Electric Guitars

[Rivers]

Hi, wonder if anyone can give me any advice. I've just taken delivery of a mexican strat that I bought on Ebay and the guy who sold it to me has modded it by changing the stock pickups to fender noiseless ones. I think it sounds really nice clean but I'm worried that it doesn't have enough poke on dirty sounds, and I'm considering chainging the bridge p'up. My main guitar pre the strat was a squier jagmaster which had a seymour jb in the bridge and that sounded great.
I'm just looking for some opinions on what options there are for a bridge p'up for a strat. I would like to get one that fits in a s/coil space preferably as I want to avoid chopping the scratchplate up - would a Seymour JB jr do the job? Does it really replicate the full size JB? What about the hot rails?

For reference I play an Orange AD30 twin channel head, style of music is Pumpkins, Tool, Far, Drive in, Mogwai etc.

Thanks in advance.

[TheDarxide]

JB Jr will sound just as good as a full size, lil 59 would be another option. Hot rails would be fine too.

[dethink]

bump...i'm running the same amp, and am torn between a JB jr. and a hot rails...

i've been called into "metal" duty (ISIS kind of stuff), and obviously a 50's RI strat single coil doesn't sound quite right...too much 'slice' and not enough punch at the bridge. it just doesn't sound right against the ESP our other guitarist is using.

(don't worry, it's a MIM reissue, not a pricey US one that i'm defiling)

not looking for a super scooped fizzy metal tone, but something that is a bit heavier and less sharp than the stock pickup.

i'm running this through my orange AD30 with the gain cranked, and using a vintage rat for more drive, so i'm never going to get that mesa sound (nor do i want it), but i need something to fatten it up...

[mrbigisbudgood]

JB Jr.

Do it.





Do it.

[Outrider]

I just added a SD Lil' 59 to my strat bridge, and I like it a lot, but it seems more rock than metal.

[dethink]

Originally posted by mrbigisbudgood
JB Jr.

Do it.





Do it.

i'm more inclined to go with the JB over the hot rails, because i'm worried the 'rails will turn it into something WAY too 'metal' if that makes any sense.

i want heavy, but not necessarily "shredy"...if that makes any sense.

[Europa760]

rio grande stelly

Stelly

[iknowjohnny]

The only SC size strat pup i ever tired in the bridge that wasn't thin or harsh is the lace holy grail. To me this has been the ultimate strat bridge pup. It sounds stratty at clean to low gain setiings, but as you approach higher gain territory it actually seems to get almost as fat as a humbucker, yet retains the stratty string defination. Unlike other Laces it has polepieces. And as a not so small added bonus they're noisless ! I replaced the SCN's in my new deluxe AM strat with them and they completely whipped the SCN's in a huge way. The bridge pup especially has got to be the perfect bridge pup for a strat. I couldn't ask for more, and i'm not easily pleased with strat bridge pups. it just gives me all the tonal benefits of both a humbucker and SC while always sounding like a SC, if that makes any sense!

[Mittermax]

I put a hot rails in my strat. It really breathes fire now. But beware, that pickup is really hot. When I use my other guitar, I have to adjust my pedals to the lower input volume, and my other guitar has humbuckers! This is a pain in the ass so was considering taking out the hot rails. But I love the tone so much that I think I'm going to upgrade the humbuckers instead.

The cleans sound punchy and articulate and with OD, DIST, or Fuzz, it really gives it an edge that I could never get with the stock gold lace sensor PUs.

[dethink]

is the hotrails clean sort of like a gibson dirty fingers clean?

[Mittermax]

I never heard the dirty fingers.

[jerry_picker]

Anderson sc-sized stacked humbuckers are superb Strat bridge pickups. SD-2 and SD-2+ might be what you are looking for.

Older models from Tom Anderson can be had at very reasonable prices. I put an SK-1 in the bridge of an ash-bodied Protone, with Fender VN's in the neck and middle, and it totally satifies!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=22670&item=7303313090