Deciding on Strat 62 reissue pickups help!!

[Jordno]

Hi guys

Just need some help on deciding on a set of new single coil pickups for my 62 American Reissue Strat(alder body, rosewood neck)

I love the soaring leads of Gilmour, Hendrix, Frusciante etc but also love the balls I can get at the moment from my stock pickups and how Ive tweeked my dual rectifier head to get a real ballsy low end with some mids that make it have punch Tool/Adam Jones ish just not thick les paul tone, while still having the treble to give a nice solo lead tone.
I also love the cleans of hendrix and frusciante where every note just seems to be heard as it should down to the smallest!
60/70s tone with balls in the low?

I play a variety of styles funk, jazz, blues to prog, rock, metal all with this one guitar so im trying to find a common ground to sit the pickups, the highs arent exactly as soaring as Id like them to be and I feel the lows could do with just that little bit more of a push and tightening. I suppose im mostly worried Ill pay £100+ and lose that something im already finding and chasing after, too much high and not enough mids etc

I suppose Im asking for something that can sit between a Mothers Milk highs and Trilogy Suite with the tight lows? love those pickups! I can do the rest of the tweeking at the amp. The strings Im using already add some ballsyness to the stock pickups, 10-52 D'addarios seem to do me well and im pleased but I want MORE!!

Any help suggestions would be great and if you have any questions please ask :)
Ive heard things about Irish tours and slowhands but how do they handle the gain?

[Telerocker]

I think you need minimal Irish Tours. They have more mids and bass then the Mother's Milk while retaining the sixties vibe (especially oif you turn the vol.knob on the guitar a tad down they get close to MM's). They handle Hendrix-stuff very well, though I doubt they are the first choice for prog. metal. They handle gain very well nevertheless, even the MM's do their job in this respect.
The Trilogy Suites are the first call for the heavier repertoire you mention. They sound way more modern then IT's though. Tough decision.

[BigB]

Hi guys

Just need some help on deciding on a set of new single coil pickups for my 62 American Reissue Strat(alder body, rosewood neck)

I love the soaring leads of Gilmour, Hendrix, Frusciante etc but also love the balls I can get at the moment from my stock pickups
(...)
Ive heard things about Irish tours and slowhands but how do they handle the gain?

The SH are quite warm and middy, and AFAIK not as tight as the TS (disclaimer : that's from experience with SH neck/mid and TS bridge - I would have to try the SH bridge and the TS neck/mid to really know). They do handle quite a lot of a gain but in a somewhat P90ish way. Fine for Gilmour stuff, perhaps less suited for Hendrix and Frusciante (disclaimer #2: I had them on a very thick maple body strat-like so way more mids than a true strat). I never tried the ITs but from the specs and reviews they seem to be really underwound SH (or overwound MM xD), but from your whishlist they might be what you're looking for.

My 2 cents.

[Mr. Air]

Maybe yous could mix two pairs. You could go with Irish Tours in midle and neck for the more vintage tones and a Trilogy in the bridge (maybe with a zinc baseplate) to take care of the more modern stuff you like...

[Telerocker]

Maybe yous could mix two pairs. You could go with Irish Tours in midle and neck for the more vintage tones and a Trilogy in the bridge (maybe with a zinc baseplate) to take care of the more modern stuff you like...

Good option too. The only downside: the fourth position isn't that vintage F-quacky anymore.

[Jordno]

Ive emailed the guys at Bareknuckles and had a reply, had the suggestion of slow hand mid & neck with a trilogy bridge, 63 veneer boards with baseplates or slow hands throughout. Mentioning the slow hands being versatile in between the classic area and prog, sound more suited for me than the hot chunky vintage tone of IT.

Also mentioned to take in mind that the rosewood will take a little of the top end off as well

[BigB]

I had the SH mid/neck + baseplated TS bridge combo, each part was good on it's own but in hindsight I'd rather go with a matched set (still with a baseplated bridge for the extra meat).  The SH are indeed rather versatile (and quite good) but on the guitar I had them in they didn't have that mid-scoop and crystal clear highs that's part of the strat signature tone. While still clearly on the fenderish SC side, they do have something of a P90 feel, warmth and fullness.

[Telerocker]

Slowhands for Gilmour yes, Frusciante won't be that easy.

[Jordno]

I think ive come to deciding on Mothers milks in the end with maybe a baseplate in the bridge, my strats tone at the moment is near what I love but the highs need just that bit more of a bite and the lows could do with just a bit of tightness or that of a quality pickup.

The slowhands sound great but I feel they may lose what I love so far in my tone its far from dark, I may put them in my other strat (HSS maple neck) eventually.

As im not chasing another guitarists tone but more trying to find a ground to build on I feel the MM will be good for me to build on as well, a more solid foundation than what im using currently :D Thanks for all the help and input though guys I was going from pickup to pickup scratching my head haha, Ill let you know how it all goes though :)