Any recommendations...fingerstyle 74 Stratocaster.

[Stratostino]

I have a routed out 74 Stratocaster (attained it this way) and was looking to get a HSS bare knuckles setup and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations? I play 99% of the time fingerstyle blues, Knopfler, Andy Mckee, etc.

[gwEm]

Philking has an HSS strat with a Stormy Monday bridge, and two Sultans. All the pickups have A2 magnets, and it works very nicely as a set - if he sees this post I'm sure he will have some more to say about it.

I have a full set of Sultans which sound very nice for finger style playing.

[Telerocker]

Stormy with two Sultans would be the ultimate pickingset for a strat.

[Stratostino]

I was leaning towards mothers milk and an emerald. Any specifics towards the sultans and the stormys?

[Telerocker]

Sultans are more suitable for fingerstyles then MM's I think, because of the softer attack. Maybe, I'm wrong, I usually play with a plectrum. If you want Knopfler-tones I would pick Sultans. For the bridge there are a lot of options, but the recommendation is based on alnico II from bridge to neck.

Btw I play two HSS-sets in (swamp)ashstrats: Crawler/Irish Tours and VHII/Mother's Milk.

[gwEm]

If you are going to be playing clean, or almost clean, a lower output bridge will give you a nicer and more dynamic tone.

When playing with fingers (which to be honest I don't really do very often) I've found it best to have a responsive pickup with a wide dynamic range. Hence my suggestion of Stormy Monday in the bridge.

Sultan's do sound very Knopfler when clean - and that was one of the influences you mentioned.

Plus I know that the HSS combination of them both works out very well - I guess because of using the same magnet and wire, with similar output levels.

Alnico 2 has a distinctive sweet sounding attack. It doesn't always work - I don't like Gibson 490R or 490T for example, but I know Tim has a good source for A2 magnets, and the scatterwinding process gives very good dynamics.

[Philly Q]

I was leaning towards mothers milk and an emerald. Any specifics towards the sultans and the stormys?

I would guess an Emerald would be very bright in the bridge of a Strat.

And it's a '74 Strat, so I'm assuming it's a heavy body, maybe ash?  Is it a rosewood or maple fretboard?

Given your style, does it have to stay HSS?  Have you considered just going back to an SSS setup?


(Sorry, all questions, no answers!  )

[Stratostino]

Thinking the mule and the mommy milks now. The neck is maple and yea looking to have it set up hss. I'm pretty much an acoustic player who got an awesome 74 body and neck from a friend. Trying to build it right the first time hence the Bk pickups.
Why what are your Sss recommendations? Hss?

[Philly Q]

Why what are your Sss recommendations? Hss?

I didn't have anything particular in mind - just thought if you're primarily into blues/fingerstyle you might not really have any need for the extra power of a humbucker.

I find vintage-output humbuckers a bit thin and bright in Strats, so (personally) I would be looking at VHII, Crawler, Abraxas and probably Mother's Milk (or maybe the '63 Veneer Board set).  But I'm more of a Gibson/P-90/humbucker person anyway, and into heavier music than you've mentioned (in an old school sort of way).

As gwEm and Telerocker mentioned, the SM/Sultans combo with AII magnets might be a good choice for you.

[AndyR]

I think the Stormy/Sultan suggestion will work well, although I have no real experience of humbuckers in strats.

I'd suggest you also think about Apaches, though. I have a full set of Sultans and a full set of Apaches. They've both been in the same guitars, one with maple board one with rosewood. I use fingers a lot, even when I'm using a plectrum. I personally prefer the extra body and raw edge that the Apaches give on clean to "hairy" settings. The Sultans are great, but they give me a clearer "glassy" strat tone - I tend to use them when that's really what I want. The Apaches seem to give me more versatility.

I'm not sure about MMs, never tried them. I do have Irish Tours, which I understand you can regard as a hotter MM (and mine are set quite low). My ITs are in a rosewood board strat, and they do nice Knopfler. But I understand that ITs can seem overly bright to some ears when paired with a maple board, and I also understand that MMs are maybe brighter than ITs?

My gut feeling is Apaches, but what you'd pair them with I don't know... I'd probably start my wonderings with a Mule (I have Mules in a Tokai Love Rock), because Apaches and Mules seem to like the same amp settings in my world.

If you were going SSS, I'd say Apaches all the way. All the BKP strat bridge pickups I've tried have been good on their own, but the Apache bridge is especially so for me. It has a nice body and attack and responds very well to fingers and a tone control.

[38thBeatle]

I was recently won over to "hums-in-a-Strat" by the guitar that the other guitarist in my band( although he is shortly to be leaving sadly) has. I was thinking along the lines of Andy as posted above- certainly with Apaches and the tone when picked. In fact I find myself picking more and more these days-both with my Tele ( Country boys) and my old faithful Strat ( Apaches) and the vintage tone pickups seem to work very well. I don't know what to suggest about a humbucker but I would think that getting something that is "vintage" would make sense. Andy suggests Mules- I haven't any first hand experience of them but I'd think a Mule would balance well with the Apaches.

[PhilKing]

I have a few HSS sets, but my favourite is the Stormy Monday/Sultans set, as gwem mentioned.  They have a really dynamic tone and can peel off into wonderful harmonic feedback if you up the gain on the amp.  I also have a VHII/Mothers Milk combo, which is good for the early 70's rock Strat tones.  It has more attack than the SM/S set, but if you are looking for more of the A5 sound, then it is probably the best combo for you.  If you go with single coils, I'll add my vote for Apache's.