Conference napalm::guitar

    Joe,
    
    There's a ton of info and opinions on pickups in notes, 31, 899, and
    1600.  Give 'em a look see!
    
    Steve

    If you vant de strat sound, you must get de strat type pickups
    ya ?
    
    You mentioned dimazio humbuckers in your base note...  I'd suggest
    sigle coil pickups, not humbuckers, or perhaps humbuckers with
    coil cutter switches.
    
    Either something from Seymoure Duncan, or the Dimazio (i think their
    called dirty fingers) single coil piuckups.  Well, there's others too,
    you'd have to poke the other notes in the conference.
    
    
    
                            

    
    	From my experience, if you want a "strat" type of sound, Humbuckers
    are not the way to go.
    
    	However, most replacement Humbuckers are available with the
    "single coil taps", which means with some circuit switching, you
    can get a "strat" sound from the three pickups, each in single coil
    mode. Get ready for a wiring nightmare underneath your pickguard...
    
    	If you want a *precise* strat sound, there are a couple more
    things to be considered;
    
    	1. The harmonic content of the sound that a pickup picks up
	is dependant on the location position of the pickup along the
        string. This is the basis of the difference in sound between
    	the "lead" pickup and the "rythm" pickup on a typical axe. A
    	precise positioning of the pickups (single coil parts of tapped
    	humbuckers) is necessary, for a particular sound. (Note that on 
    	a strat, the lead pickup is canted slightly)
    
    	2. The body contributes significantly to the, shall we say,
    	"personality" of the guitar. Things like the total mass-weight
    	of the body, the density of the wood used and the shape of the
    	body cutout all contribute to how it "holds the strings" - which
    	is a "dynamic" consideration engineering-wise. With a radically
	different body shape, different wood, weight, etc - you'll get
    	a sound and feel quite unlike your typical strat.
    
    	   [A good example of this is the Gibson SG and other Gibson
	instruments. The whole guitar, as a structure, is usually "tuned"
    	(If you get a good one...) so that when it's tuned to proper pitch,
    	the whole of the instrument resonates and feels like it "comes
    	alive" with increased sustain. (I dont know if strats do this)
    	If you cut up the body too much, this aspect goes away...]
    
    	Anyway, to get a strat-ish sound from the instrument you're
    building, using Humbucking pickups, make sure you get the ones with
    "single coil taps" and make sure your placement of them into the
    guitar body is close to where they are placed on an actual
    Stratocaster.
    	
    	Good luck with your project!
    
    	Joe
    	    
    	

    You can get the best of both worlds with Seymour Duncan "Classic
    Stacks"  They're humbuckers (stacked on *top* of each other) which
    replace (without customizing) the stock pickups.
    
    I replaced my stock pickups with these, and they reduce the HUM
    greatly, while providing a really nice, ORIGINAL pre-cbs strat
    sound.  I'm definitely happy with them.
    
    cheers/mike

    
    
    
    	I just installed 3 fender re-issue pickups in my Stewart-Mac Strat,
    and I gotta tell you... they sound great... I've  ABed with Standards
    and they sound pretty much alike... I've ABed with re-issues and they
    sound exactly alike.   The trick (maybe it's not a trick) for me is to
    move the pickups down really low, for a vintage strat sound... the
    strings are less affected by the magnets when the pickups are flush
    with the pickguard... I've move mine up a bit to get a little higher
    signal, but I feel you'd be pleased with the re-issues.  I agree with
    the comments about humbuckers, they don't provide a vintage sound, but
    I sure like them in the bridge position...  Good luck..
    
    
    Steve

    
    I'd just like to say thankyou to everyone whom enlightened my
    knowledge..!! You guys are great.. I didn't realize there was so
    much invovled in getting a good sound.. I going to use your advise
    wisely..!! Thanks for taking the time to help me out..!!
    
    			Joe...................

    
    I am looking for some info on what kind of pickups would be best
    for my 12 string eletric.
    
                                                    mArK
    

    
    mArK,
    
         I don't know why I'm talking to you through notes considering
    your 300 feet away but anyways, why don't you try a Carvin M22???
    My Carvin has a M22SD in the bridge and it screams but the neck
    pickup is just a M22 and can sound extremly warm and clean. I would
    love to hear it on a twelve string. Plus if you don't like it you
    have 10 days after you receive it to send it back. Some food for
    thought. 
    
    
                                                Digitally yours,
                                                                R.C.
    

    It would seem beneficial for a 12 string to use a pickup that has
    either a lot of little pole pieces (like the Carvins), or a "blade"
    so that you don't lose signal by not having some of the strings passing
    directly over the polepieces in the pickups.
    
    Greg

    I'm thinking of swapping pickups in my Fender Mustang.  How do you
    think the DiMarzio DP-116s (HS-2s) would sound/perform?  Any other
    recommendations?
    
    Mike

    	I used HS1's,2's and 3's at one point or another,I used HS2's 
    after talking to Dimarzio. I don't recommend them,and would recomend
    Fender Lace Sensors(gold lettered). The hs2's lacked the that
    definative edge that single coils have and are a stacked humbucker.
    	The Lace sensor's are a quiet solution with a true single coil
    sound.....
    
    								Rick
    

    
    
    	Yeah, I'd go along with Rick... I definately like the lace sensors!
    
    (for playing rock and blues)
    
    Steve

    I'm pretty happy with my Seymour Duncans, but lately I been hearing
    a LOT of good things (not only from this notesfile, but outside too)
    about the Lace Sensors.
    
    Can you folks give me some more info about these pickups concerning
    the kind of sound you get from them (do they sound like the old
    single coils, or are they unique in their own), what the difference
    between the different colors.
    
    I just picked up another stratocaster w/ last week and am looking to
    replace the stock pickups.  I really like the warm, bluesy sound I'm 
    getting with the rosewood neck; will the sensors 'enhance' this sound?

    I know I read elsewhere in this notesfile about the Sensors, but 
    can't recall where.
    
    Thanks in advance,
    
    Mike

    Re: -1
    
    Are all of these lace sensors single coil?  If so, I'd guess they're
    trying to emulate a humbucker with the blue.
    
    Mike

    
    
    
    	Mike, I'm thinking that the turn "coil" probably can't be used for
    lace sensors except to describe what they are designed to sound like. 
    They use Iso Biflux dual fields... yep the iso part means that there's
    two of em.. they look like they might be windings but I'm not sure..
    they provide for a wide area of "sensing" for each string..   All I
    really know is that they sound coooool...   The blue one sounds
    eggszactly like a humbucker to me......

        _    /|   
 	\'o.O'    AcK!!
 	=(___)=   
  	   U      
    
    	I haven't heard the silver or the Red, but the Blue one stinks (at
    least it does for my music) and it costs more than the gold one.  What
    the heck, I'm in love with my new ES335 copy anyway, so who needs a
    damn strat.... (I do, I do)....  If somebody would just buy those
    homeboys of mine, I could "bail it out"......
    
    	Hey, "take the money and run" is developing into some kind of an
    anthem, huh, Mikey...
    
    
    
    Steve  oops wait a minute...
    
    
    	S
    		T
    			E
    				V
    					E
    
    	Ahhhhh... artistically satisfying... ;^)
    

>    	Hey, "take the money and run" is developing into some kind of an
>    anthem, huh, Mikey...
    
    you ain't kiddin'!  I'm going to know everyone here on a first name
    basis by the time it's all over!
    
    Mike

After almost buying a strat to add to the kinds of sounds I could produce in my
studio, I thought I'd look into what I could do to broaden the range of sounds
available on my current guitar (Ibanez Deluxe 59er LP copy).

I want a strat sound.  Can I get it by 1) adding a third pickup in the middle of 
the two humbuckers? or 2) Changing one of the pickups (neck, most likely) to a
coil-tapping (switchable) pickup?

Reading earlier notes in this topic, it would seem that option two (coil-
tapping) is probably the most likely to work (and doesn't require changing the 
body of my guitar), as there are logistics of pickup placement I'd need to be 
concerned with.

Let me also say that I have tried the middle position/relative volumes type of
getting a strat sound and I haven't been able to get just that right kind of 
sound (that snappy, almost compressed bright sound) I'm looking for.

Dan

    Some advice from someone who owned a LP and a Strat at the same time...
    
    Ya can't do it.  I would think using a coil tap would come `fairly'
    close, but on a LP style body, it's still going to sound fat.  I used
    to have a Kramer (strat style body) with hum/single/single pickups, and
    even with a coil tap on the humbucker and 2 single coils, it STILL
    wouldn't yield a strat sound.  Now that I've owned a Strat for a while,
    I'm convinced that nothing will sound like a strat, unless it's a
    strat.  Goes for other types of guitars too.
    
    Go buy a strat ... everybody needs at least 2 guitars ..  8^)
    
    Scary 

    Dan,
    
    The sound you get from using two pickups at a time on a Strat that you
    hear from Knopfler, Clapton, Thompson, etc. you can't get with just
    one pickup.  Coil tapping will help get you the stinging bridge pickup
    tone, though as mentioned in .1 it's only an approximation.  Depends on
    your budget, eh???  8^)  8^)  8^)  
    
    Coil tapping is worth doing.  If you want to keep from drilling holes,
    try to find a pot with a push-pull switch built-in.  Also, when doing
    coil tapping, keep in mind there are two schemes:
    
    1.  A true tap, you use less than 100% of the pickup windings. On a
    humbucker, the humbucking effect is retained.
    
    2.  A coil cut, not a true tap.  You just shut off one coil.  The
    humbucking effect is lost. HUMMMMMMMMMMZZZZZZZZ
    
    						BNrian