Are you looking for early 60's Strat or John Mayer Tones?

[southpaw66]

I know there are lots of people searching for the holy grail strat tone (either 60/62 or JM) and I too became obsessed after hearing a JM Black1 in the local store. Unfortunately, two things stopped me buying it.
1) I'm left-handed,
2) somebody had just put a deposit down.

In the end this was a good thing because in my subsequent research for the best clean strat tone I could find I learned a few some things.

1) John Mayer Big Dippers are NOT the pickups on the real "black one", so no point paying a premium on eBay. Mid-scooped is probably more about amp tone than pickups. (the Black1 is a beautiful guitar though - light body BTW)
2) Fender CS also produce a CS 60 pickup for its early 60's relics which are probably the starting point for the real Black One, but aren't for sale either. Hand made 1960 replica pickups are available elsewhere (e.g. Fralin, BKP, Klein etc). Fender use Bare Knuckle Pickups for some 60's relics in the Europe.
3) JM uses the tone/volume rolled back to get some of his smoother tones, so picking pot and capacitor values is important
4) Left handers can forget trying to buy a complete guitar of the shelf with the right sound for less than about £2500.
5) The "Black One" has flat pole stagger on the neck (slightly higher by ~0.5mm for bass E and A) and I've seen Fralin and Klein both comment on flat poles are better for balance for 9.5" radius or higher.

You can judge for yourself but I think I came pretty close to both overall 60's strat with a Custom 62 set from Bare Knuckle Pickups on my Strat Deluxe - based on a generic clean Fender amp sound plus able to get similar JM tones with use of a good tone control. The very first bit of the video has some two John Mayer examples followed by some more generic pickup tests - this is about sound not my playing :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo4exGD9T40


I suspect you could come pretty close with any handmade early 60's replica (scatterwound , formvar, < 6k etc.) but I would definitely recommend Bare Knuckle Pickups.

[DiveNaked]

The Bare Knuckles pups sound great! I can't seem to find the Custom 62 set on their site though.. Do you know if they have a US distributor?

[southpaw66]

They are an unpublished set which can be had by contacting them directly or in some limited stores. Like
http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/pickup...09110614445018

They seem to differ from the Mothers Milk the other 60's style set by using formvar rather than enamel wire.

There are rumours that they will be available soon from an soon to be updated online shop.

I do not know the US distribution situation but contact them and they will be able to answer your questions.

[caspersvapors]

the production model sounds so much like the original black1 its not even funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp1aBL0PEfM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeRaU...eature=related

whatever the differences may be between the pickups - the guitars sound almost identical even with the differences in johns rig over a span of ~3 years

[whaiyun]

I use Klein S-5s. More big dipper-ish. If you're looking for the Black1 type, check out Klein's Jazzy Cats.

[southpaw66]

Originally Posted by caspersvapors

whatever the differences may be between the pickups - the guitars sound almost identical even with the differences in johns rig over a span of ~3 years

But then John Mayer always sounds like John Mayer

[mcdonaldkd]

Originally Posted by whaiyun

I use Klein S-5s. More big dipper-ish. If you're looking for the Black1 type, check out Klein's Jazzy Cats.

yes

[RobGordon]

Handwound Abigail Ybarra 60s Vintage Pickups is as close as I ever got to a 60s strat sound and all I can say is that it's close enough for me ;-)

[psylocke24]

Originally Posted by DiveNaked

The Bare Knuckles pups sound great! I can't seem to find the Custom 62 set on their site though.. Do you know if they have a US distributor?

I agree I am also looking for this one. The Bare Knuckles is one of a kind and I love the sound.

[the_Nong]

how about the stock Fender 57/62 pups?

[K-Line]

Originally Posted by the_Nong

how about the stock Fender 57/62 pups?

With the right technique, amps, settings, pedals, settings,etc, sure, why not! They are very clean pickups which help get that chimey almost scooped mids sound. These are my favorite of all the Fender pickups.

[Tito83]

Playing a JM strat I got the "bell like" thing I've always wanted from a strat. Can't really say they are mid scooped by comparing it with similar guitars with different pickups like Van Zandt Vintage Hot, Dimarzio Area 67 and Fender CS (whatever comes in the custom classics). By hearing to clips I think I'd get a similar result from the CS69 set, but never had the opportunity to test a set throughly.