Need recommendations for Fender Strat pickups

[FondledDuck]

Need advice on a set of pickups for a Strat. Looking for a vintage vibe but something with a little bite that won't get lost/mushy with overdriven tones. My application is anything from blues to rock. Need something that can do well with clean and overdriven tones.

Thanks!

 

[Findthetone1]

Duncan SSL-5 in the bridge and SSL-2 s in the middle and neck is a kick ass combo for what you want

 

[thunda]

Wilde (Bill and Becky) L200 neck and middle, L290 bridge.

http://www.wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_ ... ngles.html

 

[spguitar]

Dimarzio BC1 and BC2 with a Chopper in the middle. So cool.

 

[SavageRiffer]

Fralin Blues Specials. You cannot find better pickups. My favorite single-coils of all.

 

[ghosty999]

YJM Fury pickups are great even if you don't play shred. Really clear and fluid with plenty bite and sound great rolled back and full shred. Alot of country/blues guys who hate Yngwie use them ironically!

 

[mudf00t]

I am sold on Lollers. I bought a Nash S-57 because the Dirty Blonde's sound so damn good in that guitar.

 

[mixn4him]

I am sold on Lollers. I bought a Nash S-57 because the Dirty Blonde's sound so damn good in that guitar.

Ill second a Dirty Blond set, very good sounding pickups. I switched to Suhr ML's and I like the liveliness of the Suhr's better than the Lollars.

 

[SpiderWars]

Was watching an Andy Timmons video recently and he uses DiMarzio Cruisers for the neck/middle positions. Apparently they match well with low/medium output bridge humbuckers. While not true singles they have some of that tone, no hum, etc.

 

[blackba]

I am sold on Lollers. I bought a Nash S-57 because the Dirty Blonde's sound so damn good in that guitar.

Ill second a Dirty Blond set, very good sounding pickups. I switched to Suhr ML's and I like the liveliness of the Suhr's better than the Lollars.

I have a strat with Suhr FL's standards, now called ML's and they are great. Great for clean and gain.

I will say the first thing to consider on strat pickups is if you want traditional single coil or noiseless. That really narrows down the choices.

 

[SavageRiffer]

YJM Fury pickups are great even if you don't play shred. Really clear and fluid with plenty bite and sound great rolled back and full shred. Alot of country/blues guys who hate Yngwie use them ironically!

I haven't heard of a lot of blues and country guys using YJM pickups, but the Dimarzio HS-2 & HS-3 is often used by them. I have a set of YJM pickups. They are not single-coils though, and they're very high output. They will sound more like humbuckers or P90s than single-coils. I have a set of them in a vintage strat that I built and I enjoy them very much. However, I actually prefer the Dimarzio Virtual Solo bridge + Virtual Heavy Blues II for middle and neck because they have so much character.

The YJM's have a great output, great EQ, but I wouldn't say they have a lot of character. They have kind of a compression or something to them which reminds me of the Fender Eric Johnson pickups. They have a deep low end and can handle bright amps like Yngwie's Marshalls.

The Virtual Solo + Heavy Blues II covers a lot of ground. The output is great, lots of stratty tones, handles distortion very well, stacked noiseless humbuckers like the YJM, and harmonics galore. If you have a high gain amp with lots of mids, like an Engl with the mid boost on, then they'll sound almost like you have a wah pedal on. They're absolutely fantastic.

 

[cardinal]

I also had a Dirty Blonde set that I liked.

But whatever you get, I recommend making the second tone knob work for the bridge pickup. That way you can roll it off a touch to take the zing off that pickup. With the Dirty Blonde set and that tone knob rolled back to 8 or so, that Strat could do high gain stuff really well.

 

[FondledDuck]

Excellent recommendations!

 

[s_swanson]

Lindy Fralins are good for authentic strat tones. Vintage hots and blues specials are both great.

I'd also recommend checking out Harmonic Design. They've got alot of really interesting pickups, and everything I've ever had from them sounds killer! They have a strat pickup that emulates a tele, and one that emulates a P90, but for a good all-around strat tone, the Vintage Plus pickups are probably a good choice. They're seriously under-rated, in my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 21375]

Fender Custom Shop '69s. Killer tones in all positions.They sound great clean and dirty. They should definitely cover all the ground you're looking for.They do for me.

 

[mdc1mdc11]

Those ML (Michael Landaus ) are great pickups. David Allen, and the Lollars too.