In praise of the Slab Board 59's

[fdesalvo]

Based upon that, I’d be inclined to leave them alone.  You may end up on a very expensive quest to get the same sound from more expensive pickups. If I could go back in time, I’d keep what I enjoyed and focus my time on practicing.

[Yellowjacket]

Ya.  The slabboard '59s are pretty much the exact tone I want from a strat and I know I'll like them.  I just don't want to spend money and I had hoped to leave the guitar stock when I got it.  The trouble is that my tech recommended a pickup upgrade and he is a strat cork sniffer.  He was honestly so excited that I finally got one. 

Now there is just a nagging question.

[Yellowjacket]

I think the next step may be to record the guitar as is.

[Telerocker]

I think too they're Tex-Mex. Older Mex strats have ceramic single coils which are quite hot, good for blues(rock), not so for John Mayer. The Tex-Mex has way more vintage flavour. When I remember well Fender developed the Tex-Mex in collaboration with Jimmy Vaughan. Says something. I would play the guitar as stock. Changing pickups is always an option in the future.

[Yellowjacket]

Is there anywhere to find out what pickups it has?  Just curious.  I could see my guitar tech hating ceramic pickups in a strat (but he loves juggernauts, strangely enough) so I could see him wanting to switch out those things. 
The pickups in my strat are currently set quite low but they sound great.  Beautiful cleans and dirt tones.  Very, VERY bright but the revv is also a very bright amp.  All the fun. 

[Telerocker]

Is there anywhere to find out what pickups it has?  Just curious.  I could see my guitar tech hating ceramic pickups in a strat (but he loves juggernauts, strangely enough) so I could see him wanting to switch out those things. 
The pickups in my strat are currently set quite low but they sound great.  Beautiful cleans and dirt tones.  Very, VERY bright but the revv is also a very bright amp.  All the fun.

Tex-Mex are bright...

[Yellowjacket]

Ya.  I am wondering if they are ceramic.  The Strat is a 2012 and the specs say 'standard fender single coil' but I don't know what model this is. 

How I would describe the tone:  aggressive, gnarly, dirty, grindy, stringy, and articulate.  The tone is also simple.  It is not layered and complex like BKP. 

The cleans are bell like. 

The pickups are set quite low, which is nice since I don't hit them with my pick. 

I like that the toned are raw and unrefined.  Not pretty.


Keep in mind that I am primarily a high gain player and I play punk, hard rock, alt rock, and metal.  So, I don't want pretty.

I think my revv Generator 120 is a contributing factor here.  The two instruments play very nicely together.

I still have to play it with my Mesa, where it may sound like hot garbage.  It is a good amp but it really likes expensive pickups.

[Telerocker]

How are the cleans on the REVV ?

[Yellowjacket]

Not unpleasant.  They're very glassy and uncoloured with lovely overtones.  The lows are rich but not overpowering.
I'd say it is a great pedal platform / metal type clean. 

[Yellowjacket]

I have been spending time with the new gitbox. 
As I have listened to lots of strat pickup demos and played more with the guitar, I can hear better what it is doing and I am identifying its shortcomings.

Basically, it is bright as in it has lots of treble and the pickups can be characterized as somewhat thin sounding so they don't transition into breakup very nicely.  But they sound pretty raunchy with high gain which is fun.
While they are bright, they are missing that strat sparkle.

I have had thoughts of things to try. 

Fender: Tex-Mex, Yosemite, Noiseless, or Texas Special. I really liked the Fender American Performer with the Yosemite pickups that I tried at Guitar Center.
Fishman:  The single width seem cool because of the hum canceling and gain boost.  I've played some fishman before so I am not unfamiliar with them.  The feel is just kind of off to me but I still like the idea of them and the tones are legit.
Bare Knuckle:  Slab Board '59s or Mother's Milk sound awesome to me.  The demos are legit.  I also have thought of pairing N and M with something just a bit hotter in the bridge for more push and gain.
Seymour Duncan:  A Mini JB bridge and a couple of noise canceling pickups for N and M would also be cool.

Thinking..  Thinking...

[Yellowjacket]

I talked to my friend who loves Fishman and he says the Strat pickups feel a bit stiff.  EW.

I raised my Fender Standard Single Coils to recommend factory height.  Aside from hitting the middle pickup, the sound is better. Warmer, more compression, and it breaks up better.

The guitar is warm for a strat.  My Ibanez RG7421 is definitely a brighter instrument with considerably less bass.  I think my strat is similar to my Redline III in terms of the balance between low and high.  This indicates to me that Slab Board 59s or Mother's Milk would both sound excellent in this guitar. 

I probably wouldn't want to go warmer like Yosemite pickups.  Brighter is better.  This removes some options at least.