New Strat Pickups
cinredzfan47
Posts: 81
Hey everyone. I have gotten a new Fender Standard Mexican Strat neck for my old Squier Strat, and I am looking to upgrade my pickups. I'm looking to stick with single coils here, and I want to get that PJ sound (it isn't that complex). I was hoping you could give me some suggestions on what single coils to have put in my strat that would spice it up. Right now I have the crappy Squier stock pups that are worthless, and any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Seymour Duncan (et al) will have a lot of options.
Lindy Fralin has reputable Strat pickups, too.
I would assume you want something that has a typical Strat sound... the Texas Specials are a hotter Strat pickup, but have a very similar (if maybe a bit more bite) tone. The Vintage Noiseless get good reviews... I'd probably recommend something with a tad more output. The Hot Noiseless I've never heard reviews of... might be worth a look.
Lace Sensors are always an option... never my favorite, but they're interesting.
I actually had a Quarter-Pounder in a Tele for a while... it's a nice pickup, but won't sound like a Strat. It's very fat and warm, fairly high output for a single-coil. Like a rounded-tone P-90. The staggered-version might be better for the middle and neck positions, but I'd go with the flat in the bridge.
check this site out.
pay close attention to kinman, lindy fralin, Harmonic Design and maybe dimarzio virtual vintage.
I was really thinking Fralin Vintage Hot...
http://www.fralinpickups.com/stratstyle.htm#VH
Anyone know where to get a price for a stacked-humbucker Jazz Bass pickup...???
I liked the Kinman Woodstock- Plus pickups, but unfortunately, i dont have that kind of money to spend right now.
I think I will end up going with the Texas Specials. Thanks for all the help, you guys really helped me make the decision, so thanks.
perfect, or the steel poles but they are pricey,
check ebay before you buy, texas specials can be had for well under 120 a set.
Definitely...
Texas Specials are pretty much the Stevie Ray Vaughan pickup. You can't go wrong there. Every bit of Strat quack, but with a little more output and bite. Pickups Mike himself would use...
I personally would go with some form of Hot '54 pickup in the neck and middle, and either a Seymour Duncan Lil' 59 or a Harmonic Design Super 90 in the bridge. Give me that Position 4 heavenly tone, and a bridge pickup with some kick.
I have a set of these three just waiting to go into a homemade stratty type thing:
Seymour Duncan vintage rails for the neck and middle and a lil 59er for the bridge.
That's basically the his version of the Texas Specials for the front two and a humbucker for the bridge. You can split the 59er if you want, and get the single coil sound and humbucker out of it, too.
Another would be the neck and middle as fender texas specials and a lil59 for the bridge.
The vintage rails are supposed to be quiet, and the 59er is a humbucker, so that'll be quiet, too. Regular Texas Specials are noisy as hell, so these might be good.
I wouldn't get the pickups just to emulate pearljam, though, as they use a lot of different guitars to achieve their sound, but that set up is a nice combination and versatile. You can play blues and clean and rock out with them.
You might want to put some new pots and switches on while you're at it, too. they don't cost much and as long as you're putting nice new pickups in, you might as well put some newer controls in for a your best tone!
Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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I'm still waiting for the cobalt pups to arrive in dealerships... gorgeous!
Cobalt in the Neck and Middle, and a Harmonic Design Super 90 in the bridge... my ideal Strat.