Question: Replacement pickup suggestions...

gtrjunior

gtrjunior

Wannabe
I have a MIM Fat Strat (HSS) that I'd like to change pickups in. Specifically the bridge humbucker and the neck single coil.
I'm looking for a high output pickup suitable for rock/hard rock but not metal.
I play a Splawn Quickrod, which is a very mid-heavy amp so I don't necessarily need a pickup that accentuates the mids, even though most guitar pickups tend to. I also have a JCM 800 which again is pretty mid heavy as well. Although not as much as the Splawn.
I have some Bare Knuckle Rebel Yell pups in my Paul and they kill...they also kill my wallet so I'm trying to be as frugal as possible.
I've been looking at the Suhr Aldrich pup, which I know will be a mid heavy pup but it just sounds so damn good!!!
I'm open to any suggestions especially Dimarzio, Suhr, Motor City, Duncan....whatever.
As far as the neck pup, I'd like to try to retain the Strat vibe only again a littler hotter. And preferably something that won't get too muddy.
Thoughts??
 
How much are you willing to spend? Are you looking for a more vintage vibe or more modern, thinking more modern if you want high output... but why high output? Your Splawn and JCM800 should give you plenty of "oomph". Why not a lower output pickup and get some more versatile tones out of it?

I'm a humbucker guy so haven't dealt with single coils much.

I like Duncans... and they won't break the bank. '59 is nice for a vintage vibe and the Custom Custom is a really nice medium output pickup. It's got some mids to it but give it a look.

Having said that, and I may get flamed for this, but I don't like the Duncan JB at all, harsh in your face crap to my ears...

If you want to spend more $ what about the Gibson classic 57 and 57+? Not a fan of the Burstbuckers so much. Gibson continues to make very tasty sounding pickups but you'll pay for them.

For the record I like a more vintage vibe, think early VH for distorted tones.
 
I haven't gotten anything new in a while but I was a big fan of BG Pickups. I bought a set of Pure90's and 2 sets of V60's. He can customize things to what sound you are looking for. And I like giving business to the small guys (there are other but I only dealt with BG)
 
My suggestions:

Bridge - Dimarzio Air Zone (vintage-voiced version of the Tone Zone). I have that in the bridge of an Ibanez SZ520 and it's great for everything from hard rock to jazz/blues

Neck single coil - (I'm going noiseless here) Duncan Lil '59 neck, Duncan Classic Stack Plus neck, Dimarzio Area single coil ('61 or '67), Dimarzio Virtual Vintage Blues.
 
cvogue said:
How much are you willing to spend? Are you looking for a more vintage vibe or more modern, thinking more modern if you want high output... but why high output? Your Splawn and JCM800 should give you plenty of "oomph". Why not a lower output pickup and get some more versatile tones out of it?

I'm a humbucker guy so haven't dealt with single coils much.

I like Duncans... and they won't break the bank. '59 is nice for a vintage vibe and the Custom Custom is a really nice medium output pickup. It's got some mids to it but give it a look.

Having said that, and I may get flamed for this, but I don't like the Duncan JB at all, harsh in your face crap to my ears...

If you want to spend more $ what about the Gibson classic 57 and 57+? Not a fan of the Burstbuckers so much. Gibson continues to make very tasty sounding pickups but you'll pay for them.

For the record I like a more vintage vibe, think early VH for distorted tones.
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I would be willing to spend about $100 on the bucker and I think a little less on the single.
I have another guitar with a medium output Duncan (I forget which model) but it just doesn't "push" enough...the tone is killer though.
This Strat is my first single coil guitar, so I'm mostly a bucker guy too.
My Strat has a Floyd so it needs the 53mm spacing....would a Gibson pickup be spaced right?
I also like the early VH tone...it's what the Splawn was built to do. As much as I like Eddie's tone I prefer more gain for that type of sound.
 
nuke_diver said:
I haven't gotten anything new in a while but I was a big fan of BG Pickups. I bought a set of Pure90's and 2 sets of V60's. He can customize things to what sound you are looking for. And I like giving business to the small guys (there are other but I only dealt with BG)
Click to expand...
I'll have to look into those....never heard of them.
I've been looking at Rio Grande, Motor City and Suhr.
The Suhr ssv+ sounds pretty good in a few of the YouTube vids I saw. They also have a single coil model that sounds really good too, the V60LP.
 
GDSmithTX said:
My suggestions:

Bridge - Dimarzio Air Zone (vintage-voiced version of the Tone Zone). I have that in the bridge of an Ibanez SZ520 and it's great for everything from hard rock to jazz/blues

Neck single coil - (I'm going noiseless here) Duncan Lil '59 neck, Duncan Classic Stack Plus neck, Dimarzio Area single coil ('61 or '67), Dimarzio Virtual Vintage Blues.
Click to expand...
I'll have to look into that Air Zone. I would like this particular guitar to be capable of covering a few genres. I was actually thinking of getting a 4 conductor pup and having it wired so the #2 switch position split the coils ( if that's possible).
And agreed....noiseless singles are very appealing.
 
gtrjunior said:
I'll have to look into that Air Zone. I would like this particular guitar to be capable of covering a few genres. I was actually thinking of getting a 4 conductor pup and having it wired so the #2 switch position split the coils ( if that's possible).
And agreed....noiseless singles are very appealing.
Click to expand...

Edit: just watched a few vids on the air zone....not for me. It's not hot enough. The tone sounds good though.
 
BG pickups would be hard to beat, right at your budget. I have a set of Lizards in a semi and son has smokestacks in his LP.

http://bg-pups.com/humbuckers/smoke-stack/

No idea what his F spacing is, you would have to E mail him.

I put a 5 way switch in a Tele. Humbucker in neck, single in the bridge. Position 2 is split. Don't know you could do that with 3 pickups.
 
I think I have a couple ssv+ at home. I'll let you try it before buying if you decide to go that route. If you don't dig it, just send it back.
 
I have a Lizard in the neck position and a smokestack in the bridge from BG on a guitar. The Smokestack to me is kinda Pearly Gates sounding. Vintage with a slight bit more oomph. The Lizard is smooth.
 
gtrjunior said:
I'd be willing to buy one from you if you're selling...? If for some reason I didn't like it I could resell it. What color do you have?
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I have black. I'm away right now doing a little hurricane repair. Back home Nov 5. I'll send some info and pics on the 6th if you can wait that long.
 
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