If you're looking for a really great traditional Fendery tone I'd say go with Lindy Fralin Vintage Hots - I have them in all my Strats now & the difference when I recently changed the last Strat from Duncan & original 1964 Fender (!!!) was incredible...
I'm also an advocate of the "London" or "Brit" mod popular in UK in the late 60's (see other threads) espescially if you like to control volume boosts for solos, change tones etc. constantly from the guitar, without having to 'stomp' - Diagram here
Posts: 446 | Location: Kennedy Town, Hong Kong | Registered: February 04, 2002
Thanks alot for the advice. Just wondering on those Fralins...Someone told me "blue" and you are saying "hots" and I am kinda confused. Are these the amounts they are wound or overwound ?
As far as the mod goes I had the cap across the volume on one of my guitars but I think I will try that "brit" mod at least. Do you have your guitars setup like this and if so what do you find the difference to be ?
Thanks again Cat I really appreciate it
Posts: 3574 | Location: Where ever Paulie D is | Registered: August 05, 2002
Hi George If you look for a Hendrix like Sound with much highs and Bass and less Mids then take Fender Custom 69. They work very well on Clean and Distortion Settings. They got the lowest Output from all Fender Pups. Give you the typical Strat Sound. They were build by Abigail Ybarra on Fender Custom Shop. She did this for fourty Years and build the Pups for the great Guys in the 60/70´s.
Put away the EMG crap and check some good Pups out
Posts: 944 | Location: Germany | Registered: December 02, 2002
I've read 99 debates on this question, and the most popular are the Fender 57/62s and the Fender Custom Shop 54s. Check google and metacrawler for sound clips of both. They are different fron each other, not really better or worse, and not vastly different. I'd like a set of CS 54s.
Posts: 13 | Location: Canada | Registered: March 13, 2003
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gismo834: Hi George If you look for a Hendrix like Sound with much highs and Bass and less Mids then take Fender Custom 69. They work very well on Clean and Distortion Settings. They got the lowest Output from all Fender Pups. Give you the typical Strat Sound. They were build by Abigail Ybarra on Fender Custom Shop. She did this for fourty Years and build the Pups for the great Guys in the 60/70´s.
Yeah, I got these in a '69 Custom Shop. Other cool PU's were the Fralin Woodstock '69's or Suhr's PU's are great.
Haven't tried the Frailin's but the closest sounding humcancelling p/up's I've came across are the Bill Lawrence L280's, no noise and very Strat like and also only $120 a set.
Brian
Posts: 233 | Location: UK | Registered: December 01, 2002
Fender CS 54's have a very sweet, clear high end, great definition with chords... some might find too much sizzle with dirtier tones, but you can roll off some highs at the guitar and all is cool. I think Fender has revised the 57/62... mine is an older set, and I find them slightly darker/warmer than the 54's... I love those pups for slide, but not as much as the 54's for the real tight, focused tones.
Put a set of Harmonic Design 54 Specials in a MIM strat just in time to play a bar this weekend. The best description I can give is "smooth & clear". Best of both worlds for my tastes. Crisp and clear with cleaner tones, but no harsh brittle stuff with the dirty tones. Love these pups so far.
Posts: 3463 | Location: Atlanta, Ga | Registered: December 25, 2001
I have Fender Custom Shop Fat 50's. They are exact replicas of 1958 Strat pickups, which up until the illconcieved Texas Specials, were the hottest Strats pickups that Fender ever made. Of course they really aren't hot, just a bit hotter than the 54's and 69's. They sound like Strat City and don't cost near what a set of Fralins would.
Personnally, I am fond of Seymour Duncan Duckbuckers.. silent and lots of Fendery 'Quack'. I use an SD L'il 59 in the bridge position for the best of both worlds (Fendery Gibson).
Remember you can't polish a turd.It may look like candy but when ya bite into it,it's still a turd.LOL.Which brings me to your question.I've found that most great sounding guitars don't need a special P/U to sound great.P/U's can help improve the sound but can't fix a bad sounding guitar.If you're after a Hendrix type of tone then stay with a more traditional style P/U.Hendrix played with really high action.If you want a fatter tone like SRV or Kenny Wayne then go with big frets and heavy strings.This makes a huge difference.There's only so much you can do with a strat P/U.I really like Fralin P/U's.If you get them and feel that they are too hot or don't have enough output you can exchange them for a different model.Hendrix set his pickups pretty low.This really lowers the output but gives the P/U's a clearer and warmer tone.Most cool strat tones come from lower output pickups.Here's a cool link for adjusting P/U's. http://www.peterflorance.com/install.htm
Has anyone tried the Vintage Vibe pickups? Each set is custom/handmade to what the customer wants. Visit www.vintagevibeguitars.com! A set only costs about $95 plus $10 shipping and insurance!
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