[Slartibartfarst]

I've just acquired a Stratocaster with an SSS configuration and as I'm generally a humbucker guy, I thought I'd ask some advice about pickups. The guitar in question is a Mexican Standard with a maple neck. This guitar won't be used for anything Metal and probably won't even go that far into Rock as I envisage it as more of a Blues guitar. Having said that, I would like something that is pretty versatile so could run from more traditional Blues, through Blues Rock to perhaps Rainbow kind of material at the other extreme, though that end of things is less important because by the time I get to things like 'Man on the Silver Mountain', I will already have changed to a humbucker guitar. I want pickups that keep it sounding like a Strat with those great sounds you get from a Strat in positions 2 & 4. The pickups should be very articulate with a neck tone that is clear, smooth and fluid and a bridge tone that has a bit of bite when needed. As I associate Strats with fairly bright tones I don't want a dark sounding pickup but it shouldn't be brittle or ice-picky either.

I thought I'd start by naming the Stratocaster users that I really like (which may cover a lot of ground) and go from there as that will give an idea of the sort of tones I'm after. My amp is an Orange TH30 and will normally be set up for my humbucker guitars and I'd rather not have to change the settings too much. As a result it should be able to take quite a bit of gain without going mushy as well as have great clean tones. In no particular order:

Jeff Healey
Philip Sayce
Eric Clapton
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Ritchie Blackmore
Dave Gilmour

Noiseless pickups would be great but it's more of a priority to get the right tone. Any suggestions?

[jazzfromhell]

For a "true strat" setup I'd go:
B: Area 61
M: Area 58
N: Area 67

If you want more beef and output (more "rock") you could go Injector Bridge in the bridge, and Injector Neck in both neck and middle. Or put the Area 67/58 in the middle with the Injectors.

But if you want to keep it a blues guitar I would go with all Areas.

[darkbluemurder]

Going from bridge to neck, 61-58-67 is indeed one of the most vintage set ups you can get with the DiMarzio Areas. I had this set up for a while in one of my strats. I now have Virtual Solo-58-67, and this works better for me with the bridge tones and still gives me a good bridge plus middle combination. The Virtual Solo will definitely do better at Blackmore/Healey/SRV.

If the guitar is bright acoustically I would consider Virtual Solo-58-61 or Virtual Solo-58-VV 54 Pro for a fatter neck tone, especially since you are coming from the humbucker camp.

You may wonder why I did not suggest to put the 67 in the middle. Although the 67 is the brightest strat pickup of the Area series I did not like it as much in the middle position as I liked it in the neck position. In the neck it is great for both Blackmore and Hendrix tones.

If you want something with more output so that you do not have to make as many adjustments when going from a humbucker guitar to the strat, the Injector neck has a bit more output and a bit more modern tone to it. I think these would also pair well with a Virtual Solo in the bridge but I have not tried that combination (I use the Injector neck in the middle plus the Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 together with a British made humbucker styled after the JB in the bridge of a HSS strat).

Finally, if the Virtual Solo's output is not quite enough, the Chopper would be the next step up.

Cheers Stephan

[DarthPhineas]

what do you guys think would work for a noiseless single coil in the neck of a Hum-Single to match up with a hot-vintage to hot bridge pickup?  something that will stay defined under a high gain setting but still have vintage/classic Strat qualities on a clean amp setting.

I like the idea of the Area models, but am concerned the might lack output.  the Injector appears to address that, but is it too beefy for classic Strat clean qualities?

[jazzfromhell]

what do you guys think would work for a noiseless single coil in the neck of a Hum-Single to match up with a hot-vintage to hot bridge pickup?  something that will stay defined under a high gain setting but still have vintage/classic Strat qualities on a clean amp setting.

I like the idea of the Area models, but am concerned the might lack output.  the Injector appears to address that, but is it too beefy for classic Strat clean qualities?

It depends how much authenticity you're looking for. If you need it to be spot on classic strat then yes, I'd say it's too hot. But if close enough is ok then go for it.

I had the Injector paired with an AT-1 and it didn't work well for my taste. I like the feel under my fingers to be the same when I switch between pickups but it was a big difference between the two. The Injector definitely felt underpowered compared to the AT-1 but if you have a lower-power HB then it could work great. Also there was a huge eq difference; Injector - a tad scooped, AT-1 - very middy.

[Slartibartfarst]

Thanks guys 

These suggestions aren't so far away from my own initial thoughts as I'd been looking at a Virtual Vintage Blues for the bridge and an Area 61 for the neck. I wasn't sure about the middle. I'm still considering which direction to go but when I was looking at a certain British pickup company I was looking at a set inspired by Rory Gallagher.

[tonesky]

Ice picky. Thats an easy one. Thats the guitarist. Not as much the pickup. I dunno. I've seen fools say that Super D Dimarzio is icy picky. I heard a number of guys play one. Hell Ace Freely plays one. They're thick, dark in the lows, really dynamic for chords, solos great. But some players think it's ice pickey.

Same with the Breed. Treble is treble. If a guitarist doesn't want to hear treble notes clearly maybe they should go into jazz and fast.

If you have the chops, any pick up works. I doubt that Leo Fender made a guitar that is ice pickey.

Try Hotrails, or The Cruiser. That works. 

[darkbluemurder]

I doubt that Leo Fender made a guitar that is ice pickey.

Maybe not intentionally but when the stratocaster came out the bridge pickup did not have a tone control on purpose - the purpose was to make the bridge pickup brighter to cut through better on leads. Whether the end result is ice pickey depends on the player, the guitar and the rest of the set up.

Cheers Stephan

[KH Guitar Freak]

One has to understand that the earlier amps when the Stratocaster first came out were quite rolled off on the top end. Furthermore, mics back then couldn't pick up high frequencies that well compared to modern mics

[darkbluemurder]

One has to understand that the earlier amps when the Stratocaster first came out were quite rolled off on the top end. Furthermore, mics back then couldn't pick up high frequencies that well compared to modern mics

Correct on all counts. This just goes to show that one has to look at the entire system, not only the pickup as one part of it.

Cheers Stephan

[damonstewart70]

Very true!!!