New user and question.

[dc01]

Firstly like to say hello to everyone as im new to this forum.
I have a 2011 US standard strat that i would like to swap the pups in. Alder body and RW finger board.
I mainly play blues/blues rock. My bands set list list comprises of everything from SRV,Hendrix,Cream,Allman bros.BB king,Free, Peter Green. Not looking to copy there sound at all, but so you all have an idea of the flavour im after.
Im looking for a set of pups the will give the bark and mid range punch of a Texas special but a smoother top end and not so harsh, and when i back the volume of on the the guitar it cleans up nicely and becomes like a versatile CS69 pup type feel with nice clarity but not to bright as the 69s can sometimes be to me.
Im think im going to do away with the no load tone contol, but if any of you have experience with this and BKPs working well together it will stay.
After listening to the sound clips i think that the Slowhands or Irish Tours are near the sound im after but any extra input from you all will be a great help.. Also i want a vintage stagger. Do either one of these pups repond better or worse to this.
Just to add, I play through a Blues Deluxe reissue and use a TS9 and Boss EQ in front of the amp.
Ant suggestion or input greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and cheers.
Darren.

[Telerocker]

I play IT's for a while and they are in the Texas Special-ballpark, but I think more articulate and dynamic. They do have enough bass, good mids and quite some highs, but not in annoying way. Somehow BKP manages to produces pickups where the treble is present, but pleasant and never icepicky. Btw, when you roll down the vol.knob on the guitar the IT's clean up wonderful. You can get Frusciante-tones with ease.
If your guitar lacks mids then you might want the Slowhands. They a tad more output and mids, but are not dull or lifeless in the upper register.

[dc01]

Cheers telerocker. good info. I generally have my mids eq'd quite high to cut through the mix in the band. Be it on the amp or an eq pedal. Will the vintage stagger improve a slightly low out midrange? Only a 3 piece so the mids to highs is really where i have to cut it.

[PhilKing]

You might want to look at the 63 veneer board for the tones you want, though my favourites, Sultans, work really well for blues/rock with nice feedback too. 

[BigB]

The Slowhands are great pups on teir own and sound great for bluesy stuff, but they are not your typical strat pups - fuller, darker, beefier, lots of mids, with a something of a P90 vibe to them (well, while being still on the fenderish side). I really liked them FWIW (and miss them and the guitar they were in), but they might not be what you're looking for if you want some of this more hollow, mid-scooped traditional Strat tone. ITs are probably a safer bet.

My 2 cents.

[dc01]

Any more suggestions or input please lads and ladies?

[Telerocker]

I thought vintage stagger are particularly for 7.25 radius boards. The US standard has 9.5. Correct me if I'm wrong. Flat polepieces will give a better balance at a 9.5 radius, I think. I have flats in bot my HSS-strats: IT's and MM's. IT's are a sort of overwound MM's. The latter ones a bit woodier and early sixties voiced. But, you want IT's for sure. With a good amp they're fat enough.

[dc01]

Yes. The Am stds are a 9.5. But I have a ltd ed Custom Shop Deluxe strat with vintage staggered 69s and balance is not a problem with that at all. But will take what you on board. Can see it working better tbh on a 7.25 radius. Only slight issue I have with the CS is a slightly quiet g string. But the pole piece is very low left over from wound g string days. But the MUDs are still very fat and meaty through my blues deluxe RI.