Fattest sounding strat pickups

[GuitArtMan]

Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot. They have the fatest "traditional" strat sound I've heard.

[Telefonic]

I'd say +1 on the Fat 50s.

 

Fatness = Fat

Traditional sound=50s

 

Or, just fill up the route cavity with sausage gravy. Mmmmm....gravy.

[woude]

+1 on the thicker strings and all that stuff. About the pickups:

 

Check out the woodstock plus set from www.kinman.com.

The bridge pickup is almost a p90 (hx-85) and the other pickups are really fat sounding! Really really really fat would be a strat with three of those hx-85 pickups in it...

[kickash_strat]

 

Originally posted by guitardustin Thanks guys, I don't want a humbucker sound at all, I don't like the clean humbucker sound at all for my style. I'm thinking I'll just get better Fender singles, I have the stock ones with ceramic magnets in my gigging guitar, and they just aren't exactly what I'm looking for. Maybe I don't want a fatter sound, just a better quality sound lol Thanks, Dustin

 

 

 

Might want to try some Fender Fat 50's.... very straty... but with a little more attitude when needed.

[iknowjohnny]

Lace Holy Grails ! These are not only the fattest i've ever heard, they are noisless and still sound like SC's. They have polepieces unlike other laces which sound fake to me. These sound 100% real and fat w/o losing the stratty sound or brightness. As an added bonus they are cheap. About $140 a set. I do however recommend using a regular single coil in the middle with grails in the neck and bridge because it sounds better in the 2 and 4 positions where the grails are a tad weak as quack goes. But overall they are quickly becoming my favorite pups. Especially great for bright guitars. They turned a very bright strat i had into a good sounding and usable guitar from what was a thin harsh strat b4.

[tremblox]

Good comments all round.

 

But what does "fat" mean ?

1/ Is "fat", thick in mids and bass ?

2/ Or is "fat" broadband in the sense that all frequencies are there from bass through to high treble ?

 

If 2/ I think strat single coils are fat.

 

Anyway my thoughts:

a/ Yes SD Antiquity hots are fat in the sense of 1/. Nice thick smokey pickups.

 

b/ I agree that Alnico II is a good way to go - (like the Antiquity hots). But Alnico II smoothes the highs - it's like rolling off your tone knob (another good suggestion).

 

c/ Better imho is Alnico III (the oldest strat pickup magnet I believe). Check out Bare Knuckle Apaches for this. Great wide band vintage tone and a great chewiness. Really thick and a great comination of 1/ and 2/. Terrific chime too. These are not high output pickups

 

d/ The amp plays a huge role - particularly the combination of mid and treble knobs. Playing loud adds to "thickness". Also ofcourse in combination with the tone controls.

 

e/ Thick strings help - more volume and generally less highs compared to the lows and mids. But I think you can get a similar tone though by turning up the amp, get those tubes cookin', and rolling down the highs a tad.

 

Just my thoughts

 

tremblox

[robt57]

Use a Marshall for FAT, and a Super for Chime. I know, pickups are cheaper than either of those amps, no less both.

[iknowjohnny]

 

But what does "fat" mean ?

 

 

I think of it like this. Brightness or high end, whatever you wanna call it, is necassary if you are to get all the typical strat sounds we all love. It's where the harmonics come from and articulation and it's what makes a guitar sound swirly and rich. But the constant battle most players go thru is trying to have this while not getting a thin or tinny sound. Theoretically you shouldn't be able to have both at the same time, and usually you can't, which is why a lot of people search for the right pup. They are often trying to achieve both the chime and articulation that brightness brings at the same time that they have a sound that isn't thin or tinny sounding. To me fat means having both. A sound thats got all the brighness and what comes along with it that you need but w/o sounding tinny or thin, whatever you wanna call it.

 

Few pups seem to achieve that which is why i like the holy grails. Somehow they seem to accomplish this task. I've found others that are close, but the grails at least to my ear and in the 2 strats i've tried them in do it much better than anything else i've had. In a word i'd say fat means the sound has body and is full sounding.

[pennypusher]

Rio Grande Muy Grandes.

 

www.riograndepickups.com

 

Ridiculously HUGE strat sound.

[Europa760]

i wouldnt mind one of them humbucker sized p90s in my strat in the bridge. im starting to like that idea more and more.

 

i could even stick with rio grando and get that bastard pick up.

 

or i can get a fralin, cuz everyone says thats the best. i forget if thats humbucker sized, im pretty sure they have one though, cuz i think that was the whole premise of the review i read.

[pennypusher]

Rio Grande Muy Grandes.

 

www.riograndepickups.com

 

Ridiculously HUGE strat sound.

[One-armed Alec]

Originally posted by iknowjohnny I think of it like this. Brightness or high end, whatever you wanna call it, is necassary if you are to get all the typical strat sounds we all love. It's where the harmonics come from and articulation and it's what makes a guitar sound swirly and rich.

I agree. Turning down the tone control on your guitar or the treble control on your amp probably isn't the answer. Many of us think of SRV when we think of fat strat tone - and he had plenty of top-end in his sound - but real girth too! That seemed to come from a combination of huge strings, huge mits and punchy amps. As others have stated, amp choice is a crucial factor.

 

Anyway - what kind of tone are you in pursuit of? Are you looking to beef-up your clean sounds, your overdriven sounds, both?

[tremblox]

Originally posted by iknowjohnny

"I think of it like this. Brightness or high end, whatever you wanna call it, is necassary if you are to get all the typical strat sounds we all love. It's where the harmonics come from and articulation and it's what makes a guitar sound swirly and rich."

 

I agree with iknowjohhny as well. One reason I like the Callaham trem (not just the block) is the increased complexity in the highs that you get - important for the chiminess and almost "acoustic" nature to the tone imho. This is achieved without sounding harsh.

 

For me top-end harshness can be a disadvantage with soem Alnico V pickups which is why a little tone control roll-off can be an advantage her.

 

Take out the bass and mids to this tone and it would be thin and tinny. Remove the highs and high mids too much and you might just end up with mud - depends on the pickups, amp and a whole bunch of other things. Mud isn't fatness for me.

 

One thing that hasn't been said yet is the influence of touch and the effect of this has. For example without a pick I get a much softer tone (softer on attack i.e less highs -> fatter maybe?). And even with a pick where you strike the strings with respect to the pickup being used makes a load of difference (harmonic generation).

 

For me the jury is out as to whether you need fat strings to get a fat tone. Sure the volume is increased and sustain too but that ain't fatness. Granted that SRV had cables for strings and his tone was undeniably FAT but he was tuned down a semitone and in some ways SRV was an exception. Plenty of players get fatness with much lighter strings (Robin Trower springs to mind - Leslie West too, but not in a strat way). Just thought of another fat string - fat tone player ->Dick Dale.

 

Anyway whatever strings are used I believe fatness is increased by increasing the action height and also on lowering the pickup heights. Increasing the action lets the strings "ring" better as does lowering the pickups. Lowering the pickups lowers output volume but again seems to let the guitar breathe more and take any hardness of the edge of the attack - softens it somewhat which to my ears makes it sound "fatter".

 

Interesting as to whether hi-output pickups are fatter per se. These have more windings giving more capacitance and inductance again meaning a roll off of the highs coupled with an increased mid-peak. Less harmonics, less strattiness but more fatness ? Not for me at least. Fatness for me seems to be heard more in with vintage-style single coils, (say under 6k ohms and with nice thick wire). If I want to hit the amp preamp harder I use a pedal - and the fattest pedal I have found for this purpose is the Baby Blue.

 

More random thoughts - interesting subject this fat strat business.

 

Tremblox

[ThomasD]

Pete Biltoft at Vintage Vibe Guitars

 

Vintagevibeguitars.com

 

also makes strat pickups. He will custom wind pickups for very reasonable rates, can use alnico II along with alnico V or ceramic and has a strat sized P90 version. I have a set of his HB sized P90s and just ordered a custom wound set of strat pickups so I highly recommend you check him out.

[Argali]

I have a DiMarzio Chopper single-coil-sized 'bucker in my Strat, and it sounds huge.

[Cougarbruin]

 

Originally posted by AtomHeartMother Split humbuckers still really don't sound very much like real single coils; they basically sound like thinner humbuckers. I had one in my Tele and it really didn't sound that great. Plus you won't be able to get those signature 2 and 4 tones.

 

 

You're high. Thats what a split hum is, dumbass... a single coil.

 

Quit relating your tele experience - hes asking about Strats.

 

So really - you don't know what your talking about.

[Teleken]

 

Originally posted by -Bong- You're high. Thats what a split hum is, dumbass... a single coil. Quit relating your tele experience - hes asking about Strats. So really - you don't know what your talking about.

 

 

Being obnoxious doesn't make you any more correct. A split humbucker doesn't sound like a single coil to anyone with hearing better than Helen Keller's.

[Cougarbruin]

 

Originally posted by Teleken Being obnoxious doesn't make you any more correct. A split humbucker doesn't sound like a single coil to anyone with hearing better than Helen Keller's.

 

 

Who's obnoxious now?

 

Ever heard the new American HH Strat?

 

Sounds like singles to me...

[Teleken]

 

Originally posted by -Bong- Who's obnoxious now? Ever heard the new American HH Strat? Sounds like singles to me...

 

 

I'm sure it does sound like singles to you.

[Cougarbruin]

 

Originally posted by Teleken I'm sure it does sound like singles to you.

 

 

So shut your ass, dick.

[Teleken]

 

Originally posted by -Bong- So shut your ass, dick.

 

 

Make me. Are you so blindingly ignorant that you can't make a point without cursing?

 

Finally, you might want to get your sarcasm meter checked. I've played the HH American Strat - the splits don't sound a thing like a single coil pickup. Maybe to you, they do, but not to anyone that has experience playing, listening to or recording guitars with single coil pickups.