[FunkyHiGain]

Hey guys!

[TL;DR: What do you think of this pickup set: DP187 (The Cruiser Bridge) on Neck/Mid; Fast Track 1 Bridge? I'd also like to add a Fender EC Mid Boost active control. Would you say this is a good idea for a "beefed up" stratocaster sound with rail pickups? What values would you guys recommend for the volume pot?]

I'd like to apologize for the longwinded post ahead, but I reckon I might as well paint the full picture so if anyone is able to help, they'll have the whole description of my expectations.

Recently I've been gifted a project of a guitar, and I would like to make it unique!
Its a strat-like guitar, with a Spanish/Brazilian Cedar body, and a brazilian species similar to Maple (Marfim).
Anyhow, I'm thinking of it as if they were a basswood/mahogany mix of a body and a maple neck.

The thing is, it has a Fast Track 1 as a Bridge pickup. I've yet to test it, since the pickup was broken and has been sent to repair. Searching around what other pickups would compliment it (even if it changed positions), I came across many sets, but I came up with one in particular that I haven't seen any records of throughout the net.

And thus, I would like to hear from more experienced people if they reckon this as a good idea before I bury the hatchet and buy said pickups: Cruiser Bridge (DP187) [Neck & Mid] / Fast Track 1 [Bridge].

Now to make it a little harder:

I have another strat (a Fender Classic 50s) that has a set of SDs SSL-1s(neck/mid)/SSL5(bridge), and I love its current tone.

Thing is, I was gifted a Fender EC Mid Boost Set (50k Volume Pot, TBX Tone Control and Mid Boost, respectively) and installed it on this "classic" setup. The active preamp added a little bit more bite, even if the Boost is not active.

The problem with it is that it amplified the hum (figures, since this kind of active control was normally used with Lace Sensors and Vintage Noiseless), so I'm thinking of taking it out of this guitar, and adding it to this new frankenstrat, but I wouldn't know what kind of volume/tone controls/pots and values I should add...

Since my idea is to make a hum-canceling strat sounding rail set, and I think they must be pretty quiet, I'd say this is the best way of making use of this active pre-amp (EC MidBoost) in a guitar without the added hum that it has been amplified on the Fender. Should I keep the 50k volume control or should I go for 250k (since the active preamp adds brightness, I don't think I should go for the regular configuration of those pickups - 500k volume pots)?

Either if you only read the TL;DR or you took your time to go through it all, thank you so much, and hopefully you can give me a cool input!

[darkbluemurder]

1) Pickups:

The Cruisers are strat-like (not exactly, but close) - low output, bright with a bit more low end than regular single coils or the Di Marzio Area pickups. IMHO a good choice for neck/middle. I would go with the neck version for the neck and the bridge version for middle but two necks or two bridges should work equally well.

Never played the FT-1 so I cannot comment. Apart from the Cruisers I am only familiar with the Chopper and the Super Distortion S from the Di Marzio line up. Since you already have the FT-1, use it and then see whether you like it or find anything lacking, and then take it from there.

If you run them passive I would recommend a 500k volume pot, tone pot can either be 250k or 500k.

2) Active preamp:

As the word "preamp" implies it amplifies both wanted (the string signal) and unwanted (hum) signals so it is a better solution where there is no source of unwanted hum in the first place. With the active preamp I would use the 50k volume. 

Cheers Stephan

[FunkyHiGain]

Hey Stephan, thank you for the reply!

Would you still run the 50k Volume Pot with the active preamp, even if the pups are humbuckers/silent?

Because from what I remember (and this might be wrong), the newer EC stratocaster models that come with Vintage Noiseless pups come with 250k volume knobs, even if they have the same active preamp (mid boost) setup.

Since my idea with the Cruiser/FT1 set is similar to it in a sense, wouldn't it be best to go for 250k?

Again, thank you very much for your input!

Gus

[darkbluemurder]

If you use a preamp, I would recommend the 50k for the volume pot. Higher pot values may increase noise or have an uneven taper when used with a preamp.

Cheers Stephan

[DavidSchwab]

The 50k pot is the mid boost control. The volume pot that comes with that midboost is 250k. DiMarzio shows to use a 500k volume pot and 250k tone.

The value of a pot has nothing to do with inducing noise in the preamp. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[darkbluemurder]

In that case there is nothing wrong with using the 250k as a volume pot.

Cheers Stephan

[HeyNorton!]

50 k is the volume pot.  Powered, low impedance systems need the 50k ( or 25k)

The Clapton setup uses:
A 50 k volume pot.
A 250k/1meg tbx tone control (can also be a regular 250 or 500k tone pot)
A 250k LINEAR taper pot for the midboost.


I believe the dimarzio rails are designed to work with the standard 250k pots that come in strats, so you should be good to go with what you have.