Single coil pickups?

[Ozeshin]

Looking to replace the pickups in my MiJ Squier strat.
The guitar sounds great...good tone but the stock pickups are way too microphonic and squeal like a stuck pig if I try to turn up past 4.
Duncan make JB Juniors for strats....basically it's a JB humbucker shrunk down to fit the routing for a strat....but I worry that I might lose that "Strat" esscence by switching to a humbucking pickup.
Any suggestions?

 

[jawilluk]

I've found Lace sensors can be a good compromise. They give a higher output and don't squeal so easily while still retaining that Strat 'Chime'.

 

[andi-o]

Hi,

there's a difference between microphonic squeeling and humming,
if you can live with the single coil hum, I'd try to pot the pickups

instructions here:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/electrical/index.php

If you can't stand the hum, I'd try for example the new Fender Noisless
(The samarium cobalt ones). They deliver single coil vibe without any hum,
in fact they have less noise than some humbuckers.

The Jeff Beck junior pickup was the most horrible and lousy sounding pickup
I ever had in a Strat, compressed, lifeless, no overtones! (just MHO, of course...)

Andi

 

[jawilluk]

andi-o, I'd have to disagree with you about the samarium cobalt noiseless pickups. I have them in my Strat Deluxe and to my ears they are missing that Fender 'bell' sound. I think they sound a bit sterile. When I compare them to the vintage noiseless in my Classic Player Strat. The vintage win hands down. This is probably down to personal preference again.

By the way, what I refer to as the Fender sound would be Hendrix, SRV, Knopfler. I know there are many more different Fender sounds but these are my point of reference.

I agree entirely about the Jeff Beck.

 

[declan]

Have you tried shielding

The following is simple and cheap, I have done this on 2 mexican strats and a yamaha pacifica.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

The reduction in noise was very significant on both the strats, a little less so on the yamaha.

I useds the foil method, very simple to do, and the star wiring to remove ground loops if you are even mildly competent with a soldering iron

 

[BaggyPants]

Stick a set of Fender Custom Shop '69s in it. Gorgeous

 

[Ozeshin]

Have you tried shielding

The following is simple and cheap, I have done this on 2 mexican strats and a yamaha pacifica.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

The reduction in noise was very significant on both the strats, a little less so on the yamaha.

I useds the foil method, very simple to do, and the star wiring to remove ground loops if you are even mildly competent with a soldering iron

Sounds like a plan Dec...
The main worry for me is the Microphonic squealing...the actual tone of the pickups is quite nice....and my setup is waaaaay quiet...no hum at all.
My tone and general sound is a cross between Gary Moore and Michael Schenker...so pretty overdriven.
I use the clean channel on my Marshall and run a Zoom G2 effects unit which models a peavy 5150 and use a Duncan Pickup Booster for solos.
At the moment it's almost impossible to turn the guitar volume past 4....sux coz u loose all those sweet overtones by not being able to crank the pickups for a solo.
I'll certainly try sheilding.

 

[declan]

Ozeshin

the wax potting which andi pointed to in his post is most likely the best solution for the symptoms you are describing. Just try not to set the bloody house on fire when you're melting the wax

but hey, shielding cant hurt and it would surprise me if it didnt help. I didnt have all the exact parts for the first one, e.g I used a tiny threaded picture hook screwed into the PUP cavity for the central grounding point, used normal Kitchen foil and left out the 400V capacitor, the results were more than worth the hour or so it took to do the job and it cost me nothing more than stuff I had lying around the house

BTW Gary Moore has one of my favourite guitar sounds, let us know how you get on if you decide to have a go.


declan

 

[jawilluk]

Wow, if you're getting a sound anything like Gary Moore, you don't have much to worry about. :wink:

 

[Ozeshin]

The Gary Moore tone is more about the way you play than what you play through.
I grew up listening to Lizzy...both Moore and Scott Gorham as well as Schenker.
That big wide vibrato style was what hooked me.
I can still remember the day years ago when I nailed Parisien Walkways from start to finish...hence my love of Les Pauls.
I mostly use the strat coz the guys in my band reckon that the tone cuts through a lot better than when I use the Les Paul....me?....I love the big woody tone of the Tokai over the biting strat tone anyday...we play Walking by myself by Gary Moore and playing it on the strat feels like Treason...lol

 

[jawilluk]

Ozeshin, It's nice to hear what your influences are. I'm also a big Gary and Lizzy fan. My brother was invloved with bands in Dublin and he of took me in to see Gary rehearsing with Skid Row in 1969. Gary was about 17 and he was amazing! I was mesmerised. I went to see him supporting BB King recently. Great!


I was at Lizzy's first gig and many more after that, I was lucky enough to be sound engineer for the opening act on the Bad Reputation Tour in 1977 and stayed to watch Lizzy almost every night. They were phenomenal. Robertson had a problem so Gary stepped in to help for a few gigs.

By the way, Gary plays a strat as well so it must be OK!

I must admit I was disappointed when Gary sold the Peter Green Les Paul.

 

[Ozeshin]

Yeah..me too.
That particular les paul was the one that turned me onto them in the first place.
I saw Lizzy twice when they came to Australia.
The first time was in the '70's with Gary Moore...it was the Black Rose tour.
And then on the Chinatown tour with Snowy White :roll:
Ironically...that was the time that Scott Gorham made the switch to Strats from Les Pauls as well....he mostly just plays strats nowadays.
I guess it was always going to be that I sought out Irish influences....5th Generation Irish/Australian

 

[jawilluk]

I guess it was always going to be that I sought out Irish influences....5th Generation Irish/Australian

You didn't go to see The Boomtown Rats in 1980, did you?

 

[Ozeshin]

Saw them live at an outdoor concert
Actually...1980 was good year for seeing concerts....AC/DC...KISS and Bon Jovi ...I saw them all that year...I think that year i saw Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio as well(getting old...memory failing)

 

[jawilluk]

Yeah, I know what you mean about memory. Mine is not too good these days but I do remember being in Australia with the Boomtowns Rats in '80 and having a great time. In Sydney we were in the same hotel as the Village People and they invited us to their show. Amazingly, we acceped :roll: It must rank as the worst show I've ever been to. but I don't blame Australia for that. :wink:

 

[declan]

The Gary Moore tone is more about the way you play than what you play through.
I grew up listening to Lizzy...both Moore and Scott Gorham as well as Schenker.
That big wide vibrato style was what hooked me.

Couldnt agree more, the first time I saw Gary was in the Kings Hall Belfast for his After the War tour. I think he played a strat or it could have been a Charvel for some of the numbers. ...Still got the blues IMO is still his best album.

I am kicking myself that I missed the Dublin gig last August. The likes of Moore, Lizzy, & Gallagher gave me the reason to shout I want a guitar for Christmas.

Saw AC/DC in Dublin in 91, what a show ... especially after the tragedy a few weeks before where 3 fans were crushed to death, it must have been tough for them for some time after that. Real pros

 

[Ozeshin]

In Sydney we were in the same hotel as the Village People and they invited us to their show. Amazingly, we acceped :roll: It must rank as the worst show I've ever been to. but I don't blame Australia for that. :wink:

I can top that...
one of the bands that I played in had a gig at this big pub in sydney.
We all booked rooms for the night of the gig and staying at the same pub was that crap Norwegian band AH-HA(remember them?).
Well this pub only had one big staircase and they were coming p as me and my band were coming down.
They shat themselves....here we were a big hair metal band done up to the nines for the gig.
They came and watched our gig then invited us to watch theirs.
EEEWWWW...my god....if i ever see a show so craptacular again I shall pluck my eyes from my skull.
We had to turn away from the stage a few times coz we were laughing so damned hard we didn't want to hurt their feelings.

 

[sneakyjapan]

so you sayin` their..."take on me, take me on" ...was a load of horse hookie?

 

[Ozeshin]

They were nice enough guys...but musically...eeewww

 

[sneakyjapan]

BUT.....the young girls thought they were cute. Theres a LOT of that in Japan...ability for the most part is non existant...it`s looks that count... and the kicker is, the Japanese term used for these people is..."talent".