P'ups for a Classic Player '50s Strat

[NotSoFastEddie]

I picked up a Classic Player '50s Strat (sunburst) last summer. I love everything about it except the pickups. Yes, they sound vintage. But, the poles have a vintage stagger so the G string is louder than all the other strings. It thought I could live with it at first because, Hey, that's how real Strats are, right? But now it's grating on me. If I want to keep that vintage Strat sound but without the G string emphasis (after all the stagger came from a time when G strings were wound), do I need to get some p'ups with no stagger? Thoughts? Recommendations?

[Mark Davis]

NO just lower the ones you have way down.

make em look like this.

[NotSoFastEddie]

Mark, thanks! I just tried it and it works. My bridge pickup doesn't want to go down as far as in your picture, but I can probably fix that by moving some wires down there. It really made a difference on the other two. Thanks again.

[Mark Davis]

Those special 57/62's in the 50's Classic Player like to be low.

Glad it worked out for you.

[NotSoFastEddie]

So, as long as we're talking Classic Player 50's..... I also notice that I get popping - sounds like static to me - when I drag my little finger across the pickguard. Do I need to shield the underside of the pickguard? Or get out of the habit of using my little finger to locate my picking hand?

[bluesjuke]

Shielding will greatly help this.

Once in a pinch I put a High Voltage sticker that has dielectric properties where my hand hit (I'm an electrician).
Solved the problem and looked cool so I kept in on there.

[tele-martini]

I just bought one of these new last week. The dealer must have set mine up because the action, intonation and pup height were dialed in pretty nice. I'm not noticing the difference in volume from string to string. Although the stk.pups do pick up buzz from computer monitors and some lights I don't find them to be that noisy.

[thekillingjoke]

My way of fixing the problem would be to slap 13s on that sucker.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally Posted by NotSoFastEddie

So, as long as we're talking Classic Player 50's..... I also notice that I get popping - sounds like static to me - when I drag my little finger across the pickguard. Do I need to shield the underside of the pickguard? Or get out of the habit of using my little finger to locate my picking hand?

Common pickguard static - rub down the pickguard with one of those fabric softener clothes dryer tissues. DO NOT WASTE MONEY ON "shielding".

[NotSoFastEddie]

Thanks for the tip, Rob. Now where does my wife keep those.......?

As for the 13's, I have 10's on there now and have thought about going up, although the only place I have 13's is on my acoustics. Maybe I'll give it a shot incrementally. What do I have to loose?

[fenson]

Originally Posted by NotSoFastEddie

Thanks for the tip, Rob. Now where does my wife keep those.......?

As for the 13's, I have 10's on there now and have thought about going up, although the only place I have 13's is on my acoustics. Maybe I'll give it a shot incrementally. What do I have to loose?

13s at standad pitch good luck bending strings lol

[thekillingjoke]

Originally Posted by NotSoFastEddie

Thanks for the tip, Rob. Now where does my wife keep those.......?

As for the 13's, I have 10's on there now and have thought about going up, although the only place I have 13's is on my acoustics. Maybe I'll give it a shot incrementally. What do I have to loose?

You should try some 13s. The tone, I think, is incredibly awesome. It'll be extremely hard at first, but after a month or two your fingers will get used to it. I made the jump straight from 10s to 13s. It was tough getting used to, but I managed. And as a bonus, after you get used to them you'll feel all manly because you've conquered those monstrous cables packaged as "strings."

I also recommend tuning down a half step. You don't have to, but it'll make your life easier. If you can't handle the sheer manliness of 13s, at least give a set of 11s with a wound G string a shot.

[tele-martini]

Originally Posted by thekillingjoke

You should try some 13s. The tone, I think, is incredibly awesome. It'll be extremely hard at first, but after a month or two your fingers will get used to it. I made the jump straight from 10s to 13s. It was tough getting used to, but I managed. And as a bonus, after you get used to them you'll feel all manly because you've conquered those monstrous cables packaged as "strings."

I also recommend tuning down a half step. You don't have to, but it'll make your life easier. If you can't handle the sheer manliness of 13s, at least give a set of 11s with a wound G string a shot.

I'm guessing you would have to do some gross adjustment to the trem bridge if you wanted to keep the guitar standard tuning and pitch w/13's.. I'm not sure what the stk. strings were but changing to D'Addario 10's the second day I had mine pulled the bridge up a little further.

[Scotland]

Originally Posted by tele-martini

I'm guessing you would have to do some gross adjustment to the trem bridge if you wanted to keep the guitar standard tuning and pitch w/13's

Yes and the nut would have to be filed to accept 13's.