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Post by funkyjazz82 on Apr 13, 2007 12:40:41 GMT -7
Ok, I know many have you have either posted or read many threads about 'the best strat pick ups'. Well heres another one for ya. Im going to buy a '57 strat sunburst reissue very soon, because Im in love with the V style neck, and all i want is a nice serene, smooth R&B sounding clean, and a sustainable, warm, attacking distortion, I have a BB preamp, so this shouldnt be hard, what kind of pick ups will I be able to obtain this sound I desire? I have fralins in my other strat, which I do like, they are Fralin Woodstock pups....very nice, but is there another brand of pick up that can sound even smoother? I hope this makes sense. Thanks
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Post by tele1962 on Apr 29, 2007 16:51:59 GMT -7
Production model? Custom Shop? What kind of '57 re-issue is it? Maybe it is a really good re-issue, and those come with good PU"s usually. I can't believe you'd buy a 57 re-issue just for the neck, but hey...who cares, long as you enjoy it, put any PU into it that u like!
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Post by (8^D) on Apr 29, 2007 18:12:15 GMT -7
"Want to see my whammy bar?"
"Have you ever tried a 5-way?"
Or, wait, are you talking about...oh, yeah, the pickups IN the guitar...not...oh, ok.
;D
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Post by jwr on Apr 29, 2007 19:24:50 GMT -7
I'd wait and play the guitar for a while. If it's one of the really good reissue's they have good sounding pickup's. If noise is an issue, you might want to try the Surh SSC System. This is a tough question because a set of pickups that I love you may hate. I've got a set of Kinman AVN Blues and I like them and do what your talking about, but maybe they'll sound horrible in your guitar. The new Area pickups from Dimarzio are killer, but I don't know if they'll do what your looking for. I might give'm a try in my guitar soon, but it's always a gamble. You should get acquainted with the guitar first, then experiment if your unhappy. "Have you ever tried a 5-way" That Was Funny!
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Post by Hohn on Apr 30, 2007 0:51:54 GMT -7
I also have the Kinman Blues pups in my zion "Strat". I love them, and I'm perfectly happy with them. I can see how another pickup might give a different flavor, but I can't see "better" for my uses happening. I play sparkly cleans, bluesy near-grit rhythm and lead, and higher gain (recto) crunchy rock.
The Kinmans do it all very well. I was quite surprised to hear them sound good with the high gain stuff.
Pups are a very personal thing, so it's hard to say one is better than another. All I can do is say I like them, and refer you to my YouTube videos to hear them for yourself (username: dieselgeek02).
The Kinmans are like pizza-- even if not your favorite, they're still good!
JMO
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Post by Strato on Apr 30, 2007 17:36:13 GMT -7
"Want to see my whammy bar?" "Have you ever tried a 5-way?" Or, wait, are you talking about...oh, yeah, the pickups IN the guitar...not...oh, ok. ;D hahah wow
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Post by jwr on Apr 30, 2007 18:16:39 GMT -7
Yeah, the AVN Blues are pretty good for high gain. Dead quiet. But sometimes they sound a little choked to me when playing clean. I just got home from band practice, I had my strat and Shiva with me, and the AVN's sounded good doing the metal thing.
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Post by hdahs143 on Apr 30, 2007 20:54:13 GMT -7
Agree with JWR. Just put an Area 61 in the neck of my strat, and was knocked out. EVERYTHING Dimarzio says about this pickup in the description is true. Very sensitive to pick attack. Dig in and it compresses a little bit, and sounds sweet with a little sting to it. After installing it, I played for a couple of hours it was so much fun and heard everything from SRV, to Stevie Gaines especially when set to the neck/middle position. And of course, dead quiet.
I think for the first time I'm really starting to appreciate the beauty of a Strat, and what it is supposed to sound like.
Amazing pickup!
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Post by cementman on Apr 30, 2007 21:32:04 GMT -7
i'll tell you what i know about the dimarzio pups, area 51, they are noiseless, i have never heard a better tone,, i have a don grosh strat with fralins, and it is pretty sweet,, but i bought a nash 62 strat custom from bill nash, candy apple red,, he shipped it with some pups i wont name,, not fralins,, after about a year, i emailed him, said the guitar squealed pretty bad with pedals,, so, his idea : send me a complete pickguard of dimarzio noiseless pups, area 51 on the neck,, srv clean smooth all the way. i have not heard a better noiseless pup anywhere. i like them better than fralins. i am not a money pro, but i know what sounds good. they are it.. who would have thought, dimarzio? not me,
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Post by kc on May 1, 2007 15:21:42 GMT -7
i'll tell you what i know about the dimarzio pups, area 51, they are noiseless, i have never heard a better tone,, i have a don grosh strat with fralins, and it is pretty sweet,, but i bought a nash 62 strat custom from bill nash, candy apple red,, he shipped it with some pups i wont name,, not fralins,, after about a year, i emailed him, said the guitar squealed pretty bad with pedals,, so, his idea : send me a complete pickguard of dimarzio noiseless pups, area 51 on the neck,, srv clean smooth all the way. i have not heard a better noiseless pup anywhere. i like them better than fralins. i am not a money pro, but i know what sounds good. they are it.. who would have thought, dimarzio? not me, cementman, I've got a DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo in my Clapton Strat bridge pickup position and I really like it. Have you ever played a VV Solo and can you contrast it with the DiMarzio Area 61's? I've got another Strat with Fralin SP 43's and the jury is still out as to whether they're keepers, so I'm intrigued with your comments about the 61's. Thx. kc
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Post by jwr on May 1, 2007 18:40:50 GMT -7
I've got a Don Grosh on the way with Vintage Hot's in the neck and middle and a slightly overwound Blues Special in the bridge. I'm gonna try the Surh SSC System(just got it today from Acme) with it when the guitar gets here. So while I wait I think I'm gonna try the Area pickups in my Warmoth strat just for fun. I've heard nothing but positive things about them. I'm gonna be totally bummed if the Dimarzio's sound better than the Lindy's with the SSC System, lot's of money down the drain if it doesn't work out.
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Post by LeftyLang on May 1, 2007 18:54:26 GMT -7
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Post by hdahs143 on May 1, 2007 19:19:29 GMT -7
i'll tell you what i know about the dimarzio pups, area 51, they are noiseless, i have never heard a better tone,, i have a don grosh strat with fralins, and it is pretty sweet,, but i bought a nash 62 strat custom from bill nash, candy apple red,, he shipped it with some pups i wont name,, not fralins,, after about a year, i emailed him, said the guitar squealed pretty bad with pedals,, so, his idea : send me a complete pickguard of dimarzio noiseless pups, area 51 on the neck,, srv clean smooth all the way. i have not heard a better noiseless pup anywhere. i like them better than fralins. i am not a money pro, but i know what sounds good. they are it.. who would have thought, dimarzio? not me, cementman, I've got a DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo in my Clapton Strat bridge pickup position and I really like it. Have you ever played a VV Solo and can you contrast it with the DiMarzio Area 61's? I've got another Strat with Fralin SP 43's and the jury is still out as to whether they're keepers, so I'm intrigued with your comments about the 61's. Thx. kc At the same time I put the Area 61 in the neck, I put a VV Solo in the bridge because I wanted a higher output pickup in the bridge so it could be useable by itself. It didn't work for me as it seemed to have too much of an upper midpeak to me, and even with a 500k pot was a bit bright sounding to me. I've heard it in other guitars and it sounded great, but didn't do what I was looking for in mine. I attribute most of that to the fact that it's an alnico 5 magnet in it, which for the most part I prefer alnico 2 magnets. I swapped the VV Solo out and installed a VV Heavy Blues 2. It uses the same technology as the Area pickups, and is alnico 2 based. I like this one. It is full and has enough output, but is warmer and sweeter, and that's what I was looking for. And in the middle is a RWRP Fender TexMex out of my Nasville Tele which has had the alnico 5 polepieces swapped out for alnico 3's. In the 2 & 4 positions, the Dimarzio's are split, so I have true single coil sounds there, and the 3 position is the bridge and neck together. The setup is wired so that only the bridge (1) position sees 500k, the rest see 250k like a typical strat setup. I've only had it a few days, but I like it way better than the SCN with S1 switch that the guitar came with To answer you question, the Area 61 is not as hot as the Solo, but is much more expressive and sensitive to your touch and how you play. If you read the description on Dimarzio's website, it nails what this thing does and how it sounds. I can't recommend it enough. Try it, you'll like it. And if you don't Dimarzio has an exhchange policy. Harold
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Post by kc on May 3, 2007 9:55:42 GMT -7
Thanks to Harold and LL for the info and link.
kc
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Post by frank4001 on May 3, 2007 10:27:47 GMT -7
I have some original VV's in parts strat.. a Virtual2, Blues and Heavy Blues...500k pots were much to bright for me and I almost got rid of them till I triend 250 k pots..They sound good and work very well as far as humbucking goes. Are they a dead ringer for my original '62? I don't think so but not much is and every pick up is a little different, however I do like their tone and I'm happy using them. I have an alder body/rosewood board guitar. Experiment witht he pots befor you make your final decision if you can.
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Post by pittsburghplayer on May 3, 2007 16:51:07 GMT -7
I have a 1981 Fender Stratocaster Elite, hard V-neck in maple, and Natural Ash body, this guitar came with active preamp and pickups which I never liked. I always loved this neck for "over the top style " playing so I first used Semour-Duncan active strat pickups, used to run them at 18 volts and they were very chimey with lots of high end sparkle. Then went to EMG - SA active strat pickup set, these have more pronounced midrange and are quiet. I like them because they don't loose any highs when backing off the volume Knob to clean up your sound. These have been in this Strat for almost 12 years and no trouble with them at all. The only thing I do is change the 9-volt battery about once every six months. As far as "best" , that would be up to each idividual's taste as to what sounds good to them. What one person likes , someone else may hate, so trust your own ears to tell you what sounds best.
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