In both video's amplification plays a role in the tone. JB sounds like Eric Johnson here.
I think you get closest with a Pat Pend '63 veneer board set: woody glassy authentic vintage tones.
If you want a bit more balls but keep that vintage chime: Irish Tours.
Telerocker,
Thank you for the detailed response.
Along with my post in the forum, I also reached out directly to BK. Bret responded with the following:
Ben: “Yes I think the vintage-hot area is about right. The Irish Tours are a solid classic set, extremely popular, and should definitely give you more punch than what you have. The Slow Hands offer more mids and more gain, but I reckon the Irish Tours should be enough.
You could also consider baseplates. Zinc plated steel baseplates for Strat coils add more bottom end definition, clarity and power to the coil. They work on the same principle as a Tele bridge baseplate with tapped mounting holes so height adjustment screws thread directly into the baseplate ensuring it will never fall off. The baseplates are waxpotted with the coil to prevent microphonic feedback. Whilst it is most common to fit one to the bridge coil only, the zinc plated steel baseplates work well on middle and neck coils too.”
Me: Ben, do the Irish Tours have a clear/tight low end the produce that tube like/hollow neck pup sound on the low notes?
Ben: Yes the Irish Tours are our most popular set from the line and do offer a tight bottom end from the bridge and a smooth and round tone from the neck.
It seems some of the characteristics I’m hearing that I really like come from vintage, lower output pickups. I like the idea of being able to push a little farther into breakup at times as well. However, I don’t want to lose those vintage characteristics that, for me, really make a strat a strat. That beautiful, hollow neck tone that is very apparent and somewhat glassy in clean & low-mid gain but is also able to maintain that characteristic when starting to reach into higher-gain.
Higher gain in this context being like that JB video - which has too much delay, etc for my taste but gets the point across.
I’ve been doing a lot of research on the forum and your posts have been very informative. One of your posts I read stated that Irish Tours can get into MM territory by lowering the volume a bit. If so, it sounds like the IT’s might give me the best of both worlds?
In addition, I currently have a treble bleed and I’m curious if my BK set should also have this or not – again, based on my goals and using the volume knob to bring the IT’s (should I go that route) down into more vintage territory, etc.
One example of a low-mid gain tone that provides that hollow tone (woody?) I’m referring to is Robin Trower “20th Century Blues”
https://youtu.be/h-jHWzKmFOUI don’t know how realistic it is to ask this but…… do you think the IT’s will get me closer to my goals (all things being equal – amp, etc) than my current pickups based on what you here in this video by Tim Pierce?
This is essentially my guitar – just a different color. I realizer the amp, drive, etc and the player are critical to the specific tone but the overall tone is apparent, regardless.
https://youtu.be/psdXjXnghv8In addition, I’m considering if I should go with a zinc base plate on the bridge pup, RWRP on the middle pup and staggered vs flat poles?
I realize these are all preference and I’ve been reading and listening to as much material as I can find. But based on my goals, I’m not certain which, if any, of these options I should consider.
A bit unrelated (perhaps) but I’m seriously considering getting whatever set I get on a pre-wired guard to make the swap easier. I’m certain the circuit itself would have an affect on the tone in comparison to my current stock Fender circuit.
If you have any thoughts on that, I’m all ears.
Sincerely appreciate your advice and thank you for taking the time to respond.
Jeff
