eightball
Joined: Jun 24, 2006
Posts: 4
Southern Nevada
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Posted on Jun 26 2006 12:11 PM
Ok, so I have a 2005 MIM strat and I want to swap out the pups to something with a more surf vinatge sound. I've looked at the 57/62s, Lolar Blondes, Fralin Vintage Hot, etc etc and the list goes on. I've listened to so many sounds bytes they all started to sound the same. I'm curious what my fellow strat playes are usin for pups. Any info/opinion s are greatly appreciated..........................eightball
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butchdelux
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 250
Port Fierce, Florida
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Posted on Jun 26 2006 01:09 PM
My Strat came with the Bill Lawrence SC noiseless pups, and I love 'em. That said, I've also had good results with Texas Specials in another guitar I had, and I've heard the Fender CS 54's are great, too (no 1st-hand experience with those, though).
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drpluto
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 124
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Posted on Jun 26 2006 03:48 PM
I always wondered what jag pickups would sound like on a strat
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WoodyJ
Joined: Apr 05, 2006
Posts: 1544
Bethlehem, GA
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Posted on Jun 26 2006 09:25 PM
Not the least expensive solution, but the "Fender Custom Shop '54" pickups are wonderful for that trad surf sound. Not the "Fat 50's"... they are a little too hot.
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19286
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Jun 26 2006 09:33 PM
I heard that Rip Thrillby hated the Custom Shop '54s....(Spanky?). Aren't they also found in the DD Custom Shop Strat?
My strat started life as a "Lone Star Strat"; i.e. 2 Texas Special single coils in neck and middle, with a Duncan designed "Pearly Gates" humbucker in the bridge. After I got into surf I put a Texas Special single coil in the bridge position like Leo (and God) intended. It sounds good to me, although Ivan recommended I try putting the '62 AV RI pickups in there instead.
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WoodyJ
Joined: Apr 05, 2006
Posts: 1544
Bethlehem, GA
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Posted on Jun 26 2006 09:40 PM
Hi, Brian,
The '57/'62 AVRI pickups are great Strat surfy pickups, and they are a good reasonably priced alternative to the CS '54's. The Texas Specials are way hotter, and were designed for SRV-style blues players. A less powerful pickup won't tend to overdrive the amp and give a cleaner (surfy) sound.
Pickups, strings, guitars, and amps are very subjective things. One man's Holy Grail is another's POS.
— Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)
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WR
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 3832
netherlands
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Posted on Jun 27 2006 03:29 AM
drpluto
I always wondered what jag pickups would sound like on a strat
I've got a strat with jap jag pups. I can tell you this: it does not sound anything like the CIJ Jag I 've got (which has the same pups) - it simply doesn't drip as hard.
might be the wood, the jag is alder, I've tried it with a basswood and a plywood stratbody.
I returned my main strat to the setup SD vintage staggered pups, and that way the guitar does sound reasonably good, way better than with the jag pups (which do sound okay in the CIJ jag) -
I imagine both the SD's and the jagpups would sound better with an alder body (and a better neck and a better tremsystem  ) still, I much prefer strat pups in astrat.
WR
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Kawentzmann
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1060
Berlin, Germany
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Posted on Jun 27 2006 04:06 AM
drpluto
I always wondered what jag pickups would sound like on a strat
I once had a seymour duncan vintage jag p.u. in the bridge position, itâs great! I think the strat surfers they offer now are along those lines.
Two things that are different, and might be less perfect: the polepieces are not staggered and not spread as far as on a strat p.u.
KK
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19286
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Jun 27 2006 09:23 AM
WoodyJ
The Texas Specials are way hotter, and were designed for SRV-style blues players. A less powerful pickup won't tend to overdrive the amp and give a cleaner (surfy) sound.
Sure, that's what I figured. Dual Showman's don't dirty up very easily though, and I don't usually crank it up, so no one has heard any SRV licks from my basement. 
I believe Ivan used to have Texas Specials and liked them for a while, but went to something else. Ivan?
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Jun 28 2006 09:58 PM
Brian
I believe Ivan used to have Texas Specials and liked them for a while, but went to something else. Ivan?
Yeah, I had them in my main Strat for a while, and used them on a few songs on Tsar Wars (Escape From Gulag 17, The Jewel Of Duende, The Crusher, Space Race, Cossack Rocket Patrol). To my ears they're not THAT different from a normal US-made reissue pickup. The hotter output wasn't as big of a deal, I just didn't turn up the amp as much. BUT, having said that, once I switched to the US-reissue pickups, I did definitely like the sound better. The Texas Specials are a bit on the dark side, the highs don't sound as 'open', they're a bit more 'strangled'. I wouldn't recommend them for surf, though you can get decent tones out of them if you adjust your amp accordingly. But why bother? Just get the very-reasonably-priced Fender's '57/'62 reissue pickups and be happy. Or any of Seymour Duncan's version of vintage Strat pickups which are pretty much all great (you don't have to get their top-of-the-line, ridicilously-priced Antiquity pickups, or whatever they're called).
Ivan
PS I can confirm that Rip hated the Custom '54s he put in his Mexican Strat. I think after he found out they put those pickups in DD's signature model, he got two and stuck them in the bridge and neck positions on his blue Strat. I can't remember what he didn't like about them, but afterwards he would only ever use the middle pickup, which was the original Mex pickup. Well, not for much longer cause soon he was mostly playing his Jag... I have had no experience with Custom '54s, so can't say anything about them.
— Ivan
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Rio
Joined: May 22, 2006
Posts: 500
Hamilton, Ontario
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Posted on Jun 29 2006 12:00 PM
I put a set of Seymour Duncan Antiquities II (allegedly modeled on a '64 strat, I think, from the Chantays) in a 2002 MIM Classic 60s strat (plus a steel block) and it sounds killer. I much prefer them to the 57/62s, which I don't mind, except the SMs sound better, to my ears.
I also put a set of SM Antinquity II's in a MIJ Jag. I am seriously happy with those too, they're very similar to the original pups in my '62 refin.
For gigging, these two examples have steered me towards cheap guitars with new pickups. Less fuss, muss & fear factor.
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Coolcat
Joined: Mar 01, 2006
Posts: 55
New York City
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Posted on Jun 30 2006 03:11 PM
I have Texas Specials in my #1 Strat. I think they are great for any style. I never crank the amp up past 2 so it's hard to say with high volumes what happens.
Also, one of the best vintage sounding single coil pickups I've ever heard are the Bill Lawrence Keystones, which he only sells directly through a reseller on eBay for $72 a SET!!! They are not noiseless but the middle is reverse wound. They sound unbelievable!
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revmike
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 3804
North Atlantic
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Posted on Jul 02 2006 02:42 PM
My Strat Plus came with Gold Lace Sensors. These were tone suckers. I put in a set of Seymour Duncan lip stick tube pups, and love the break up/drip factor it now has. The guys in the band said I made a good gtr cheap. They know my Danelectro obsession!!!
Mike
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wetreverb
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 76
Panorama City, CA
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Posted on Jul 08 2006 12:35 AM
The best Strat replacement p'ups I've used, include the Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Surfer p'ups, the Fender Vintage Noiseless, and the Fender Custom Shop Fat 50's. All absolutely excellent for a hard-driving and Surfy tone.
For those trying to stay within a reasonable budget, you can approximate the above with a set of Japanese Strat Standard p'ups from the mid 80's - excellent tone and sustain from a very inexpensive p'up!
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