I need to replace the neck and middle pickups on my old squier strat. The bridge pu is a seymour duncan hot rails which i'd like to keep, but the remaining stock ones are just way too noisy and have much lower signal (but decent tone).
I'm looking for as jazzy a sound as possible.
Any recommendations/advise you could give me?
I've been intrigued with putting a Lil '59 in my Strat for jazzy tones (and the occasional screaming lead). I assume you want the warmth of a humbucker.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/cutting-edge/little_59_for_s/ (http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/cutting-edge/little_59_for_s/)
I wish I've had firsthand experience, but I've only heard sound samples second hand.
There's also a mini Pearly Gates as well.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/custom-shop/stratocaster/strat_pearly_ga/ (http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/custom-shop/stratocaster/strat_pearly_ga/)
Hopes this helps.
Blooby
Heading to the pearly gates I am ;D
I'd be very interested to hear your future posts. Congrats!
Blooby
Haha not yet i'm afraind; i'm compiling a shopping list for when (if?) I get myself a job again. I'm on short sabbatical right now.
Check out gfs.com.
i use duncan classic stacks in one of my strats-absolutelt sweet and quiet-been in use since about 93
Im kind of a Strat purist, one humbuckers alright...but whats the matter with single coils?
Its a Strat, shouldnt it sound like one? Noise and all?
Dont get me wrong, Ive got a buddy whos got a Big Apple Strat with the Pearly Gates, and it sounds great...but a Strat isnt a Les Paul, and humbuckers arent very Straty.
No matter how I typed the above, it always came off wrong or snooty...so I apologize in advance, this wasnt my intention, just kinda overstating the obvious as the obvious usually escapes me as well.
If it was a real Strat, well ok, I get along with that somewhat.
This particular one, is my first electric. It will never be a vintage classic; wrong year and wrong factory (Korea). But it's been my mainstay for many years and it travelled the world with me. I recently gave it a good service, and all-in-all it has survived its first 20-odd years admirably well. I've cut up the body ssignificantly to accomodate the Roland synth pickup better, reducing its market value further but making it my custom all the more. When I'm working with the BR, I can lay down almost all tracks without having to change instrument, that's a huge plus for me. That's why I need an even more versatile sound, deeper and jazzyer; hence a 'bucker. If I need it more "stratty", i can always switch it back to single.
Hey, there all "real" Strats if they are licensed by FMIC. Ive never owned a MIA or a MIK...so its not about maintaining value, more of a tonal thing, but I realize this is only my preference.
But yours is heavily moddified and that Roland unit does it all anyways(tonally) right?
Id probably want something that didnt hum too.
Here's my three penneth
I was a strat man and tried all the styles of pick ups including EMGs lace sensors hot rails even the clapton boost and came to the conclusion a strat is made for single coils and If I wanted a humbucker sound buy a Les Paul (which I did)...
So my advice is buy a cheap les Paul with a good neck and action and put in the best 'buckers you can afford.....A Vintage Brand Les Paul is around £100.... and you will not need to change the pups cos they are great (and that's comparing them to my Gibson Paul)
The same if you want the strat sound buy a cheap strat and add the best single coils you can afford (my cheap strat stands me at £50 including vintage wound pups)........A squier is around £80......
And to fill the tonal spectrum the same applies to P90's.........
Apart frm the legendary names of Fender and Gibson there are a lot of great guitars out there for a fraction of the price.....
The only reason I keep my '89 Fender strat plus and Gibson Les Paul standard is the Kudos and the fact they are increasing in Value daily.....
Who said I wanted a les paul sound? i already have a les paul for that.
a bucker doesn't change the fundamental tone of the sound; hell I have a hot rail in front and it just sounds like a stratbut richer and thicker, cleaner, much better processable sound.
if it were a bad guitar to start with, tonally, i wouldn't even consider the update.
either way, what i'm looking for is the "sander" sound, even if it meant using a Steinway concert grand with a laundry dryer motor's coils as pickups!
You know SDC, Iw as a lil worried how my reply was going to come off, but then I realized you were asking for "opinions"...and alot of us guitarists(Strat and LP players) go for vintage tones and specs. I think I conveyed that in my reply, and I kinda get the same impression from 48's reply as well.
But as soon as you mentioned the Roland unit, I get what your after...
Quotericher and thicker, cleaner, much better processable sound.
...and thats not vintage...or very "Straty"...which is what most of us
are after.
So thats why youre getting the opinions like ours, although I cant really speak for 48.
What all is that Roland unit capable of?
Im kinda under the impression you could dial in any kinda tone youd want though, right?
I gave you the wrong link earlier, and dont know what side of the pond you are on but...
http://store.guitarfetish.com/
Sounds like you are looking for a very practical tone machine, and I can dig that. As far as pups, Ive tried the Neo-vins and they arent bad. They are hum cancelling and come in different output levels. They are also very affordable. They also make rail single coils if you are into that.
You didnt mention price but I imagine $300 pups are out on a squire.
Also ebay is a good source for American standard pups that can be had cheap, the newer ones are hum cancelling with moderate output.
SdC I Apologise Man, I got the wrong end of the stick...... :-[
Looking Forward to hearing your new tones when you get there 8)
Most of all, I appreciate all your feedback on the matter. I'm also very fond of vintage sound. But what i need now is the tone for the studio. I love the Strat at the more for being able to provide it with a simple electronics upgrade,I'd say customization is a huge part of the Stat's vintage legacy-just look at the huge range of signature models.
i'll try to send a sample of the duncans classic stacks
quiet and punchy-more output than the stock-still quacky
i also have a stock strat to compare a/b with
been having pc troubles-so i'll do it when possible
Quote from: Sprocket on May 28, 2009, 11:19:16 AM.......
What all is that Roland unit capable of?
Im kinda under the impression you could dial in any kinda tone youd want though, right?
Sorry, I missed this question before.
The Roland pickup connects to a "GK" capable device with a 14-pin connector. The first generation of devices were the "GR" series synthesizer (I have the GR-33). These are tone-based synthesizers, producing synthesizer tones (based on the Roland JV series). The new devices are "VG" devices (Virtual Guitar) which indeed model guitar tones, so you can mix/match different guitar types, fx and amps. I recently tried out the VG-99 and it is amazing. But REALLY expensive.
I guess Roland did some research and realized very few guitarists are spending money on making a guitar sound like a piano, but many are looking to get amazing guitar sounds from crap guitars.
Quote from: SdC on June 04, 2009, 05:45:33 AMQuote from: Sprocket on May 28, 2009, 11:19:16 AM.......
What all is that Roland unit capable of?
Im kinda under the impression you could dial in any kinda tone youd want though, right?
I guess Roland did some research and realized very few guitarists are spending money on making a guitar sound like a piano, but many are looking to get amazing guitar sounds from crap guitars.
good point
i bought a gr33 so i didnt have to lug around a keyboard to gigs-takes up less real estate on the stage too
Quote from: guitarron on June 04, 2009, 06:49:40 AMi bought a gr33 ....
Cool you're the first one i've run into who also has one. It has taken me a few years (on/off) to learn and appreaciate what this little box is capable of. And to adjust my playing accordingly... I also ended up giving the Strat a pretty high action to get myself to play clean and accurate. I still find it difficult to use instruments that have a longer attack; with guitar you're so used to immediate attack.
i gave up trying to use it as midi contrller for tracking in sonar-there again by the time i'd get it working right(if ever), the creative juices were sucked out of me
Quote from: guitarron on June 04, 2009, 07:30:54 AMi gave up trying to use it as midi contrller for tracking in sonar-there again by the time i'd get it working right(if ever), the creative juices were sucked out of me
Yeah i tried that with cubase lite and nuendo and neither could really keep up with the gr-33's pitch bends and even when i managed to record something simple, the resulting midi data was an un-editable mess.
Quote from: SdC on June 04, 2009, 05:45:33 AMThe new devices are "VG" devices (Virtual Guitar) which indeed model guitar tones, so you can mix/match different guitar types, fx and amps. I recently tried out the VG-99 and it is amazing. But REALLY expensive.
I dont know if you guys noticed, but the American made VG series has been discontinued(at Musician'sFriend at the least) but they blew them out last month for bout $900...you can find some sick deals on those right about now.
Heres a gentleman at another forum selling 2 of them for $900 each (http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/guitars-sale-trade-wanted/13814-stratocasters-sale.html) a black one and a burst...somebody ought to scoop one of those up.
I don't know if Fender themselves have discontinued the "Roland Ready" strat, but Roland have finally made the gk pickup available as a DIY build-in kit (introduced at NAAM last year), and a stick-on pup unit is included with the VG/GR units anyway.
There are some alternatives; Godin for instance.
A Roland Ready Strat and a VG Strat are two different things.
The Roland Ready Strat has a Roland GK-2A hex pickup and a GK 13-pin output connector for controlling a guitar synth, V-Guitar system, or pitch-to-midi converter. It's been available for over ten years and Fender is still making it.
The VG Strat was introduced in January 2007 and discontinued in April 2009. It had a Roland hex pickup but no 13-pin output (very stupid move by Fender). Instead, it had several guitar models built-in like the Line 6 Variax.
I'm not sure when the GK-3 internal kit was introduced but the GK-2 internal kit has been available for years.
Quote from: 64Guitars on June 04, 2009, 12:03:21 PMA Roland Ready Strat and a VG Strat are two different things.
The Roland Ready Strat has a Roland GK-2A hex pickup and a GK 13-pin output connector for controlling a guitar synth, V-Guitar system, or pitch-to-midi converter. It's been available for over ten years and Fender is still making it.
The VG Strat was introduced in January 2007 and discontinued in April 2009. It had a Roland hex pickup but no 13-pin output (very stupid move by Fender). Instead, it had several guitar models built-in like the Line 6 Variax.
I'm not sure when the GK-3 internal kit was introduced but the GK-2 internal kit has been available for years.
ah I see, thanks for clearing that up. I guess for the money the vg-strat wouldn't be a bad deal, but of no interest to me.
Quote from: SdC on June 04, 2009, 12:19:05 PMah I see, thanks for clearing that up. I guess for the money the vg-strat wouldn't be a bad deal, but of no interest to me.
Yeah, me neither...I reckon I thought it was similar.
i think the vg strat was their product to compete with the line 6 variax