Stevie didn't have over wound pickups did he? About 6k or less is what I recall hearing. Over wound / hot pickups will give more mids and take away some high end which is not what you want if "open" is the goal.Hello all,
My first strat was a 1995 American strat and ever since I've been fascinated by this instrument. I don't have the 95 strat anymore, it's been gone a long time. Since then I've had several strats including American Vintage (New production), real vintage Strats and Custom Shop strats.
Right now I only have one strat, it's a partscaster that I put together a few years ago, I have had several different pickups on this guitar:
Currently has the Oatmeal Stout and even though it sounds ok, I'm not yet 100% satisfied, my guess is that I have always chosen the higher wound style pickups as I'm a HUGE SRV fan but I guess I've come to the realization that maybe I should look at true vintage wound pickups.
- Fralin Blues Specials
- Fralin Vintage Hot
- BG V60 Pickups
- Booststrap Oatmeal Stout
- Van Zandt Plus Strat
- Rio Grande Muy Grande
- Fender Texas Specials
- Others I can't rememeber right now...
Upon looking I came across very highly regarded brands like: Virgil Arlo ($1500 a set) these seem INSANE prices for just a strat pickup set. Also heard Don Mares are amazing but not readily available.. there's a waiting list.
I've come across some other brands new to me that look more like viable options pricewise:
I'm trying to get your opinions as to which one I should try this time around. I don't want to spend anymore that $300 for the set. If you have any other suggestion not listed here I look forward to it.
- Raw Vintage 50 ($200)
- Rocketfire Rockin '54 ($300)
- David Allen Tru '59 ($250)
- Bare Knuckle Apache ($280)
- Manlius Vintage '54 ($180)
- DiMarzio Area 67 ($80 per pickup)
Thanks so much.
I would try the Boot Strap 54 Vintage Pro Set. I think that is probably closest to to what SRV had in #1 from the Boot strap line.