Strat Pickups

[Tomcaster]

Sounds good, Andrew!

[PhilKing]

No one's giving you a push for Sultans, but I love the sound of mine.   They are a bit more blues rock sounding than the Mothers Milks but they are a really sing when you have things cranked.  I have mine in an old basswood body with a maple/ebony neck (which does affect the tone especially on the note attack), and I have an HSS set (with a Stormy Monday bridge), however I find myself playing them more than the Mothers Milks or Apaches.  I do like the Apaches too, I have them in 3 different configurations, the originals, a full set with baseplates and an AV magnet set.  All of them sound good and can get that hollow strat sound even when driven, with the AV giving more push and edge to the sound.  The Sultans are AII magnets which I think makes the difference.

The problem with your question is that you haven't said what the neck will be or given the weight of the body, and both of those will make a difference.  for example, I found Irish Tours very bright with a maple neck, though I am sure others like them.  The difference could be that I had them in a hardtail maple neck guitar which was already naturally bright.   I now have a set of Apaches with baseplates in the guitar and they sound great.  It's always worth knowing the acoustic sound before looking at pickups.

[Elliot]

I just got Tim to wind me a custom set for my Surf Green machine - Alnico V, heavy formvar 6.1k in the neck and 6.6k in the bridge - based on the spec readings of a very hot 1963 set I saw on Eddie Vegas's 2nd hand pickup site (and Tim's ever excellent advice on what is possible).  Because its for a modern 9.5 radus guitar they have flat profile and RWRP (which I prefer for the 'tween positions).

Awesome - I am going to call them the Miserlou set!  Put them in yesterday - exactly what I was looking for - truly the balls of strat tone.  Still honeymoon period, though, and getting used to them, so I'll post a review in a couple of months time (best to let things settle in.....)

Cheers Tim and BKP!

[lulusg]

That's awesome Elliot ! A new set of pickups done to your own spec!!  Like Phil says, it's good to know the acoustic sound and potential of the instrument. The possibilities and uses of the BKP pickups seem endless. Great product!!

[Mr. Air]

I think, from reading another thread, that Tim is developing a new set of strat pickups which are inspired by a '62 strat. Maybe they could be interesting?

[Supernaught]

I think, from reading another thread, that Tim is developing a new set of strat pickups which are inspired by a '62 strat. Maybe they could be interesting?

Mine arrived yesterday.    They are VERY nice indeed.

Ive just finished an A/B test between them and the stock pups.    While theres not a hugely noticable difference, they have a lot more clarity to them, kind of like someone rolled down the lower-mids on the eq.    They have a touch less output (to my ears anyway) and the bridge doesnt have anywhere near the same bite and bark as the stock, which suits me as Im not all that keen on the strat bridge anyway. (I didnt go for the baseplate option, so the brighter bridge is available if you wanted it.)

Ill post the A/B test video in a bit.   I recorded a bit of Wind Cries Mary over a backing track and I think the pups do a great impersonation.    They are also amazing for a John Frusciante tone.     They obviously arent quite as good as the Texas Specials I used to have for an SRV sound straight off the bat, but with a bit of tweaking they can do wonders.

[Tomcaster]

Very convincing tone on those 62s!