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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Off Topics → STRAT PICKUPS
Hey guys...and Joe inparticular! I have a 2006 American Deluxe Strat with the stock Fender SCN pickups. I put a Hotrail in the bridge to beef it up. What do you all recommend for Strat pickups???? I just haven't been too thrilled with the SCNs and want more of that Fendery Bell like tone with enough chunk so it isn't too thin. I play blues and rock on this and am constantly fighting to squeeze some better tone out of this strat.
For something relatively cheap with a good punch, go with the Fender Tex Mex pickups, the same ones in the Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster. I have not regretted putting them into my main Strat. They're really punchy and take overdrive really well.
One should tend to match amp with pups; just an opinion, but my cowtipper sounds heads above with surfers and I don't notice it with the old twin reverb. I have fralins, lollar blonds, and waiting on some novaks; but ya know it's hard to not go alnico 5 and in the surfer direction for my ears.
Well, if you are willing to drop some money into some really nice pickups, I'd recommend Lindy Fralins or some Van Zandts. Expensive, but very excellent.
I was thinking of putting in some Duncan Texas Hot Antiquities in a '99 hardtail I'm redoing. Yea I know they's pricey. But a dude I was talking to the other night said he uses Alnico II Pro flats in his strat and he gets a nice SRV vibe. This hardtail I'm doing is fiesta red colored so I thought maybe a reverse neck red/charley hoola girl kinda thing. A sweet SRV tone would be killer. I didn't get to hear this cats strat so I thought I'd ask if anyone knows and can comment.
Pros/Cons?
Spider
All of this talk about pickups and it got me thinking. I have a 2006 Deluxe usa Strat and I have
Fender SCN pickups in the neck and middle and I put a hotrail in the bridge. I was never too happy with how they all sounded together and did some investigating. I went to Seymour Duncans website and looked at the schematics again for wiring up a hotrail with a Fender that has S-1 button. I WIRED IT WRONG from the onset. I'm an idiot. I think I was just in such a hurry to get the hotrail in there that I didn't take my time. Apparently when using a hotrail with a single coil S-1 strat, you actually have to reverse the green ground and the black or else the thing will sound thin and because it will be out of phase. I fixed her all up, did a nice solder job, and the guitar sounds great. I dig the hotrail...at least for now 
Pickups...the never ending quest for tone...in a nutshell...
I started out with the Delta Blues rails in a stock hardtailed USA Strat and went to Fender SRVs...OK for a while...but so many more out there.
THEN, moved over to the SDs and I currently run Kinmans. Kindof a "hotter" more defined SRV. I like em so I'll stay with em for now of course (they are paid for)
I run a set of Fralins in my Tele and love those...not interested in changing these.
Still lookin around for the right PUP for an "83 Les Paul...mine are to dark...
anyone know about the Bumblebee capacitors? Are they worth the dough?
theres a lot out there. I wouldn't get SRV Texas Specials. I have them, and I've heard much better pickups....
Well even though it seems you've figured out the problem mantegna - I have to put in a second Vote for the TexMex fender's. Also the Texas Specials are great to BONAMETAL's point.
Another thing to consider - which made a great difference to me - would be to upgrade your cap on the tone pots. I upgraded to a sprague orange drop. The tone control's range is much more usable and defined.
Another thing to consider is the value of the cap and the pots. The pots are resistors after all and their values can make great pickups sound flat. Usually though, this is not the case with a stock set up.
This will all depend on your style of playing and preferences. I got a strat very much like the Jimmy Vaughan. The only mod I felt it needed was putting in a mini switch to toggle the second tone control between the middle and bridge pickups. Switching the second tone to the bridge really opened up the neck / mid combo as it took one of the pots out of the circuit. Any how, just somethings to think about that can affect your tone and is cheaper than changing pickups.
Well even though it seems you've figured out the problem mantegna - I have to put in a second Vote for the TexMex fender's. Also the Texas Specials are great to BONAMETAL's point.
Another thing to consider - which made a great difference to me - would be to upgrade your cap on the tone pots. I upgraded to a sprague orange drop. The tone control's range is much more usable and defined.
Another thing to consider is the value of the cap and the pots. The pots are resistors after all and their values can make great pickups sound flat. Usually though, this is not the case with a stock set up.
This will all depend on your style of playing and preferences. I got a strat very much like the Jimmy Vaughan. The only mod I felt it needed was putting in a mini switch to toggle the second tone control between the middle and bridge pickups. Switching the second tone to the bridge really opened up the neck / mid combo as it took one of the pots out of the circuit. Any how, just somethings to think about that can affect your tone and is cheaper than changing pickups.
a good website to get these things is http://www.torresengineering.com/
They have an awesome pickup selection, 1 meg & 2 meg pots - orange drops, midrange kits, Clapton "woman tone" pots, varitone kits, etc.
I put a 2 meg pot in my Dean ML (80's) and the Dimarzio turned into a MONSTER! I also have their midrange it in my Les Paul. They make great stuff...
good luck
Thanks guys for the input. I have an old MIM HSS Strat that I'm gonna start experimenting with as far as pretty much everything. So if I F it up, well no huge dilemma. As far as modding my '06 Deluxe. I guess for now it will do. I for a long time wanted to put the srv tex specials in but for the price I have heard mixed reviews at best. I need to play through them first before I would buy 'em.
Thanks guys for the input. I have an old MIM HSS Strat that I'm gonna start experimenting with as far as pretty much everything. So if I F it up, well no huge dilemma. As far as modding my '06 Deluxe. I guess for now it will do. I for a long time wanted to put the srv tex specials in but for the price I have heard mixed reviews at best. I need to play through them first before I would buy 'em.
Torress might even have mods for your deluxe....
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