Strat pickups, I'm conceding defeat ....

thegummy

Have you tried the Oil City Diamond Geezer?

The tapped position is apparently hotter than vintage Strat but to me it sounds exactly what you want - position 2 sounds like normal position 2 on a Strat.

exocet

axisus said:

ICBM said:

A tapped pickup with the tap the same as a vintage Strat and with the switch wired to auto-tap in position 2 should work.

Yup. That's what I have right now but pos 2 just not right for me. 

PonchoGreg said:

May I suggest the Diamond Geezer from @OilCityPickups ? With a superswitch you can wire it so that pos 2 uses the tap

Tried that last. Didn't do it for me.

poopot said:

Try this, thank me later.

I already have a master tone, and 3rd knob set to blend neck and bridge pickups. I like this setup. Not sure that your suggestion would thrill me more.

fretmeister said:

Dimarzio chopper at the bridge. 

Tried that. wasn't keen on the sound or the look to be honest!


As I mentioned, I really have gone through quite a lot of options over the years. What I do know now is that I prefer trad single coil look to modern pickups, and sc rather than bridge humbucker on a strat. I've found bridge pickups that I like, but it's that bloody elusive pos 2 that always eludes me!

I don't like pedals. I don't use them. I play through an old AxeFx and I have a floor board somewhere, I guess I'll be pulling it out at the weekend for the first time in years. Bought it from Drew as it happens!

The other thing that you could try (I did with some degree of success) - try soldering a low value ceramic capacitor across the output of the bridge pickup. This moves the resonant peak of the pickup which is very high on a typical vintage single coil pickup (something like 4 - 5 KHz), you can bring this down to the 2 - 3KHz range or lower by adding a capacitor. If I recall correctly something in the range 820pF - 1.2 nF should get you there. The larger the capacitor value, the lower the resonant peak. If you make it too large, you mess up the Position 2 sound but I got round this by using a Superswitch and a 2nd (smaller) Cap that kicked in with Position 2 only. It is a different sound to that produced by the typical "wire the tone pot to bridge pickup" approach, more overdrive friendly.  The Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster pedal does a very similar thing.

http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lemme/ - useful resource on Single Coil Resonant Peaks.

The other thing to remember is that even if you tune the treble response to make it more "humbucker like" - it still won't feel like a Humbucker because Single Coil pickups have a wider dynamic range or to put it another way, Humbuckers impart a degree of compression.

Redlester

I’ve had much the same journey as you over the years. In the end, I have settled for a Boss EQ. There’s the volume boost option, but also you can always boost the mids a tad, which just gives it a little lift and adds some zing. 

 May not be to your tastes though. 

thomasw88

Get a levinson blade.. They have an additional switch which you can hit when in the bridge position for eq/boost etc.   google Levinson VSC

Plus they're truly great guitars (and very cheap second hand..)

Richardrichard

Have you tried a p90 in the bridge? Could be interesting

Jason

Richardrichard said:

Have you tried a p90 in the bridge? Could be interesting

I was just coming to write that here

I have one of these https://magnetodesignlab.com/p90sc

Because I hate bridge pickups on a Strat, in hindsight its why I've been through loads of them

I'm now happy and pos2 still works (for me)

jeromegreenday

I have a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 in the bridge, it's very huge (13k) then a Fender CS 69 (5.8K) in the middle, The output drop into position 2 is VERY noticeable but it's a very clean position and the cleanest of all the positions and quite a refreshing. 

Lestratcaster

My strat is HSS with 2 Oil City Stone tones and a Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge. The bridge is coil splittable giving me twangy single coil sounds if needed and I've also got a push/pot tone thing to bring in the neck pickup if I want whilst on my bridge. I can get most sounds I want from this guitar.

Alex2678

I use Alchemy pickups, I’ve got a nightfall in the neck and middle, alnico 2 vintage hot wind, but 43awg wire so read 7.2 and 7.4k, mellow but sound vintage. Hemlock in the bridge nearly 15k, traditional look, sounds vintage humbucker-ish with gain. Position 2, IMO, is the strattiest sound on my guitar. Ymmv
https://www.alchemypickups.co.uk/single-coils
one thing I’ll say is Jack provides great service, is happy to work with you and offers 12 month return or replacement if you’re unhappy 

axisus

thegummy said:

Have you tried the Oil City Diamond Geezer?

The tapped position is apparently hotter than vintage Strat but to me it sounds exactly what you want - position 2 sounds like normal position 2 on a Strat.

as mentioned already - that was what I had in a week ago! Wasn't what I was looking for, didn't like pos 2.

axisus

Alex2678 said:

I use Alchemy pickups, I’ve got a nightfall in the neck and middle, alnico 2 vintage hot wind, but 43awg wire so read 7.2 and 7.4k, mellow but sound vintage. Hemlock in the bridge nearly 15k, traditional look, sounds vintage humbucker-ish with gain. Position 2, IMO, is the strattiest sound on my guitar. Ymmv
https://www.alchemypickups.co.uk/single-coils
one thing I’ll say is Jack provides great service, is happy to work with you and offers 12 month return or replacement if you’re unhappy 

I did look into them, but I won't get what I'm looking for in pos 2 with a 15k bridge pickup!

Alex2678

axisus said:

Alex2678 said:

I use Alchemy pickups, I’ve got a nightfall in the neck and middle, alnico 2 vintage hot wind, but 43awg wire so read 7.2 and 7.4k, mellow but sound vintage. Hemlock in the bridge nearly 15k, traditional look, sounds vintage humbucker-ish with gain. Position 2, IMO, is the strattiest sound on my guitar. Ymmv
https://www.alchemypickups.co.uk/single-coils
one thing I’ll say is Jack provides great service, is happy to work with you and offers 12 month return or replacement if you’re unhappy 

I did look into them, but I won't get what I'm looking for in pos 2 with a 15k bridge pickup!

I didn’t think I would, but by some strange sonic alchemy it’s quacky and sparkly and stratty 

Alex2678

Some people look to be building Fuzzdog boosts into their strats. I once put in switch in to add the middle in series but took it out because I placed the switch poorly and it got in the way. Chunky sound though 

mudslide73

jeromegreenday said:

I have a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 in the bridge, it's very huge (13k) then a Fender CS 69 (5.8K) in the middle, The output drop into position 2 is VERY noticeable but it's a very clean position and the cleanest of all the positions and quite a refreshing. 

I liked the SSL-5 with my Antiquity IIs so much that I got an SSL-1C DG (same thing basically) - which is perfect for what I need. I don't think I need to go to HSS.

CountryDave

I had a similar issue and ended up with an SDS1 in the bridge position.
I still get a decent sound that I can live with in position 2, although there will always be a difference compared to the underpowered (IMHO) regular strat bridge pickup.

Greatape

Have had good results with Suhr v60lp hot bridge....

Voxman

I had a similar problem but solved it with my lovely 2009 USA standard Strat limited edition series in Daphne blue with matching headstock that has a Delta tone systen which is just brilliant. Its called a system because its not a single component ( see detailed article links below).

The bridge pup is hotter but its connected to a no load tone control that lets you tone it down without sounding dull or muddy and it sounds, well a little bit HB like but with the tone full up it's a Strat.  But you still get all the classic Strat tone goodness.  It works really well and if you get a chance you should definitely look for one to try out.  

" Fender introduced the Delta Tone in 1997, and the first guitar to receive this new feature was the American Standard Stratocaster. ... The Delta Tone wiring features a no-load tone control for the middle and bridge pickups, great for producing just a bit more midrange and hotter output from the Stratocaster.  "

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/The_Fender_Delta_Tone_System_Part_1

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/The_Fender_Delta_Tone_System_Pt_2

axisus

Voxman said:

I had a similar problem but solved it with my lovely 2009 USA standard Strat limited edition series in Daphne blue with matching headstock that has a Delta tone systen which is just brilliant. Its called a system because its not a single component ( see detailed article links below).

Interesting. I like his mod as well - pulling the tone pot apart!

martin1914

What about telecaster pup in bridge position? 

axisus

martin1914 said:

What about telecaster pup in bridge position? 

I want to keep the strat look, plus that ain't gonna get me my problem sound, position 2.