Curtis P Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Hey, i want to update the pickups in my strat copy, they are stockers right now, and i would like to change them out and have a more heavier sound out of it, I love the guitar to death, so i dont want to part with it, so lets stay away from that, lol My questions: what single coils should i go with? i want cheap yet good instead of having a 5 way selector and 1 vol, 2 tone, can i make it a kill switch, and volume for each pickup?? blend the sounds together? will i have to re shield my pickguard when i replace the pickups?? Thanks for your input Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 1. EMG-SA, Rio Grande Tallboy, Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder, Fender Tex-Mex, in that order of quality. 2. Yes. Just wire each pickup to its respective volume pot, common ground, then to the switches. It would be super-svelte to use push-pull pots for each killswitch, that way you wouldn't have to drill more holes in the pickguard. 3. No, unless the pickguard was poorly shielded to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 1. EMG-SA, Rio Grande Tallboy, Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder, Fender Tex-Mex, in that order of quality. ← Are you going in terms of increasing quality or decreasing quality? I have some Fender Custom Shop Texas Special single coils (are these similar to the Tex-Mex's? Fender doesn't seem to be selling Tex-Mex's anymore) that I actually really like, although I've been wanting to try Tallboys and Quarter Pounders for a while (I'm not a big fan of active pickups, so that leaves out the EMG's). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Decreasing, although the Tex-Mex pickups are still very good pups for the money. The Texas Specials are not the same as the custom shop Tex-Mex pickups. I don't know if they're still available separately but they're stock on the Jimmie Vaughn and SRV strats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Decreasing, although the Tex-Mex pickups are still very good pups for the money. The Texas Specials are not the same as the custom shop Tex-Mex pickups. I don't know if they're still available separately but they're stock on the Jimmie Vaughn and SRV strats. ← Ah, gotcha... So you'd put the tallboys above the quarter-pounders? Are the q-p's hotter pups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Actually, surprisingly I would put the Tallboys above the QPs. QPs have been my fave passive single-coil for a long time 'cause their cheap (relatively) and have a nice heavy sound. But I did play a Strat loaded with the Tallboys a few months ago and I was converted. Good stuff. I still bought a set of EMG-SAs for my personal axe, though... It's all subjective, though. Some people dig the cheap MightyMites and some people won't even consider going active. Some people think boutique pups like Kinman are the only game in town. I say, figure out what you're going to be playing, how you're going to play it, and what you need to get the sound you want. I went active because I use mostly digital processors now for effects and usually go direct without an amp. My SAs give me the cleanest and strongest signal through the loop. If I wanted an old-school axe and didn't care about excessive 60-hum or signal consistency, I'd probably spec out either Tallboys or QPs and a nice Boogie Heartbreaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivin Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 I have a set of Don Lace S-100 single coils in my strat, and I love them. I got them for about $100US i think? It was a good deal thats for sure, maybe it was like 150 though... I cant recall. As I understand they are discontinued now, but do a search on ebay, you should still find them - I've seen them around since I bought mine, and as I remember they were even cheaper I don't think I would say they are high output single coils, but they sound nice, whether its clean, fuzz, mild distortion, or full saturation. Goes without saying probably, but I did need to perform the full shielding dowacky on my strat in order to tame the beast under heavy distortion though. Cheers, - Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted March 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 ok, well, right now i got it narrowed down to lace sensors, SD little 59's, and possibly fender tex mex I am hopefully going to music store tommorow and lookin at some, so i will let yea know what happens! Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 If you are going for a heavier sound like you stated above, why singlecoils? What about the SDuncans JB Jr, HR-1(since you mentioned the 59Jr), and the DiMarzio's YJM,HS3, And liek above mentioned and my choice the EMG SA, And if it is a strat that got a humbucker size rout at the bridge, you can consider the KH-20 with SA-SA-81 configuration. I post this because most of the above mentioned SC are good for blues, jaxx a lot of clean and mild distorted sound, and so far all I heard from you is heavy riffing stuff, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 because my strat only has singles if its possible to put hummers in there, i will Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluespresence Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 You can put hum's in a single spot....buy stacked hum's. They are true hum's in a single coil size pack. I have some here in a box in my shop but don't recall the brand offhand. I can look if you want.....or ask Scott Rosenberger.....I'm sure he'll have the brand and model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 You can put hum's in a single spot....buy stacked hum's. They are true hum's in a single coil size pack. I have some here in a box in my shop but don't recall the brand offhand. I can look if you want.....or ask Scott Rosenberger.....I'm sure he'll have the brand and model. ← There are 2 kinds of single-sized hums. Stacked and side-by-side. Keep in mind that they will sound different. Stacked ones basically sound like single coils but without any hum. Side by sides basically sound like full sized humbuckers. Both have compromises, but that's the idea. So, which sound do you want? Another note - though some full sized hums can be split to do a passable single coil sound, the few "single sized side by side" hums I've had weren't very good at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 because my strat only has singles if its possible to put hummers in there, i will Curtis ← You are a guitar maker wanna be right! Grab your router and a humbucker template ans rout the body! Once you put the pickguard in nobody will be able to tell that you did it, this was a 3 single coil guitar, routed to accept my KH-21. And with the pickguard on. Don't tell me you can't do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 haha, i just remebered that my strat has the dreaded swimmin pool route!! that mes life waaaaay easier, i just gotta cut some pickguard, lol off to find me some pups! Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 I know this is biased since I love EMGs. And with the music you listen too, you should like them too so here is a nice place too start looking for pups, and you don't have to worry about gettin or cutting a pickguard. http://guitarpartsdepot.com/Merchant2/merc...egory_Code=PROS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted March 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 haha, actually, i dont like actives, bad enough i have to replace batteries in my stomp box, i dont want to have to do it in a guitar too!! lol maybe for now, i will just grab a bridge, hope for a decent sound, and just buy a squier style pickguard Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willliam_q Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 I bought 2 rio grande tallboys for the neck and middle positions and the MuyGrande for the bridge position. They are great pickups. The Muy Grande is a bit hotter than the tallboys which makes for a really versatile setup. I love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathcorip Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 batteries last forever in actives providing you remeber to plug it out when not using,my uncles has lasted 5 years in his warlock.he put a little switch on though to turn it off to make sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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