which single coils?

[TheIronBeast]

With a pending NGD, hopefully within the next few weeks, I'm looking to be upgrading the stock pickups to something a bit more to my liking. I'm looking for a softer stratty-blues tone - think Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton etc. I was originally thinking Slowhads would suit perfectly but then after reading up a bit more on BKP single coils it looks like Apaches might also do the trick. I have some Irish Tours in my 2008 US Standard Strat which is great for the rocky-blues stuff - aka Rory Gallagher, SRV, Hendrix etc - I'm now looking for a single coil set with a more Clapton-esqe vibe. Any advice?

[38thBeatle]

I wouldn't dismiss Slowhands. They are a little hotter than Apaches but I wouldn't call them that hot.You can get some great warm tones in buckets from them but I would say that of my two Strats, the Apache laden one has the nicest tone( to my ears). A few nights ago I was playing a gig and was using my Gibson ( as I seem to be doing all the time) when unusually it went out of tune and because the pace of the gig was quite high, I swapped with the
( Apache)Strat and I must say, it was like hearing it for the first time all over again and made me realise just how much I love the guitar and the tones. It just so happens that it coincided with a Clapton Strat and I remember thinking that this really was the sound/feel for that song however much I am in the honeymoon period with the Gibson. I enjoy both Apaches and Slowhands but the former just edge it for me.

[AndyR]

I'm not too sure whether I'd describe them as "Clapton-esque" exactly, but I would suggest looking into Sultans for a "softer stratty blues" tone.

They're sweeter sounding than the ITs were in the same guitar, they encourage me to play with a slightly cleaner sound, but they also really go for Vox overdrive (an AC4TV, no pedals).

I suspect that if I swapped them between guitars with my ITs, that the Sultans would indeed sound very "Just One Night" in my Roadworn (and slightly more Mark Knopfler as well :lol:, the CIJ they're in is very warm-sounding).

In an ideal world I'd be getting more strats and more strat pickups... but I'm very happy with the bases I have covered with ITs and Sultans...