Best Strat pickups for clean rhythm?

[DJ-Blues]

Hi again,

Anyone have any opinions on the best Strat pickups for clean rhythm playing?

Thanks!
DJ

[Algonquin]

I don't think you'll find too many folks here that will clearly pick one set of p/u's as the absolute 'best', but you'll get some thoughtful advice steering you in the right direction.

I like Seymour Duncan myself. I've got a vintage staggered in the neck, and a quarter pounder in the middle... both nice p/u's.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/audio-samples/strat_replaceme/

[Spudman]

Try to envision what type of sound you want for that purpose. Some folks like a clean bright sound and others like a thicker darker sound. When you get that figured out then you'll have an easier time getting steered in the proper direction.

Do you know what sound you are looking for?

[marnold]

What Spud said.

For example, the Dimarzio Area 61s I keep blathering on about aren't necessarily the most vintage-toned pups in the world, but they have that grab-you-by-the-throat sound when you've got the blues and you're done gonna jump in the river and drown. They also sound awesome with distortion.

[sunvalleylaw]

I won't suggest a "best" and I have only owned two sets of pups in the guitars I own. But I will suggest you check out the Fender Tex Mex pups. I think they make a great rhythm sound, and also can play some nice lead, at least according to my taste. Warm and chimey with some nice bright sounds, at least in my guitar.

I liked them clearly better (at least in my guitar) than the sounds that some other strats I tried put out, such as std. MIMs with their pups, (just less warm and clear), and the Highway One pups, that were darker to my ears.

[Duff]

I put the SD Hot Rail in the Neck, the 'Lil 59 in the mid, and the JB Jr in the Bridge and really like the diversity. It is an awesome set up recommended by the tech at Seymour Duncan.

Call the tech at Seymour Duncan 805 964 9610, highly knowledgeable.

These pickups I have are noise cancelling and have some awesome smooth ryhthym options. The hot rails have outstanding definition even with chords and the other two pups have super great definition and tone. Best strat pups I have and can cut into some smooth or cutting blues with ease. Three distinct tones with the 2 and 4 blends blending very well because of the selected combination.

The Duckbuckers and Stacked single coils are also supposed to be nice, amongst a host of others.

Also try calling the SD distributer at Mikes Music at 717 540 5188 if he doesn't answer leave number and he'll call you back. He is highly regarded by SD and has great advice. He provided Billy Gibbons with some pups just recently according to him, probably true. He knows his pickups and has DiMarzios as well but does not have a lot of good things to say about Gibson and Fender pickups and says everyone switches them out for SD's or DiMarzios mainly. He doesn't believe in upgrading to Korean made pickups because he says they are basically the same type of thing as the other Korean made ones.

I, however, have bought some good items from GFS in the past but have had consistent luck with SD's and really like the single coil sized hubuckers I got. Great rythym sound with no hum. Awesome really, but you have to pay the bucks. Probably about 70 a piece but supposedly way better than Fender noisless, etc.

Hope it helps. I'm sure these pro's can help you isolate some super good options based upon your verbal explanation of what you want. I have no affiliation with them.

Hope this helps,

Duffy

[Bloozcat]

What type of music are you playing, and what's your budget for these new pickups?

ETA: Here's a couple of sets that sound good, get great reviews, and won't break the bank:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/gfspiialiiha.html
http://store.guitarfetish.com/pralstpiourb.html

The first set is the better choice of the two, and only $10.00 more. Either way, at $69.95 and $59.95 a set respectively, they're great deals.

Cheers

[thearabianmage]

There is some great advice on pups in this thread.

As for my 2cent, I would suggest changing a capacitor as opposed to a pickup purely for the reason that it's cheaper and easier and you may just get what you want. If not, it's best to rule out the cheap and easy stuff before you start pullin the bucks out.

A general rule of thumb with the sizes of caps is that the bigger it is, the darker and bassier it tends to sound and vice-versa. It also depends on the type of cap, but there are only a handful of different types.

Single-coils tend to take 0.047mf and humbuckers tend to take 0.022mf but mix and match and check it out.

If you are certain you want to change the pickups, be sure to check the magnet type, as this also affects the sound. Alnico II's have less output but are warmer, Alnico V's have more output and are brighter, and ceramic magnets tend to have the highest output but are slightly brittle in sound. It's all personal preference.

I hope you find what you are looking for.

[sunvalleylaw]

Below are the specs on the Fender Tex Mex Strat pickups, which sell at MF for $84.99.

These overwound vintage style Strat pickups offer increased output sparkling highs and a very nice warm tone while retaining your favorite vintage Strat characteristics. Constructed with Alnico 5 magnets and polysol magnet wire and featuring a reverse wound/reverse polarity middle pickup for hum canceling in positions 2 & 4 these pickups scorch. OEM on the Jimmy Vaughan Stratocaster. Available in white only.

Fender Tex Mex Pickups Set of 3 Specifications:

Tex-Mex Stratocaster Bridge Pickup:
DC Resistance: 7.4K
Inductance: 3.7Henries

Tex-Mex Stratocaster Middle Pickup:
DC Resistance: 6.4K
Inductance: 2.75Henries

Tex-Mex Stratocaster Neck Pickup:
DC Resistance: 6.4K
Inductance: 2.75

They look to be a bit similar to the GFS ones Bloozcat recommends and are 70 and 60 dollars respectively. I would give those a look, and like I said, like mine. Purely a preference thing though, and I would think you would need to go play a set. You could go play a Jimmy Vaughan strat and see what you think.

[DJ-Blues]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all the helpful and thoughtful replies.

To answer a few of the questions.

I play primarily rhythm in a funky bluesy band (think Delbert McClinton, Albert Collins and Tommy Castro) so I guess I'm trying to get bright, clean, articulate. I plan on building a Strat with dual P-90s to cover any "phat" rhythm I need to play.

If it helps, my amp is a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue and the only pedal I use is a FullTone Fulldrive II MOSFET.

I have no set budget per se - I'm not opposed to paying for "boutique" pickups.

I had some Fender Custom Shop '54s at one time and they were great but the vintage stagger caused such a drop in volume on the B and high E strings that I sold them (my main Strat has a Robert Cray neck with a 9.5" radius).

I've read good things about Lollars, Fralins, Rio Grandes and even ToneRiders. Does anyone have experience with any of those?

Thanks again!
DJ

[TS808]

I haven't tried them at all, but the Fender Custom Shop '69 strat pickups get some rave reviews for their clean bright tones.

[Bloozcat]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all the helpful and thoughtful replies.

To answer a few of the questions.

I play primarily rhythm in a funky bluesy band (think Delbert McClinton, Albert Collins and Tommy Castro) so I guess I'm trying to get bright, clean, articulate. I plan on building a Strat with dual P-90s to cover any "phat" rhythm I need to play.

If it helps, my amp is a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue and the only pedal I use is a FullTone Fulldrive II MOSFET.

I have no set budget per se - I'm not opposed to paying for "boutique" pickups.

I had some Fender Custom Shop '54s at one time and they were great but the vintage stagger caused such a drop in volume on the B and high E strings that I sold them (my main Strat has a Robert Cray neck with a 9.5" radius).

I've read good things about Lollars, Fralins, Rio Grandes and even ToneRiders. Does anyone have experience with any of those?

Thanks again!
DJ

Since cost isn't a determining factor, here's another option for you to consider:

Try contacting Pete Biltoft at www.vintagevibeguitars.com. Pete is a custom pickup winder who make fantastic sounding pups. You can tell him exactly what tone you're trying to get, and he'll make recommendations that will be spot on. I have a custom Tele neck pickup that I got from Pete, and also a set of his fantastic P-90's. On top of being angreat pickup winder, Pete is a great guy to deal with as well. I highly recommend him. Pete's pickups, while not inexpensive, are not ridiculously expensive either...kind of mid range boutique in price.