Members Muddslide Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 I've seen this mod done before and wonder at its utility. Not that the Strat can't be a great, versatile guitar with only two pups (and here I'm talking about two single coils--not a double 'bucker "fat" Strat.) On the recent "Let's see your #1s" thread, at post #116, a forumite named J-E-M shows a pic of his one and only electric, which is a gorgeous creamy Strat with gold anodized pickguard and just the neck and bridge single coils. He said it covered all the bases he needs a guitar for. I think Robbie Robertson (of The Band) also had a cople of Strats set up this way. Has anyone done this, or played a Strat with this configuration? It seems cool, but I also wonder what would get lost in the process and what the benefits--if any--would be for doing this, aside from fewer pickup selections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peskypesky Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 the benefit, for some people, would be that their pick won't get hung up on the middle pickup's polepieces. Richie Blackmore lowered his middle pickup as low as it could go. His Signature Model has no middle pickup, just a dummy:http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...lectric-guitar What you lose are the 3 tones that come from positions 2, 3 and 4. Since most Strats have a reverse-wind middle pickup to reduce hum, you would lose that benefit (which you get in positions 2 and 4). Positions 2 and 4 are also the pickup combinations that give the Strat its famous "quack" tone. This is caused by the two pickups being out-of-phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 I have a 2 P90 Stratosonic. Does that count? It's great. Super fun. Great sound. Looks cool. Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 Originally Posted by peskypesky the benefit, for some people, would be that their pick won't get hung up on the middle pickup's polepieces.Richie Blackmore lowered his middle pickup as low as it could go. His Signature Model has no middle pickup, just a dummy:http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...lectric-guitarWhat you lose are the 3 tones that come from positions 2, 3 and 4. Since most Strats have a reverse-wind middle pickup to reduce hum, you would lose that benefit (which you get in positions 2 and 4).Positions 2 and 4 are also the pickup combinations that give the Strat its famous "quack" tone. This is caused by the two pickups being out-of-phase. No, the pickups are NOT out of phase. They get their phase-cancellation from the fact that they read different point on the string at at vibrating at a different radius. It's the same effect that give full-size humbuckers their midrange phase-y-ness/creaminess/muddiness. If they were out of phase, they would sound so anemic and thin that many would think they were broken.In a 2-pickup Strat/Tele/LP Special/etc., you can use a reverse-wound/reverse-polarity neck PU to get hum-cancelling with both PU's on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 Originally Posted by peskypesky the benefit, for some people, would be that their pick won't get hung up on the middle pickup's polepieces.Richie Blackmore lowered his middle pickup as low as it could go. His Signature Model has no middle pickup, just a dummy:http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...lectric-guitarWhat you lose are the 3 tones that come from positions 2, 3 and 4. Since most Strats have a reverse-wind middle pickup to reduce hum, you would lose that benefit (which you get in positions 2 and 4).Positions 2 and 4 are also the pickup combinations that give the Strat its famous "quack" tone. This is caused by the two pickups being out-of-phase. No, the pickups are NOT out of phase. They get their phase-cancellation from the fact that they read different point on the string at at vibrating at a different radius. It's the same effect that give full-size humbuckers their midrange phase-y-ness/creaminess/muddiness. If they were out of phase, they would sound so anemic and thin that many would think they were broken.In a 2-pickup Strat/Tele/LP Special/etc., you can use a reverse-wound/reverse-polarity neck PU to get hum-cancelling with both PU's on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 I don't know, seems like a disservice to yourself. Get a tele. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Muddslide Posted December 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 23, 2012 Originally Posted by billybilly I don't know, seems like a disservice to yourself. Get a tele. Aw, I'm a Tele man all the way, actually. Always have a Tele. I like Strats too, and own a cheap one now that is a lot of fun, but for me when it comes to classic solidbody electrics I'mTele>Les Paul>Strat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bubkus_jones Posted December 23, 2012 Members Share Posted December 23, 2012 Richie Blackmore didn't seem to have a problem with a 2 pickup Strat, and Yngwie only recently started using the middle pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Radar-Love Posted December 24, 2012 Members Share Posted December 24, 2012 I own something similar to a 2-pickup Strat.It's a Fender Lead II ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Muddslide Posted December 24, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 24, 2012 ^^^ I remember those well. They came with a few different pickup configurations. Roger Miller from Mission of Burma used one almost exclusively and I remember seeing Bono playing one with U2 on Live at Red Rocks. Pretty cool little gits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members McCain Posted December 24, 2012 Members Share Posted December 24, 2012 Mod originally posted by Honeyiscool: Swap the neck&middle pu's for a no solder mod. The 5-4-3 positions will sound like a 2 pu strat. Bridge/Neck. Switch control is now: 5.B 4.B/N 3.N 2.N/M 1.M I think that's right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Radar-Love Posted December 25, 2012 Members Share Posted December 25, 2012 Originally Posted by Muddslide ^^^ I remember those well. They came with a few different pickup configurations. Yes. There were 3 different Fender Lead models: Lead I, Lead II, and Lead III. The Lead I had a single bridge humbucker. Lead II had two single coils. Lead III had two humbuckers. They didn't sell well and were discontinued rather quickly. I bought my red Lead II with maple fingerboard as new-old-stock in 1987. About a week later I bought a used-but-like-new black Lead I (like the one below) with a rosewood fingerboard for dirt cheap -- $100 if memory serves. Roger Miller from Mission of Burma used one almost exclusively and I remember seeing Bono playing one with U2 on Live at Red Rocks. Pretty cool little gits. Eric Clapton played a Lead II for a bit in the early 1980s. He ended up donating it to the Hard Rock Cafe in London soon afterwards. It may have been the first guitar he ever donated.http://travelingwilbury.files.wordpr...uitar-blog.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BluesTuesday Posted December 25, 2012 Members Share Posted December 25, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Carroll Posted December 25, 2012 Members Share Posted December 25, 2012 Originally Posted by Radar-Love Eric Clapton played a Lead II for a bit in the early 1980s. He ended up donating it to the Hard Rock Cafe in London soon afterwards. It may have been the first guitar he ever donated.http://travelingwilbury.files.wordpr...uitar-blog.jpg http://www.hardrock.com/locations/ca...91&MIBenumID=3It was the first guitar donated to the hard rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lz4005 Posted December 26, 2012 Members Share Posted December 26, 2012 I've been wanting to do a two pickup strat for a while now, with extra switching for series/parallel/out-of-phase options when both pickups are on. Sort of a mashup of a strat, duo-sonic II and a tele with the 4 way switch mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted December 26, 2012 Members Share Posted December 26, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cephus Posted December 26, 2012 Members Share Posted December 26, 2012 Aesthetically they fail. I am normally a form over function guy. I have an hh strat and I love it. But the 2 singles look effeminate. I hate myself for being so shallow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted December 27, 2012 Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 Surf Monster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lz4005 Posted December 27, 2012 Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 Originally Posted by cephus the 2 singles look effeminate. How is having a tele-style setup (two singles, one angled, one not) on a strat effeminate looking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashtray Posted December 27, 2012 Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 2 pickup Strat? Actually, this is more of a Strat bodied Tele. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peskypesky Posted December 27, 2012 Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 Originally Posted by cephus Aesthetically they fail. I am normally a form over function guy. I have an hh strat and I love it. But the 2 singles look effeminate. I hate myself for being so shallow. I agree. For me, a Strat looks best with 3 single coils. I can deal with HSS and HH, too, but they seem off to me. And the two single-coils looks way off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peskypesky Posted December 27, 2012 Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 Originally Posted by ashtray 2 pickup Strat? Actually, this is more of a Strat bodied Tele. those actually look very cool to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashtray Posted December 27, 2012 Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 And with cover:I'd like to do a 1 pickup Strat some day with just a neck pickup, but only bc I have a dozen Strats and it would just be something different. Great thing is it just costs you the cost of a custom pick guard (about $25 from Warmoth?) and your time (to remove parts from old pick guard and wire up the new one.). Same with a 2 pickup setup - if you have a 3 pickup Strat already, you already have either the RWRP middle pickup or neck pickup to use, and all the other parts you need. Just unsolder, transfer, and resolder everything. If you have time. That's one thing I'm short on these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheraton Posted December 27, 2012 Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 Originally Posted by fretless Love it! Like a full size Duo-Sonic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Muddslide Posted December 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 27, 2012 Originally Posted by fretless Hot!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.