Strat pickups?

[jesperbc]

Hi again, it's been a while...

I just bought a Strat, and while I love the tones from it right now as it has Custom Shop Fat '50s installed, I've been thinking of putting in some Bare Knuckle pickups, even before I bought the actual guitar.

I'm a huge Billy Corgan fan, so it would be obvious to get som Lace Sensors Red, Blue and Silver, but I also don't really want to mimic Corgan down to the last minute detail, and I like Bare Knuckle better than I like Lace.

I play in a rock band and we have several different elements of '90s grunge and '00s rock music, including Big Muffs. ;) My main axe so far has been a Tele with Pile Drivers in it.

What would be a great choice of pickups to put in a S/S/S strat with an alder body and a maple neck, to get a great rock sound, without losing the Strat transparency and without mimicking my idol.

I've been looking at all of them, and I'm not into the Sinners or Trilogy sets - those are too high gain for what I'm looking for, I think.

[Sean Grexa]

I have tried ALL of the big boys (Kinman, Fender Custom Shop, Fralin, Lollar, etc...)  Nothing sounds as good as the Apache set in my strat. I can honestly say that they are the best pickups available for a Strat style guitar IMHO> Here is a demo I did yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I99D7_7EOzg

Sean

[Telerocker]

Irish Tours, with a baseplate on the bridge or Slowhands (more mids, less sparkly, but still there is sa good degree of stratchime).

[Chris Rowberry]

Hi Jesperbc

Based on your description I would have to recommend the Slow Hands for you. They will give you a little darker tone but have great mid range coming through to help keep definition and clarity. You will be able to drive them to really nail that Billy Corgan tone.

[jesperbc]

Thank you for the advice, everyone!

Sean Grexa: Nice video. Those Apaches really sound great, though I'm not quite sure that they are exactly what I'm looking for.

Telerocker & Chris R.: Thank for the advice. Would you recommend putting a baseplate on both the Irish Tour and the Slowhand bridge pickups? Would it be going too far putting baseplates on all the pickups in a set? It'd give all of them a little more bite, wouldn't it? Not that I think that it's an absolute necessity...

[Telerocker]

Everything is possible, but things can get boomy, especially on the neckpickup. I would go for a baseplate on the bridge.

[Sean Grexa]

I think Billy Corgan would tell you that his tone is not that complicated. It took me a long time to learn this, but you are better off starting off with a crystal clear, bloomy, chimey sounding strat and adding a little bit of grit with a pedal or your amp.  That is easy to do, and a solid "clean" foundation is important. Getting that silky thick pure clean strat tone becomes unnecessarily hard the "hotter" you go down the pickup line. You have a great set of pickups in the guitar now (Fat 50s), I don't think I would justify the cost of switching them out before at least experimenting with the guitar for a bit. Just my HMO after 30 some odd years of soldering pickups and putting together guitars.

Sean

[Telerocker]

@Sean Grexa  I think you're missing the point. The OP is afters Corgans sound which is not a Fat 50's nor a Apaches-based (how much you'll love them) sound. Corgan uses Dimarzio-railpickups for his highgain sounds. I'm totally with Chris R: get Slowhands with a baseplate on the bridge and you get close to BC.

Corgan has a complex rig. He uses several different custompreamps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eVH5vUR8u8

[jesperbc]

In the "old" days, the '90s, Billy Corgan used a Strat with Lace Sensors, a dimed JCM800 with an op-amp Big Muff in front, along with a Phase 90, as far as I know.
I not trying to emulate his sound, but I want something similar, in my own way. Corgan is a huge influence, though.

I'm going to let the Fat '50s sit in the guitar for a while and see what I can get out of them with my current setup. I like the idea of getting a good clean tone, like you're describing, Sean, but I also recognize that Corgans fuzz tone is not silky smooth or subtle in any way. It's semi-high output pickups with tons of fuzz and gain thrown in. 

I think I'm going with the Slowhand set with a bridge baseplate when the time comes. Sounds like it's be a good match, judging from what I hear on the demo clips and by your descriptions.

[jesperbc]

...And since I'm completely new to Strats: Vintage stagger or flat magnet profile?

I'm going with a RWRP middle pickup for hum cancelling in position 2 and 4. This is standard Strat, isn't it?

[Telerocker]

If your strat has a 9.5 radius: flat polepieces.
RWRP: yes, if you want humcancelling.

[jesperbc]

If you're strat has a 9.5 radius: flat polepieces.
RWRP: yes, if you want humcancelling.

This is confusing... My Strat has a 9.5" radius and staggered polepieces. What's the reasoning behind your recommendation?

[Kiichi]

If you're strat has a 9.5 radius: flat polepieces.
RWRP: yes, if you want humcancelling.

This is confusing... My Strat has a 9.5" radius and staggered polepieces. What's the reasoning behind your recommendation?

IIRC: Thing is that technically the staggered was made to keep the string balance on bowed fretboards cause you could not adjust the pole pieces to fit like on a humbucker or P90. When builders began to make flatter boards they still used staggered cause that was all that was available. After a while fitting flat poles came along, but people got used to the sound of staggered on flat radius. It has a certain quality to it.
That is of course assuming it was done on purpose, which sometimes it really is, but also very often it is done without thought.

The difference is not that great that it would throw you off entirely anyhow. It is one of those details we do so very much love. Usually you go staggered on bowed and flat on flat. There is however something to be said about staggered on flat, it as it has a certain charm some will say. Only thing that really is out of the question usually is flat on bowed.

[Sothoth]

I can highly recommend the Irish Tours.  A tad hotter than the Apache, which you might appreciate for the added versatility it gives you with Corgan's stuff that's on the heavier end like "Drown."  I have that set in a strat and love them for blues and Hendrix and alternative (like the Pumpkins).

[jesperbc]

I finally got to try the Strat with the band last night, and wow, does it sound great. The pickups are clear and articulate, cleaning up when strummed lightly and adding bite as you hit it harder. With a Soul Food and a Møller overdrive in front of  my amp, it did some very cool crunch - the Soul Food is used as a clean/fat boost and the Møller gives a little sparkle when biting in to the strings. I think I might need a different drive pedal to get real thick, saturated distortion, like an Emma ReezaFRATzitz II. The Big Muff  is forever getting lost in the mix.å