mhuxtable Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 So I finally bit the bullet and after tons of research ordered Seymour Duncan quarter pounders . I wanted a higher output single coil that was STILL a single coil...no stacked buckers or anything like that or active pickups. So I am stoked. They should be here in a week then I gotta drop of my guitar to the store and they will drop them in for me...so it may be 2 weeks before I can actually play them. I will keep you all informed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Keep us posted, and if you can, give us some before-and-after clips! Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlayerFL Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 You might want to attempt installing them yourself first before plunking $$$$ down for somebody else to do it. It's really easy and you learn basic soldering. Plus, you don't have to wait two weeks for the results. If you still can't do it, then you can let the store install them. There's very little you could mess up. I've done all my guitar setup and soldering since I was a teenager. A Jazz/Chord Melody Master-my former instructor www.robertconti.com (FKA GuitarPlayerSoCal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Just finished modding a couple of american strats, both with active EMG's and I'm stoked to beat the band...both are black with white pearl pickguards (which match my clapton with active vintage noisless pickups and a cream white pearl pickguard)...one has the David Gilmour single coil set up with the EXG expander & SPC presence control...the other has the Kirk Hammett double fat set up with two volumes and one master tone & a 3way instead of a 5way switch, had the neck pickup swapped out from the EMG 81 to a EMG 85 so it gets real blues & jazz tones (the stock set up had two 81's)...so now I leave the clapton at home to avoid dings & scratches and just take the twins with me from now on...they really crank out some great overdrive and yet can get some nice sweet clean sounds on the down low....have the old set ups ready to drop back in if I ever want to sell them and keep my new set ups, but they'll probably just be dust catchers from now on...hope your project works out for you with those Seymour Duncans mhuxtable...looking forward to hearing about them.... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisSiteSucks Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Looks like a nice pickup. Do you install the same pickup in all 3 positions in a strat or get different pickups for each position (neck, middle and bridge)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Don'tcha just love the EXG and SPC, Larry? And, yeah, I also prefer the 85 to the 81- especially along with the SPC and EXG; on a Strat like that (with the two humbuckers), I'd go with a Vol/EXG/SPC control arrangement. And I have! Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Looks like a nice pickup. Do you install the same pickup in all 3 positions in a strat or get different pickups for each position (neck, middle and bridge)? The EMG David Gilmour pickguards are pre-wired with the same active single coils in all 3 postitions as far as I know...unlike the Fender Lace set up which uses a blue (bluesey) at the neck, silver in the middle (normal for phasing) and a red (hot) at the bridge...instead of using different pickups, the EMG set up takes away your tone controls and uses a printed circut on top of the pots which has and EXG expander & a SPC presence control (stealth tone knobs as it looks completly stock)...you use the 5way to adjust your tone and the expander and presence to dial in or out your mids and humbucker or stock effects so you lose a little on tone control if thinking treble & bass.. verses gaining all kinds of tone control when thinking pickup postition and gain, mids, no mids, stock strat, etc...as best I can describe it...you don't fully appreciate it until you overdrive a tube amp...but they are cool Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Don'tcha just love the EXG and SPC, Larry? And, yeah, I also prefer the 85 to the 81- especially along with the SPC and EXG; on a Strat like that (with the two humbuckers), I'd go with a Vol/EXG/SPC control arrangement. And I have! Hey Caevan, wasn't sure if Rootstonian was asking about my set up or if he was asking mhuxtable about the seymour duncans...so I went ahead and posted the 3 single coil set up on my strat and hopefully rootstonian will chime in on the seymour duncans (although if my memory hasn't faded to far off, I remember a post on a tele modd that might have been rootsontian's?) anyway, on the two humbucker EMG's they didn't offer the EXG & SPC drop in prewired pickguard set up as Kirk Hammett's set up was two 81's with two volume controls and a master tone "wired straight up"...which is ok if your only going to play lead all your life...so I opted to swap out the neck pick for an 85...it really came out great even though I gave up a 5way and S-1 coil tapping for two active EMGs and a 3way, I'm more than elated!!! the first time I fired it up on the 85, my bud said hey that sounds just like a gibson...and it does have that gibson jazz/clean sound on a strat...then you up the volume or lower it on the 81 bridge pickup with the 3way in the middle and it gets pretty cool sounds...it drives the tube amp into overdrive much faster than the single coils too...so I've got the best of both worlds and really love the master tone knob...but it sounds like your double humbuckers with the EXG & SPC will take it to another level... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisSiteSucks Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Well, I was asking about (and kind of thread stealing) installing new pickups on my American Strat. They need to be a little bit hotter if you ask me and I don't know if you order 3 of the same ones? And mine have staggered poles and would prefer the flats like the the SD's in the original post. And is this something hard to do? I've built houses before and to me, soldering in a couple of wires can't be THAT hard! LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 FWIW, my personal experience with EMG's and those EQ controls was on a Strat-style guitar that I had with two Strat/single-coil sized EMG SA pickups in the neck and middle positions, and an EMG 85 at the bridge, all connected to a three-knob layout consisting of a master Volume and the EXG and SPC modules, with no "normal" passive tone control. Never really missed it; the EXG and SPC were plenty of tone-shaping control, especially with the various combinations of the "hum-sing-sing" trio of pickups... Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyalcatraz Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Best of luck! I'm going to be doing something similar in a couple of days. The pickups on a prototype guitar I bought from a luthier just kind of crapped out, so I'm replacing them with Lace Alumitones. I will NOT be doing the swap-out myself, since I'm about as mechanically inclined as a marshmallow. I would probably wind up soldering the dog to the sofa by accident. Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: âNinety percent of everything is crapâ My FLMS- Murphy's Music in Irving, Tx http://murphysmusictx.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Well, I was asking about (and kind of thread stealing) installing new pickups on my American Strat. They need to be a little bit hotter if you ask me and I don't know if you order 3 of the same ones? And mine have staggered poles and would prefer the flats like the the SD's in the original post. And is this something hard to do? I've built houses before and to me, soldering in a couple of wires can't be THAT hard! LOL. I've heard it's not all that hard to do (GPFL's been doing it since he was a teenager)...but I get mine done along with a string change and set up for $50 so it's worth it to me...especially when you're playing around with an American strat + your luthier can throw in some free advice on questions you might have...most pickup makers like Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, EMG, Gibson, etc. offer a bridge and a neck pickup (usually the bridge is hotter) and on 3 pickups the middle is usually the same as the neck...on Fender lace which are flat, (like EMG's) they have different configurations from 3 different pickups already wired (ie. blue, silver & red) to 3 of the same (ie. all gold)...hope this helps and good luck no matter which way you decide to go.... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroslav Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I've only had experience with a few Seymour Duncan HB style pickups...and I don't remember the exact models of all of them, but my intent was to get fairly vintage/tame pickups, following the SD descriptions. I was NOT going for anything high-output/HOT. But with all of them, there was this underlying raw edginess, that I really...mmmm...didn't like. It was good for some stuff, but overall, I found it imparted a signature tone on everything. I could not dial it out. But with more mellower vintage vibe PUsI find you CAN dial IN some edginess via the amp or pedal. So I find them more versatile than when you have a PU that has built in edginess (unless of course thats what you always want to hear). Anyone else here have experience with more than just one model of Seymour Duncan PUs...and what was your overall feeling about their toneswas there anything similar across all of them? Did you notice any underlying "signature" tone.... and what was it? I know the SD makes a LOT of different PUsso maybe they dont all have that kind of vibebut Im curious which ones are the smoothest/creamiestbut still with some kick/bit when attacked a bit harder. miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlayerFL Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 ...my intent was to get fairly vintage/tame pickups, following the SD descriptions. I was NOT going for anything high-output/HOT. Anyone else here have experience with more than just one model of Seymour Duncan PUs...and what was your overall feeling about their toneswas there anything similar across all of them? Did you notice any underlying "signature" tone.... and what was it? With the exception of my Wolfgang (stock) and a DiMarzio Mo' Joe in my Kramer, all my pickups are SD. I can tell you one thing about the Strat pickups. I had installed the Hot Rails neck pickup (the HIGH ouput, twin blade, humbucker, but same size as a single coil) in a guitar. YUCK It was complete mud with no highs at all. Horrible pickup. Now, if you want to play Texas Chainsaw Massacre Metal-style, http://clicksmilies.com/s1106/waffen/violent-smiley-014.gif ...the Hot Rails bridge pickup might be the perfect match. You can not have high output with great tone...maybe a little bit hotter, but not much. I've had good luck with the Hot Stacks...YMMV. Although they're called Hot, they're not overpowering...just a bit beefier. But SD has so many types, you really need to take into account the style of music you want to use the guitar for and also the body and fingerboard wood. Any pickup is going to sound different in different guitars. I have the SSL-1 pickups in my Strat (Alder body/Maple fingerboard) and they sound really bright. I will probably switch them out for two Hot Stacks (N/M) and a JB Jr. in the bridge. A Jazz/Chord Melody Master-my former instructor www.robertconti.com (FKA GuitarPlayerSoCal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhuxtable Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 sorry it took me so long to get back... Yeah the Quarter Pounds I got (ssl 4) are the flat poles (my Fernandes has a flat neck which I LOVE)...it works for me because I wanted a true single coil sound but with more output...and these things have an output of 13k!!!! You can also get the coil tapped for ture single coil output, but I just got them standard. I am not trying to install them myself 1. because I am useless with a soldering iron and 2. its only a $30 install since I bought the PUps from them, and I totally trust them. The PUps SHOULD be in today which means I will go drop my guitar off and then in a week or so I will have a new guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I had installed the Hot Rails neck pickup (the HIGH ouput, twin blade, humbucker, but same size as a single coil) in a guitar. YUCK It was complete mud with no highs at all. Horrible pickup. I am curious. Did you change the value of the volume pot and the tone pot for the neck p/up from 250k to 500k? That would get you more highs out of it, and most guitars with humbuckers use 500k pots for that reason. Most guitars with strat-style single coils use 250k pots to mellow them out a bit. Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlayerFL Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I had installed the Hot Rails neck pickup (the HIGH ouput, twin blade, humbucker, but same size as a single coil) in a guitar. YUCK It was complete mud with no highs at all. Horrible pickup. I am curious. Did you change the value of the volume pot and the tone pot for the neck p/up from 250k to 500k? That would get you more highs out of it, and most guitars with humbuckers use 500k pots for that reason. Most guitars with strat-style single coils use 250k pots to mellow them out a bit. Hmmm....good question. I don't remember. That guitar (Kramer Pacer) has always had a full sized humbucker in the bridge and two single coils (N/M) before the Hot Rails. I rewired it years ago with two controls...a master volume and master tone. I know the bridge Mo' Joe sounds fine with the volume pot as does the other single coils (which do not sound too bright). I know the Hot Rails was a true neck pickup. I may have to try it out again in another guitar down the road with a verified 250K volume control. A Jazz/Chord Melody Master-my former instructor www.robertconti.com (FKA GuitarPlayerSoCal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlayerFL Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Yeah the Quarter Pounds I got (ssl 4) are the flat poles (my Fernandes has a flat neck which I LOVE)...it works for me because I wanted a true single coil sound but with more output...and these things have an output of 13k!!!! I looked at those too and heard the clips. Those appear to be really good. They should really rock out. A Jazz/Chord Melody Master-my former instructor www.robertconti.com (FKA GuitarPlayerSoCal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel E. Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I have a SD pickup in my Tele and it's awesome. That's a pretty specific application though. I also have it wired unconventionally too. My strat has a SD JB Jr. in the bridge. A very versatile PU IMHO with nice harmonics. I don't know of a "signature tone" for SDs though. Do DiMarzios have a signature tone? I think potentiometer values are often overlooked in the tone equation. IMHO you MUST change pots if you upgrade from single coils to humbuckers. Otherwise you will have dull sounding pickups. Changing the pots makes a huge impact on your tone. "You never can vouch for your own consciousness." - Norman Mailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlayerFL Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 My strat has a SD JB Jr. in the bridge. A very versatile PU IMHO with nice harmonics. I was looking at either that or the Lil' 59 in the bridge. Any regrets on the JB? A Jazz/Chord Melody Master-my former instructor www.robertconti.com (FKA GuitarPlayerSoCal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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