Bridge pup for Strat

AndyS · Post by **AndyS** » Fri May 18, 2007 11:45 am

Hail all, and lend me your ears. Or eyes in this case. I have a MIM strat which features a bridge pup I happen to dislike significantly. What should I replace it with? Everyone give me their bright ideas. Don't wanna spend too much but something that sounds good is what I need. Something not as thin as the current pup. I'm playing Floyd, Clapton, a little SRV here and there, Hendrix... You get the point. My other guitar is a Schecter with a Rio Grande BBq in the bridge so I don't need something that is heavy heavy, just a nice strat bridge sound. If it exists. Thoughts?

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:03 pm

Ash sold me an SD lil'59 that rocks.. best of both worlds, single coil size, with humbucker, or split to single availability. there's some funky wiring options to turn one of the tone pots into a coil splitter around too.. on the SD site..

[edit] this (and 2X SD single coils) went into my old ibanez roadstar II, not a strat, but it turned into an SRV sounding beasty..(minus the player talent of course)[/edit]

sgt mukuzi · Post by **sgt mukuzi** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:24 pm

what is the rout? swimming pool?or sss
imo the sss rout sounds good, if its routed for a humbucker then the strat wont sound like a strat

b · Post by b » Fri May 18, 2007 12:36 pm

I really like my SD SSL-5....still sounds like a strat but much higher gain

ash · Post by **ash** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:20 pm

The SD lil'59 is currently my favourite for versatility in that role. There are better choices for dedicated single coil or humbucker tones, but not many that do both competently.

sgt mukuzi · Post by **sgt mukuzi** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:43 pm

b wrote:I really like my SD SSL-5....still sounds like a strat but much higher gain

yea i hear ya, it sounds like a strat with a bucker in the bridge
a great sound IMO
the single coil in the bridge makes it sound like a jimmi or a stevie strat to me, after many strats and many hours wondering why strat A sounded diferent than strat B

i like the bucker strat sound, if i owned a modern fender i would have a bucker in the bridge
but its like having a humbucker on a telly neck position
sure its a telly etc etc

Cdog · Post by **Cdog** » Sun May 20, 2007 9:13 am

Hey man, I play a USA Lonestar Strat... its... awesome! I believe it has a SD Pearly Gates on the bridge... real nice classic gutsy PAF sounds with bright harmonics... I get all sorts of sounds from this guitar (HSS with 2 texas special single coils) totally recommend throwing in a humbucker on the bridge for sure... love this guitar! Hey if you wanna hear some different HB pickups go to http://www.seymourduncan.com (or I could post an MP3 of mine if you like.)

There are plenty of great hummers out there have a listen and see what'll go with your guitar and your style... you might find that you really just want another axe instead!

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » Sun May 20, 2007 9:48 am

okay.. here's my ignorance bit...
what's PAF mean?

Lyle · Post by **Lyle** » Sun May 20, 2007 10:35 am

Patent Applied For

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » Sun May 20, 2007 10:48 am

oh... thanks. um - I still don't get it

Lyle · Post by **Lyle** » Sun May 20, 2007 10:51 am

The strange name (PAF) of the pickup was not intentional. Gibson and Seth Lover first filed a patent on the design on June 22, 1955. After that, Gibson Les Pauls were equipped with these new pickups, with a sticker on a bottom plate of a pickup that said Patent Applied For. A patent was eventually issued on July 28, 1959. Since it took more than 4 years to get a patent number, the unnamed pickup had been dubbed "PAF" by many guitarists in that period during which the pending application and this naming continued even after the patent had been issued

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAF_(pickup)

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » Sun May 20, 2007 11:01 am

aha - righto... much clearer. thanks for clearing that for me..
cheers

AndyS · Post by **AndyS** » Sun May 20, 2007 7:42 pm

I already have a gat with a buckered up gat so with the strat I'm going for the S/S/S tone. So what single coil pup does everyone think is the best?

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » Sun May 20, 2007 8:25 pm

again, Ash sold me 2X (It think they're texas pups? he can id better maybe) that I threw as the neck and middle pups of my roadstar and man - it got fat like it'd been on a maccas diet. a whole new axe, and real SRV sound (again, without the player's ability obviously).

Cdog · Post by **Cdog** » Sun May 20, 2007 9:33 pm

(Unless I am mistaken) Stevie Ray's signature strat has 3 texas special pups... I've never tried one on the bridge but have them in neck and mid on my ax. They sound fender-fat, overwound so a bit noisy but very nice for the hendrix or SRV sound... the pup rods are at different heights which makes it nice for solos... you quite different sounds playing the same note on different strings, if you know what I mean... and subtle gain differences too. Real bluesy.