Sp8ctre
Ambassador of Steel
For the Strat Haters...Think These Pickups Might Sway you???
- Thread starter Sp8ctre
- Start date
OP
Sp8ctre
Ambassador of Steel
The Red Devil for Strat set features three unique pickup winds, with specially calibrated Alnico 5 magnets. The bridge is wound like an extra spicy P.A.F.,
with enough meat to beef up your Strat and provide the fat tone of Billy’s #1. The neck and middle step back the heat a little and brush on sweet,
smoky blues—ideal for cleans, rhythm, or lead.
with enough meat to beef up your Strat and provide the fat tone of Billy’s #1. The neck and middle step back the heat a little and brush on sweet,
smoky blues—ideal for cleans, rhythm, or lead.
Essentially, this is what I did over 20 years ago - with Dimarzio stacked single coils - with my 1987 Stratocaster - DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo Bridge DP404 ( Alnico 5 Output mV: 205. DC Resistance: 11.17kΩ) HS-3 DP 117 (Magnet: Alnico 5 Output: 93mVDC resistance: 23.72kΩ) middle and YJM DP 217 (Alnico 5 Output mV: 93 DC Resistance: 23.5kΩ)
The Squirecaster has more punch and attack than a PAF...
OP
Sp8ctre
Ambassador of Steel
Nope...It's the scale and radius that is my bone of contention....
I get the scale thing, but you can get a radius fro, 7.25" all the way to 12" or 14" with 9.5" and 10" to boot...
What about the scale length is so terrible. You played one for many years, correct?
I like the sound.
May put ‘em in my Strat build.
But, Sp8ctre, Strat haters gotta hate so these can just be our own little bundle of fun!
Yes. I actually played one from 1988 until 2005. I guess I got used to it, but there is a strange, foreign feel to them after playing Gibson's and the 25.5" scale imparts an unusual frequency to the tone that I don't care for, not to mention string tension at a given tuning, increased distance between frets, etc. As you have pointed out, the radius can be changed, but it's only part of the equation.
With Gibson's, the feel is natural and familiar (all mine have the huge rounded profile necks) and the frequency of the individual notes (due to the scale and tension) is less harsh and more full.
Now that's the one thing I think Leo did right....Having no bridge tone control was a mistake, IMHO.
No hate at all. I just got rid of everything I had with a 25.5" scale and converted. My 1987 Squirecaster now belongs to my 10 year old Son and my daughter Natalie has a new Squire we got her last year...
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
I don't hate Strats, they just don't work for me the same way Gibsons do. They have their thing, but that thing just isn't for me any more, and that's after many years of trying to get along with them because I really do like how they feel (but not how they sound). These days when I want a brighter, more "Fenderesque" sound I plug my Firebird in.
Also, as for the pickups, not really into trying to turn a Strat into something it's not either...I put SD strat sized humbuckers into one of my Strats once and while it made the guitar more usable, in my opinion, my Gibsons still crushed it for heavy sounds, so if you want humbucker sounds I say buy a humbucker guitar and use the Strat for Strattin'.
Also, as for the pickups, not really into trying to turn a Strat into something it's not either...I put SD strat sized humbuckers into one of my Strats once and while it made the guitar more usable, in my opinion, my Gibsons still crushed it for heavy sounds, so if you want humbucker sounds I say buy a humbucker guitar and use the Strat for Strattin'.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
I could never own a guitar again that has only a master volume.
Just bustin’ on ya a little!
(But...seriously...tell me the truth...no one’s watching...except anyone in the world who accesses this page...you really do hate Strats, right? I mean...it’s okay if you do. No one’s judging you...much. @Sp8ctre, @Sergio, and I can keep the Strat love alive, and we’re here to help. C’mon, you can tell us the truth. It’ll help to get those feelings out. That’s how the healing starts!)
Not really...while I find the body shape very comfortable, the thin necks, longer scale and single coils just don't feel or sound right to me.
Now, I did produce a few Strat-esque guitars, with 24.75" scale, 12" radius fretboard with thick, 1958 Les Paul style necks and twin humbuckers, but even then, it didn't sound or feel as familiar as my Gibson's.
For me, nothing feels or sounds as good as a fat-neck Gibson with (good) Gibson pickups. When I pick up a guitar, I want the familiarity of a well worn shoe, not something that feels foreign and unnatural...and I don't like that higher frequency tone/twang effect the longer scale produces.
Make sense???
I'm an odd duck.