They went in a CIJ 62 re-issue yesterday morning.
I spent most of yesterday whacking it through a Vox AC4TV. I had another 3/4 hour this morning through my modellor and headphones before I had to go back to work.
Still fiddling with pickup heights, but first impressions were immediately "oh yesss 8)"
Background
This guitar has had ITs in it before, its own Texas Specials, and some Tex Mex pickups that came out of a Roadworn 60s (which has the ITs now).
The guitar itself is very warm and resonant, which I think has a big bearing on everything, so keep that in mind.
The original Texas Specials were OK. I don't mind the sound, but I don't find them too versatile.
I replaced them with ITs over two years ago. In this guitar, they were like a (much) better version of the Texas Specials. More clarity, expression, etc. etc.
When I got the Roadworn - much brighter sounding guitar - I moved the ITs over. They are so much better for me in that guitar, so that left me with "what to do with the CIJ..."
At first I tried the Tex Mexes in the CIJ - they worked far better than the ITs did for me in this one (and far better than they did in the Roadworn, where they sounded a bit thin). In the CIJ, they were lighter, slightly smoother, and less thick sounding than the ITs had been.
So I did a lot of thinking and reading on here.
First decision was - what do I want to achieve with the guitar? After a bit, I realised I didn't want it competing with the Roadworn. The Roadworn is fantastic with the ITs - gritty, bright blues-rock, that you can tame with the volume and tone control.
I decided I wanted the CIJ to concentrate on what the IT'd Roadworn can only compromise on - clean, warm, smooth, snappy, stratty stuff. I was hoping to get two guitars that would give me both worlds through the same amp settings...
And I've got it! :D
I nearly went Apaches - a bit worried about them being too rounded for my tastes in this well-rounded strat...
I nearly went Mothers Milks - this seems the obvious choice for me in this guitar, but I suspect it would end up sounding quite similar to the Roadworn with the ITs...
I looked at the guitar. It's a shiny Fiesta Red, it has a perfectly set vintage trem, I keep trying to play Atlantis and Apache, and various Mark Knopflerisms... so I decided to take a punt on Sultans.
Impressions
From what I'd read, I expected the vintage bottom end of Apaches, but with an extra top end that is sweeter than the IT top end. I also read that they retain a nice detail in the mids.
Bear in mind this is still the honeymoon period, and I might still have the rose-tinted spectacles on, but they've pretty much delivered on what I'd read.
I've not heard Apaches in the flesh, but each Sultan pickup on its own in this CIJ gives me that rounded clean strat tone with a nice usable top end. At the moment I've got a paper-in-oil capacitor in, I think for this particular guitar, a PIO is a bit too mellow - I shall be heading back to ceramic or orange-drop for this one I think.
The bridge pickup I adore - and I was expecting not to fall in love with this one. It's bright and rock and roll but in a manageable way. It's also very sweet in it's brightness - think Hank Marvin. I haven't found an "un-sweet-spot" on the height adjustments on this one. It just gets thicker the nearer you move to the strings, but they're all usable.
The neck pickup is my next favourite. I do use the neck on my IT set, but with this set I can see why some people just sit on the neck and stay there.
The middle, I'm still fighting with. The middle pickup of a strat has to be just right for me - it's my default pickup. Many of the "strat" sounds we all know/love/hate are the middle pickup. I'm wondering whether it's this guitar actually - I had an awful struggle with the IT middle on here two years ago. Eventually I found a spot and it was excellent. (In the Roadworn, you can screw it in/out, and it won't give me a cr@p tone :lol:). What I'm finding on this one at the moment is it's not quite nasal enough for me, it's more like the neck tone than the bridge tone (if you see what I mean).
Position 2 & 4 - I've always suspected that I'd made a mistake ordering RWRP for the ITs. For my tastes, I was right. This set of Sultans has a stock middle. And lo and behold: there is the tone I played with for years before I heard about RWRP :lol:. It's more airy and clear sounding. For me, RWRP (I've got it on ITs, Texas Specials, and Tex Mexes) gives you hum-cancelling, but so what?, and it gives you (possibly) more quack, but at the expense of a slight muddiness in 2 and 4. On this stock set, I can now do "jangly" rhythms again :D.
Now, what happens when you dirty these little things up?? (Phil King promised me much over this :lol:)... VERY NICE :D. As Phil said, they do 60s/70s rock tones fabulously (I don't go much beyond that). And you get a nice clarity of notes in the chords that I don't hear so much in the ITs, those give me more of a nice "punch" of a chord on overdrive... Now, I know Sinners are possibly named after a Judas Priest KK Downing work-out... but... my "Hank Marvin" guitar with Sultans in was doing very passable KK Downing impersonations yesterday :lol:.
And, Philly Q, if you're still awake, neck and neck/middle, through a cranked AC4TV with no effects is instant Robin Trower (think "I can't wait much longer").
Finally - I've been using modellors for several years, and only just got back into a valve amp. For day-to-day "let's rock" on the AC4TV, I'd still pick up the IT'd Roadworn first at the moment. The Sultan'd CIJ gives me a different angle. But this morning before work I discovered something very interesting - the Sultan'd CIJ makes all of my favourite modellor patches work, including the "fender" ones. The IT'd Roadworn (and previously, the IT'd CIJ) sounded quite offensive through some of them! :lol:
Sorry it's been so wordy (I might even manage some clips in the next few weeks), but these pickups have definitely done the job I was hoping they'd do, and more, and I think there's more to come...
DO NOT ignore Sultans when considering BKP strat pickups :lol:
EDIT: Oh, yeah, I meant to thank Phil King and Antag for their posts about Sultans, Jonathan at Feline for mentioning them a few weeks back (and for turning me on to PIO capacitors for "vintage" tones), and to Tim for his old posts on here about them (and for making them as well, I guess!)
