New pick ups for Jeff Beck Strat

[malonius]

I'm fed up with the Fender Noiseless pickups in my Jeff Beck Strat. They sound like someone has put a blanket over my amp when you compare them to true single coils.

I love the Frusciante / John Mayer tones, so I think I have decided to go with a calibrated set of Mothers Milk. Stock wound with a zinc baseplate on the bridge pickup. In cream, to match the existing pickups.

It's likely I will also fit an Illich / Suhr single coil noise cancelling backplate to ensure the 60Hz noise floor is reduced (or near as damn it) eliminated.

The only concern I have is whether I should go with Irish Tours rather than MM's... I want a classic 60's vintage tone with "scooped" mids, so Aftr reading the specs on the site, I'm edging towards the MM's. The JB Strat has an alder body with a maple neck & rosewood board (which has a 9.5" radius). So - vintage stagger or flat profile pole pieces??

[AndyR]

You're facing the same sort of dilemma that I did when I bought my first set.

Eventually, I reasoned that if ITs could give me MMs territory when the guitar is backed off, then ITs were it. (And I was a huge Rory Gallagher fan, so I'd come across BKP by discovering that there were pickups called Irish Tours... so it was probably never going to be much else!).

I got ITs, and I've been very happy ever since. I'd love to get another strat and try out MMs as well, but it's not on the cards at the moment.

I have read some people say that the bubbly/fruity tone of, say, Hendrix on the neck pickup, is easier to get with ITs than MMs. I seem to recall that they were saying the MMs didn't have so much body in this area. So if you lean more to the Hendrix/SRV cleans then perhaps ITs would be better... But I suspect that you'd always wonder whether MMs were the "proper" choice for you.

Based on all that, unless there's something about the idea of ITs that makes you go "yeah", I think I'd recommend sticking with the MM plan for you.

Definitely, I'd say go with stock wound. My ITs are RWRP, my Apaches and Sultans are stock. In my experience, I find stock seems to give me a more "open" vibe and I don't need the hum-cancelling in positions 2 and 4 (in fact, it seems odd to me to cancel hum in 2 out of 5 positions!).

Baseplate or not is a very personal thing. I've never felt the need for one, and I've found all BKP strat bridge pickups to be very usable without one. But there's a plenty of folks who swear by baseplates on the bridge pickup.

Finally, vintage stagger or flat - I'm a vintage stagger guy, I would be on a 9.5" radius. It's just what I'm used to . I'm aware of the arguments that the stagger was designed for 7.5" and a wound G, and that it sounds "unbalanced" with an unwound G. But I've lived with that unbalance for nearly 30 years now - flat profile is what feels unnatural to me!

If you're used to flat profiled pickups already, I'd say go with flat profile. First, you're used to the response. Second, you're used to not getting your plectrum/fingers snagged on the middle pickup's pole pieces :lol:

[malonius]

Thanks for making your 4000th post a reply to my query! And thanks for your insight - I think you're right, the MM's are for me. I have quite a few guitars, but I feel most at home with a Strat... I also love the tone from a good neck pickup & have trawled this forum (despite my lack of previous posts) and recognise the importance of set up and the critical distance of string to pick-up spacing.

I have already slightly modified the JB Strat with a Callaham block. I think I will go ahead and order the MM's... Since the neck pick up is potentially a slightly weak link, I may consider a zinc base plate for it, to see if I can get a slightly thicker tone...

I will go with stock wound, especially since I want to use the Illich / Suhr backplate system to reduce 60hz hum. My Kinman blues are vintage staggered, as are the poles in my bridge pickup from my BK Brown Sugar set. A 9.5" radius is on the cusp. If I had a 12" radius board I'd go flat without question. I will probably go staggered on this, since my ear is drawn to those early 60's vintage sounds.

So... Why not go for the 63 vintage set? Well, I play regularly in a covers band which plays a big range of songs from 60's to present day material. I'd like the "feel" of the early 60's tone, but I also need a pickup which will also cope with modern material - RHCP, Foo Fighters, Killers etc. I think the MM's ( if the spec is accurate) will cover the ground I need.

Although it is a close call between them and the IT's..!