddy Holly tunes... It sounded great... Got me thinking "ya know, my '78 can't do that sound at all, but maybe the 62RI can". So I started tweaking pickups while playing along with Sonny, and by the time we got to I Fought The Law, I had her dialed in...

Then Hank Marvin came out and did a few songs closing with Apache... I immediately burned all my guitars and cried.... j/k... Seriously, Hank's tone blew my mind, always does.

Getting back on point. I am now very happy with every position on the guitar, the pickups are back down low, and that's exactly where they need to be to get those early Strat sounds...

What's tripping me out is how hard this Strat wants to be played... I'm used to getting the best tone by using a soft touch, but this thing comes alive when I play it like I'm Dolph Lundgren in "I must break you!" mode Just beat the hell out of it, it's so much fun

[StoogeSurfer]

A Hank Marvin and Dolph Lundgren reference in the same post, you don't see that every day.

You are correct, a 60s Strat demands abuse. It's like a Kim Kardashian romance. Pretty, but sick.

[Camplain]

Originally Posted by StoogeSurfer

It's like a Kim Kardashian romance. Pretty, but sick.

Truer words never spoken my friend