Stratocaster Pickup Recommendation

[Elliot]

That wire in the picture looks very much like plain enamel as opposed to formvar to me - the purplish hew gives it away - formvar, even old formvar tends to be brighter and more orangey than that pic.  BTW - Mother's Milks look just like that pickup.

[Tomcaster]

You are right, Elliot. The pickup on the post is a 1965 plain enamel pickup.

BTW, do the Mother's Milks also have a grey bottom?

[Elliot]

Mine don't have grey as they are a few years old but I think BKP will use a grey forbon bottom if you request it in the special request box - at least Horsehead got some.  Better ask Tim!

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10964&highlight=

[Tomcaster]

Guys,

I pulled the trigger for Apaches (flat profile, non-RWRP, no base plates). Installed them yesterday. The quality of the pickguard assembly the came in, as well of the pups itself is very high.

Regarding the sound I must say they are the ultimate early Dire Straits pickup.

Especially the middle pickup is a sensation simply - they finally have that special roundness and jazzyness to nail the "Sultans of Swing" record version. I was not even close with previous pickups.

The other absolute sensation are the inbetweens. There is no volume drop whatsoever between the single coil and 'notch' positions.

The bridge also sounds good but I haven't investigated it in bigger detail up to now (had to leave for a three weeks trip!)

The neck is a lot of transparency and warmth. Very good, but I am getting curious about getting an Alnico V pickup Apache or a Mother's Milk there for a tad more edge and presence in my particular guitar. What do you think about this? Would the neck/middle position sound change significantly?