Pickup Selection Fender 62 MIJ Strat!

[BrokenWingz]

Wat do u tink of this pickup in all 3 position?

Lace Alumitone Humbucker
http://www.lacemusic.com/soundbites/sound_bites_details.php?userID=1

OR

YJM, all 3 positions?

OR

YJM in Middle and Neck and HS3 in the Bridge?

OR

YJM Neck, HS2 Mid and HS3 Bridge?

OR

Super Distortion S in the Bridge, YJM in the Neck and HS2 in the Middle?

This are the few configs ive come up with! Pls advise and help me come to a conclusion!

Thanx!
Cheers!

 

[situationist]

do they sell the alumitone in singapore? if so where?
i'm quite interested to try them out...

 

[subversion]

what kinda tones are you after?

 

[embryo]

Al the pickups mentioned are commendable individually how ever the combination of the 3 different pups in terms of tone, gain and output is a whole different thing altogether.
Come by Tonequest event at Artshouse this coming sat and I'll discuss this topic with one and all there.

 

[BrokenWingz]

SITUATIONIST: it available at Music Theme at Peninsula Plaza, rite beside Davis!

SUBVERSION: wen i use dist/od, i don wan it to be too boomy kinda bassy! good amount of mids and not to crispy thin treble, but i also wan dat chug in it as well!

EMBRYO: alrite! i look forward to saturday!

 

[BrokenWingz]

so guys which combination do u suggest?

 

[JMguitars]

just my opinion but I would go for a balanced set of YJMs.

I used to cherry pick PUs for different positions but always found balance problems everytime I toggled PU settings.

 

[riff]

My limited knowledge, I will go for YJM in Middle and Neck and HS3 in the Bridge. Just heard YJM strat with that combination, it has a very sweet tone to me.

Alternative to consider? How about a John Suhr Strat Set, V60 Low Peak (V60LP). I have them on my deluxe strat and they sound amazing.. think Scott henderson tone.

 

[Whitestrat]

so guys which combination do u suggest?

Actually, I'd advise you not to think of the pups as a set, but rather, as individual sounds first. What do you want from your neck? Then the middle, then the bridge. Decide from there.

Most people expect to have a hotter bridge, because the amplitude of the string's vibration is the weakest there. They all give very different sounds. So decide on what you want from each one first, then mix and match, and see if the in-between sounds work for you also.

And also, becareful when mixing humbuckers (even the small ones) with single coils. Your pot values will have to sacrifice something to get it to sound decent.

 

[snuffleupagus]

And also, becareful when mixing humbuckers (even the small ones) with single coils. Your pot values will have to sacrifice something to get it to sound decent.

sorry threadstarter-may or may not be relevant to you, don't mean to hijack-

Just a question, I am currently modifying one of my strats, a 50th ann american series(ash body with maple neck) from the stock custom shop 54's pups to neck-fender lace sensors silver, middle-fender lace sensors Gold, and Bridge- Seymour duncan custom custom humbuckers.

your comment on the pot values has got me thinking, what should i look out for exactly? are you talking about the volume pots or tone pots (500K ,250K)?

any ideas bro?

I also own a US fender deluxe HSS with stock SCNs and a fender diamond humbucker at the bridge, so far so good, just want to know what to look out for when matching pups.

thanks!

 

[Whitestrat]

your comment on the pot values has got me thinking, what should i look out for exactly? are you talking about the volume pots or tone pots (500K ,250K)?

From what LITTLE I know, it's mainly the tone pot that will give you trouble. Use 250k, and your SCs will be nice, and the humbucker will be dark. use 500k, and your humbucker will be just nice, and the SCs will be too bright.

Reading this might be useful to you:
http://www.kinman.com/html/toneWorkshop/perfectGuitar.htm#potValues

Maybe you should put a multimeter to your SSH strat to see what they used? I'm quite sure it's a 250k, but then the humbucker they used could be a vintage wind, giving it a bit more spark...

But that's just what I think...:mrgreen:

 

[Danelectrico]

A lot of '90s Fenders then equipped with lace sensors were paired up with a TBX tone control - the Clapton Strat, Jeff Back Strat, Strat Plus/Ultra etc. According to the theory behind it, the centre detent position should simulate a regular 250k pot wide open; 0-5 would roll off the highs like a regular tone pot, while 6-10 would seem to accentuate highs (actually by introducing a 1meg pot to make it sound brighter and closer to a no-load). However when my Strat Ultra was stock with the lace sensors, I always found the centre position sounded wrong - muffled and unpleasant. I kept it at about 7 or 8. I was later told that this was because the TBX design incorporated a resistor that basically caused that - bad design. A simple mod would correct that.

I'm using a TBX with a mod which I believe is based on the ones outlined below - albeit on a new pickguard. I've lost the lace sensors since, and I definitely have no regrets. The TBX is hooked up to the neck and bridge pickups while the middle has it's own regular tone pot.

Here's some links to a thread with the TBX mod:
http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=194509
http://www.blueguitar.org/new/text/threads/from_dave/guitars_pickups/Here's the poop on the TBX.txt
And here's a diagram of the mod in question: http://blueguitar.org/tbx_doc.gif

Mind you, even with this mod, the gradient of the TBX from 5-10 is quite subtle.

One last thing - you might want to rethink the lace sensors. They're an acquired taste - in general they sound blander than regular pickups. Very clean but sterile; and like a blank slate they generally take to pedals and effects very well (which is probably why bands heavy into guitar effects like Smashing Pumpkins and Catherine Wheel used them). However they don't have much life, sparkle or "smoke" as goose puts it if you must get them, you might want to check out the newer Hot Golds. More mids and slightly less hollow sounding.

 

[Whitestrat]

One last thing - you might want to rethink the lace sensors. They're an acquired taste - in general they sound blander than regular pickups. Very clean but sterile; and like a blank slate they generally take to pedals and effects very well (which is probably why bands heavy into guitar effects like Smashing Pumpkins and Catherine Wheel used them). However they don't have much life, sparkle or "smoke" as goose puts it if you must get them, you might want to check out the newer Hot Golds. More mids and slightly less hollow sounding.

+1 on that...

How Clapton managed to milk a very nice contemporary tone out of them always amazed me...

He's onto Vintage Noiseless now...

That's why I always say, it's in the fingers...:mrgreen:

 

[snuffleupagus]

Hey guys thanks for the valuable input, Actually I used to utilise Fender Lace sensors with my old US strat from the years 1992-1997, and I totally understand what you are pointing at.By the way , the silver lace sensor is supposed to be Mid heavy, which would more or less give me more character at the neck position, eliminating the "hollowness"

I admit that there are moments when it may sound bland, but for some weird reason, I miss them alot. IMHo , they add a certain quirky character that had always appealed to me(especially when you position it nearer to the strings)I also miss having quiet SCs.. Also, ironically, I always felt that they don't take pedals well, as opposed to your opinion.Tone is truly subjective eh haha...Anyways, these pups sounded great clean(for blues and Jazz) to me as far as I can remember, and I own a couple of guitars with various pup configurations now and I thought why the hell not relive the good old 90's with this extra strat I have lying around thats becoming a white elephant haha.

TBX control? Read about it, heard about the design flaw and decided to just cross my fingers and pretend Ive never heard of it.The laces are shipped and oh well, I'll post my gripes (if any) here after installation so that everyone can have a good laugh at me.