I am interested in upgrading my Highway 1 Strat. The pups suck! I would like to achieve the tone variances in SRV's version of Little Wing but at the same time rock like Trower when needed.
I have heard alot of good things about Van Zandt pickups but i can't decide between blues or rock. Has anyone had any experience with both of these? Does anyone know of any sound clips on the web? Should i combine a Rock in the bridge and blues in middle and neck? HELP!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: south_333,

I have a few of the older model Van Zandt's. My favorite is the Virtual Vintage + They are not quite as hot as the Blues or the Rock, but the tone is wonderful. If you are looking for true to form original vintage strat tones, then you want the VV+

Would they be good for lots of overdrive? I play a 70's script MXR Distortion + through a reissue '59 Bassman 4x10. The master volume is usually on 3 which is very loud for a bassman, they dont get much louder after 4.

i just put a set of the blues' in my warmoth hollw body strat...they sounds unbelieveable! the bridge p/u bites!

I think the MXR Dist + circuit is similar to a DOD 250. In that case they will probably sound good. I have an old Gray 250 and single coils sound very good through that pedal. I don't run the gain very high, but if you are in Overdrive territory as opposed to Heavy Distortion, then they should provide a nice gritty spank.

Hey Pete, have you tried any of the other Van Zandts? Rock, V+... i'm trying to find out how they compare with each other. I just ordered a set of the Rocks. I hope they dont loose some the VZ sound quality.

south...
i havent tried any of the other VZ, but i think you'll be just fine with the one you got...im sure they'll sound geat!

ive heard from several people that the vanzandt rock puppys are the best for the Stevie Ray Vaughan Tone..which is why ill be getting a set for my strat and (when I get the money) a custom built srv relic, ive heard theyre especially good for ihs clean touch.

I've played all 4 varieties of VZ pups and owned three of them: vintage plus, blues, and rock.

To achieve the SRV tone, first of all don't mess with the true vintage pups. They're way too bright and 50's sounding. Good for blues purists but not the darker SRV vibe.

The vintage plus and rock pups sound pretty similar to my ears. The v+ has slightly less output and sounds 'thinner' compared to the rock pup, tho I wouldn't describe the v+ as a thin-sounding pup at all! You get a little bit more clarity with the v+. It's a pretty 'flat' pickup in that it allows your guitar's tone to come thru and adds little or no coloring of its own. It's also very responsive to picking dynamics.

The rock pup has the same qualities but being a more overwound pup it does tend to sound darker and fatter without losing the high end sparkle. I'm not sure but to my ears the rock pickup is nothing more than a slightly overwound version of the v+. They're both great pickups.

The blues pickup is right in between the v+ and rock but it's not as neutral sounding. There's a distinct treble rolloff and midrange growl. Personally I found the blues pup to be the least impressive of them all.

My advice: go for either the vintage plus or the rock, depending on how fat you want your sound to be. They'll both get you there.

Mike