Pickups for an all-maple Strat?

[Patriot54]

I need some advice on what to get for my guitar (not built yet).....

Guitar specs: Solid maple body, neck and fretboard. Humbucker at the bridge and 2 Strats for pickup routs. Fixed Fender bridge. Standard 5-way switch, 1 master tone, 1 master volume. Medium to heavy gauge strings
Music style: Funky, classic/hard rock, somewhat bluesy, maybe a bit heavy at times
Playing style: Mostly rhythm guitar, little to no soloing, "percussive" style (also a bass player)
Desired tone: Clear but slightly gritty clean tone, smooth distortion. Signature sound is hollow with more high and bass with less mid but I want 3 unique sounds to choose from as well.

I'm leaning towards the Dimarzio Steve's Special humbucker at the bridge but I'm open to other suggestions. The description sounds like what I want for my hollow sound. Hopefully after I check my mail today, I'll have a Duncan Vintage Rail, Dimarzio Area 67 and Dimarzio Chopper which I ordered for a different guitar but are also options for the Strat. Also considered the Dimarzio BC-2 for extreme lows.

Also, will I have any issues combining different brands of pickups, if they're all passive hum-cancelling?

 

[Cagey]

I can't recommend pickups; there are just far too many variables involved. What sounds great on one guitar may sound awful on another, and other characteristics can/will change that may be for the better or worse, depending on your taste.

As far as mixing them, that's not a problem, although there's no standard on wiring schemes. Not everybody brings out all the wires, some sheild and some don't, and color codes change from one manufacturer to another. But, some folks here and there have compiled charts to help with that, such as here and here.

Also, StewMac has a bunch of individual references for pickups...

Barden
Benedetto
DiMarzio
Seymour Duncan
Lindy Fralin
Gibson
Golden Age
Gotoh
Lawrence Research
PRS
Schaller
WD/Kent

 

[Superlizard]

All-maple body and neck is gonna be bright.  Keep that in consideration.

You may need a darker pickup to offset the brightness, otherwise you'll be cutting heads and piercing eardrums with treble.

 

[Patriot54]

All-maple body and neck is gonna be bright.  Keep that in consideration.

You may need a darker pickup to offset the brightness, otherwise you'll be cutting heads and piercing eardrums with treble.

I'll keep that in mind and compare some different pickups in my other guitar for now.

 

[Strat Avenger]

The Steve's Special is a little too "scooped" in the mids (and a little too hot for my taste). I'd go with a Duncan '59, A TB-12, or a Dimarzio PAF Pro, or Air Norton.

As for the singles, the Area 67s are a good choice, or the Fast Track-1 for a bit more power. I had the Cruiser, and it seemed a bit lifeless to my ears.

 

[Kostas]

S.D. JB or Alnico II humbuckers for bridge position.
S.D. Alnico II singles for other positions.
250k pots for all pickups.

 

[Patriot54]

Thanks for the advice guys

(I probably should've mentioned that it's a Fat Strat configuration - original post edited)  :doh:

 

[Strat Avenger]

500k pots.

 

[Patriot54]

What's the difference soundwise between 500K and 250K? All I know is that the Dimarzio website recommended 500 for most of the pickups I'm considering but 250 for others.

 

[AutoBat]

old adage was 250k for single coils, 500k for humbuckers.
no reason to not just use 500k for everything... if you even use tone pots.  I know the two on my axe are mostly for show.

 

[Cagey]

500K pots will sound just a tiny bit brighter and louder in many cases with modern higher-output pickups.

 

[Superlizard]

Dude, you need to do this simple yet very clever trick:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=5122.msg59660#msg59660

Got a humbucker and single coils in a Strat, but don't know what value pot (250K vs 500K) to use for all pickups?

Or, wish there was a way to use the proper Ohms value for each type of pickup?

===

Assuming you've got the above humbucker, single coil, single coil with standard Strat 5 way switch (i.e. not megaswitch or the like), and standard Strat 1Vol, 2Tone controls:

"Give the 'bucker its own tone control (wire the other one to the other Pups), and then wire a 470k or 560k resistor across the tone control for the single coils. Then install your 500k Volume pot.

When the single coils are on, the effective resistance at the Volume pot is around 250k....when the 'bucker is by itself, you're at 500k."

Simple and easy.

 

[Patriot54]

Assuming you've got the above humbucker, single coil, single coil with standard Strat 5 way switch (i.e. not megaswitch or the like), and standard Strat 1Vol, 2Tone controls:
"Give the 'bucker its own tone control (wire the other one to the other Pups), and then wire a 470k or 560k resistor across the tone control for the single coils. Then install your 500k Volume pot.
When the single coils are on, the effective resistance at the Volume pot is around 250k....when the 'bucker is by itself, you're at 500k."
Simple and easy.

[/quote]

The thing is that I only have 1 tone control. And if I have hum-cancelling single coils, the wiring would be similar to 3 humbuckers, right?

I would drill the hole for a 3rd knob, but the design I drew for the woodburning wraps around the pickups, bridge and knobs and I don't want to change it now.

 

[Cagey]

The thing is that I only have 1 tone control. And if I have hum-cancelling single coils, the wiring would be similar to 3 humbuckers, right?

Right. Use 500K pots. You'll be fine.

 

[Superlizard]

The thing is that I only have 1 tone control.

My suggestion won't work then - you need 2 tone pots for it to work.

And if I have hum-cancelling single coils, the wiring would be similar to 3 humbuckers, right?

Typically, no - they're still "single coils" and therefore voiced like single coils (bright/chimey/etc)... unless you're doing super-hot
output single coils.  

If you use 500k's all around on an all maple guitar, and the single coils are voiced like traditional single coils (bright/chimey),
then the tone is gonna be so bright on said single coils, you gotta wear shades.

 

[Cagey]

And if I have hum-cancelling single coils, the wiring would be similar to 3 humbuckers, right?

Typically, no - they're still single coils and therefore voiced like single coils (bright/chimey/etc)... unless you're doing super-hot
output single coils.  

If they're hum-cancelling pickups, there are two coils in them. They're not "single coils". The difference between the traditional humbucker and the Strat style is in the Strat style, they stack the coils vertically instead of laterally. On some designs, they may rotate the coils 90 degrees on the long axis, but it's still 2 coils. That is, they're all still humbuckers, just packaged differently.

 

[Superlizard]

And if I have hum-cancelling single coils, the wiring would be similar to 3 humbuckers, right?

Typically, no - they're still single coils and therefore voiced like single coils (bright/chimey/etc)... unless you're doing super-hot
output single coils.  

If they're hum-cancelling pickups, there are two coils in them. They're not "single coils". The difference between the traditional humbucker and the Strat style is in the Strat style, they stack the coils vertically instead of laterally. On some designs, they may rotate the coils 90 degrees on the long axis, but it's still 2 coils. That is, they're all still humbuckers, just packaged differently.

Right - mechanically they are similar, except the hum-cancelling single coils come in a single-coil package (not humbucker package).
(EDIT - forgot to mention the "dummy coil" style which is common)

Tone-wise, they're not the same as humbuckers, unless they're really hot output.

Many pickup manufacturers designed hum-less single coil pickups to satisfy the 60hz hum complaints
of single coil pup users... they offered these players single coil tone without the hum (I still say
they don't have the tone quite right yet).

Again, it's about the tone, not the construction.

(All the same, I'll make a minor modification to my previous text with double quotes)

 

[Patriot54]

The reason I was mostly looking at hum-cancelling Strat pickups is so I didn''t need copper shielding. But on second thought, I may do the copper thing so I can expand my options and consider using a true single coil. Is that overkill? I just want the very best parts for this guitar.

I know I'll change my mind 100 more times before this thing is built, but the advice has been very helpful. Thanks!

 

[rockskate4x]

just do the shielding. The only thing it can do is help no matter what pickups you use, and you only have to do it once.

 

[Cagey]

The reason I was mostly looking at hum-cancelling Strat pickups is so I didn''t need copper shielding. But on second thought, I may do the copper thing so I can expand my options and consider using a true single coil. Is that overkill? I just want the very best parts for this guitar.

I know I'll change my mind 100 more times before this thing is built, but the advice has been very helpful. Thanks!

The copper shielding won't help standard single coils, unless you wrap the pickups in copper as well, seal them up and ground them. Of course, then they won't work very well <grin>

Copper foil shielding in pickup/control cavities only serves to make the installer feel good, and make the build pictures look good. Past that, it's a waste of time. Why do you suppose none of the OEMs use it? Even the ones who charge thousands of dollars for their guitars and could easily afford the labor and materials don't do it. They know better. Some of them will give it a lick and a promise, putting a little bit of foil behind the pots/switches on the pickguard, but nobody knows why. Probably just to say they did. It certainly doesn't have any shielding effect.

A properly wired guitar with hum-cancelling pickups won't make noise. A properly wired guitar with single coil pickups will always make noise. There's nothing you can do about it. The best you can do is minimize it with proper wiring.