Strat Players - What P'Ups?

[Gutch]

Just grabbed an American Standard Strat on eBay which is winging its way to the frosty midwest. I had a MIM Strat a couple years ago that I sold to by my first Taylor, and had installed Texas Specials for a little extra growl in the bridge. I'm now thinking about possible upgrades to the standard p'ups that are in the new one.

Of you Strat players, what are your opinions of the different pickups that are available - Lace, Vintage Noiseless, Duncans, etc... What are your preferred and why?

BTW, here are a couple pics of the new baby...

http://www.twicebakedmusic.com/ebay/strat1.jpg

http://www.twicebakedmusic.com/ebay/strat2.jpg

[proy]

Nice Strat Dave.

I have the standard pickups on my Ameri Strat and am pretty happy with them.

[Rodger]

Dave:

Nice looking Strat! Great sunburst and excellent wood grain.

I have a few Strats. All but two have the standard pickups. I have a 35th Anniversary Strat with Lace Sensor pickups. They sound nice. My 1980 strat (before the company changed hands and became a good manufacturer again) has a Dimarzio Fat Strat in the lead pickup. Unbelievable distortion, but one dimensional.

There are so many good replacement pickups, it's hard to choose.

Good luck and happy playing - Rodger

[Livingston]

Hey Gutch,

Nice Axe - congratulations. Mine looks exactly the same sans deluxe case. As for p/u's, I have no idea. I'm an acoustic guy so I just bought the Standard American Strat, not knowing what p/u options there were. I'll be checking out this thread to pick up some tips.

[Mike A.]

Gutch-

How's it goin' bro. I've played many, many Strats. I've got three Tele's but just one Strat, a Clapton model in Pewter. It's from '92 when they first came out. It has the Lace Sensor Golds(Reds are high distortion, Blues are mellow warmth with not as much punch as the Golds) which are very warm and fuzzy, get good distortion but are also very clean with a slightly dark flavor. I love them. They've got a great range of tone.

The new Vintage Noiseless pickups are spectacular. They've got tremendous tone and are quite versatile. It's also amazing how quiet they really are. They're a bit punchy for me, but not out of the range for "The true Strat sound". The only thing is I'm not sure if the Vintage Noiseless come in plain white. I think they come in black, mint, and creme, but I could be wrong.

I don't think you could go wrong with either set. They don't put Lace Sensor Golds on their guitars anymore but the current Clapton model has the Vintage Noiseless so if you go try one out, just make sure the middle tone knob is at 5, it has a middle detent in the pot as it's a mid-boost/cut tone pot.

Hope this helps!
-Mike A.

[SwampRat]

Hey Gutch, congrats on a beautiful guit.
I've got a 91' just like it, although I think your woodgrain has more character than mine. I upgraded to lace sensur golds when I bought and have been very happy with them. Afraid I haven't kept up with technology so I can't comment on what's hot and what's not. I do know that Whatever you do, you're gonna love this instrument. It's a keeper.

[trpullen]

OK, hate to take a whiz on the fire here but I have never heard a noiseless pickup that had the "strat tone". There are many that are similar but none that truly capture that vibe. I think the noise is part of the tone.

I love my Texas Specials. If I get time, I will post my Mark Knopfler impression...my playing is rancid but my tone is dead on!!!! :p

The Duncan Antiquities are very nice too if you want to go outside the Fender canopy....however, I own an Anderson and have played many überstrats and none of them have out Fendered Fender. Many make a better guitar but none of them out-do that certain mix of things. I would stick with Fender brand pickups IF you are looking for a traditional Fender tone like Mark Knopfler or you name the strat playing artist.

[Steve314]

Two of my three Strats have the stock pickups. I've never been big on "mods", although I have put Lace Sensors in my '90 American Standard. I'm getting ready to go back to stocks on that one, though, as well, just for something different.

Since yours is MIM, though, the pickups are somewha different. They're made in Corona, but I believe a different gauge wire is used, and I believe that the number of wraps are different than on the standard "American" pickups. Hence, tone will be somewhat different.

Does that case come with the guitar? A brown tolex case? NICE SCORE! "Excalibur" (my Sunburst '90, Rosewood board) resides in one of those...

Steve

Steve

[Taylor Poor]

Nice strat!

I have a 2002 with the Delta Tone system and I'm very happy with the stock pickups.

For a strat, If I were to check out replacements, I would look into Joe Bardens and Fraylins. If you wanted to stay with Fender, I heard some good things about the Fender Custom Shop fat 50's.

[Steve314]

Originally posted by Taylor Poor
Nice strat!

I have a 2002 with the Delta Tone system and I'm very happy with the stock pickups.

For a strat, If I were to check out replacements, I would look into Joe Bardens and Fraylins. If you wanted to stay with Fender, I heard some good things about the Fender Custom Shop fat 50's.

I had, at one time, the Fat 50's in my Strat. They were alright, I suppose, but I would probably go with Classic 54's if I were to swap them out the Lace Sensors or stocks with another pickup...

Steve

[elterrell]

I have owned various strats with Texas Specials, Fralin Blues Specials, Van Zandts, stock Fenders, but my personal favorite are the Rio Grande Muy Grande single coils, pretty raunchy but they will honk and quack with the best of them. I think it really depends on what kind of sound you are going for. Like somebody else mentioned, if you want to sound like a Fender, get a Fender (same with pickups too).

[beatlenut]

I have a 98 american strat with the stock pickups. I've made mods to my Epi and my Gibson has one pickup replaced (before I bought it). I guess I'm a purist. If it's a quality product and you bought it to get the signature tone, don't change the p'ups. Especially with my strat, I wouldn't want to lose that special spank that it has. For harder rock, I'll just play my Epi or Gibson.

[Boogie]

Go to www.Kinman.com

I put a t set of the AVN blues in my American standard and I have been very pleased. I like the tone of the standard pups, but the Kinmans are just so much more dynamic and very vintage sounding without any noise. Since installing them I have had many comments on how great the beast sounds. I met Mr. Kinman at the NAMM show in Anaheim and tried out a couple of different pups. ALL ARE EXELLENT and he makes the best Telly replacement pups in the market in my opinion. There are several professional tone freaks that use his pups as well. Check out the sight it will tell you more than I can.

P.J.:D

[EJB]

I have EMG-SA's in mine. I replaced the whole pickguard assy with the DG-20 kit from EMG. The system has expander(treble/bass boost) and presence (mid boost ) circuits. The system sounds better that any other I have sampled(fender lace, clapton version set-up, duncans). I also have a box stock strat with no mods(2000) and the emg system still give you a"strat" voice. The mid boost is just right and can remove some of the twang from the bridge pickup. The only down side with the EMG's is the battery!

Ed

[Red]

There are very few products I've purchased that have blown me away so much that I have to forecfully rave about them.

BILL LAWRENCE p'ups are the most incredible p'ups on the market. I was asking the same question as you a year ago when I was building my custom strat. I went to all of the forums and read the reviews on Harmony Central and I could find nothing but praise for Bill's pups as well as, his and Becky's service.

His strat pups 280's neck and middle and either a 280's or 290's (which I bought for the fatter tone) are the best I've heard and the best that most have heard gauging by the positive reviews. Of course "best" is always debateable so I'm sure many of the other posts have good suggestions as well. However, no one can compete with Bill when it comes to the low price and incredible service. At $40 a pop, these are less than half of most p'ups that don't sound nearly as good!

Go to his web site and give him a call 'cuz these things are UNREAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

billlawrence.com

PS- Sorry to be so "over the top" but everyone strat player out there owes it to themself to try a set of these.

[Pla4Him]

If you want vintage tone for a cheap price, try the new 57/62 Fender pickups. I have them in my Classic 60 Strat and for the money, they are hard to beat, if you want to spend a lot, got with Lindy Fralins.

Tom

[The Bard]

Having owned 3 strats and 2 teles with various pickups, I would strongly recommend the Vintage Noiseless pickups. The clean tone is the best I have heard from any electric pickup, and I have frequently recorded direct with these pickups (no amp/mic). My second choice would be Vintage '62 pickups, although they will have a slight hum.

[alchu]

Originally posted by Red
There are very few products I've purchased that have blown me away so much that I have to forecfully rave about them.

BILL LAWRENCE p'ups are the most incredible p'ups on the market. I was asking the same question as you a year ago when I was building my custom strat. I went to all of the forums and read the reviews on Harmony Central and I could find nothing but praise for Bill's pups as well as, his and Becky's service.


Yes, I've heard this as well. I've been meaning to get Bill Lawrence 280s for my strat for quite some time. I haven't been playing it all too much lately so it's one of those 'in the future' upgrades.

Do take a look at these pickups. they're supposed to be superb.

Allan

[Gutch]

Originally posted by Steve314
Two of my three Strats have the stock pickups. I've never been big on "mods", although I have put Lace Sensors in my '90 American Standard. I'm getting ready to go back to stocks on that one, though, as well, just for something different.

Since yours is MIM, though, the pickups are somewhat different. They're made in Corona, but I believe a different gauge wire is used, and I believe that the number of wraps are different than on the standard "American" pickups. Hence, tone will be somewhat different.

Does that case come with the guitar? A brown tolex case? NICE SCORE! "Excalibur" (my Sunburst '90, Rosewood board) resides in one of those...

Steve


Hey Steve,

When I saw this one, I immediately thought of your "Excalibur"! I'm hoping it serves me half as well as yours has for you!!

BTW, this is an 2001 MIA (notice the 22nd fret), so my guess the p'ups should be an upgrade from the MIM's. I had a 97 MIM that I put the Texas Specials in. Being the IDOT that I am, I sold that Strat and the TS p'ups! It was for a good cause, tho - My first 514ce...

Yeah, the brown Tolex case is included! According to folks I've talked with, that's a $150 upgrade from the SKB case. YAHOO!!

[Gutch]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to give them all a lot of thought and see if I can sample before I buy. The great thing about pickups in Strats is they are a breeze to change out so it's not out of the question to perhaps have a couple different setups pre-installed on pickguards...

[Red]

You may have already gathered this from my enthusiasm but I forgot to mention that the Bill Lawrence p'ups are totally noiseless. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about my "humbucking" pups in my PRS but they still sound great.