Re: Pickups...
Posted: 29 Jul 2014, 13:37
Unless you've money to burn, I wouldn't buy a US standard Strat- the pups are ok, but not really vintage HBM stuff- I found them totally uninspiring (I had two US standards). I've also had two Mex Standards which were made pretty well- maybe bodies not sanded so much on the rounds compared to the US models, however I didn't rate the pups and have therefore variously used Kinmans Traditionals and also the latest Kinman 54s, neither of which set me alight... The best pups I've so far come across are Toneriders Vintage and the Vintage Plus, both of which have great depth and sensitivity to playing attack. The best pups for a 'vintage' sound on a Strat have been the AxesRus Daddyos which are sold as an assembly pre wired and soldered which includes scratch plate, pups, controls, 5 way switcher- all you have to do is solder two wires to the existing jack plug. Ive never purchased higher than an US standard Strat, but the best sound out of the box for a Fender so far has been a Mex Tele, which unusually had a well balanced combination between bridge and neck pup, not so spaced tonally as they usually are- this Tele sounded really 'Shadows' to me- ie it had that bite in the bass E string.
IMHO I think people tend to get a bit too wrapped up in pups when in reality the HBM sound is, apart from Delay which as others have said is pretty secondary, but more it's the use of the trem arm which gives the real HBM signature sound.
IMHO I think people tend to get a bit too wrapped up in pups when in reality the HBM sound is, apart from Delay which as others have said is pretty secondary, but more it's the use of the trem arm which gives the real HBM signature sound.