Pre-Loaded Strat Pickguard Suggestions

[Taylorplayer]

Suggestions wanted for a pre-loaded Strat pickguard. Jazz / blues style of music. Have wired many / built my own guitar, know how to do that.

Just looking for something that can be a quick upgrade over "basic" pickups on a strat that needs some work. thanks!

[maxtheaxe]

Depends a lot on the style you play and your budget. The cutting-edge option might be a David Gilmore active EMG set...about $300.00. I put a new set of Fender custom shop Texas Specials on one of my strats...really gets the SRV/Hendrix vibe. They have them on Amazon in just about every conceivable color (I went tortoise)...about $200.00.

Lots of other options...depending.

[Taylorplayer]

Thanks very much for the reply. I'm hoping to find something that does jazz and blues equally well... I'm not at all interested in a heavy metal sound – (not that you were suggesting as such) just clarifying the tonal range I want to achieve. I normally use my hand wired Vox AC 15 AMP.

[blue]

Well we all have our own description of what Jazz/Blues compatible means.

To me, it means low output vintage style pickups. If it means the same to you, unless the word "Texas" is in the name of your pickups, you aren't going to do much better than what's in your guitar already.

Change is not only sometimes unnecessary, it can be a very bad thing. So plug in your guitar to an amp that is pristine clean, and go through the switching on your strat and play some jazz. Use all the knobs on the guitar in every combination.

Then take that amp to the edge of breakup and play some blues. Again use all the knobs on the guitar in every combination.

Then back off on the volume knob on the guitar and play some jazz again without changing the amp. Again use all the knobs on the guitar in every combination.

I bet your guitar will sound great.

Not saying this describes you, but a lot of people start tinkering with the gear when their playing stalls. We all stall. We all get discouraged. Dropping money into the guitar won't break through that wall. Buy a used Lesson DVD on the style of one of your heroes off Ebay. That'll make anyone's guitar sound better than new pickups.

If none of what I just said applies to you, I recommend a good set of "vintage" style pickups. Perhaps if it's your thing modify to have the tone knob work on the bridge if it doesn't already. Probably not a bad idea for jazz guy.

[maxtheaxe]

Another thing to try would be a compressor to fatten up the clean tone, give it some warmth/sustain and strat-spank. Used Boss CS-3's are about 50 bucks on Reverb...been using mine for years.

Those clean tones, in particular, are a little hard to articulate without a some dynamics control.

[Taylorplayer]

Thanks/ very good advice! I have done numerous mods - including the one you suggested, which works quite nicely. thanks again. Will

[muscmp]

will: here is a good start for you--the seymour duncan site.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickups...s/stratocaster

however, with your knowledge, you could probably do better by purchasing the parts separately.

play music!

[Taylorplayer]

Thanks for that compliment mike! I have done quite a lot of work similar to (and including) 'building up pickguards / swapping them out / and doing mods myself. Sometimes the idea of basically getting away with "plug and play" does seem appealing....

[blue]

Originally Posted by Taylorplayer

Thanks for that compliment mike! I have done quite a lot of work similar to (and including) 'building up pickguards / swapping them out / and doing mods myself. Sometimes the idea of basically getting away with "plug and play" does seem appealing....

Well a lot of people agree with you. Search prewired strat harness and your computer may explode!

I myself once bought a loaded G&L Comanche pickguard. It was super cool to be able to go back and forth between the original S500 and the comanche pickguard with just a handful of screws and a couple solder joints. I probably did it 5 or 6 times.

[loco gringo]

http://www.siglermusiconline.com/col...ded-pickguards

[MuddyDitch]

I nominate Benson Custom to add to your list of companies to check out. I put his Warm '63s in my CV60 strat and all the tones are nice. Easier on the wallet that some of the high end companies out there.

[jomaynor]

Regarding low-gain sweetness, this is an interesting and informative clip on how to get David Gilmour's sound on a modest budget.

[Scotso]

My son had a pup go bad on his strat. He ended up putting Seymour Duncan SSL-1s on the entire guitar. Sound like a strat should sound.

[jpjr50]

My HSS Fender Strat:

Fender Bright White Pickguard: $25
Fender Bright White Knobs / Bar & Switch Tip $5
Suhr Bright White Pete Thorn "Thornbucker" Plus Bridge Humbucker $104
Suhr Bright White V60LP Middle Pickup $80
Suhr Bright White V60LP Neck Pickup $80
Obsidian Solderless Wiring Harness w/CTS 250K Pots, Russian Wiring, Treble Bleed Kit / Blend Knob $89

Loaded Pickguard Total: $383

A Suhr Strat costs around $3000 and I have a total of $813 wrapped up into my HSS Fender Strat. I copied Pete Thorn's Suhr HSS S-type guitar after hearing his Line 6 Helix review on YouTube. He played it last night in his latest pedal demo too.

[Mad Rose]

You could stick a couple of Mini-buckers in a Strat guard & get a great jazz tone. Allparts Minis sound great & not too $. I've put many Teles (a la '52 RI Hod Rod) together w/ them & a Strat or two. You would need body routs for the mini's though?