Yet another Strat pickup thread...bear with me.
I'm trying to finalize two different Strats. The first one has a '64 neck that's medium thick. It sounds very warm yet balanced. The other one has a '69 neck which is thicker and a touch gutsier sounding.
With those two planks of wood as a starting point, I am trying to tweak them towards two different sounding guitars, and I have a sort of tone ideal for each of them.
For the '64, I am looking to get a tone similar to this Mark Knopfler one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JyZ81XAYTA
For the '69, I am going for early (66-68) Hendrix sounds.
Now on to my questions. In my arsenal, I currently have a set of CS69s in the 69 guitar. Too bright, thin, not enough depth, slightly piercing and harsh. In the 64, I have Don Mare Josie/Vaughn pickups. I really like those pickups, they have deep and very tight bass, some wonderful swirl going on, but they sound slightly veiled and very round, and they easily turn dark with overdrive (especially the #2 and #4 positions). All the good vintage Strats I have tried/liked, do this thing where they have tremendous *presence*, are quite open and bright sounding, but without harshness and with lots of depth.
So bearing in mind my preferences, what type of pickups do you recommend for my guitars? I have narrowed the field down somewhat to Don Mare and Klein, for no other reasons that they have good reputation, are available and not too expensive, and the Don Mares I have do something that I really like (though not to perfection).
Some thoughts on each guitar and pickup choice:
64: I think what I want is a pickup in the low 6k range (6.1-6.3k). Probably Formvar wire. I want something that is slightly glassy and gritty with some compression, open but not too bright, and not plinky. From soundclips, the Klein '63s appear to sound quite close to what I want. Those of you with experience with Kleins, does that sound like a description that fits the 63s?
69: I think what I want is something in the 5.9k range, with Plain Enamel wire. I am looking for deep, tight, clear bass ("piano tones"), uncompressed but siwrly mids and open highs. However, I don't want the somewhat sterile sound that many late 60s replica pickups seem to have. I think I am close with the Don Mare Josie/Vaughn pickups I already have, but I am concerned with their slightly veiled and somewhat dark sound. Maybe it's the recordings, but most of the Don Mare Strat clips I've heard seem to share this trait. They *never* sound harsh, but the attack is always very round. Anyone else feel this way? OTOH, the clips of Klein 65s (which would probably be a good choice for early Hendrix) haven't knocked me out either. I think the Don Mare Josie/Vaughns are in the 6.4-.6.5k range. Would getting a custom set in the 5.9k range be sufficient to deal with the issues I have with them?
I'm trying to finalize two different Strats. The first one has a '64 neck that's medium thick. It sounds very warm yet balanced. The other one has a '69 neck which is thicker and a touch gutsier sounding.
With those two planks of wood as a starting point, I am trying to tweak them towards two different sounding guitars, and I have a sort of tone ideal for each of them.
For the '64, I am looking to get a tone similar to this Mark Knopfler one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JyZ81XAYTA
For the '69, I am going for early (66-68) Hendrix sounds.
Now on to my questions. In my arsenal, I currently have a set of CS69s in the 69 guitar. Too bright, thin, not enough depth, slightly piercing and harsh. In the 64, I have Don Mare Josie/Vaughn pickups. I really like those pickups, they have deep and very tight bass, some wonderful swirl going on, but they sound slightly veiled and very round, and they easily turn dark with overdrive (especially the #2 and #4 positions). All the good vintage Strats I have tried/liked, do this thing where they have tremendous *presence*, are quite open and bright sounding, but without harshness and with lots of depth.
So bearing in mind my preferences, what type of pickups do you recommend for my guitars? I have narrowed the field down somewhat to Don Mare and Klein, for no other reasons that they have good reputation, are available and not too expensive, and the Don Mares I have do something that I really like (though not to perfection).
Some thoughts on each guitar and pickup choice:
64: I think what I want is a pickup in the low 6k range (6.1-6.3k). Probably Formvar wire. I want something that is slightly glassy and gritty with some compression, open but not too bright, and not plinky. From soundclips, the Klein '63s appear to sound quite close to what I want. Those of you with experience with Kleins, does that sound like a description that fits the 63s?
69: I think what I want is something in the 5.9k range, with Plain Enamel wire. I am looking for deep, tight, clear bass ("piano tones"), uncompressed but siwrly mids and open highs. However, I don't want the somewhat sterile sound that many late 60s replica pickups seem to have. I think I am close with the Don Mare Josie/Vaughn pickups I already have, but I am concerned with their slightly veiled and somewhat dark sound. Maybe it's the recordings, but most of the Don Mare Strat clips I've heard seem to share this trait. They *never* sound harsh, but the attack is always very round. Anyone else feel this way? OTOH, the clips of Klein 65s (which would probably be a good choice for early Hendrix) haven't knocked me out either. I think the Don Mare Josie/Vaughns are in the 6.4-.6.5k range. Would getting a custom set in the 5.9k range be sufficient to deal with the issues I have with them?