How to fatten up a Strat?

What's Hot
13»

Comments

  • John_AJohn_A Frets: 3775
    impmann said:
    SSL-5 by Seymour Duncan.

    If that hasn't got enough welly for you, then your amp is bust.
    Have one for sale if anyone wants it ;)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BluesyDaveBluesyDave Frets: 410
    edited June 2018
    Just do what ever this cool dude is doing...


    No Darling....I've had that ages.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9549
    timmypix said:
    If you're looking at Oil City, bear in mind Ash can put a baseplate on bridge pickups to fatten them up and tame the high end a bit.
    Exactly what I’ve got. Set of OilCity StoneTones with a baseplate fitted to the bridge unit. The bridge is already wound hotter than the other two and the baseplate gives it an additional boost.

    (I’ve also replaced the alloy trem block with a steel one but the difference that makes is actually quite subtle.)
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • HeadphonesHeadphones Frets: 979
    Alegree said:
    Alegree said:
    Easiest way is to add a 3-10k resistor in series with the bridge pickup.
    Sounds interesting, any more info on this..
    Leeches treble out of the pickup by increasing the treble loss to ground through the distributed capacitance of the pickup coil.
    What on earth is this supposed to mean?
    A series resistor will "leech" nothing to ground or anywhere else!  It'll merely change the impedence.
    It might alter the resonant frequency of the circuit, but that's entirely different to some phantom evacuation of frequency.
    Distributed capacitance?
    What???




    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    I put SD Classic Stacked humbuckers in my Strat. The second coil sits underneath and cancels noise but they're very healthy pickups especially the bridge.
    The guitar isn't as loud as a Les Paul but it's a Strat, it's not supposed to be.
    It still sounds every bit a Strat but it's as silent as you need a guitar to be and sounds amazing.
    They were £90 each but I've never regretted it.

    There's a Hot Stack version if you need more but I wanted mine to stay close to its original sound so I bought 'Classic Stack'.
    Originally it was for the noise cancelling but I'm made up with the sound. 

    The switch is wired with position 4 as bridge and neck in parallel and that's a great sound.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    I had a BG Pickups singlecoil sized p90 which sounded great in my old strat. Not as far as a full p90 but better than a standard singlecoil.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    rico said:
    I’ve been experimenting with EQ and gain - the trouble is that I’m trying to boost frequencies that just aren’t there. If I make drastic changes then it screws with the tone that I enjoy when the neck pickup is selected. 

    The bridge pickup does have a copper baseplate - is this usual? 
    A Source Audio programmable EQ could sort this. One setting for neck pickup, one for bridge and just toggle as required
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    gringopig said:
    Stick a Fralin P90 in there. Boy oh boy, those are strong pickups.
    This or a Harmonic Designs Super 90 Strat:

    http://www.harmonicdesign.net/allpages/strats.html

    A big beefy P90 sounding single coil in a Strat pickup shape.
    They drop right in and sound amazing.
    I have them in a bunch of guitars.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ChalkyChalky Frets: 6807
    Give it a stressful job and a taste for pizza.

    Worked for me.
    This MUST go into the "Nominations For Funniest Fretboard Comment 2018" thread....
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • dallcorpdallcorp Frets: 139
    Just do what ever this cool dude is doing...


    ........play only the middle pickup position?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11669
    Chalky said:
    Give it a stressful job and a taste for pizza.

    Worked for me.
    This MUST go into the "Nominations For Funniest Fretboard Comment 2018" thread....
    Thank you :)
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BluesyDaveBluesyDave Frets: 410
    @dallcorp , that might work.  Or you could play through a Quilter Mach 2 like his    ;)
    I was surprised how good it sounded.
    No Darling....I've had that ages.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • DominicDominic Frets: 16000
    just play through a Tumnus when on the bridge..........fattens, softens and adds a natural base resonance (which a lot of people criticise Tumnus for ) but excellent for this particular job.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • ricorico Frets: 1220
    Thanks for all the continued advice all. The issue is that the lower frequencies simply aren't there in any audible capacity so with all the boost/EQ/Tumnus pedals in the world it's not gonna happen. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • John_AJohn_A Frets: 3775
    It sounds like it's buggered.  Have you measured the resistance?  No need to take it out just plug in a short patch lead and measure tip to sleeve making sure the pickup is selected and volume turned up
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • BlacksheepBlacksheep Frets: 293
    Just do what ever this cool dude is doing...



    The main thing he’s doing in not playing on bridge pickup!

    in all seriousness you have to accept a strat for what it is. Don’t get hung up on the bridge pickup. The magic is in the neck pickup, with the middle as a close second. I only ever use the bridge in conjunction with fuzz . . . And that combo is a match made in heaven. The thin-ness of the bridge complements the woofiness of a fuzz face perfectly. 

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    ^^ Wisdom!^^ Sage advice...use of the bridge pickup is not compulsory.....
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • chris_johnchris_john Frets: 162
    poopot said:
    Do this:


    Its free, if you don’t like it you can put it back to stock and change the pick up!...


    I followed this diagram and it sounds pretty good. I used a 1m pot for the blender, because I read somewhere that a higher value might prevent it getting too muddy. Now, I'm wondering if there is a way to add an option to put the neck in bridge together in parallel like a tele? 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.