Best after market single coil pickups for Strats.. Heavy Sound !

[Panamark]

Theres obviously a lot of strat lovers here..
I want to replace the bridge pickup in my strat.
Factory fitted one sucks.. rest of guitar is great !!!
(Do all fender pickups suck ??)

I love the tone from pickups like a humbucker seymour
duncan invader, anyone recommend a good after market
single coil pickup for a strat that suits heavy metal...

If no, I'll just rip the scratch plate off and put the invader in..
But I would like to keep the classic look if possible.
But geez, those fender pickups suck....

[SweetSecrets]

Originally posted by Panamark

I love the tone from pickups like a humbucker seymour
duncan invader, anyone recommend a good after market
single coil pickup for a strat that suits heavy metal...

Although these aren't after market single coils:
Texas specials are cool and...

Pearly gates in the back for the humbucker.

Also, try P90's for a more dirty rock edge (they are single coils).

Love to Panamark!!

-Mary Frances

[Don Corleone]

Dave Murray from Iron Maiden seems to be getting some a good live sounds using a Hot Rails in the Bridge and Middle, and a JB Jnr at the neck

[Panamark]

Thanks Don ! Ive seen a few strats pictured with these hot rails. I wonder if they are as crunchy as the Invaders ?? Could ba an option !

[Panamark]

Originally posted by SweetSecrets
Although these aren't after market single coils:
Texas specials are cool and...

Pearly gates in the back for the humbucker.

Also, try P90's for a more dirty rock edge (they are single coils).

Love to Panamark!!

-Mary Frances

(Forgive my ignorance) are these Fender brand pickups ? When you come home from work we must discuss this one.

You Rock MF ! -MF

[Panamark]

What about PAF Pros ?? anyone put one of these in the bridge position ???

[ZahZoo]

I personally prefer the Fender Tex-Mex specials. They are simular to the SRV Texas specials but I find the Tex-Mex's sound a bit hotter and have a better range. The bridge pickup is wired the hottest and I can get everything from a clean SRV sound, through Hendrixish tones and even nail some AC/DC or Metalica tones pretty well with these just running straight into a Marshall head.

[Cato]

I have an extra Fender Noiseless pickup for strat.
willing to sell it.......er......please buy

it doesn't sound heavy, though.

[ELVIS]

Nothing will be as heave as the Invader in a single strat space, but to me that is a good thing...


The hot rail is a good choice...


I use Demarzio HS3 stacked humbuckers like Yngwie...

[SweetSecrets]

Originally posted by Panamark
(Forgive my ignorance) are these Fender brand pickups ? When you come home from work we must discuss this one.

You Rock MF ! -MF

No Panamark......You rock, my darlin!

The Texas Specials and the Pearly Gates are, indeed, Fender. (Although they allow for a great bluesy tone, I think they add some roots to the rock!)

As for the P90's, both Gibson and Seymour Duncan have their own versions which, in my opinion, both rock in equal amounts. This may be more what you are looking for, though.

(There is my advice....straight from my Guitar Center sale's experience.....which, I have to admit, means absolutely nothing!)

-Mary Frances

[ELVIS]

You can't put P90's in a strat...

[Cathedral]

I don't like Strats....I like Charvels, and they had some great stock Jackson pickups that are hard to find these days.

[Panamark]

Hey thanks everyone !

Theres a lot of pickups I didnt even know about listed here.
Its nice to learn that Fender has good pickups avaialable.
Why dont they issue them with their guitars ??

Elvis those Demarzio HS3 stacked humbuckers sound
interesting.. Good for thrashin ?

Zahzoo, I like that you are playing straight into the head,
I also do this. I think a good pickup and classic Marshall
is my heaven...

Sweetness, well you explained your pickups to me in person,
thankyou !

Cato, those noiseless pickups suck too
But you already know that, you are trying to sell them !

[ELVIS]

I think the HS3 and the YJM are the best pickups ever, but compared to an Invader you wouldn't think they are very hot...

I'll do dome research...

[Panamark]

Sounds like Im just going to have to rip off that scratch plate

[Cato]

Originally posted by Panamark

Cato, those noiseless pickups suck too
But you already know that, you are trying to sell them !

er..

they are OK. sound very good. at least better than Lace Sensour.

I have only one noiseless PU...hey, it makes no sense at all, because other 2 have noise...

[ELVIS]

Check this site out Mark...

[ELVIS]

The Seymour Duncan SSL-3 Hot Strat pickup sounds like something you might want to try...

Did you find the link ???

[ELVIS]

On second thought, maybe not. it's a true single coil, and you might not like the little bit of hum it makes...

[Panamark]

I cant see a link Mate ??

[Panamark]

Interested anyways..

[ashstralia]

markee, get a di marzio catalogue,
in the back there they have all their p/ups
specs listed.
i did my homework, and bought a pro track
(hot rails style) cause it's specs were close
to 'vintage h/bucker'
style. (read gibson)
well it gosh darn nails the old angus/ jimmy
tone to a tee.
i bet they make a super hot one, too.
paf pro's are great too,
please do not gouge your strat!!!

[ashstralia]

oh, and you can wire it up
for auto coil-splitting too!

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by Panamark
I cant see a link Mate ??

It's in the smily...

[Panamark]

Originally posted by ELVIS
It's in the smily...

Ah !! Very tricky

[Cato]

so...nobody wants my noiseless PU?

I think it's pretty good.

willing to trade for 2 army t-shirts.

[Panamark]

Originally posted by ashstralia
markee, get a di marzio catalogue,
in the back there they have all their p/ups
specs listed.
i did my homework, and bought a pro track
(hot rails style) cause it's specs were close
to 'vintage h/bucker'
style. (read gibson)
well it gosh darn nails the old angus/ jimmy
tone to a tee.
i bet they make a super hot one, too.
paf pro's are great too,
please do not gouge your strat!!!

I will have to !

Those Hot Rails might be the go. I actually like
the look too.... If I could get a super hot one..
Maybe thats the go.....

[Panamark]

Would I really have to gouge the strat ? Dont they make precut scratch
plates with brige humbucker cutouts ?? Or are you referring to the body itself ?

[ashstralia]

yeah, some have a route in the wood big
enough for a double-coil, some don't.
if it does, sweet!!

[ELVIS]

American Strats are cut for humbuckers...

[scottd1984]

Hey Panamark,another option for you would be the Duncan Quarter Pound Strat pickup it's a true single coil It Has 1/4 pole piece magnets and is hotter (higher) Output than a regular Strat p/u

[BrownSound1]

Personally I like stock Strat and Tele pickups...of course I'm not playing Metal on them, but you can play heavy rock with a single coil. We've all seen it done successfully many times.

I'm not one who likes a distorted pickup like the Invader, but I've played a Strat with a Lil' 59 and it was an awesome thing to behold.

[Nitro Express]

Not all Fenders have good pickups in them. If your Strat is one of those Standard Mexican made ones, it's going to have cheap pickups. You can tell by looking at the backs of them. The cheap ones have two bar magnets glued to the bottom bobbin. In original Strat pickups, the polepieces are the magnets. The Cheepie pickups sound like shit.

Like all big brandname guitar makers, Fender makes some great stuff and then they also make shit. If you look at the huge selection of Stratocasters available some run from $300 all the way to sevral thousand.

The higher end Strat pickups are excellent. I like the vintage ones just the way Leo Fender himself made them. Those are the pickups that gave us all those great Jimi Hendrix tunes.

Sure you can go with a hotter pickup, but what I do is use peddles to boost my signal. The Dunlop Fuzz Face reissue is good and so is the DOD 250 overdrive. Both of these peddles love to mate with a good Marshall and sound great with humbuckers as well.

You have to remember, the Stratocaster was designed to be a country-western guitar. That's why they sound twangy. In 1954 when those pickups were designed, they had no idea in hell, people would be turning the amp up all the way.

Some tricks you can do is put the tone knob on the bridge pickup. Eric Johnson does this and you can dial out some of the bite. What I do is play the inbetween position and turn the middle pickup tone know down to 6. You do use the tone knobs on a Strat, you can eliminate the hum from the single coils and make the sound warmer and less biting. Then crank the hell out of some good boost peddles and run it into a good amp. A good Strat should handle it's own with the right signal chain.

[Hardrock69]

I got a Fender Jazz taco bass (parts made in Mexico, actually assembled in the USA like they all are) and the pickups in it sound good but not spectacular.

I have to buy the following for my axes:

2 EMG pickups for my Jazz bass

4 PAFs for my Korina Explorer and Flying V (The Explorer pickups sound ok, but weak, and the V pickups squeal like a stuck pig under the best of circumstances).

3 good single coils for my #2 JB Player neck-thru-body Strat.

Now if I can just come up with a bucket of money to blow, I will be set...

[Kristy]

At least check out the Fender 'Noiseless'. Many a musician that I know who had tried the 'Noiseless' seem to like them and I've changed out many a Strat (and some Strat copies) with them and the players seem to have no compliants other than too much low end - but that can be adjusted through your amp

[Nitro Express]

For me, I could care less about the noise of the the vintage style pickups. Listen to Hendrix Live recordings, you hear the 60 cycle hum. Heck, at the Isle of Wight he had the security radios coming through his amps. It's rock and roll. Who cares about a little dirt in the signal? You go low hum, you lose some of the tone.

A Stratocaster is a vintage guitar design. The trem is going to go out of tune, it's only got 21 frets, the pickups sound thin and are noisey. That's the nature of the beast. There's lot's of great guitars that give you Strat like ergonomics if not better and thick tone. PRS, Jackson, Wayne's Guitars, Musicman all make them.

[Panamark]

Edward had the right idea, a strat with a hot pickup..

Sorry folks, but Fender pickups suck.
scottd1984 Ive never heard of the Duncan Quarter Pound Strat,
but I love Duncan P/U's.. So Im sure it Rocks.

I dunno how you guys who like fender pickups put up with
that hum. Pisses me off. You have to find a position to play
in to minimize it, or place the pickup selector inbetween
the bridge and middle.. (Then the tone sucks)

I prefer the metal sound. Maybe thats why I hate Fender
pickups..

[Kristy]

Originally posted by Panamark

I dunno how you guys who like fender pickups put up with
that hum.

Hence the name, 'Noiseless'

[Nitro Express]

Well you certainly aren't going to get a heavy metal tone with stock fender pickups. Yeah, I would say Eddie Van Halen definately stumbled onto something and Floyd Rose did a good job of fixing the trem problems.

The old Stratocaster and it's thin sounding, noisey pickups fill a niche. Nothing else can get the Stevie Ray Vaughn or Jimi Hendrix sound. I always thought Yngwie Malmsteen got a good sound out of a Strat. Henry Garza with a stock Stratocaster sounds amazing. Check out Los Lonely Boys. That is the sound of a Strat if I every heard it.

If you want a heavy tone but with good deffinition and harmonics, pick you up a Peavey Wolfgang guitar. The pickups and the wood combination in them is heavy as hell sound wise but you still can turn the volume knob down and get a nice clean tone.

[Panamark]

I cant stand the Wolfgangs. The look, the fact that they are a Peavey, I didnt like the feel of them either. Never really got to the point of judging its tone, as you said the tone is great. I will take your word
on that one. To me the wolfgang is just another symbol of Van Halen
gone wrong..