Members kadrocker Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I bought my Strat back in '05, Fender had a limited run of two humbuckers from the factory. Best guitar I've ever played! Most comfortable neck ever. I love this guitar. It sounds alright, I don't dislike how it sounds, just wanna try something new. Now, help me decide which pickups to put in. I play a lot of alternative/grunge/90s punk rock kinda stuff. I like stuff like Nirvana, Offspring, Weezer, Pennywise, Bush. Stuff like that. Not really into metal, so no EMG, or Dimebucker recommendations. I don't downtune very much, just the occasional Eb. And they don't have to sound spectacular clean. I have a Jaguar and a standard Strat for that. No looking copy anyone's sound specifically, but those bands I listed above- I really like their general sounds. Oh yeah- my amp is a Fender Super Champ XD. Whatcha think, guys and gals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wrongnote85 Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 JB in bridge, screamin demon in the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I'd go Air Norton in the neck and either a 36th Anniversary in the neck or a PAF Joe if you want something a little more exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alecto Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 If you play in bands, I'd say the Screamin' Demon or Alnico II in the neck, the JB in the bridge. If you play mostly at home, then the Custom in the bridge. Outside of Seymour Duncan, the Rio Grande Texas/BBQ combination is great. I can go from jazz to metal with that combo. It works great in my Carvin H2, which has an alder body, 25.5" scale and ebony fretboard. I'd also recommend chatting with Bryan Gunsher at BG Pickups (Norcal_Gtr on this forum). He does great work and he offers a discount for HCEG forumites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I don't play in bands much, I do jam on occasion with friends. What are you opinions on the Tone Zone, Super Distortion, and the Trembucker? I like Noodles (offspring) tone which he uses the tone zone. Kurt cobain used the super distortion, and gavin rossdale of bush used the trembucker. How do they compare to the suggestions that have been mentioned? I'm in no hurry to buy pickups, I am gonna research a bit before I decide anything. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ugameus Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I use Lollar Imperials in my "strat". Great pickups, but on the expensive side. For a more affordable pair without losing quality and tone, I would look at BG Pups. BG will do custom winds for VERY fair prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I have a Strat HH from around the same era as well. It's got their own "Sidewinder" and "Black Cobra" pickups in the neck and bridge respectively. I've also never been too thrilled with the stock p'ups but do like the guitar. But it's a bit tough to pick replacements since it's got to be able to match the inherent highs of an alder body and also still sound good split as the HH is designed. I'd just be careful about recommendations from folks whose references come from mahogany bodied guitars. I think a Fender Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Plus is a pretty good and versatile pickup for the bridge. I'd be curious to know what you end up with. I also have a Fender HSS that has a "Diamond Back" bridge pickup. What was with them and their snakey names? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jet9 Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I'd say go for a DiMarzio Tone Zone, Gibson 500T or Suhr Aldrich in the bridge. You really can't go wrong with any of those. As for the neck, I'd say a DiMarzio Air Norton/LiquiFire or a DMT DimeTime(not kidding). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Longhair Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 Remove the pick guard to see if you can put a middle pickup in there. If so, then you can always go with a SSS setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Weiner_Bomb Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 i'm thinking about trying GFS 'mean 90's' for my next project.. Is your strat a alder/maple neck combo? I have a duncan invader bridge pickup I can sell you el-cheapo if you want to experiment with that. The alder body/maple neck strat combo seems to work best for that pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 My Strat is black with an aftermarket tortoise shell pickguard. Alder body and rosewood fretboard. The pickup(s) would have to be black. It's got all black knobs and trim. Send me a pm, weiner bomb. Maybe we'll work something out. Just remember I wanna see what all is out there. I've always used stock pickups, never swapped before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 Long hair- I have two other single coiled guitars. so I don't want to go that route. I am actually a very big fan of distorted single coil sounds. Fwiw my guitar is routed h h h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -=Pennywise=- Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I'm doing the exact same thing you are doing, putting new humbuckers in my black MIM strat. I barely use the middle pickup, so I bought a H-S config pickguard. Bridge PU is a full size Dimarzio Tone Zone, the neck is going to be a Dimarzio Pro Track. Just waiting for the neck pickup to arrive in the mail. I have Tone Zones in 3 of my guitars and simply love it. awesome sounding pickup that covers a lot of ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sonolin Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I think a Duncan JB in the bridge would suit you well, especially with your playing styles. Its a very versatile pickup, and if you ever want to lower the distortion, coil tap it, or even run metal high gain it can do all that while still sounding very good. Compared to the tone zone, its very similar but the tone zone is a very bass heavy pickup, and to my ears sounds a lot more compressed than the JB does. There's plenty of sound clips on youtube to take a look at, but make sure you find some in 720p and use good headphones or you won't tell a difference . Here's a really good comparison I like: - it doesn't have 720p but I believe it does have 480 which is a decent quality. You can definitely hear the difference. In the neck, there's a ton of options. A screamin' deamon would probably suit you well, and if you like playing any other styles there's a ton of other options for that pickup as well. 59, Jazz, etc. are all good pickups but I'm not so sure how it would suit your style (I have a feeling a '59 wouldn't be too bad, its said to be a "darker" pickup but I've honestly never looked at it much). Good luck, I'm in the same situation myself LOL! Fitting a HH Fender with new pickups (this ones a new blacktop). I like the current pickups, but they leave a lot to be desired. EDIT: From the Dimarzio side, you'd probably like the Super Distortion. I find that a pretty cool pickup for lighter-medium gain settings, but don't care too much for the tonal base. It sounds a lot different from a JB, but its hard for me to explain the differences as it has a sort of weird sound to it. Almost sounds scooped in the vids I've seen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scolfax Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 What are you opinions on the Tone Zone... I think the ToneZone is pretty awesome in my basswood RG. Personally I wouldn't hesitate to put one in a Strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I'd also be willing to give a TZ a try in a strat. It's got a lot of bass to it which should help compliment a strat build. I have a TZ in a mohagany Tele and a Steinberger GT Pro. Sounds like night and day in those two different guitars, but an alder strat would be somewhere in between (nicely) and will also split well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 I bought the Invader pickup from weiner bomb. It might be a little more than what I was looking for, but the price was right. It might be a temporary fix. I'm still gonna see what pickup options I've got. I'm kinda leaning towards the Tone Zone and JB. Time to read some more reviews watch YouTube vids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Canadian Jeff Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 Alder body? DiMarzio Evo 2 bridge and an Evo in the neck. Something else body? DiMarzio Breeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 Tone Zone! Great for dirt tones in a strat. Very robust, and doesn't sound bad clean at all. They come stock in the Charvel So Cals I use and I absolutely love them. Great bridge pickups. Get an F Spaced Tone Zone for the bridge and don't look back. As for the neck, strats like neck humbuckers, hard to go wrong there. Pick one that seems right base on the description. The Duncan 59 is good, as it the DiMarzio Evolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 31, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 31, 2012 I posted in the "wanted" section for some humbuckers. http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2934158-looking-for-two-humbuckers-for-my-Fender-Strat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 31, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 31, 2012 Any other last minute opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alientrainwreck Posted August 1, 2012 Members Share Posted August 1, 2012 Kurt has bill & becky L-500's in his jag.. I have a set of L-500's n my hartley peavey signature usa,a 500 R in the neck and500L in the bridge and they sound great. when I play lake of fire it sounds exactlly like kurt.L-500's from bill & becky not theBill Lawrence usa or the dimebucker. I do use a mxr-108 eq and a seymour duncan power grid. Its my go to axe, can get anysound. Love'em and I am a tone freak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted August 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 I bought a Duncan Invader. Wasn't really looking for something quite so hot, but the price was right, and I couldn't resist. Holy.....smokes.....! That pickup is mad! I like it very much to be honest. Didn't think it'd be my cup of tea but I'll keep it in there for a while. Much fuller sound compared to the stock Fender pickup. It obviously handles distortion well. Time for a neck pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdsmithtx Posted August 13, 2012 Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 I bought a Duncan Invader. Wasn't really looking for something quite so hot, but the price was right, and I couldn't resist. Holy.....smokes.....!That pickup is mad! I like it very much to be honest. Didn't think it'd be my cup of tea but I'll keep it in there for a while. Much fuller sound compared to the stock Fender pickup. It obviously handles distortion well. Time for a neck pickup. If it's too hot, try lowering it as far as you can and see if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted August 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 It wasn't a typo, I DO like the sound of it! But yeah, i will try different heights and see some differences. Thank you weiner bomb for the invader! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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