Members Forbidden-Donut Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 I absolutely love the feel and sound of a Strat. I'm looking to buy one, and would be using it for hard rock, which is what I play primarily. Who here uses a Strat when they're rocking out? What I'd like to know is what pickup combinations I should think about. I want to keep the some of the warmth and tone variety Strats offer (though I know some will need to be sacrificed!). Which do you use, or have heard work really well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members germs Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 If you're a single guitar player, consider a SSH configuration. It's hard to wrong with SD's IMO, but your tastes may vary. IF you're one of 2 or more guitar players, I suggest keeping a SSS configuration and just using positions 2 or 4 and then 5 for a solo if you wanted. This would work best if the other guitar player uses a HH equipped guitar. I've done both with good results. Currently I like to use a tele if I want the SC type of sound. But that's just me. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Arr0wHead Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 [YOUTUBE]AwRKI0dQgRQ[/YOUTUBE] JB junior and two hot rails has worked well for this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members parrotheada1a Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 I have an HSS that I bought in 2005. The honeymoon isn't over by a long shot, and I can play her clean or dirty. I use a H&K Edition tube 20 for an amp, and that thing just makes the Strat sound great. To save myself some typing, here's a linky to specs & photos. http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showpost.php?p=35158616&postcount=68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mesa/Kramer Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 H/S/S with coil tap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blingdogg Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 I find a P90 or humbucker in the bridge position does wonders for a Strat playing hard rock. I have a humbucker in one of my Strats, and a P90 in the other, and they can both easily handle hard rock. I personally like the P90 option since it still keeps more of the Strat tone, but is much ballsier. A single coil in the bridge could work too, but IMHO a P90 or humbucker works better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Forbidden-Donut Posted July 11, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 H/S/S with coil tap. pardon my ignorance , but whats a coil tap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anonymous Guy Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 pardon my ignorance , but whats a coil tap? A volume control that has a push/pull function with its pot. It allows you to split the humbucker to make it sound more like a single coil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cap'n'Budda Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 pardon my ignorance , but whats a coil tap? It shorts one of the coils on a humbucker, making it in effect a single coil. In this case, engaging the tap would make the guitar S/S/S temporarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ratroast Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 Honestly, I use my Tele with singlecoils for everything these days, hard rock included. It`s really how you play, how ballsy your approach is, etc. Having said that, my other guitar is a strat with JB Jr in the bridge. Sounds so much fatter in the gain channel than the Tele. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cheezusbhrist Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 i have an american strat that i use almost primarily for hard rock, i have a Seymour Duncan lil 59 in the bridge, it works out great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J-E-M Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 pardon my ignorance , but whats a coil tap? A coil tap is when less of the windings are used on one single coil pickup - so the pickup will have two outputs: full output, and the lower tapped output. When switching one coil off on a humbucker it's called (technically speaking) a coil split. If you want a more hard rocking Strat, wire all the pickup combinations in series for more output, you may want to include the neck+bridge combo in the pickup selection too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr_Kuh Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Nice hardrock tone, I have heard he uses stock pickups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 If you're going h/s/s, You could go active- EMG 81 or 89 in the bridge, 2 EMG singles mid and neck Or Lace Alumitone bridge, and Lace Reds mid and neck. (I'm thinking of building something with the latter myself ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 's mel gibson Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 My pair of 74 Strats have their original p'ups and I am very happy with them. One has a 3 way switch and the other has a 5 way. And to be honest, I think the 3 way is less complicated just for the fact that they automatically pop into places 1, 2, & 3. I don't accidentally go to 2 or 4. I also don't use my bridge p'up as much as I use the middle one. It's the JCM 800, 900 or 2000 that I plug into that delivers for me. I even like my pairs of 15w practice amps for small rooms. Two Vox Pathfinders and two Fender Frontmans. The Vox's sound better. More sparkle. My stereo output comes from my Chorus Factory or Digi Delay. Those little Vox Pathfinders sound so good at small venues where there's too much glass and cinder brick walls with a linoleum floor that I might get two more. They're cheap used and 4's gotta be better that 2. Spread all that crunchy goodness at a nice volume in a {censored}ty room where a 100w Marshall is way out of place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thecornman Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 I geared up one of my strats with a Dimarzio Tone Zone S rail with a push-pull to split, stock Fender middle and Dimarzio Virtual Blues noiseless in the neck. It gets me any sound I want from true single coil to smooth bluesy noiseless neck goodness and thick low humbucker chunkyness. The 2 and 4 postions are real good for some clean funky rythym stuff as well. I did have to put 500k pots in to get the best sound out of the Tone Zone S and Virtual blues instead of the standard 250k in strats. The Tone Zone S is great if you are looking for a single coil sized humbucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Railfanespee Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 My SSS strat is fine for hard rock, in fact that's what I play on it most of the time. Single coil bridge pickups can do hard rock fine. I see why many prefer a humbucker for that kind of music, but if you don't mind a bit of hum (or have a nice noise gate, like an ISP Decimator), a bridge position single coil pickup can give you a useful and very different hard rock tone. And as a side note, although it's not really hard rock, when I saw the Black Crowes, Rich was using a couple SSS strats (and a tele or two) with a TON of gain. No issues at all, it sounded great (and gave me GAS for a telecaster) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members clay sails Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 An HSS strat is a good choice, as is an HH (Big Apple?) strat. SSS strats can do it, too, but I think you have to work harder to get the same sheer rocking power of a humbucker. (Mind you, in the right hands, with the right equipment, a broken broom handle with dental floss on it can be made to rock.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mister Zero Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 My Yamaha Pacifica is basically a 21st century Strat. It is SSH and the bridge humbucker is a Duncan JB. This guitar will do hard rock, metal, blues, country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cheezusbhrist Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 i did fine doing hard rock on my strat with a single coil, but the feedback and hum was too much so i got a lil 59 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 American Deluxe with the S1 switch. In regular mode you get all the normal Strat sounds. With the S1 pushed in, you can get the bridge and middle or neck and middle running in series which sounds a lot like a humbucker and not as bright as regular single coils. You can play pretty much anything on that guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notcool Posted July 11, 2009 Members Share Posted July 11, 2009 I use a Strat for hard rock, and I always play with the lead (bridge position) pickup on. The second tone control is hooked up to the lead pickup and I turn it down halfway to get rid of that harsh 'twang' that single coil pickups are so famous for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dman11 Posted July 12, 2009 Members Share Posted July 12, 2009 Fender Custom shop '69 neck, Texas Special middle, DiMarzio Evolution bridge.I'm covered for hard rock:thu: highly recommend 'em does Jimi, SRV, and Vai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 12, 2009 Members Share Posted July 12, 2009 I wire ALL my gigging strats with a push/pull to put the bridge in series with whatever the 5-way is on. So middle/bridge in series is a VERY convincing humbucker, more output and with a dirt box, does hard rock w/the best of 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members turckster Posted July 12, 2009 Members Share Posted July 12, 2009 I tried the S/D Hot Rails in my Strat and for me they work great. On the clean channel they still have that jangley sound, sound bad ass with distortion. Hardly any noise from these as well. turckster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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