Single Coil Middle and Neck Pickup Recommendation

[ypunkd]

Hi all,

My first Strat (I no longer have it) had the VHII Bridge humbucker which I absolutely loved. Working on my second Strat, I am without question going with the VHII in the bridge again.

I need recommendations on Single Coil Middle and Neck pups, which will not drown out the VHII bridge, yet flexible enough to provide me with the tones that I am after.

After listening to hundreds of samples over the years, I have nailed down exactly what I am after. The problem is, I don't know enough about pickup combinations to know what will actually work.


Sample 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDj1_unOZ88

Starting at about 2 minutes 15 seconds, the clean tones of the orange Fender Player, which then gets AWESOMELY dirty at 2 minutes 36 seconds, and then back to clean again.


Sample 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSvd3upVePg

Starting at the very beginning until 20 seconds or so, the liquidity/tone of the Strat is simply amazing.


Of course I know that pedals are used in the two samples, but I would like Single Coils for the Middle and the Neck that would give me those tones as close as possible, while not being a mis-match for the VHII in the bridge.

What singles can you recommend for the middle and neck?

[ypunkd]

Thanks to Ben, order has been placed: VHII for the bridge, 63 Veneer Boards for the middle and neck :-)

Looking at the BKP Wiring page, I am a little stuck on which HSS wiring I should use, as well as pot values for this particular Strat. I have read here on the forum that Tim likes 270K and 550K pots over the 250K and 500K, but not sure what pickups or combinations he is referring to? Based on the sound examples that I provided in the OP, what do you folks recommend? Again, I want 1. that famous Eddie sound out of the humbucker, 2. the heavy gritty/biting sound of the first sound example, and 3. the liquid clean tones of the second sound example. (see the two links in the OP).

Also, I have the stock Fender 5-way switch, which according to Fender Tech it is CTS quality (post 2005), so unless I really have to, I prefer not to change it out. I will yield to the experts on this forum.

Basically, I want the Strat as simple to upgrade and use as possible, without drilling holes for boutique switches/knobs. I am willing  to eliminate a tone pot, I do use pedals such as the Turbo Rat, Small Clone and Line 6 DL4.

So, based upon the sound clips, what pot values and HSS wiring would best suit what I am after?