Quarter Pound pickups for strat

Barf

Joined: Apr 08, 2007
Posts: 32

Posted on May 19 2007 10:39 AM

Anybody ever use these pickups or atleast heard them. The Seymour Duncan site says their like p-90's but I'm skeptical about it all. Oh by the way I just got my strat back from Bakersfield I'll try to post pics one day.

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estreet

Joined: Mar 17, 2007
Posts: 839
United Kingdom
1 POTD Pin

Posted on May 20 2007 02:00 AM

Quarter Pounders would be awful pickups for surf. They have no tone and are dull sounding. turn your amp volume up 2 notches then turn your tone control most of the way off and Hey Presto - there's the sound of them. I bought one once and took it straight out the next day and returned it.

I wouldn't go hotter than a Dimarzio 'Fat Strat' or one of the SD vintages if I were you. I can recommend the Fat Strat, although even that will give you a very slightly 'modernized' surf sound. It still has good tone though. The lead on the first track on our Myspace page (She's Got A Gun) was played with a Fat Strat in the rear position (and the amp slightly distorting) if you are interested.

—

http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns

Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery.

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IvanP

Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
United States

Posted on May 20 2007 08:27 AM

estreet
Quarter Pounders would be awful pickups for surf. They have no tone and are dull sounding.

I agree that they probably aren't right for surf, but I think you're being unfair in your description of those pickups. In the eighties and into the nineties both Ritchie Blackmore and The Edge used Quarter Pounders in their Strats, and they both got some amazing tones, even clean (of course, The Edge was mostly about clean sounds during that period, and Ritchie's tone was not greatly distorted, either). So, those pickups must have SOME merit to them...

But there are definitely much better pickups out there for surf music today. I'm a big fan of Seymour Duncan pickups, which come in almost any variety you can possibly imagine. I recently acquired their custom, hand-wound Antiquity II Surfer pickups. I just had it installed in my number 1 Strat, but haven't had a chance to play it a whole lot yet. However, so far I'm really impressed. (They're expensive as hell, though, but I got them used on eBay for a much more reasonable price.) I also have their APS II Alnico II Pro pickups, which are really great sounding. And I have their vintage pickups in my Jazzmaster and Jaguar Bass VI. I've heard very good things about Seymour Duncan vintage Strat pickups (SSL-1 or something). A proven pickup that's been around a long time.

Ivan

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Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
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estreet

Joined: Mar 17, 2007
Posts: 839
United Kingdom
1 POTD Pin

Posted on May 20 2007 09:05 AM

IvanP
I agree that they probably aren't right for surf, but I think you're being unfair in your description of those pickups.

Please don't think I'm biased against Duncans in general - I own lots of them in various guitars and love them well, but this is just my personal experience of QP's Ivan. I put a Quarter pounder in the bridge of my '60s Tele once. I had a 135w Twin Reverb with JBL D 120's at the time and it sounded absolutely horrible. Some years later I tried a quarter pounder in the front of another Tele and it was nearly as nasty. I have several guitar playing friends who have also been tempted by them and come to the same conclusion. My guess is that they probably sound OK through an amp with loads of upper-mid prescence rather than treble - ie: Marshall with G12-75s. Maybe that's what the Edge was using - I dunno. They certainly sound nothing like P90's.

Duncans I use currently:

SD Jazz Humbucker in the neck position of my Les Paul
(lovely bright clear HB sound)

SD Cool Rails - Neck of Strat

SD Pearly Gates in the bridge of my LAG Jet

Vintage Stack - Bridge postion of '66 Tele and mid Pos of LAG

Vintage Jag - Bridge position of Jag

Hot Stack - Bridge Of Phat Tele

However, I think DiMarzio have become rather out of fashion lately yet my experience with them is very good. I think the Fat strat and the Blues Stack which I have in another LAG guitar are great P/ups and are nice for a thicker yet still twangy surf sound.

—

http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns

Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery.

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IvanP

Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
United States

Posted on May 20 2007 09:54 AM

estreet
My guess is that they probably sound OK through an amp with loads of upper-mid prescence rather than treble - ie: Marshall with G12-75s. Maybe that's what the Edge was using - I dunno.

No, The Edge was all about Vox AC30s at that time - which of course do have 'loads of upper-mid presence'. Ritchie used his old Marshalls, which have been heavily modded - to sound more like Vox AC30s! He's a big fan of Vox amps, and even used an AC30 in a Marshall head box for many years. So, maybe that's the key - the Quarter Pounders may only work well with AC30s or some older Marshall amps, but not with Fender amps....

They certainly sound nothing like P90's.

I think that's absolutely right.

Ivan

—

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

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Barf

Joined: Apr 08, 2007
Posts: 32

Posted on May 20 2007 10:46 PM

avoided that silver bullet. I was all excited that I could get a p-90 sound outta strat pick up oh well. any way thanks for the input it helped a lot.

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ajarvez

Joined: Apr 03, 2007
Posts: 33
Winter Park, FLA

Posted on May 22 2007 11:47 PM

Hang on there, Barf! All is not yet lost. I can pretty strongly recommend the Lindy Fralin Steel Pole pickup if ya want a more P-90-esque tone outa yer Strat. It's not quite as hot & raw as a P-90, but it's dang close, and a nice, snarly-sounding pickup in its own right. Especially if you put it in just the bridge position -- all the bite & twang you'd want, but a lot more guts to it, and it sounds FANTASTIC when blended with a standard Fender bridge pickup. The tone is somewhere between a P-90 and one of the early, hotter Tele bridge pickups. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

http://www.fralinpickups.com/stratstyleSP43.asp

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Kawentzmann

Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1062
Berlin, Germany
3 Link Pins

Posted on May 23 2007 03:43 PM

ajarvez
Hang on there, Barf! All is not yet lost. I can pretty strongly recommend the Lindy Fralin Steel Pole pickup if ya want a more P-90-esque tone outa yer Strat. It's not quite as hot & raw as a P-90, but it's dang close, and a nice, snarly-sounding pickup in its own right. Especially if you put it in just the bridge position -- all the bite & twang you'd want, but a lot more guts to it, and it sounds FANTASTIC when blended with a standard Fender bridge pickup. The tone is somewhere between a P-90 and one of the early, hotter Tele bridge pickups. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

http://www.fralinpickups.com/stratstyleSP43.asp

They look similar to the pickups in my Vester Strat copy when I bought it new. it didnât sound much like a strat with them, but with a driven amp it got a great Bo Diddley Gretsch tone!

I was always very happy with a Duncan Vintage Jag in the bridge position (Gogo Sitar and Ghost Train by The Looney Tunes) in a ES 335 copy. Itâs great on a Strat as well.
Currently I have the classic SSL-1 in the Vester Strat and have no complains, but changed my picks to light, gray nylons.

KK

—

The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann

You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy.

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Occam

Joined: Mar 11, 2007
Posts: 61
Alameda Ca

Posted on Jun 01 2007 05:22 PM

I put quarter pounders in my baritone jaguar and it is one of the most beautiful clean tones I've ever heard but that's the only thing I've tried them in.

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Barf

Joined: Apr 08, 2007
Posts: 32

Posted on Jun 02 2007 10:01 AM

What I decided to do was just route out my cheap sg and put p-90's in it, I really like how my guitar sounds stock and decided not to mess with it although I probably will one day, but all this is far ahead because routing out my sg and then buying p-90's will be costly and just one pickup wasn't thanx for the advise though maybe I will look more into it.
P.S. I know about p-94 type pickups, I want real p-90s

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Barf Joined: Apr 08, 2007 Posts: 32	Posted on May 19 2007 10:39 AM Anybody ever use these pickups or atleast heard them. The Seymour Duncan site says their like p-90's but I'm skeptical about it all. Oh by the way I just got my strat back from Bakersfield I'll try to post pics one day. Top
estreet Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 839 United Kingdom	Posted on May 20 2007 02:00 AM Quarter Pounders would be awful pickups for surf. They have no tone and are dull sounding. turn your amp volume up 2 notches then turn your tone control most of the way off and Hey Presto - there's the sound of them. I bought one once and took it straight out the next day and returned it. I wouldn't go hotter than a Dimarzio 'Fat Strat' or one of the SD vintages if I were you. I can recommend the Fat Strat, although even that will give you a very slightly 'modernized' surf sound. It still has good tone though. The lead on the first track on our Myspace page (She's Got A Gun) was played with a Fat Strat in the rear position (and the amp slightly distorting) if you are interested. — http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery. Top
IvanP Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 10331 southern Michigan	Posted on May 20 2007 08:27 AM estreet Quarter Pounders would be awful pickups for surf. They have no tone and are dull sounding. I agree that they probably aren't right for surf, but I think you're being unfair in your description of those pickups. In the eighties and into the nineties both Ritchie Blackmore and The Edge used Quarter Pounders in their Strats, and they both got some amazing tones, even clean (of course, The Edge was mostly about clean sounds during that period, and Ritchie's tone was not greatly distorted, either). So, those pickups must have SOME merit to them... But there are definitely much better pickups out there for surf music today. I'm a big fan of Seymour Duncan pickups, which come in almost any variety you can possibly imagine. I recently acquired their custom, hand-wound Antiquity II Surfer pickups. I just had it installed in my number 1 Strat, but haven't had a chance to play it a whole lot yet. However, so far I'm really impressed. (They're expensive as hell, though, but I got them used on eBay for a much more reasonable price.) I also have their APS II Alnico II Pro pickups, which are really great sounding. And I have their vintage pickups in my Jazzmaster and Jaguar Bass VI. I've heard very good things about Seymour Duncan vintage Strat pickups (SSL-1 or something). A proven pickup that's been around a long time. Ivan — Ivan Lords of Atlantis on Facebook The Madeira Official Website The Madeira on Facebook The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook The Space Cossacks on Facebook The Madeira Channel on YouTube Top
estreet Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 839 United Kingdom	Posted on May 20 2007 09:05 AM IvanP I agree that they probably aren't right for surf, but I think you're being unfair in your description of those pickups. Please don't think I'm biased against Duncans in general - I own lots of them in various guitars and love them well, but this is just my personal experience of QP's Ivan. I put a Quarter pounder in the bridge of my '60s Tele once. I had a 135w Twin Reverb with JBL D 120's at the time and it sounded absolutely horrible. Some years later I tried a quarter pounder in the front of another Tele and it was nearly as nasty. I have several guitar playing friends who have also been tempted by them and come to the same conclusion. My guess is that they probably sound OK through an amp with loads of upper-mid prescence rather than treble - ie: Marshall with G12-75s. Maybe that's what the Edge was using - I dunno. They certainly sound nothing like P90's. Duncans I use currently: SD Jazz Humbucker in the neck position of my Les Paul (lovely bright clear HB sound) SD Cool Rails - Neck of Strat SD Pearly Gates in the bridge of my LAG Jet Vintage Stack - Bridge postion of '66 Tele and mid Pos of LAG Vintage Jag - Bridge position of Jag Hot Stack - Bridge Of Phat Tele However, I think DiMarzio have become rather out of fashion lately yet my experience with them is very good. I think the Fat strat and the Blues Stack which I have in another LAG guitar are great P/ups and are nice for a thicker yet still twangy surf sound. — http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery. Top
IvanP Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 10331 southern Michigan	Posted on May 20 2007 09:54 AM estreet My guess is that they probably sound OK through an amp with loads of upper-mid prescence rather than treble - ie: Marshall with G12-75s. Maybe that's what the Edge was using - I dunno. No, The Edge was all about Vox AC30s at that time - which of course do have 'loads of upper-mid presence'. Ritchie used his old Marshalls, which have been heavily modded - to sound more like Vox AC30s! He's a big fan of Vox amps, and even used an AC30 in a Marshall head box for many years. So, maybe that's the key - the Quarter Pounders may only work well with AC30s or some older Marshall amps, but not with Fender amps.... They certainly sound nothing like P90's. I think that's absolutely right. Ivan — Ivan Lords of Atlantis on Facebook The Madeira Official Website The Madeira on Facebook The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook The Space Cossacks on Facebook The Madeira Channel on YouTube Top
Barf Joined: Apr 08, 2007 Posts: 32	Posted on May 20 2007 10:46 PM avoided that silver bullet. I was all excited that I could get a p-90 sound outta strat pick up oh well. any way thanks for the input it helped a lot. Top
ajarvez Joined: Apr 03, 2007 Posts: 33 Winter Park, FLA	Posted on May 22 2007 11:47 PM Hang on there, Barf! All is not yet lost. I can pretty strongly recommend the Lindy Fralin Steel Pole pickup if ya want a more P-90-esque tone outa yer Strat. It's not quite as hot & raw as a P-90, but it's dang close, and a nice, snarly-sounding pickup in its own right. Especially if you put it in just the bridge position -- all the bite & twang you'd want, but a lot more guts to it, and it sounds FANTASTIC when blended with a standard Fender bridge pickup. The tone is somewhere between a P-90 and one of the early, hotter Tele bridge pickups. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. http://www.fralinpickups.com/stratstyleSP43.asp Top
Kawentzmann Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 1062 Berlin, Germany	Posted on May 23 2007 03:43 PM ajarvez Hang on there, Barf! All is not yet lost. I can pretty strongly recommend the Lindy Fralin Steel Pole pickup if ya want a more P-90-esque tone outa yer Strat. It's not quite as hot & raw as a P-90, but it's dang close, and a nice, snarly-sounding pickup in its own right. Especially if you put it in just the bridge position -- all the bite & twang you'd want, but a lot more guts to it, and it sounds FANTASTIC when blended with a standard Fender bridge pickup. The tone is somewhere between a P-90 and one of the early, hotter Tele bridge pickups. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. http://www.fralinpickups.com/stratstyleSP43.asp They look similar to the pickups in my Vester Strat copy when I bought it new. it didnât sound much like a strat with them, but with a driven amp it got a great Bo Diddley Gretsch tone! I was always very happy with a Duncan Vintage Jag in the bridge position (Gogo Sitar and Ghost Train by The Looney Tunes) in a ES 335 copy. Itâs great on a Strat as well. Currently I have the classic SSL-1 in the Vester Strat and have no complains, but changed my picks to light, gray nylons. KK — The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy. Top
Occam Joined: Mar 11, 2007 Posts: 61 Alameda Ca	Posted on Jun 01 2007 05:22 PM I put quarter pounders in my baritone jaguar and it is one of the most beautiful clean tones I've ever heard but that's the only thing I've tried them in. Top
Barf Joined: Apr 08, 2007 Posts: 32	Posted on Jun 02 2007 10:01 AM What I decided to do was just route out my cheap sg and put p-90's in it, I really like how my guitar sounds stock and decided not to mess with it although I probably will one day, but all this is far ahead because routing out my sg and then buying p-90's will be costly and just one pickup wasn't thanx for the advise though maybe I will look more into it. P.S. I know about p-94 type pickups, I want real p-90s Top

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Quarter Pound pickups for strat