Versatile Humbucker and Singlecoils for Fat Strat?

[Telerocker]

My only worry with the Crawler, is that it may be too fat when it comes to playing lighter gained stuff from the sixties. And the Slow Hands, I'm worried they'll be too warm for when I need to play extremely clean music. Funk for example requires a nice bright tone.

The Irish Tours do seem nice though. I'm again just scared they'll have too much output for the really clean styles.

I could be wrong about all the above, but better to ask than not!

I had a crawler / Slowhand combo in an HSH alder bolt on Pacer and it had both feet firmly in Nile Rogers territory in position 2.
 
For me the Crawler does 2 things fantastically: it gives your bolt-on 'strat' a Joe Bonamassa fatness for a lead tone and it splits with a single coil better then any other pickup I've tried for a clean tone.

I do really like Joe Bonamassa's tone. Is that Crawler then? Or can the Abraxas do that? It's the single coils that now have me wondering. I play mostly on the bridge. I tend to keep the neck for cleans. I rarely use the neck to let rip. It is very laid back styles

Actually both Crawler and Abraxas can do that. Generally speaking they're just hotter, middier versions of the Mule, which would be closer to Bonamassa's Les Paul-tone. But don't forget Bonamassa uses a lot of different amps on stage. If you want that singing PAF-ish tone, you won't regret either Abraxas nor Crawler.

[V-volant]

I think this option should be thrown out there: VHII + ITs. I have it in an H/S alder strat. The VHII has a wonderful dynamic range which can go from clean to metal with the right amp and technique. It really is a great crunchy uncompressed pickup with PAF roots. If you are going for less gain, more cleans and more rocks, then I also can't recommend the IT neck enough. You mentioned you don't go for 'that sound', but rather go for a good pickup that helps you play, and the IT can provide the middle of the gain road single coil for that. If you are used to higher gain pickups, then the jump down to the uncompressed VHII+IT will be great. As mentioned earlier, if you want more glassy single coil tones go for the Mothers Milk, but the IT can handle gain really really well as well as do wonderful 3D cleans. At mid gain they do the air moving SRV/Gallagher style of blues rock (as the name implies), since they have a great healthy amount of bass added to the sparkly single coil sound. Sped up blues licks of that era just make you grin, but cleans, slower blues, and less distorted sounds will also have that nice pretty and gutsy tone to it. In terms of pots, I have tried the Suhr style, 250k single volume, and 500k single volume, and all three of them had their ups and downs. I preferred the 500k pot for all pickups (single volume) from personal experience as it gave me an easier to overdrive sound on all positions. The Suhr wiring would probably be best for versatility.

[Nephilim]

Wellbeing a Strat, I could always have pickguards made to experiment. So to start off with, I think I'll try and aim for one certain thing.

For the bridge I want something Uber versatile, which leads me to either the Crawler or Abraxas. I'm thinking the Abraxas might be a good bet as it seems right in the middle.

For the single coil, I'm wanting something primarily for cleans, but extra versatile to play country, jazz, blues, etc, etc, etc... So I'm thinking possibly the Mother's Milk or PAT Pend 63. Can anyone explain the difference in these?

With the Suhr Wiring, can someone link me to the exact diagram I'm supposed to be following. And kind of explain it to me incase there's anything I should know?

[Telerocker]

Wellbeing a Strat, I could always have pickguards made to experiment. So to start off with, I think I'll try and aim for one certain thing.

For the bridge I want something Uber versatile, which leads me to either the Crawler or Abraxas. I'm thinking the Abraxas might be a good bet as it seems right in the middle.

For the single coil, I'm wanting something primarily for cleans, but extra versatile to play country, jazz, blues, etc, etc, etc... So I'm thinking possibly the Mother's Milk or PAT Pend 63. Can anyone explain the difference in these?

With the Suhr Wiring, can someone link me to the exact diagram I'm supposed to be following. And kind of explain it to me incase there's anything I should know?

They are very close, maybe the Mother's Milk is a tad hotter and grittier. I don't think you can here the differences blindfolded.

[richard]

I don't think the Crawler will struggle with lighter - med gain tones, BTW.  I hear classic rock played through Gibson 498Ts all day long around here and they do a respectable job.   From what I've come to learn by hearing and reading, the Crawler will pull these tones with authenticity, as well as produce stellar saturated tones.

Do the Crawler and the 498T have similar characteristics ?

[Telerocker]

I don't think the Crawler will struggle with lighter - med gain tones, BTW.  I hear classic rock played through Gibson 498Ts all day long around here and they do a respectable job.   From what I've come to learn by hearing and reading, the Crawler will pull these tones with authenticity, as well as produce stellar saturated tones.

Do the Crawler and the 498T have similar characteristics ?

They're both middy, but the Crawler stays clear with a lot of gain, the 498T is muddier.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I have a 498T in my Les Paul and I don't find it muddy in the slightest. I loved the Crawler in my PRS and I can see some similarities with the 498T but there are also key differences. The Crawler is fatter, warmer and more organic than the 498T. I find the 498T to be tighter, less saturated and more modern than the Crawler. I love them both but I think the key thing is that I just love middy pickups