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Author Topic: Strat pickup replacement?  (Read 6810 times)

juals

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Strat pickup replacement?
« on: August 08, 2005, 09:52:23 PM »
Hi, any advice will be greatly appreciated. I have recently purchased a mexican strat with a maple fretboard. I previously had a pacifica 112. I love everything about the strat except the thin singlecoil bridge pickup. I have a marshall dsl401 and was after slash/page gibson lp tones if possible. I was thinking maybe a single sinner in the bridge? Not really into metallica type sound. Also do I need to by a calibrated set, and will my guitar still be noise cancelling in positions 2 and 4 if I replace just the bridge. Cheers guys.

38thBeatle

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2005, 11:19:52 PM »
Assuming you dont want to go for HB pups, then I would say the sinners would be your best bet judging by the description. Personally I was looking for the traditional Strat vibe and got Apaches and they are fantastic but I assume you wanted the feel of a Strat but the sound of a Les Paul- not easy. Others will no doubt chip in. Whatever you do, get a calibrated set. Noise cancelling should be the same if you replace just one.  It you really want a HB sound though maybe think about fitting one at the bridge.
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38thBeatle

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2005, 11:25:32 PM »
Oh and welcome to the forum btw!
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bucketshred

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2005, 12:11:31 AM »
This is a tricky one as...

A) a strat is completely different to what Pagey and Slash use (LP's)
B) we're assuming that you are going to be using singlecoils, something which wont get the fat distortion sound that you are looking for.

So, are you going to stick a 'bucker(s) in your mexi strat?

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March

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2005, 12:55:17 AM »
If it's a Mexican Std then it will have space for a humbucker beneath the scratchplate. The Mexican Classic series are SSS routed. Whilst a sinner will be able to handle the higher gain, I would image it has the faster, sharper attack that single coils are famed for.

The other option (depending on the guitar) as suggested would be to replace the bridge single coil with a humbucker. There are several pro's and cons to this. You would have to replace the scratchplate with one that is cut for a humbucker (not a major problem), but this would mean that you can fit the humbucker of your choice and if you chose four conducter wiring, add a coil tap and even series/parallel via a three way toggle switch, increasing the range of tones your Strat can give you still further.

As for getting the guitar to sound like Page or Slash is a different matter, as the materials the guitar is made from are different to an LP, as is the neck joint, but a humbucker can help get you into the ballpark.

Speaking from personal experience, I have a VHII in the bridge of my Strat and love it. It's a very mature and musical sound, as the name suggests, imagine the early VH records and thats what it delivers - a Hot PAF tone that will make you want to play louder and louder. However, there are a myriad of options available to you, read through the recommendations made here and speak to Tim and the crew at BKP, they will offer you sound advice (excuse the pun!) and point you in the right direction.
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Bird

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2005, 01:35:49 AM »
I mentioned Page as one of the examples of the kind of tone I was after. Tim recommended the Irish Tours, they're amazing and I couldn't be happier.   :D
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Elliot

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2005, 08:15:46 AM »
Of course if you want an early page tone from a strat you could get a blender pot to add some neck to the bridge to get the middle telecaster sounds of Led Zepplin 1 and 2.  Rothwell make one - the neck adder - check out their site (I have one and it is really good).
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HJM

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2005, 11:39:39 AM »
If you're wanting a bit more Les Paul tone from a strat, check out the Crawlers - lots more muscle in a strat, but still a classic tone.

And hello! :lol:
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PhilKing

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2005, 12:20:21 PM »
Stewart MacDonald sell a switch that is made by Schaller, called the super switch.  This gives you the brige and neck combination in the centre position (there are 4 types, I think it is the 'E' that does this).   Tim also sells a 4-pole 5-way which lets you wire any combination you want.  I have a wiring that combines the middle pickup in series to give a humbucker sound (you have to have a RWRP middle pickup to do this).  Depending what you want and which pickup you make RWRP, you can wire my favouite, which gives each single coil, 1 out of phase (parallel) and one series.
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juals

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2005, 07:47:41 PM »
Thankyou everyone for taking the time to reply and for the advice. I bought the strat because the versatility inspires me to play, and i like the look of them. I have played a les paul and would love to be able to get a similar tone in the bridge if possible, taking into account the different body materials. I am pleased with the sound of the middle and neck singles, so was unsure if i needed to relace all 3. I don't really want to fit a HB as i thought i could just replace the bridge with something hotter. The guy in the shop when i bought the strat suggested a lace sensor or SD, but i wanted to know how the BKP stuff compared? Band mates say the strat sounds too thin. Are the irish tours more 'rock' and the sinners more metal?

Tim

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2005, 08:45:32 PM »
Welcome to the forum :D
The Irish Tour  bridge is a vintage hot single coil so it'll be fatter than you stock single but still very much a Strat tone-in the vein of Gallagher/SRV.
The Sinner is a good choice because it has the girth of a humbucker without losing the openness of a true single coil.
However I'd be a liar if I said a single coil would give you a humbucker performance.............it's round peg square hole syndrome, it's a compromise.If you really want a humbucker tone then fit one but if you don't a Sinner will get you as close as possible.
Tim
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FELINEGUITARS

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2005, 12:38:01 AM »
If it were me in your shoes- I would be tempted to go for a crawler set with a  n Irish tour or an apache in the middle. This would mean a change of pickguard, but would give maximum number of tones.
As far as wiring goes I would be temted to go for the auto- coiltap option as favoured by Steve Vai etc and maybe have an extra switch to bring in the neck humbucker with any other configuration. Then you can get the 2 x HB sound.

Or go for the 4 pole megaswitch and any option is open to you
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juals

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #12 on: August 11, 2005, 10:42:34 PM »
Thanks again everyone who took the time to give advice, I have read all the replys carefully. After reading Tims advice I think the Sinner pickup will get me the sound I want, which is just a fatter sound with more bass. Just to clarify, I haven't worked on a guitars electrics before but I assume I just solder the new pickup in place of the old one, and everything will be the same but with a new sound in the bridge?

big steve

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Strat pickup replacement?
« Reply #13 on: August 12, 2005, 12:12:27 AM »
yep. swapping pickups is dead easy.
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