Pups for my Strat

[hannaugh]

So with this new Strat build, I want to go kind of vintage-y.  I want this to be my classic rock machine.  I was thinking of going with the David Gilmour EMGs, but I don't know if I really need to go that far, and they're expensive.  So I've been listening to samples all day on the Lollar, Dimarzio, Duncan, and Rio Grande sites as well as on youtube.

There are a TON of mini-hbs on these sites.  I really like the SD Cool Rails in particular.  I just feel like I might be moving away from the vintage Strat sound if I go that route as opposed to getting true single coils. 

I like the Lollars a lot, but good lord they are expensive.  I don't know if I can swing it.

Oh and one more thing that really bugs me... how come half the pickups on these sites HAVE NO FREAKING SOUND CLIPS???  It's very annoying and seems like a bad business practice on the part of the pickup companies if you ask me.  There should be samples for every model.

 

[Mor Paul]

You probably won't be disappointed with Fralin. Rio isn't a full-vintage, but they take inspiration from vintage.
If you don't want hum, DiMarzio might be your choice. If Lollar sounds good, I would save for it. Don't skimp, and if you get less expensive pups now, and more expensive later, that's more money than just buying the expensive set  :icon_thumright:

 

[Tempest]

I have two different Lollar pickups,  a P90 in the neck of my Warmoth, and a Special S in the bridge of my strat,  and they sound REALLY good.  Fralins are great also, I've played a strat with vintage hots in it that had a great tone.

 

[Who?]

For Strat pickups I have switched all of mine to Curtis Novak's.  They are the most vintage sounding I have found.  He is a good guy to work with, and is interested in knowing what sound you are after. They are a bit pricey, but last I looked they were a little less than Lollar.

 

[tfarny]

Dimarzio Area 58 / 61 / 67. The sound clips are ridiculously hair metal (sorry 1/2 you guys but... :sad, but I swear they nail the absolute classic strat sound. They are cheap(er) and noiseless too. If hum isn't that big a deal, if I were you I'd try fralin or lollar, if you want the real vintage stuff. I also have a set of Bill Lawrence Keystones brand new in black if you're interested, they're going on ebay as soon as I get a chance.

 

[Alfang]

Hey, Try TroubledTrebles Pups, i've heard em and they sound great, and he's got them priced to move

http://www.roadhousepickups.com/

 

[hannaugh]

Cool, thanks for the recommendations, guys.  I'll check some more stuff out today.  Let me know when those Keystones go up for sale, tfarny.

 

[mayfly]

Sorry to jump in late.

I've been very very happy with the Lollar Tele pickups in my, er, teles. 

IMHO they are worth the money.  They are the largest tone shaping part of the guitar after all.

 

[jimh]

Ordinarily, I'd say go for Bare Knuckles, but they are way pricey for you USA'ers..

In this case, i say take a punt and go for Troubled Trebles pups.....

 

[MUYFUE]

The Roadhouse wite has good clips.
I AM going to buy a neck pup from him, based on reviews and the clips...and the price is great too!

 

[TroubledTreble]

Hey, thanks for all the mentions.

I worked on clips over the weekend for the Specials. They will be posted soon but in the meantime if you want to hear them just PM me and I can send them. I do have a clip of the Tele Specials posted in my Tele build in the Telecaster section.

I've offered a discount to board members before, and I would be happy to do it again for the holidays. I can knock $15 off each set. Shipping has always been free in the contiguous United States. I also offer a money back guarantee. Custom winds are not a problem and no extra cost.

I haven't been advertising on here since I don't want to spam. But I do appreciate the support and mentions. If you need something or have ideas all you need to do is ask.  :icon_thumright:

Edit* Hannaugh, don't mean to step on your thread. Get what's good for you and what you will be happy with. Good luck with the build!

 

[Timv]

If you live in the US take a look at Vintage Vibe Guitars. Pete does an incredible job with his pickups, his customer service is second to none, and his prices are no more than good off the shelf pickups. I just received my customs last week and was blown away at the quality. I can't wait to hear them. I'll try to post some pictures tonight.

 

[blue313]

Ordinarily for vintage Strat tone I'd say Lindy Fralin, by a country mile.  However a custom wind by TT would be pretty darn tempting.

 

[nathan a]

Gotta recommend the Fralin/Callaham H/SRV pickups. Greatest strat pickups I've ever played or heard. I was - and still am - somewhat of a skeptic about the whole cryogenic freezing thing, but whatever. They sound freakin awesome.

 

[hannaugh]

I listened to the clips on the Roadhouse site, and I do like them.  I like the idea of getting pups from someone on the site too, that sounds kind of cool.  I want to hear the Specials! 

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I have the Callaham/Fralin H/SRV's in my Mary Kaye.  They are very nice.  I went with the one tone and a blend option, and I really enjoy blending in a bit of neck pick up with the bridge.  Also the cap that was used, don't know if the cryo treatment did it, but it is the best response from a tone knob I have had.  I am used to the smothering asphyxiation tone knob sound and this was worlds better.  I will slowly be replacing the caps in all of my instruments tone knobs as time goes by because of this.  I also have liquid N2 at work so I might try a before and after to see if I can hear anything.  Doubt it but who knows.  I like the Callaham Fralin pickups because they have a nice strat tone but play nicely with the more modern amp designs as well.  I would like to try the Roadhouse pickups, but I have quite a number of project going at once, and I have to hold off for a while.  I have a Tele with some real turds for pickups.  Anywho, good luck with the search.
Patrick

 

[jackthehack]

Having played Strats for almost 40 years, and having owned a couple of '50's/60's (wish I'd held on to them!!!), you can spend a lot more money on botique pickups, but the Fender Custom Shop Fat 50's fit into your budget and are definitely "vintage-y".

Note that Gilmour only uses the Strat with the EMGs on a few songs in which he wants a cleaner type sound.

 

[Rouse]

I just ordered a set from Lollar a few days ago (Blonde-Blonde-Special); I'll give a full review with some clips once they arrive and get into my Strat.

 

[-CB-]

Kind of vintage-y.... and then you list a few really non-vintage-y sounding pickups.  Makes me go hmmmm.

For a real "vintage" tone, the fat 50's Fender set is not a bad choice.  I like that set the best for true vintage tone.  However, the true vintage tone is rather thin - think Buddy Holly "Peggy Sue".  You can get more snarl, more mids, in the Texas Special set.  Still a great set.  The neck pickup in that set is "to die for", the perfect Strat neck pickup.  The middle is pretty good too.  A lot of folks find the bridge pickup a bit too harsh, but it can be tamed either through wiring, using a bass-plate on it (Fralin offers that).

The Fralin blues special set comes to mind for retaining the single coil snap, clarity and brightness, but with a bit extra presence.

After the hot and special wound sets... I think you're walking pretty far from vintage-y. 

The pickups you list are valid... great sounding ones.  Just to me  they lose that "old time Strat" flavor.

 

[hannaugh]

Well I'm thinking more late 60s than 50s here.